So.... You want to cruise on a sailboat

[sailorboy1]

I think I have spent 3 of the last 6 weeks basically hiding from the wind.

[jjonyj001]

the supply always exceeds the demand

[Tsalta]

Hi All,

We have just spent our first full week afloat and the things we thought would be important are trumped by much bigger issues. I’d love some input from some liveaboards please.

Issue 1. Fitness. At home (land home), we exercise at least 6 days a week. Sailing on a mono always felt like a bit of a workout but the motion of the cat is so gentle and requires no extra effort, we are both feeling very blurrrgh. How do you stay fit?

Issue 2. I think after 1 week we are now alcoholics. How do you not become fat alco’s??


I’m a little glad we have 3 weeks ashore before our next two week stint afloat. I need to detox and drop some kegs.

The thoughts of galley up / galley down etc are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy down the list of issues for now.

Cheers
Jeff

[john manning]

Originally Posted by Tsalta

Hi All,

We have just spent our first full week afloat and the things we thought would be important are trumped by much bigger issues. I’d love some input from some liveaboards please.

Issue 1. Fitness. At home (land home), we exercise at least 6 days a week. Sailing on a mono always felt like a bit of a workout but the motion of the cat is so gentle and requires no extra effort, we are both feeling very blurrrgh. How do you stay fit?

Issue 2. I think after 1 week we are now alcoholics. How do you not become fat alco’s??


I’m a little glad we have 3 weeks ashore before our next two week stint afloat. I need to detox and drop some kegs.

The thoughts of galley up / galley down etc are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy down the list of issues for now.

Cheers
Jeff

FITNESS. Give up now. It's either never stop sailing the yacht or you will be unfit.

ALCOHOL. How to stop getting fat = Stop eating food. There are enough calories in the alcohol.

Warning. Advice from strangers can be dangerous. My idea of paradise is an alcoholic senescence in a Fijian marina.

[BluePeter]

Excuse the lofty tone, but...

If sailing/cruising/experiencing the everlasting powers of nature and learning about the richness of foreign cultures... doesn't make us better people, then what is it for? Flitting about and having fun? Getting schnokkered? Sure, but.

Don't want to get fat on alcohol? Don't pack it. This is a basic question of desire becoming the source of all suffering. Just quit. Anyway, it's killing you. Can't quit? Cut down drastically.

Fitness? Try swimming and walking. Such things are at your fingertips unless you are mid-ocean.

Don't want it? Don't pack it. You already know the answer. If you ask dumb questions like yours, you'll get dumb answers like mine!
peace
BP

[chris mac]

Originally Posted by Tsalta

Hi All,

We have just spent our first full week afloat and the things we thought would be important are trumped by much bigger issues. I’d love some input from some liveaboards please.

Issue 1. Fitness. At home (land home), we exercise at least 6 days a week. Sailing on a mono always felt like a bit of a workout but the motion of the cat is so gentle and requires no extra effort, we are both feeling very blurrrgh. How do you stay fit?

Issue 2. I think after 1 week we are now alcoholics. How do you not become fat alco’s??


I’m a little glad we have 3 weeks ashore before our next two week stint afloat. I need to detox and drop some kegs.

The thoughts of galley up / galley down etc are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy down the list of issues for now.

Cheers
Jeff

After 1 week afloat... that is the answer to all your questions! You are still in the honeymoon, or "it's a vacation" phase.
Soon all the boat yoga, repairs, interspersed with snorkelling, beach walks, reprovisioning walks, ect. Will keep you in shape.
And no big debate, galley down is best[emoji6] especially when you pull in a big mahi, which is also a good workout

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by Tsalta

Hi All,

We have just spent our first full week afloat and the things we thought would be important are trumped by much bigger issues. I’d love some input from some liveaboards please.

Issue 1. Fitness. At home (land home), we exercise at least 6 days a week. Sailing on a mono always felt like a bit of a workout but the motion of the cat is so gentle and requires no extra effort, we are both feeling very blurrrgh. How do you stay fit?

Issue 2. I think after 1 week we are now alcoholics. How do you not become fat alco’s??


I’m a little glad we have 3 weeks ashore before our next two week stint afloat. I need to detox and drop some kegs.

The thoughts of galley up / galley down etc are wayyyyyyyyyyyyy down the list of issues for now.

Cheers
Jeff

I’m assuming (okay, hoping) that this is tongue in cheek or full on joking... but in case it’s not-

Taking a weeklong vacation on a boat isn’t cruising. You could have decided to take a week off to veg out on the couch and watch Netflix and you'd be asking the same questions.

The reality of living aboard is that almost everything keeps you in shape (cleaning, fixing, sweating, diving the anchor, cleaning the hulls).
IF somehow that’s not enough than start doing yoga, swimming/freediving off the boat, paddleboarding, use your oars in the dinghy rather than the outboard, flip your anchor rode daily (just for fun)... and if you can’t figure it out on/around the boat - then row to shore for whatever activities you’ve grown accustomed to 6out of 7days a week now.

Honestly, if you can’t find the creativity to stay fit onboard this is the least of your questions/problems to solve before cruising.

Alcohol.
Okay, this can be somewhat of a more realistic concern but only because of the issue above. This isn’t sailing specific, it’s “new to retirement” specific.
As long as you look at this as a vacation you’ll act the way you’ve been trained to act on vacation..

At some point you’ll recenter the brain to realize this is now life.
The longer you want it to go on living/enjoying that (which is important since you just presumably met several lifelong goals) the more you need to make good decisions to ensure it.

I’d suggest finding a way to not cycle on and off the boat (1week aboard and 3weeks off)... in my opinion you’re just begging for another repeat “sailing vacation week” likely with similar results.

Take off, live the lifestyle full time, clean/maintain your own boat and you’ll (likely) find a solution to both points in short order.