Building a plan...

So, how to go about this "shift"?  Without a plan, it will never happen.  Everything will keep running in the same channel it has been and years will pass.  So a brainstorming is a good idea (IMHO)

Fund raising:  What is happening in the world and how can I do or show something different.

I know there must be others out there who would like to do this too, but perhaps want to see it done by someone else first.  I know there are many blogs and vlogs that show people striking out on the water, but most seem to be from an office environment.

What is it about us in the trades that we do not see this as an option?  Perhaps it is the dark side of the old work ethic.  The part that says you should stay in your stable job and do the stable things to keep society functioning and everything in its proper place.  Except I am not a thing, and who is to say what my proper place is?  Many good things come from a stable income and skill set; a house (mortgage), retirement savings, family, and many others.  It isn't until I look at trying to change the course of life that the scale of the channeling is visible.  Oh, I am free to change alright.  The cost to do so will be most of the larger "good" thing that being a tradesman brings!

It reminds me of my experience in university, when I tried to take an "Art" class while working on a physics major.  Being in the "Arts and Sciences" I naively assumed that I would be able to take a class on drawing or painting or sculpting.  I quickly discovered that the "Art" available to me was one or two English classes, maybe an economics class!  WHAT!?!  Yes, I discovered that university is about producing a product (the Graduate) for a market (corporations) and had little to do with "Higher Education"   It was a horrible disappointment to me as I had always had art as a class alongside my sciences and maths.

 Now I am in a trade, have taken much training and have definite skills, yet find the same forces at work to direct my "freedom" to where I "fit"!  There are so many things that would recommend trades people for the cruising lifestyle!  First of all, we can learn many technical subjects and how to apply/alter/repair them without much difficulty.  We often operate complicated machinery with great skill.  We are very good at assessing hazards and keeping ourselves and others safe.  We often understand the equipment we work with better than the engineer who designed it.  So why would a change like this be considered so "out- there"?  I don't think it is.  I'm sure it isn't for everyone, but the social cost and dollar cost seems to me to be way out of proportion to the act of trying it out.  I have been checking out rental rates of the boats and it will take a couple of years of squirreling $$$ aside to even head out and try it for a week!  Maybe a doctor or Jr exec. could just head out on a lark but generally not a tradesman.  I suppose there is an unspoken worry that if all the trades people were to run away to do what they dream of, who would be left to do the work of keeping society's machinery running?  In my opinion, we (as a society) have taken specialization and the enshrinement of the specialist too far.  We have entered the realm of co-dependent enmeshment  to try and guarantee our own importance in our various groups and it will not end well.  Perhaps a successfull departure will allow others to take the steps needed to break out of the ruts we are building for ourselves and our children.  After all, the rules of society are just modes of consensus and not laws to live by.

In order to make this a useful story to follow, I will need to lay out all the details of where I'm staring from and what changes are being made along the way.  So why not start now.

STARTING POINT

Current Job: Maintenance electrician in a hospital
Trade background: Residential and commercial work.
Other training: Aircraft Maintenance, Industrial First Aid
Licences: Drivers Licence, Pilot Licence, PADI diver
Marital Status: Married
Children: Two, one out of the house, the other in grade school
Spouse employment: Yes
Housing: Own (Mortgage)
Vehicles: One 2007 Grand Caravan  One project car, Two dying cars.

No summer cabins, vacation condos, RV's.  One cell phone (flip phone) no data.


WHERE I"D LIKE TO GO

Job: Reef survey diver, voice actor, trades instructor for remote places. Skilled sailor.  Inspiration for others.
Housing: a 45' to 50' yacht.
Other: It would be nice to have a few things stored back on the land.  Ideal if it was at our own property.  Maybe a place that could be rented out while we are away?

Now, to build the steps between the two.....