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**atoll** · 21-12-2011, 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeehag

i need one pair of shoes--mine have deteriorated so much i can no longer walk to pizza places seeking hamburgers and root beer. anyone know a good birkenstock store in mexico?????

LOL

bumfuzzles have a good solid sailing cruiser for raising their youngsters in--- is a good boat. has a lovely interior and is roomy and heavy. they ae doing fine. they are out sailing and raising a family. how they made their money is not an issue. they are OUT HERE SAILING.

good to know you don't have a shoe fetish,like emelda markos,its been a bad year for dictators..... if desparate check out the leeward beaches for flipflops,okkasinaly you can find a matching pair.

otherwise if you want to go up market check out the marina dingy dock,yuppies are allways forgetting their shoes on the dock.........

Nateman · 21-12-2011, 10:09

The irony of this discussion on a sailing site is hysterical!!! LMAO

engele · 21-12-2011, 10:11

Ya know. After being out for a while I have to admit, I like pizza and cold beer. I also tend to wear shoes while hiking and have a bank account.

Being the ugly American that I surely must be, I guess none of you will dinghy over for a beer. Sadly we will also have to eat alone I suppose, because we are planning on grilling up burgers and real sailors don't eat burgers (or drink beer).

It's probably pretty bad that I also have the US nautical ensign flying off the transom as well and am under 30.

smackdaddy · 21-12-2011, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nateman

The irony of this discussion on a sailing site is hysterical!!! LMAO

+1...

**sneuman** · 21-12-2011, 10:20

I profess that I have never quite understood the "hero" status of the Bumfuzzles among some here. What ground have they trod that others haven't a thousand times before? So, they wrote a blog -- so does practically everyone else --- and several of those I have read are actually well written. Same goes for the book.

'Dem Bums are wonderful self promoters, though. I will definitely give them that much!

Come to think of it, maybe that's the difference.

**atoll** · 21-12-2011, 10:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nateman

The irony of this discussion on a sailing site is hysterical!!! LMAO

the irony is my friend that world cruising used' to be virtually free,untill a bunch of self publacists found they could make money out of it......

cornell,blyth,street come to mind.......amongst others

muskoka · 21-12-2011, 10:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

disgruntled world traveler,observing wannabee's spread global materialism..........

So what is the ideal way to visit a third world country?

Feign poverty? Or be a polite yet, by local standards, 'rich' Westerner?

What you're railing against is patently a contradiction. The vast majority, both Western and otherwise, can't afford to visit the untouched (if it actually exists) world by boat. So the very few that can manage probably leave impressions on an individual basis rather than as a category.

If some yachtie 'pays over the odds' for a service, who loses? The locals get a wee bit extra cash and the yachtie gets what they need.

It's a staggering arrogance to state that someone is spreading 'global materialism' whilst they're visiting a place thousands of miles from home. You, nor I, have a clue about how the money we spend impacts on those communities. But I suspect, it's usually welcome.

Is it your recommendation that we stay home and watch National Geographic specials so that it all remains 'untouched'? Or should we travel poor? Or perhaps we should haggle them down?

I personally find your view to be patronizing ****.

Nateman · 21-12-2011, 10:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

the irony is my friend that world cruising used' to be virtually free,untill a bunch of self publacists found they could make money out of it......

cornell,blyth,street come to mind.......amongst others

Can you elaborate, "free" in what sense?

muskoka · 21-12-2011, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nateman

Can you elaborate, "free" in what sense?

I think it means "What best serves my own interests".

As in, keep them poor so I can travel on the cheap.

...nice Rush reference BTW, Nateman

smackdaddy · 21-12-2011, 11:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

a sign of the times,they got somthing you want,and you got the money to pay for it,......untill people start protesting and sailing away prices/extortion will only increase in the yachting world .......

Quote:

Originally Posted by atoll

the irony is my friend that world cruising used' to be virtually free,untill a bunch of self publacists found they could make money out of it......

cornell,blyth,street come to mind.......amongst others

I think I'm starting to understand what's really got you miffed. That is that yachting has become "too expensive" because so many "yuppies" do it - and, these well-off consumers are willing (or "stupid enough") to pay the "exorbitant costs" these officials in various third world countries (as well as manufacturers, retailers, etc.) extract from them. So the costs go up for everyone.

You're not wealthy, and you don't like the fact that yachting has become so expensive for you. And you wish these "check-book sailors" would just stay home so these costs will go down and you can have the ocean to yourself and serve those less fortunate in exotic locales.

Is that about right?

Nateman · 21-12-2011, 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by muskoka

I think it means "What best serves my own interests".

As in, keep them poor so I can travel on the cheap.

...nice Rush reference BTW, Nateman

Surely not, he's merely protecting them!

Danke!

**sneuman** · 21-12-2011, 11:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

I think I'm starting to understand what's really got you miffed. That is that yachting has become "too expensive" because so many "yuppies" do it - and, these well-off consumers are willing (or "stupid enough") to pay the "exorbitant costs" these officials in various third world countries (as well as manufacturers, retailers, etc.) extract from them. So the costs go up for everyone.

You're not wealthy, and you don't like the fact that yachting has become so expensive for you. And you wish these "check-book sailors" would just stay home so these costs will go down and you can have the ocean to yourself and serve those less fortunate in exotic locales.

Is that about right?

In atoll's defense, what Smackdaddy describes here is absolutely the case in many LDCs. I have lived in and visited my share. Not saying this describes the 'Bums, but it doesn't improve the locals' lives any in the long run for foreigners to become walking ATMs. All it does is debase the real local economy and when the tourists "move on" (when they become disgusted with being taken advantage of), then everybody loses.