Cruisers' Psychology

[GordMay]

I don’t know how to put this more delicately, so please accept my apologies for any unintended offense.
Those of us who dwell on personal security and self-defense, and the like, may not be psychologically suited to cruising. It’s hard to be happy, when you’re always concerned about the perceived dangers you face.

I think anyone unfamiliar with, and contemplating the cruising life, might be well advised to read the (2) following texts, which will provide some interesting insights that may help you determine if you are psychologically suited to the “cruising lifestyle”.

Ocean cruising: A study of affirmative deviance
A Doctoral Thesis ~ by Dr. James Macbeth, Phd

Abstract
Modern day ocean voyaging in private sailing vessels dates back to the turn of the century. Despite this, the present thesis is the first academic study of ocean cruising to be completed. Of the thousands of people who make ocean voyages, only a few hundred are committed to the lifestyle of cruising, that is, see cruising as a whole way of life that they will pursue indefinitely. The thesis first presents an ethnography of the lifstyle of cruising with particular attention to
(1) what activities constitute the lifestyle,
(2) why people cruise, and
(3) what values, attitudes, and characteristics attach to the participants.
Second, the thesis relates this ethnography to several theories in socialogy and psychology.

In sociology, subculture and deviance theories are used to place cruising in the context of the wider scholastic study of society. Pearson (1979) and others are drawn upon in placing cruising in the context of subcultures while the work of walter Buckley (1967) is used to modify deviance theory to account for the apparently positive nature of the deviance inherent in the cruising lifestyle.

In psychology, theories of autotelic rewards, enjoyment, and human satisfaction are used to understand the experience of and motivation to cruise. In addition, theories of personal growth developed by Hampden-Turner (1970) and others are applied to cruisers and their way of life.

The thesis concludes that cruisers, as cultural 'heroes', can be seen as affirmative deviants. That is to say, given an humanistic and western individualistic value system their deviance can be seen as contributing to their individual health and growth, and to positive social evolution.

Goto: http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/bro...0050628.120609

Read Dr. Macbeth’s entire (485 page) thesis at:
http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/pub...09/02Whole.pdf

See also:

”The Voyager's Handbook”: The Essential Guide to Blue Water Cruising
by Beth A. Leonard

The first chapter covers the psychology profile of successful voyagers. This section is a must read for couples condsidering a live aboard lifesyle. The remainder of the book covers all the information required to live and travel safely on your sailboat.
"In most cases, the human element determines whether a long-term voyage is a success or a failure..."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...81437?v=glance
More:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0070...3D#reader-link

Good reading,
Gord May