What ever happen to the REAL cruisers?

[DRS]

I find it interesting that there are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of boats being trusted to guys that made 10 bucks a day assembling the electronics


Just saying..........

[sck5]

We absolutely need those rich cruisers to buy the new boats so people like me can buy them used a few years later. I sure as hell am not going to be the one to step up to the counter and write a quarter of a million dollar check for a new boat.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Tellie

LOL, another myth. Cheap and stinkers help cheap and stinkers for free. Good mechanics always charge.

Your myth does not gybe with my experience, Tellie. We've given and accepted help in the cruising community for thirty years, have never asked for any payment nor been offered any. This freely given advice and help has ranged from electronic through mechanical and rigging and shipwrighting right up to medical and dental aid.

Perhaps in your view we are all cheap and stinky... lets see, I remember one chap who was an ophthalmologist surgeon who also had a PHD in Physics. He was doing eye surgery in Mexico... for free. There was another boffin who offered help around the cruising fleet... he was awarded the Nobel in Physics a couple of years ago. And on a different scale, there have been a number of folks who did professional quality hair dressing for fellow sailors. And a fellow named Lowell North who would give advice and help relative to sail plans and shapes as he cruised through the South pacific. And a friendly Naval Architect who would advise on all things in his expertise... and so on.

I do remember one pro diesel mechanic who would consult freely with the fleet. He was pretty upfront, though, and said advice was free, but if he had to pick up a wrench, he would expect compensation. Fair enough...

This sharing of skills is one of the reasons that we've continued cruising so long. It is a good way to live in a fluid community!

Jim

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by bcripps

I'm sitting here in Wendy's Bar in Luperon and a guy here is complaining because he can't find someone to change his engine oil!

Damn. I started cruising, thirty years ago, because I longed to be self-sufficient.

What happened?

I'll tell you: GPS!

Bry

At least he was trying to help the local community by employing someone to do a simple job.

He (if he can find someone) will be helping the locals more than the cruiser who sits in a bar slowly drinking one beer over an hour and then lingering on for another whilst they use the free internet and complain about the cruisers who want to inject money into the community.

[YesIsail]

Yes, Chichime is packed, mostly because its orientation it makes a good place for coming storms from the E, it can blow very hard, I have seen more thatn 60 knots there and total chaos at the anchorage.

Originally Posted by TJ D

Yes, GPS changed a lot about cruising. So did watermakers that are actually reliable, good sailhandling gear, reliable electric windlasses, sailmail, easily accessed weather forecasting, good renewable charging... The list goes on and on.

While I'm not as old as some here (44 actually), I did do my first long distance cruise with my dad in the 80's. Magellan was just about to come out with the 3000, the first GPS on the recreational market. It cost 3 grand in '80's dollars too.

We didn't have one. We had a sat-nav that might produce an unreliable fix once or twice a day. No radar, either. We used a sextant, and a lot of DR. Most of the time, we didn't REALLY know where we were. This was fine most places, around reefs, it was not fun. Remember, even when the numbers of boats crossing the pacific were quite small, there were an awful lot of them going aground in places like the Tuamotus.

Yes, it was cool to be out there when there were far fewer boats. (Maybe these are the 'real cruisers' you speak of. In the San Blas, we saw 3-4 other boats there in a month, and the locals were delighted to see us. The whole village would turn out when we anchored. Last time we were there, we couldn't even find a place to anchor in Chichime, it was so stuffed with boats in there.

For my part, I'm thrilled for the cruising community that all these innovations have made the lifestyle more accessible/enjoyable for more people. Sure, some of them don't know as much as they should about looking after their boats, but they'll either stay close to services, or they'll learn to be more self sufficient. Or they'll realize they're in over their head and stick closer to home and boatyards.

But, are they any more or less 'real' as cruisers than those who are doing it more the old fashioned way? No, not really. Just different. There are still plenty of birds of the other feather out there too. They're just more often found off of the main tradewind cruising routes these days.

Maybe sail down to someplace like Ushuaia. You will find self-sufficiency in spades down there!

TJ

[zeehag]

the real cruisers are still watching the boats of noobs drag, and are reanchoring em without anyone knowing, or so it seems.
funny how that works.
the noobs are in the bars swilling hooch and are oblivious of their predicament, as they have alll the latest fail anchor alarm stuff. funny how that works.

[S/V Alchemy]

I think "whatever happened to English?" when I read online forum postings.

[barnakiel]

I do my oil changes daily and I always send half the daily batch for lab test. It always comes 'clean' as I do not care to start the donkey. Now this is what we should aim at with maintenance.

I also catch my marlin by hand, skin it and slice it, then throw it overboard (real cruisers are eco-friendly). The last one was some 30ft long and over 2 tonnes displacement. It talked hebrew and sensed the True North by some ancient Maori methods.

I have mylar sails that are resistant to UV as much as dacron sails.

...

Real cruisers and their half real stories.

b.

[singlespeed]

And you know for certain that there isn't a physical or medical reason he cannot perform an oil change? Some engine and/or boat designers have obviously never actually had to change the oil on their designs.

[CREX]

So often I've paid someone to do a job and ended up correcting it. The last marina mechanic, just 6 years ago, wanted to actually pull the plug and drain the oil into my customers bilge, I was the captain of that boat thinking I was going to escape the dirtier tasks. WOW! Just dumb luck I was there when he arrived.

" Old sailors never die, they just get a little dinghy "

I tried posting the picture but don't get how to do it on this forum.

[SV Sailfish]

Originally Posted by bcripps

I'm sitting here in Wendy's Bar in Luperon and a guy here is complaining because he can't find someone to change his engine oil!

Damn. I started cruising, thirty years ago, because I longed to be self-sufficient.

What happened?

I'll tell you: GPS! Bry

Ah... the well monied. We had a half million dollar sled pull into the fuel dock here yesterday. All aboard had matching polo shirts with the boat name and logo. Looked to be a family. Very spiffy indeed. Twenty something kid hops pff and I hear him tell dad he would top up the "gas". He did. Junior pumped almost 100 gallons of gas into his daddies' high end turbo diesel fuel tank. I just walked away grinning.

I change my own oil. And all else. Why? Not because I can't afford to pay someone, I can, but so I could learn all the boat systems aboard and how they work.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by bcripps

I'm sitting here in Wendy's Bar in Luperon and a guy here is complaining because he can't find someone to change his engine oil!

Damn. I started cruising, thirty years ago, because I longed to be self-sufficient.

What happened?

I'll tell you: GPS!

Bry

Maybe a lot of others in the bar were snickering under their breath at his complaint.

I can't make the connection between motor oil and GPS?

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by SV Sailfish

Ah... the well monied. We had a half million dollar sled pull into the fuel dock here yesterday. All aboard had matching polo shirts with the boat name and logo. Looked to be a family. Very spiffy indeed. Twenty something kid hops pff and I hear him tell dad he would top up the "gas". He did. Junior pumped almost 100 gallons of gas into his daddies' high end turbo diesel fuel tank. I just walked away grinning.

I change my own oil. And all else. Why? Not because I can't afford to pay someone, I can, but so I could learn all the boat systems aboard and how they work.

Did you at least mention this gas-in-the-diesel-tank to someone on the "half million dollar sled"?

I'm serious.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Did you at least mention this gas-in-the-diesel-tank to someone on the "half million dollar sled"?

I'm serious.

Nothing worse than someones who's jealousy, envy and hatred of people who are doing better than themselves lets it get in the way of doing the right thing

[SV Sailfish]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Did you at least mention this gas-in-the-diesel-tank to someone on the "half million dollar sled"?

I'm serious.

Yes... I did. I told the fuel dock attendant and also the kid pumping. He just looked at me like I was an idiot and never said a word. So... that's when I just walked away shaking my head.

The boat was an Amel 54.