A lot of my blog posts concern being prepared for emergencies and survival. I’ve also posted about projects I’ve done, like boat building and converting diesel vehicles to waste vegetable oil. Some of my posts concern travel in everything from a converted ambulance to sailboats to train trips.
Survival is critical as you can’t have any adventures if you check out early. Survival by itself is pointless. Just surviving is not living. At least that way I feel about things.
So now I find myself getting that itch again. Maybe it’s due to travel being limited the last couple of years. Maybe it’s just time to do something interesting.
There are some limitations. My budget is not that large. I’ve never spent any more than $2500 on a sailboat. Even my ambulance was picked up at auction for a ridiculously low price. The projects I’ve done were all fairly low cost. Many of them ended up saving money in the long run.
So what shall my lovely wife and I do next? I’m open to ideas. Some things are out. We aren’t exactly in condition to hike the Appalachian Trail. We used to go on long extended canoe camping trips, but my lovely wife had both shoulders rebuilt. No sense in ruining those surgeon’s good work. While small aircraft are fascinating the hobby is beyond my budget.
I thought she had completely ruled out motorcycle adventures. Today she said she might be okay riding on the back of one again -if we didn’t go too far in a day. That could be done on a budget. We wouldn’t be on a new Harley-Davidson, but an old Honda Goldwing might be doable. That being said it was an idea she was only sorta lukewarm to.
So I’m throwing this one out to my readers. Any idea what would be a interesting adventure?
-Sixbears
With the high cost of gasoline, shorter weekend motorcycle camping does sound like a good way to stretch the legs. Especiallly when sleeping accommodations are inexpensive and/or free. A couple of hours of driving, then setting up camp and enjoying the scenery, followed up by nighttime sky viewing / contemplation of what the Universe has to offer.
ReplyDeleteWill keep it in mind. We've got the camping gear.
DeleteAs a fellow adventurer can I suggest a shallow draft camp sailboat. Not best for crossing Lake Sunapee but if easy to dump off into the many larger ponds, slow rivers and edges of our many lakes a lot of fun. A screen tent designed into the boat makes loon watching painless. An electric trolling motor some batteries, a push pole-oar (when you get stuck as I well know) and a simple sail rig is a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteMight be a fishing platform, might be a seeking places most hikers never go survival pod.
I've an Oday 19 with a swing keel. We used a trolling motor for years but switched to a small Honda after an incident in the Keys where we were getting sucked out into the bay by the current.
DeleteI had also built a flat bottomed 12 foot boat with a cabin big enough to lie down in. Unfortunately I was sold a bad batch of plywood and it came apart in spite of a heavy coating of epoxy.
I don't suggest electrics nor oars for ocean or river running. O'Days are fine sailboats. My little sharpie (homebuilt) has seen plenty of odd adventures even sailing where Herons walk and passing by kayakers in the swampy bits. Hand them a beer and offer some BBQ you get a lot of happy information about other cool places to gunkhole.
ReplyDeleteMy sweetie like lazy sailing-picnics and was amazed last winter when we lost power for two days and I was able to run the fridges and lights off my sharpies power pack. The BBQ was welcome for coffee, eggs and pancakes.
I love sharpies. Great design. I am tempted to get an even lighter boat than the Oday.
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