Thoughts and reflections about the past week or so from my own financial independence campaign.
Progress on my goals
Boat life
We decided that yesterday was The Day to attempt to remove our freshwater tank that has developed a leak.
I regret to inform you all that the tank remains stubbornly in place beneath the rear cabin bunk.
It turns out that the tank was fitted using big blobs of Sikaflex, which is a kind of silicon sealant and all-round adhesive used extensively on boats because it pretty much bodges every job like the sticky waterproof bugger it is. We cut away the bits we could get to, but when we tried to lift the tank up we learned that there are big blobs of it beneath the tank we can’t see.
Lady SierraWhiskyMike has ordered some cheese wire and we’re going to attack it by looping the wire beneath the tank.
What this means is that we’re living out of camping water containers until we get this one out and a new tank in.
Oh! The glamorous life we lead!
Distractions and detours
Fitbit
I bought a Fitbit to help with my running – and because Lady SierraWhiskyMike seems to get a lot of value out of the stats that hers records.
The Fitbit app works on the iPad so it’s not reliant on me using a smartphone if I have a tablet.
The version I bought is called “Charge 6”. I picked it because it has its own GPS, so it works as a stand-alone running tracker and I don’t need to carry a phone, and it’s a lot cheaper than buying a Garmin running watch or an Apple Watch or something equally irritating. I think I paid £80 for it on sale.
So far it’s been OK. The running tracker is brilliant and I need to set up Google Wallet on it so that I can pay for emergency food (or a bus home) when I start hitting longer distances where injury or running out of energy is a real risk.
What I don’t like about it is its constant need for attention. The app does let you configure what pop-ups appear, but a lot of the time you don’t know there’s a menu option to turn an alert off until it has gone off and distracted you from whatever you were doing. Google/Fitbit clearly thought that it was a good idea to give you a tracker that’s fully demanding of your attention, but they were wrong.
The app itself isn’t as user-friendly as you’d expect from Google, but after much faffing about I’ve managed to set most of the device options up. It tracks data and gives you graphics that seem like they should mean something, if only I had some context to put those numbers to use.
I like the sleep tracking feature but I have a lot of “what do I do with this information?” moments. Knowing that I need more deep sleep is basically pointless if I can’t take action to get more deep sleep.
Good for the price, the running tracker is excellent and I like that it does contactless payments. Sleep tracker shows promise. Pretty much everything else about it is the kind of “meh”.
If you’re into being distracted, the Fitbit alerts you to text messages and stuff. I’m not into that and turned that feature off straight away.
If you want to buy a Fitbit Charge 6 after this uninspiring review, consider buying through my affiliate link so I get some of Jeff B’s pennies. It doesn’t cost you anything and there’s no discount.
Oh, and probably wait until it’s on sale again if you can.
Non-FIRE goals
My guitar rock god quest (AKA learning to play)
We’re pressing ahead with Sad but True by Metallica. There are no lessons for the next two weeks, so lots of practice time.
Fitness
So I ran a half marathon distance Monday, then did the same run again yesterday. This time at a faster pace, coming in at 1hr48 and change.
I’ve signed up to a marathon in April 2025 to keep this training motivation going.
So far I’m still running in the comfortable but not durable Vivobarefoot Primus Lite shoes. I was really hoping that the huarache sandals would work and I’m wearing them pretty much everywhere as an everyday shoes. Well, not to work, but everywhere casual.
I reckon that if my feet toughen up I can use the sandals for road running, but I haven’t had a good experience so far using them on cross-country terrain.
At half marathon distance I’m at the limit of where I can safely (and comfortably!) run without some kind of water and nutrition. I feel it in the last mile or two that I could go for longer if I’d taken in extra fuel during the run. I haven’t worked out quite how I’m going to do this. Really don’t want to run with a bumbag or a bladder pack if I can help it.
The marathon I’ve signed up for has Lucozade, jelly sweets and choccy on the water stands. I reckon that if I carry a small bottle of Lucozade during training (and consider stopping off to refill at public water fountains en route) that should be enough for the longer distance training runs. I’ll see what I can get hold of and have a play.
Final thoughts
Boat life is going through a hard patch. Such is life. What I’ve notice is that “hardship” in boat life means using a water carrier for a bit until you rip parts out and replacements turn up, whereas I remember “hardship” when we lived in a house being “you need to fix the plumbing and then plaster and tile/paint the wall… assuming it’s the plumbing and not a roof leak manifesting in an unusual place”.
I’m grateful for the comparative simplicity of my problems and their solutions, even if I now have bruised knuckles and Lady SierraWhiskyMike is complaining about her shoulder from being wedged into a small space with a screwdriver.
Running is coming along really well, and although I complain about burning through my trainers so quickly it’s quite a cheap hobby. I know I’ve bought a toy to help me with it, but I really didn’t have to and could’ve made do with my trusty Casio and a fiver in my gym shorts. I guess I’m coming to realise that I don’t really begrudge spending on fitness, even though I complain about it.
My financial independence campaign continues!
