Tired of it?

[Frank 101]

Looking at yacht prices in different places and found quite a few in the islands set up for ocean crossing. It’s got me wondering why someone would purchase a yacht, spend big money making changes and setting it up to sail around the world then drop the boat at an island broker and go home after only sailing a short distance. Surely people would realise what an ocean is like before they head out - or maybe not? Maybe they feel happy that at least they set the boat up and sailed a little bit?

[alex_sauvage]

Originally Posted by Frank 101

Looking at yacht prices in different places and found quite a few in the islands set up for ocean crossing. It’s got me wondering why someone would purchase a yacht, spend big money making changes and setting it up to sail around the world then drop the boat at an island broker and go home after only sailing a short distance. Surely people would realise what an ocean is like before they head out - or maybe not? Maybe they feel happy that at least they set the boat up and sailed a little bit?

Apparently not... Blame Youtube for it. Everything look nice and easy on TV. Just met one "youngish" couple on boat show. They were looking to buy 600k cat within 8 month with no sailing experience. I wish them well, but judging by their attitude they don't know what ocean is like. On another hand : enjoy this opportunity to get well equiped boat for a good price

[Flagman101]

If you have money it's easy to purchase what is in your dreams.

Unfortunatly most dreams are pleasant. Not all sailing voyages are.

[Cheechako]

Many spend too much time preparing and not cruising locally first. Even with that they are not prepared for the sea with no land in sight and darkness. It's simply not for everybody. Sometimes one partner just can't handle it. It's often not fun and much of the time people are looking for fun not more stress.

[Hesti]

Broken dreams. It happens. A sailing teacher we had had a story of a guy who built a boat over 10 or whatever years. Wanted to cross the atlantic and then go on. For the first leg along the coast, he took the sailing teacher along to learn to sail, no sailing experience whatsoever. Before even leaving his homeland waters, he had already discovered, that it wasn't for him. He had to sell the boat ...


There are lots of reasons why the dream doesn't work. Own health, health problems in family, money, partnership, ...

[Shrew]

1) Out of Time: Some people try to do what they believe to be the right thing. They work their entire lives, save.....house and children, etc They work until they're finally ready to retire and cast lines, and then health and mobility sidetrack plans.

2) Out of Money: Some folks decide the traditional life and family is not for them. They decide to sell it all and cast lines because they're afraid of running out of time. some case lines too early or without a long term financial plan.

3) Out of their Minds: Some folks find out that it's not all cocktails and sunsets. The "What were we thinking crowd". There is A LOT of downtime on a boat. If there isn't, it's because you're too busy fixing stuff. To some, sitting around waiting for stuff to break is not their idea of a good time. Plus if you want to stay of the "Out of Money" group, then long term cruising isn't like a cruise ship. It's easy to eat, drink and shop your way through your budget.

[JPA Cate]

Just another opinion, of course, but I would like to add boat maintenance to the list of unexpected problems people face. The same people who can drop 6-800,000 on a sailboat are not usually the same people who have hands on experience of ever fixing anything. So, something needs fixing. It doesn't happen on time. The season escapes the people.

Medical issues arise and must be addressed. There goes another season. It gets too hard...and especially so against a background of aging where both mind and body become less flexible, and can develop other problems as well.

Plus, as Cheekako said, it's not for everyone. Without a slow progression into sailing, people don't know what to expect, and may not like it when they find out.

Ann

[Calif.Ted]

Unrealistic expectations

[MarkRebuck]

You see this often with any activity that people "dream about doing" before they actually do it. I hiked the Appalachian Trail back in 2001. I met plenty of folks who did weekend hikes, but never if the weather was bad. Then they started their thruhike, and were shocked the first time they had to break camp in the rain, hike all day in the rain, and set up camp again in the rain. I knew (mostly) what I was in for, so I was prepared for the discomfort... but I was amazed how many people didn't realize that sometimes things like "weather" happen when you live outdoors.

[grantmc]

I doubt that many set off with a plan to leave their yacht at some island with a for sale sign. Rather, as they sailed, they found that their experience didn’t equate to their romantic and glamorous expectations. Or for reasons more basic, a mother needs 24x7 care, they’ve run out of money, there’s a work or business opportunity too good to pass up, they’ve bought a better boat.

Many depart the west coast of America, for example, and eventually arrive at, let’s say Fiji, but there are thousands of other islands it could be. They find that they don’t wish to carry on in their boat. But sailing home again offers two choices, either carry on around the world, or, sailing west against the prevailing winds.

I am reminded of the forum post by Jane Behr. Entitled ‘Warning for Wannabe Cruisers’. In the post is a link to her blog where on a day by day basis one can read the the most gut wrenching horror stories. Jane and partner Ean bought an expensive cat intending to sail the world. No experience, or boating knowledge, they did some courses and prepared the boat. But they didn’t have any skills and relied on professionals for improvements and repairs.

Eventually they set off and virtually anything that could go wrong went wrong, much from their own ineptitude. I think they left from Annapolis and eventually arrived in Panama where they sold the boat. From the blog much of the trip was pure misery. They knew they were out of their depth but didn't want to admit it. They were supposed to be 'living the dream', but in reality their trip was Nightmare on Caribbean Street.

Even more bad luck whilst the boat sat in Panama in the hope of a buyer, she was hit by lightening. Toasted everything electric. Another $50,000+ down the toilet. That event was so typical of their experiences. What were the chances?

They lost a large amount of money, perhaps $200,000+ on the boat. I just make the point that it’s not everyone’s thing to sail off into the blue horizon.

I still give credit to those that try. They gave it a go and did leave the dock. Most ‘cruisers’ I come across are wannabees that never actually do depart, instead endlessly keep finding more boat ‘projects’ before they can go..

[CassidyNZ]

I think sometimes it’s local cruising that does the damage.

An example: I had two people who signed on to my boat for trans-ocean voyage. They had both been sailing around Fiji on assorted boats, basically hitchhiking, and had enjoyed the flat water, safe anchorages and all the good stuff that comes from cruising a tropical paradise.

When we left Fiji for NZ, they were both seasick from the first day to the last. Neither expected constant 25kn trades, 2 metre swells (on a good day) and their first experience of actually sailing at night was scary as heck. Their “claim to fame” was that they were great cooks and would do all the cooking on the trip. Well, they hardly ate a meal, let alone cooked one. They were incapable of doing night watches..

These folks could easily have been boat owners that spent 6 months (or even years) cruising their local environs without any expectation that being at sea would be different. Neither of these folks will EVER go to sea in a small boat again.

[Calif.Ted]

Took 2 guys as crew from San Francisco to San Diego, bucket list desire of older well respected racers. Never done an ocean passage over 100 nm., one turned green as we hit the swell coming out the Golden Gate on a gorgeous day. After a rather unpleasant overnight around Point Conception both departed the boat train fare in hand saying "We're taking that long passages thing off the list".

[dwedeking2]

I've lived in a number of retirement/vacation spots in the world. It was common to see someone who came for a 2 week vacation, sat at the beach and got a nice break from the cubicle. They come back next year looking for a "retirement" home to buy thinking those 2 weeks were nice. Then retirement comes and they move to that location.



All of a sudden they are bored, they start a committee about something (chickens, trash, parking, name your cause) so they can change the area to be more US Suburbia. They miss the structure. They miss the rules.



It is really hard to get a good feel for what an activity is going to be like in retirement vs 2 weeks a year.

[Knotical]

I agree with most of the posters here.

Nothing wrong with people with means to get into boat ownership but unlike purchasing other hobby items sailing is unforgiving and not for everyone which, unfortunately, people end up realizing afterwards. Even chartering or crewing on other people's boats does not prepare you for all the responsibilities and expectations of being a boat owner.

My suggestion for every wannabe owner would be -
1. You really have to like sailing
2. You have to be prepared to put in money and elbow grease - a lot of it

[Don C L]

Surprising but occasionally true. Some people don’t realize what the ocean is like before they head out. Many years ago I knew of a gentleman here locally who bought a nice 40 foot boat, Passport 40 as I recall. Never sailed it, just fixed it up for serious ocean voyaging. Every bell and whistle, brand new. Beautiful. Spent a fortune. He set out, got as far as the local islands, 25 miles, got sick, turned around and came back, put the boat up for sale.