Long-Term Outlook for Cruising

[MarkJ]

In 10 years?

Some places available now will not be viable but new places will.

Cruising areas that will be extinct:
Turkey - religious
Croatia etc - pricing themselves out.
Tunisia
Morocco
Bahamas getting v expensive
Trinidad - tax hikes, crime
Some Caribbean islands - expensive
ICW, Florida - Expensive, too many rules.

New places
Cuba -southern ports open, cheap
Indonesia - undiscovered, govt will promote tourism
Venezuela - after a revolution, cheap, wonderful.
Brazil, Argentina - modern boats better to get there.

The list goes on.........

Sent from a stupid phone that replaces words with weird stuff.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by unclemack

I copy the url and paste it into "insert image" - as far as I'm aware this is the correct procedure. If not, apologies to all

It's a lot easier if you right click and open in a new tab or window.

[JTHAW]

Laika ,and Hudson force,... thank you...I cruised and lived aboard 35 yrs ago...I'm sure there must be beautiful spots left without the crowding...I must say it makes me very sad to think of the Virgins...about ruined as far as I can read about...Back then 1980, it was so cool...incredible sailing with easy to reach wonderful anchorages..just magnificent..no park wardens, no moorings to pay for..not too much crowding herding..many less concrete structures to give you a somewhat still remote feeling in many achorages....very few large multi's to take up anchoring room..I doubt I would like it now...too much of everything.. really a shame...seriously, it was my favorite 50 or so miles to sail in....gone...if it were anything still somewhat close to what it was; I could spend 6 months there just sailing and anchoring..
A lifetime sailor I spent time with back then...won't even go near them, just bypasses them altogether..

[Boatguy30]

Honestly no idea how the Bahamas is becoming very expensive. Prices the same as 12 years ago and food cheaper in Georgetown for many things than at Publix.


Did go to some pricey restaurants in Eleuthra and looked at some crazy menus in Harbor Island. Now I'm sure the other shoe will drop but its much cheaper with a under 35' boat than Cuba. And the Cuba fees seemed to be going up steadily over the last months plus the bribes asked for.


Of course being almost legal for Americans to visit I will be much less inclined to pay and bribes as in 2009.

[Hudson Force]

I just don't see the doom and misery, expense or rules. I can still be alone or in the crowd,- eat out in fancy restaurants or fry some spam and mix it with beans.

I think this all comes back to that stupid question, "Is the glass half empty or half full?"
Any idiot knows the glass is full! There's just a question as to how much space is occupied by liquid and how much by gas.

I tend to choose a great joy in the adventures of cruising. I was happy sailing my 10 foot boat in the fifties and I'm thrilled to be cruising now. We're still finding it easy to find good weather and favorable winds, anchor in beautiful places, eat well, enjoy nature, good books and good natured people.

I don't know where the disappointed cruisers are hanging out, but I hope to continue avoiding them!

We're spending a few months at a dock and I'm excited about some current projects that are a mix between improved function and making a few things pretty. These times at marinas are good too.

[zeehag]

our only constant is change yet folks are sooo rigid. how do you survive in a changing world when ye dont flex with it/??
ye dont.
donot worry about stuff you have no ability to change and go with the flow. ditch the rigid stuff n become more fluid in life.
as planet changes so do pretty places .. life happens ,.. enjoy it.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by zeehag

.......................
............................ .. life happens ,.. enjoy it.

We will not likely ever have Aythya anchored on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, but I think I would enjoy you as a neighbor. I agree, the enjoyment of life is a choice!

[zeehag]

hoping that formosa my life as i repair my formosa i get to relocate to other areas to sail and meet folks to share tales of how we ripped the genoa ..... heck, was spozedly gonna be elsewhere by now, so good thing i am flexible, so i can fix my formosa formosa my life in many exotic locales......might even meet folks--ye never know.... may yet cross paths.

[undercutter]

IMHO the largest impact on cruising will be Government Regulations introduced to combat immigration and "terrorism". These changes are already having a significant impact with arrival notification rules and visa constraints which allow you to even enter territorial waters without incurring huge fines or worse. Biosecurity is now so stringent that yachts may have to be hauled out every six months and anti fouled to comply. Government's willingness to extend their authourity into International waters is also a concern. How many state hijackings or arrests on the high seas will occur (Russian Yacht in North Korea) before there is an effect.

The costs of these regulations are usually charged back to the cruiser as well, which is the largest detriment to cruising. Fees can already run into the thousands of dollars to cruise for extended periods (Australia) and more countries are reducing the eligibility duration for "Tourist" visas. If you really wanted to cruise many countries shorelines it would take you 2 years or more to do it right and many countries won't provide visa's to accommodate. There are 26,000 Islands in Indonesia and how long is the Australian coastline?

Whether you cruise in a 28' boat or a 80 yacht, the general perception of the masses is that you are a part of the 1% and are therefore fair game. This applies to domestic boaters as well. Therefore the Governments willingness to pass on costs to the tourism sector and specifically the "Boating Industry" will increase. When you add all this to maintenance and purchasing costs, the financial ability to cruise becomes circumspect.

However I believe that there are still many, many places that are unspoilt by the inundation of mass tourism by boaties. Governments in Myanamar, Vietnam and Indonesia could attract millions of dollars worth of investments and spending by opening up their countries and reducing regulations which are a detriment to cruising. Unfortunately all Western Countries are growing the other way with restrictions, regulations and permit fees so it is hard to see cruising getting any easier.

[arsenelupiga]

yup, indonesia french polinesia and similar will pick up the slack from thses dumbed down places. Easy money.

[contrail]

The proliferation of megayachts also has had a negative effect. They are so much more evident these days. Despite a number of responsible studies to the contrary, governments think that hosting megayachts is the path to prosperity and they often modify facilities and regulations to cater to them, to the detriment of others. The megayachts truly are creatures of the "1%". They largely behave as they wish, and their huge budgets make things much more expensive and less available for everyone else.

They used to be seen in fairly limited areas and that has changed. In the last ten years in the BVI they have crowded many anchorages. When I lived in Mexico, from 25 years ago until 12 years ago, there was only one motor megayacht that I could remember seeing in the Sea of Cortez. It belonged to the Hearst family and could sometimes be seen just north of La Paz. It was around 120 feet, if I remember correctly, which would hardly qualify as a mega anything, these days. There was a huge Perini sailboat, Mexican owned, that occasionally got up into the Sea as far as La Paz. Everything else stayed in Cabo, or Puerto Vallarta or south.

Now some of the great anchorages are filled with moorings, and I understand that megayachts occasionally get right up into the Sea of Cortez. I hope that most of it remains "remote" and "too hot in the winter, too cold in the summer", but you never know. I would love to go back, someday, and hope it will still be the beautiful spot it has always been.

There used to be several live-aboard anchorages in San Diego Bay, too. Oh, well.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by zeehag

our only constant is change yet folks are sooo rigid. how do you survive in a changing world when ye dont flex with it/??
ye dont.
donot worry about stuff you have no ability to change and go with the flow. ditch the rigid stuff n become more fluid in life.
as planet changes so do pretty places .. life happens ,.. enjoy it.

'Sounds like one of my posts on the climate change thread.

[valhalla360]

Times change. Some good some bad.


We use cruising as a way to visit places and more often than not those are populated places. The vast majority of cultural hubs are built around ports so that puts you right in the heart of things. But when we do feel like getting to a remote spot, we've never had an issue getting away from civilization within a days sail.


Modern technology makes all this far easier. The old guys will complain about how they had be mini-Capn Cooks in their day but tough nougies.


One side thought: If you go that means someone else doesn't get to use that isolated anchorage you are using as their own personal piece of paradise...when you throw off the lines, you are the problem you are complaining about.

[Kenomac]

The OP worries about pollution, over-crowded anchorages, political unrest, crime etc. I guess it just depends on where one chooses to go cruising.

[arsenelupiga]

i dont think med will be good cruising ground for much longer if it still is.

ethnic clensing is common.

and they are mosty indian origin, due to genetic mutilation of original citizens by religious sects, so no pretty future.