Julienut, I was cruising almost 40 years ago, & even then a yachtie was no novelty. Most locals anywhere had no interest in you, unless you had something to offer, that they lacked. Of course there were not as many pirates then as now. They will be interested for sure.

Pick up some useful skills before you go, if you don't have them now. If you can fix a tractor, a diesel generator, or a two way radio, you will find a welcome. Island communities can be very accommodating if you come across the right way, & they probably need more help now than back then.

I flew around some of my old stamping grounds, by Google Earth the other day. Many of the plantations I knew are going back to scrub, & at least a dozen airstrips have disappeared.

Some of the jetties I built are now tens of meters inland, as atoll islands migrate. I'd say European plantation owners have gone, & the maintenance of many things has just stopped.

Anyhow, have fun with that boat, just keep it off the coral. But do remember that after spending a night or 2 in 500 pretty little anchorages, anchorage number 501 doesn't do all that much for you, no matter how pretty. Keep a line of retreat back home open, you'll probably want it one day.

Thanks for the advice.

Since I started sailing I've re-rigged, standing and running, replaced and rebuilt a 20hp diesel motor, upgraded all electric's and electronics, including enlarging the house battery bank, replaced the eutectic, installed a wind vane (not a prop), installing solar panels (roll out, latest flexible from the US) among a miriad of other things. (My tender has oars.) I did most all of this from manuels with not much great expert help.
I've read meterology, studied tides and seas, read sailors bio's and auto bios, (From Cook to Chichester), learned navigation from coastal to celestial including electronic, understand safety and have a better than average knowledege of likely medical emergencies, with the Captains Med Guide at hand. I simply figured being competent at all things when at sea is essential. I think it was once called seamanship.

I am quite able, it was what I've learned over the years ... through necessity.

Yes of course some things have contributed to degradation to the environment. But the point I tried go make was I think, my 'fooptprint' is far smaller than if I was ensconced in a typical land abode.

I wake every morning to a glorious mooring. Have done for three years. No I wont tire of it, it is so precious.

And the best advice I ever receoived was from the fellow who surveyed my boat when he discovered I was sailing solo from Newcastle to Brisbane, after never having set foot on a small boat before.

"If in doubt, headout. For it's not the sea that will get you but it's the hard bits in it that will."

The US is where my youngsters are thriving.

Dear Hohum.

Demographers usually categorize western communities in terms of the ABCD&E demographics. But there is one other demographic, who demographers call “world savers”. These are the western self loathers who despise the country and the culture they choose to live in.

These people are interesting specimens, and can come from any of the BCD&E demographics (the A demographics are too smart). What defines them is not social status or wealth, but attitudes. They have a compulsive need to think that they are smarter and morally superior to the rest of society. They champion Socialist causes and champion egalitarianism, which is ironic to say the least, as they are the biggest snobs in our community.

All of them think that they are oh, so ferking clever, and they usually present their opinions in terms of thundering self righteousness, as if their opinions are the epitome of intellectual and ethical enlightenment. My favorite trendy was the always outraged Senator Stott Despoya. They can be relied upon to formulate the slogans and man the barricades for every left wing cause whatsoever., adopting fashionable opinions as if from a clothing catalogue.

They tend to think entirely in terms of moral absolutes, with their evangelical devotions to Human Rights their particular substitute for puritanical infallible religious orthodoxy.

The western self loathers are desperate to display their social superiority to the Great Unwashed, a class they claim to lead but whom they completely despise. They also need to display their moral superiority to the bourgeoisie (who are usually their long suffering parents), by adopting causes guaranteed to get up the noses of the middle class.

Their attitudes could best be described as social climbing superiority mixed with Socialist egalitarianism. Card carrying members of this new class express customary hatred for the US, Israel, and western consumer society, while sucking up to terrorists like David Hicks.

JFK also warned us about the Military Industrial Complex and the need to take heed of the powerful secret societies who control them.JFK before his death had in process the printing of a new US currency issued by Congress as permitted by the Constitution.

In 1913 Pres Woodrow Wilson sold out the US public by giving to a private group of banks the power to create from nothing money to equal their increases in GDP and inflation.The following yr the income tax bill was instigated to tax the people to pay for debt to private central banks.Pres Woodrow Wilson was latter to lament his decision and we are all paying the price more so than ever.

The basic question is;who should own our increases in productivity,a private group of banks or the Govt which represents the people?

What is interesting to me about all this is - who pays?

A few days ago, Andrew Bolt ran a post that showed (IIRC) that 3% of the population pay 31% of the taxes, and that 60% pay only 10%. Yet we all have the same vote.

To this aged scribe, that means that 60% of the population (who are not paying for it all) are deciding how the proceeds from those of us who are paying are spent.

What we have here is a disconnect between those who are demanding (enforcement of their "entitlements") and those who are paying.

It is a very easy thing to do to vote in such a way that somebody else (certainly not me) gets to pay for the issues that I am concerned about.

Just saying.

Herbert, those statistics are from an official release from the tax office. Out of curiosity I did a little "back of the envelope" sums off the same set of statistics to work out if a rise in the tax rate for those that earned more than $180,000 per year (the top tax rate) would be able to cover the cost of raising the tax-free threshold to $30,000. Effectively, it worked out that the top earners (and from memory there was only about 180,000-odd of these people in Australia) would have to pay at about 90% tax to fund such as cut.

One of my gripes is with how the combination of tax rates and welfare impact on the effective tax rate. I would have far more incentive to work harder and earn more if I didnt get any benefits for my children. As it is though, my effective tax rate is 70% when all tax and benefits are combined - I am happy to plod along (actually I work my butt off, but I was taught by my "builder" father that you should always work as hard as you possibly can), but I dont want to earn any more. I am better off to invest my tme in not spending anymore (baking for the kids instead of buying them lunches at school, growing own vegies, paying off the mortgage rather than going on holiday) - for efforts there I get a 100% return.

It really is high time to overhaul the system so that we provide the right balance of assistance, with incentive to work harder. Government is just too inclined to pander to interest groups, rather than leading for the betterment of the country (actually to be honest I am not sure that they are capable, no matter what persuasion).