So I will run my ideas by you guys to see what you all think.
1. I had been planning to work on Eliana the next 6 months before joining the HaHa in October. The 2 big items would have been be a new windlass (surprisingly I have no windlass at all) and a cutter stay. Also need a new liferaft, as mine was due for service service so I sold it. The cost of service plus what I got from the sale is basically the cost of a new raft. After the HaHa I would cross the Pacific. If I stay in California for 6 months without any reasonable income, I'd spend my kitty on the unreasonably high cost of living and not be able to afford that trip. But, I realized I could leave ASAP. I would miss Mexico as the sailing season is wrapping up there, but I could cross the Pacific in May or June. I would have to rush to sell off my remaining stuff over the next few weeks.
2. Another option is to get a crappy (but less stressful) minimum wage job. I can stay for 6 months with family. ( I wish I could liveaboard here, but that is another issue and partly why I want so badly to leave) Minimum wage would cover my slip fees and food, and minimal of anything else. I could then leave with the HaHa in 6 months, but still without making the improvements I want.
3. Get into deliveries. I have wanted to do this for a long time, as I have both the sailing skills, and also the repair and maintenance skills to be very good at it. Want I am not good at is finding business clients. I am the worst salesperson ever. I have tried to run my own business a few times in life, and always failed hard because of that fact, not because of my skills doing whatever the business was. So, it is a big gamble, but I would love it and it could support me for 6 months or longer if it pays off. I could also potentially continue this leaving Eliana in Fiji or NZ while I was off doing it.
4. Sell Eliana, and move on. I have some open ended jobs offers in Virginia and in Eureka. There is a possibility I could take my boat to Eureka. I don't think the sailing is very good there, and I don't know if the marinas have any space. I think it is a better spot for fishing boats. Not sure, actually. But looking online shows the marina has a waiting list. I could live aboard in Virginia, but the Job offer I have expires in August. I couldn't get Eliana there before then, and plus the hurricane season. I could sell Eliana and buy another boat on the east coast, but I expect I would go backwards in terms of condition and refitting that I have done.
5. Sell Eliana and hitchhike/sail on other peoples boats. From a pure economic standpoint, this makes sense. I would have the most amount of cash as I left the US, and also have the least amount of expenses during my travels. But I would lose the freedom of sailing on my own vessel and setting my own sailing schedule.
Thoughts?
