9/12/2014 - 9/13/2014, Quit Work, Gone Sailing

9/13/14

Yes, we are fine! We are having a great time, and getting used to living on the boat – but more about that in a separate post. This one is about leaving work to go sailing.

Chuck worked nonstop from the time he was in college until just a year or two ago. He loved many parts of his work and didn’t love others, but always wanted to go sailing. I also always wanted to go sailing. I loved our summer cruises in the boat with our local yacht clubs and by ourselves. For 1 or 2 weeks, we would imagine what it would be like to live full time on the boat - sailing, fishing, clamming, scuba diving, swimming, meeting other boaters and just living outside in the sunshine and fresh air.

I loved my work, my coworkers and the company that I was working for, XL Group. Each year, Chuck and I would discuss our future, and I would agree to leave work and go play. But always some great project, or just the fun atmosphere of the office would keep me there. Or we would be short staffed and work needed to get done. Or it was close to bonus time. Sane people only leave work after bonuses are distributed (April/May). But sailors leave before it gets too cold or too late to head south (Sept).

Over Memorial Day weekend at the end of May, I met up with some of our sailing club friends at our annual Baldwin Yacht Club Mystic Seaport Commissioning weekend. One told me he retired at age 57, and his only regret is that he didn’t do it 2 years earlier, at age 55! He and his wife had enjoyed a trip to FL in their boat, and now spend their winters skiing and summers boating. At the end of the same weekend, I saw my aunt and uncle from California, who have been for married over 65 years and have had a long and exciting retirement full of travel and adventures.

When I returned to work from the long weekend on Tuesday, June 2, I talked with my boss and told him that I was planning to leave, but would stay until a replacement could be found and trained.

Saying goodbye for 3 months

Waiting through the summer for arrangements to be finalized was hard! I didn’t take my usual summer vacations, just tried to keep everything going, while closing out projects and tasks, documenting processes and cleaning up loose ends. Finally the date of Sept 5, 2014 was set for my leaving and a great replacement was found and trained.

My Hartford colleagues threw me a terrific Happy Hour sendoff.

Dave, Kim Eileen

Sandy, Jackie, Joy, Brendan

Prakash

Steve, Ken, Nirab,Walt, Sandy, Balaji, Prakash, Bill

It was good to have the time to gradually say goodbye to the people I had worked with for 6 ½ years. There are many that I have never even met in person but I have worked closely with, and so many that I consider friends as much as coworkers. 

And there are also those like Blanca, who I would see daily as she made her rounds very late in the afternoon, when most people were gone. English is not her native language, but she would cheerfully say “Buenas Noches” each night, or “Happy Weekend!” on Friday. (Please tell her I said “Hi” if you see her.)

Blanca

Lining up health insurance

Invariably one of the most difficult tasks of leaving employment is to line up health insurance. I spent hours comparing policy offerings only to realize that my real options are few. If I planned to be away from the US for more than 330 days in the year, many relatively inexpensive options present themselves. But I don’t. I’ll be out of the country for something like 90-120 days, mostly in 2015, next year. And for 2014, we have already made a lot of progress toward meeting our high deductible. So I opted to stay with the Cobra plan from my job. While it is many times the cost of employee medical, it is, sadly, still less expensive than the “affordable” medical plans offered in CT, and includes dental and vision.

Sacrifices

Paying out of pocket for medical insurance is one of several sacrifices that we just accept. Just like not being bonus eligible for 2014, and not getting any more paychecks.  These are changes that we accept, in exchange for doing only what we really want to do with our time and our lives. We tell ourselves “You can’t buy time”, and we have to do what we want while we are both “old enough” and “young enough” to be able to do it. Too many of our friends have run into problems with their health after waiting to retire and live their lives. We don’t want to do that.

First Sunday without a Monday

The first weekend after leaving, I spent a lot of time at the house (probably working on medical insurance) and kept us from getting to the boat until Sunday. I was regretful that I had used up the weekend…  And suddenly I realized that I no longer had just 2 short days to myself (and all of my personal tasks and personal obligations) each week. I now had all of them!

We spent that first week living at the boat. Each morning we got up, went for a long run or walk, came back and made breakfast, and then worked on boat preparation tasks.  By mid-week we finished the remaining tasks at the boat and packed, and by the end of the week we winterized the house and, with help from my brother-in-law and nephew, got our car home to the garage.

And we're off!

On Friday, Sept 12, 2014, we left at 9 AM. Some of our friends at Shennecossett waved goodbye from the bows of their boats. I didn’t have a camera out, but don’t need the photo to remember Jack and June, on Outbound, and Vince, on Warm Rain, as they greeted us and wished us well.

With the tide in our favor, and a nice 12-15 knot wind, we were able to cruise along at 9.5 – 9.9 knots. (Actually, we were motor sailing. We hadn't learned to slow down yet.)

We reached Port Jefferson, NY, by 4 PM, fueled up, and anchored for the night. We were exhausted and achy (those balancing muscles just don’t get used elsewhere!), but satisfied.

The next day, as we sailed past Stamford, CT, the site of another XL office, I coincidentally received the email notification of my last (ever) paycheck. 

Quit Work, Gone Sailing

“Quit Work, Gone Sailing” is pretty unusual to hear in the office, but out here on the waters, it’s the norm. A few people are celebrating recent retirements, and a few are still working intermittently, but most are completely retired. Some are young – early 50’s or maybe younger, while others have been retired for a decade or two and are still living on the boat and traveling. So far, we haven’t met anyone who regretted it.

Sandy & Chuck
on s/v Summer Wind