When to Leave?

[Gadagirl]

Not when to cut dock lines. I'm asking cruisers "out there", when they find a fan-tabulous spot, they are loving life, cost effective, beautiful place, love the people, love the atmosphere, all is well and good. How do you tear yourself away? Pull anchor and hope to find better? Do you vow to return after you've ventured on? Do you stay? Are you always amazed at how you thought that was the pot of gold but have come upon something even more splendid? Ever regret leaving one destination for another? I only ask because I think I could fall in love with many places, and have so on simple vacations. It's sometimes gut wrenching leaving, and I want cruisers perspective.

[colemj]

If one is on a time-constrained cruise with particular plans, then places are usually planned in advance.

We have an open-ended agenda with no real goals, so we stay in places for long times. We stayed in the San Blas islands Panama for over 2 years.

Surprisingly, "paradise" becomes "boring" almost overnight. I can't explain it, but after some random period of time, you go to bed perfectly in love with a place and wake up ready to move on again. Might be 3 days, might be 3 years.

We regret only spending two winters in the Bahamas and only 2 months in Columbia, but one doesn't always have a lot of choice when weather has some control over how long you can stay in a place at any one time.

The saving grace of it all is that these places don't move much, so you can almost always find them again.

Mark

[Gadagirl]

Thanks Mark, that was beautiful.
Have you ever cried when leaving a place?

[Teknav]

Hiya GG! It is always sad to leave a beautiful place. I'm always looking for that remote reef for SCUBA diving, and making plans on how to get to it on my next adventure. Because of the amount of planning involved and the anticipation of discovering a new pristine location, the pain of leaving a nice place is minimized. As long as you have your health, take advantage of every adventure that you can think of. Planning your trip is half the fun. Getting there and completing it, is the icing on the cake; memories are made of this.

Mauritz

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Gadagirl

I'm asking cruisers "out there", when they find a fan-tabulous spot, they are loving life, cost effective, beautiful place, love the people, love the atmosphere, all is well and good. How do you tear yourself away?

Originally Posted by colemj

......Surprisingly, "paradise" becomes "boring" almost overnight. I can't explain it, but after some random period of time, you go to bed perfectly in love with a place and wake up ready to move on again. Might be 3 days, might be 3 years.

.......one doesn't always have a lot of choice when weather has some control over how long you can stay in a place at any one time.
Mark

+1
Without time constraints, the weather is the only thing governing our stay if we love a place.

It is weird though how you do just wake up one morning out of the blue and say "I am ready to go". If either of us feel this way we then just pick a destination the wind is favourable for (vaguely in the direction we want to be going) and up comes the anchor .

[rebel heart]

For us it's been weather. A lot of the tropical areas (all?) are subject to cyclones so you end up needing to move around those. And since the areas are so large, you are always feeling like a bit under the gun. Ditto for visa issues. In French Polynesia unless you jump through flaming hoops you only have three months. It's a huge area to cover in three months, and that's if you don't have any issues (sickness, injuries, repairs) to slow you down.

So at least for us it seems like we're often looking at the next place to go.

Then there are more basic logistical issues like fresh produce, fishing, a place to buy "real" groceries, etc.

We're a couple with two kids so our world might be a bit different than most. Water was usually one of the more compelling reasons for us to move but that's changed significantly with the watermaker.

[Richard5]

Perhaps I wouldn't be leaving in a gale but when the weather is lively is the time which makes a fitting memory.

Now you asked of when to leave a place so lovely without being forlorn for it. There is penance to be paid for vowing to return. You'll break their hearts and in so doing yours too. If it should come to pass, let it be a grand and happy reunion.

Here is how I see it.

The Men Who Don't Fit In - Robert W Service - YouTube

R.W. was endowed with the ability to see into men's souls.

[sailorboy1]

I would think that people that head out in a boat are going to get to the "time to move along" point as a norm.

[boatman61]

Oops, you posted at just the wrong time! Don't worry, we preserved your post, you can copy this and paste it back into your post once we are live again:

As some FT cruisers have already said... one day you wake up and decide to go... no big hoo-hah... just up anchor, fuel & water up and away you go.. maybe a sail past and wave to friends you've made while there... if they're up..
Going back is often a disappointment.. lots changed.. different people and atmosphere...
To quote 'Sade'.... It's never as good as the first time...
Just enjoy every stop as a unique moment in your life and travel without expectations...

0.000000000000001centimes

[Hudson Force]

We lead two lives. It might be thought that we are motivated to move by the weather as we seasonally cruise from what would be miserable cold in the winter to hot and hurricane risk in the summer, but that's not the motivation. When we stay in a port that we enjoy we often manage to have a slip in a marina. We enjoy the convenience of close and easy groceries, we spend more time below, I'm often found at this computer, we are among more people, we watch more movies and keep abreast of the world news, spend time bicycling. We can usually do this for about two months before it becomes boring. When we head out underway we see few other people, we read books, we spend more time in the cockpit, we kayak, I'm not often at this computer, we become tuned to the cycles of the weather, moon and tide, we rarely stay in one anchorage for more than three days. After a couple of months underway, we become excited about the prospect of returning to "civilization". Paradise doesn't seem to be a place for us, but instead it's an opportunity to change and renew. You would think that the change itself would become mundane, but it's been inspiring us for over forty years even though we stay in the same cruising range from Maine to the Bahamas and return to many of the same ports.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Gadagirl

I think I could fall in love with many places, and have so on simple vacations. It's sometimes gut wrenching leaving, and I want cruisers perspective.

A good question t'witch I will give multiple answers

1) That itchy feet feeling actually happens.

2) When you know everyone's name. Even their dogs!

3) "We Have No Plans and We are Sticking To Them" thats is the worst statement I hear and it means those people have nothing to achieve and will become bored.
So have a plan - it can be changed - but don't just sit and wait to die as many cruisers do (esp in the Bahamas and Florida).
Make sure your plan get you moving on before you get bored.

4) Stuck in a location for a season: I am 'stuck' in Grenada till November as I must be here this year, not even a trip further south etc. So I have carefully planned to keep busy in the one area for a long time.

5) If you are long range cruising your times in places are set by the seasons anyway. You are constantly on the move and the road stretches ahead....



In general the most exciting cruisers, leading the most exciting lives, having the best experiences, making the best memories all have one thing in common: They are going somewhere!



Mark

[zeehag]

i usually get itchy feets in middle of a good repair and have to wait until boat is readier.....this time we have huge repairs so i may not leave this winter---but i may --dont know yet---i found a gorgeous and well protected place to hang out--- so far so ggood for furycames...not in a desert or anywhere difficult to obtain good foods and boat parts...i dont have to flee from northers or chubascos.....summer s GREEN ...
and the world is awesome.


but i will leave this pair a dice when i have an engine again.

[barnakiel]

- the weather changes,
- we run out of X (say potable water),
- the welcome expires,

The point is, we only truly like places without humans. And these turn our boring after every nook and cranny has been explored. And so it is time to go on.

b.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by colemj

The saving grace of it all is that these places don't move much, so you can almost always find them again.

Nice line. Consider it stolen.

[Sandero]

This.. is a great question! Others have more experience because they've cruised longer and visited more of paradise. But I'll chime in.

The short answer is you don't know. But cruising is not about being in paradise as much as experiencing paradise in its many variations. One location might hit many of the right notes and seem like you've hit the cruising lotto. So this does become hard to leave and one of the so called favs or keepers or places we want to return to again and again. You can't miss something unless you leave it!

I loved English Harbor, Antigua. But I could not live there 24/7/365.... because there are some "things" it doesn't have... so off I go... only to return (hopefully again to the same sweet experience). But of course it will have changed somewhat. Everything is changing.

If you like the tropics... the Caribbean is full of places you don't want to leave... and that is the key... there are many. And it's so wonderful to discover a new place and just as wonderful to return to a familiar one you missed.

Some people settle down and live aboard and then day sail. Not a bad idea. Find what works for you.. but know that there is always something new out there to thrill to... and return to.

note to MarkJ

Sorry I missed you when you were in NYC. I love your posts! And would have enjoyed breaking bread with you.