Bad news comrades; I'm going to have to return to Australia and my former life of wage slavery.
My budget was always going to be tight, and I overspent on the boat a little, but the major money malfunction is an asset sale that went tits-up. I'll spare you the details (they're embarrassing anyway) but suffice it to say that a hefty transaction that was at one time a certainty, is now, er, not.
My backup plan, should the asset sale evaporate, was to work teaching English in Europe. All reports were that as an Australian passport holder it would be difficult to get permission to work in the EU. But as we JR fans know, there are always plenty of naysayers around, and as usual I chose not to believe them. We've all done things that others regard as difficult or impossible, so I imagined my charm and persistence would overcome the obstacles. I was wrong.
With tenacity and time I will probably succeed in getting an EU work permit, and later a ‘Blue Card’ but because of the other financial disaster I haven't got the time. I have to scurry back to Oz and put my nose to the grindstone.
It might take a few years to rebuild my financial base, therefore it doesn't make sense to keep Mariposa ‘in waiting’ for me, so I'll reluctantly put her up for sale. I'll post a separate thread in the for-sale section of the JRA website.
I guess I'll take on Sunbird Marine to broker the deal, given that the sale will probably take place after I'm already back in Oz.
Another reason I'm okay with letting Mariposa go, magnificent as she is, is that now that I've lived aboard and worked on a junk rigged boat for four months I'm no longer intimidated by the prospect of doing a conversion myself. I've only sailed her once, but I'm far more intimate with junk rigs than before.
I'm going ‘home’ to eat some crow, with a side order of humble pie.
But I will rise again! And ply the oceans with another JR, without the tension and worry of wobbly finances.
I guess I'm in danger of getting a reputation as flighty. A year ago I was pestering you all (especially David Tyler) about converting my Compass 28 to JR. Then I sold her and came to the UK to buy Mariposa. Annie warned me that the grass was not always greener, but I'm a bad listener.
So that's the bad news. Hopefully some eager JRA member would love to give Mariposa a new home.
Matt