The reader said I was unrealistic: “Building a custom home is an unrealizable dream for many at any time of life, let alone when suddenly retired without warning.” OK, maybe I was. Maybe I still am. But, five years later, the cash flow is working. Yes, it took some new income streams and some good […]
His mother called him Shug (as in “sugar”). So we all did. And we still do—although his size and somewhat rugged appearance don’t fit the name. Picture the Marlboro man with a few more years and a few more pounds. Shug is one of my oldest, best friends. So when he moved back to his […]
Team I couldn’t help being impressed by the esprit de corps of the Grafton crew. Early on, they decided to abandon the tradition of top-down rank aboard ship for a more democratic partnership on land. They still elected a leader, and, interestingly enough, unanimously chose Captain Musgrave. The only caveat was that they could change […]
Risk I didn’t tell you earlier, but Druett’s book also is about another vessel, the Invercauld, which wrecked on the same island, at approximately the same time as the Grafton (though each crew did not know of the other’s existence). However, the story of the Invercauld differed drastically. While all member of the Grafton would […]
Routine Captain Musgrave believed that routine was important for morale. Thus, he had everyone rise daily with the cook at 6:00 a.m. The early time was important not only for psychological reasons; it took a lot of wood to keep the cabin heated—they kept the blaze going night and day—so the earlier the start, the […]
Resourcefulness (If you haven’t read Part I) Where did the men of the Grafton look to find materials to build? Obviously, the answer was in their new world, things natural to the island and the wreckage of their ship, much of it still submerged in icy water. So they found copper to line their stove, […]
In 1864 the British schooner Grafton wrecked off the coast of the Auckland Islands. The crew’s story, as told by Joan Druett (Island of the Lost, 2019) became a primer for how to survive a shipwreck. And reading it during the quarantine of 2020, I found a guide to surviving retirement in a pandemic. I’ll […]