Plans
Plans Destroy Dreams
When did my plans become excuses for inaction?
At Wendron Primary School in the 1970s we would be sent outside for our breaks.
Sheltering from the drizzle beneath the playground crabapple tree we would play
Tiggy.
To play we would first work out a plan.
Like crows and jackdaws us kids squawked the rules of the game at each other.
Still arguing when the bell rang, the game remained unplayed.
On lunch-break we played only to stop and rehash the rules until we gave up and played marbles.
A few years later I made friends with Paul, a boy up the road.
Paul was mostly clever and sometimes annoying.
For a time he gave me the nickname, ‘Broody’.
He was also (self evidently) quite observant. Apt.
A lifetime of plans have worked out and dreams have come true.
I am a lucky fellow.
Yet, some dreams obstinately remain out of reach.
The dreams wash against plans and get wrecked on the rocks of sensibilities.
I suppose I am overthinking it.
Damn you Paul.
Boat Shopping… still
I have been getting a lot of emails of yachts for sale. Maybe the used boat market is more active at the moment. The Clansman’s are my favourites but I also like the Viking 30’s (like this one) and this Herreshoff H28 looks fancy.
Troy and Pascals’ Mirrool - a Clansman 30 GRP Sloop
The Clansman was built and designed by Bruce Fairlie. It is a roughly built yet tough fibreglass boat with a full keel. The popularity of these boats has no doubt been boosted by YouTubers, Troy and Pascal. Under their old moniker @FreeRangeSailing (they have since moved onto land and continue to share their stories as @FreeRangeLiving). Clansmans also have a community of owners over on Facebook. If I lived on the coast I would have bought one by now.
A Lexcen Viking 30
The Viking 30 was designed by Ben Lexcen. Ben was the Legend who came up with the keel that won the America’s cup in 1986. He was a competitive chap and the Viking was a ripper for it’s time. It would be lots of fun to sail but would not be as comfortable in a steep sea as a full keel boat (like the Clansman or Herreshoff) which puts me off. It is nevertheless beamy and looks like a spaceship and who doesn’t want a spaceship?
A Herreshoff designed H28
The H28, designed by the Naval architect L.Francis Herreshoff. Herreshoff was dyslexic and relied on his artistic and practical sensibilities to design beautiful boats and write about them. He also found fibreglass to be unlovely. I am a bit wary of wood in this sunny country and the only reason I noticed the Herreshoff was because I found one which had been sheathed in fibreglass which might be a good idea?
If you love and cherish her you can learn to draw sweet melodies from her and she will carry you through all the scale (Beaufort scale) of gales and calms, for she is based on well proven principles. She will lay well into the wind, under the mizzen, or steer well in a following sea and ghost along in light weather.
L. Francis Herreshoff’s design philosophy for the H-28
Biking
If Cardiff was plonked onto Broken Hill along with the rest of the UK.
Credit
I know I am struggling when, like in a recent post, I start writing lots of lists.
This post started as a list of bicycle rides around Australia. I quickly concluded that I could instead cherry-pick what other people have written. I am obviously not the only homebound wannabe traveller grappling with my frustrated inner Dervla
I created a Trailforks account to download a gpx file of the Mawson Trail. After logging in I was told to upgrade the account to access the damn gpx.
As if…
I should have checked with RideWithGPS, they have it. I had already got suckered into an account with them years ago. A quick search found the it’s creator David Hume had it also available on his own website. I also found a few other gpx’s and guides around the place.
Incidentally, the Mawson Trail is managed in part by South Australian Government Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing. They also sensibly suggest buying paper maps and offer some practical resources such as contacts for transport companies to get you and your bike to the start or from the end of the ride. All very Australian, organised, safety first, offensively inoffensive and bureaucratic. I can already imagine all the signs on the trail.
Not sure why I am eye-rolling at the gov.au it’s not as if I’m cool or anything. My style is definitely more in line with Helen D from the Uncool-Cycling-Club. Don’t let the name of her website fool you she is way cooler than me. She has already ridden the Mawson Trail even though she only started riding at aged 68. I like her style I wonder if I can join the club?
There is another ride I’ve eyed up over the years. North East of Melbourne is the Australian Alpine Epic Trail. A 40k ride around Mt Buller could be fun but am I ever going to drive all that way to go for a day of cycling? I doubt it.
This Guardian article by Alexis Buxton-Collins, who I believe is a South Australian based travel writer, has a pretty good list of rides around Australia
Considering I have failed to go on any exciting long distant rides in recent years I think the Munda Biddi Trail is unlikely, but it is another ride that is always on my radar.
The Corner Country Cut - 1,200km of thirsty riding
Finally, a local ride which I am calling, Corner Country Cut. I have been considering something like this since moving out here to BH. The vague plan is… get up to Tibooburra over to Wilcannia and then Menindee before returning home. Comparing it to cycling back in the UK I suppose it would be like a bicycle ride from Cardiff to Carlisle to London to Glastonbury and back to Cardiff with nothing between.
There is something real about setting forth from your home on a journey as opposed to a trip somewhere to follow a signposted trail. I’m not sure about getting up to the corner along the fenceline though. I suspect there is a lot of sand and no water which might make it impossible.
Second 5yr Plan
Back in early 2017 Re and I made a five year plan. It was vague and mainly concerned with paying off our mortgage. I had not had a mortgage for 15 years and was quite upset with the feeling that I was going rapidly backwards financially.
No turnips involved, honest
We made the plan to pay our house off within 5 years. Over the next 5 years we did the opposite. We doubled our mortgage used it to renovate our house and buy a house in Broken Hill. Luckily houses in Broken Hill are relatively cheap so it cost half the price of our Coffs Harbour house. We currently owe $400k against our two houses which could be worth about $800k.
We have pretty average Superannuation balances which don’t count for anything until we hit retirement age. I also have 80k invested in ETFs. Back in 2017 I had 50k invested and hardly anything in my Super. The last five years has shown me that I am OK. I’m not about to become homeless, in fact I am doing well.
I would like the next 5 years to be about doing stuff I love. I am in my 50s. If I survive to my 70s I would like some stories to tell.
Throwing it out there … here I am age 52 in 2021 in another 5 years it will be 2026 and I’ll be 57. If I am not in the middle of the place I want to be then it’s unlikely I will ever be.
Let’s brainstorm
- Fit - I want to be fit and healthy
- I want to be confident I can continue to earn a wage
- To maintain my relationships and I hope still be in this one!
That’s the obvious stuff out of the way. How about the plans, which are guaranteed to change. Yet I have to make them otherwise I’ll stay where I am and I will go stale, get fat and die if I don’t move on.
- Sail slowly around the planet
- Get a live-aboard blue-water sailing boat and change life to fit.
- Bicycle slowly around the planet.
- I bought the bicycle and can leave with a weeks notice.
The sailing option has just become my favourite choice since Re has told me she will come too. Harly is also keen. Of course this could change when we are all sea-sick on a choppy sea with uncertain weather. Let’s worry about that when it happens. Plans can change and nothing is forever.
A Plan
2022 - Go sailing; research; education; downsize
2022/3 - Buy a sailing boat (Steel or GRP monohull, 32/42 foot, >$100k)
> keep at least one house
2023/4 - Move onto boat
> Continue working as RN - Float/Casual
> Sail Slowly around Australia + Lord Howe
2025/6 - Sail to Asia/Japan/Pacific/Murica/Europe/Mediterranean
> write the next installment: '2026-5yrs_later'