Sailing Commune ?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by capta

We would love to find a group of like minded cruisers to sail with, however, we cruisers are a pretty independent sort. I think it unlikely that even two boats would travel the same route the same days for very long. Some like to tour the islands, others get their pleasure from diving or snorkeling the reefs.

Yeah, the herding cats thing would need some thought from the getgo

But if the Tribe is not a Commune (i.e. the basic idea is not to be with other members 24/7/365 - sharing every bowl of lentils ), then just like any other community people can go on holiday, wander off and wander back as and when they feel like it (within reason - as pre-defined by the Group.....it's that rules thing again ).......I am thinking more of small village (Hamlet?) / possibly also based on the Biker Gang model (including the Full and half members).

Numbers will be a good question - IMO has to start off small (probably just as well!), say, 2 or 3 boats (but with the basic outline / goals and rules - set out, with a view to expansion).....and then the numbers are capped (at least for the full Tribe Members), simply because a 100 boats would be difficult to moor up in new places - just as a number plucked from the air!, maybe a dozen? (could be 12 people, could be 30+)......plus half members, as and when space allows.

Further expansion comes from setting up new Tribes, which can work with / link up together on occassion - but likely will have a different focus, or at least different basic routes.

[Gelfling]

I was catching up on some telly shows last night. I found the 7/25/12 episode of The Colbert Report quite interesting! I know that this show can have a 'political' context to it, but listen to the story and put it into context of this thread. It is basically what I have been trying to say all along. You can find it on Hulu.

I find the timing of this episode and the process of this thread quite interesting!


PS - Though good and bad, I want to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread. If I were to every start/join such a tribe, there has been a lot of valuable information to consider!

[s/v Beth]

How about calling it the East Coast Mystics? Going back to the Native American model, people were a part of the tribe by just showing up and contributing (if they were a known ) and left and joined as it was useful for their survival. Other tribes were a problem- but I don't see us as getting in a war with the Sailnet guys.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Other tribes were a problem- but I don't see us as getting in a war with the Sailnet guys.

But maybe with the folks on Sailing Anarchy?

[zeehag]

dont shoot or sink me--i will continue to sail without the company of many others...i haave family by choice, but we dont usually sail in same places at same times...

[micah719]

Ooo, careful, those anarchy guys are nasty...just look at some of the foul language they use on their forum. Not salty, just vulgar.

Hmmm, sailing commune...interesting idea, watching the thread carefully, may be something to it. Instead of tatt's, a burgee? Or is that too old-school....

[zeehag]

beginning to sound like a rally yacht club or inner city gang...

[zeehag]

dont fire on me--i wont be flying flags nor burgees to announce my arrival. i sail in peace

[hummingway]

I've been flying the CF burgee for a while, with out disturbing the peace that I'm aware of. I imagine it's a state of mind.

[jdlum46]

A sailing Commune,
I have pondered this a lot, especially since I have a 60 ft
steel Alden ketch as well as a 60 acre farm with its own
lake up in Michigan. The boat is in Mexico and I as well.
When I was back in Michigan I knew several Amish people
and they live and work on a cooperative basis that pretty
much makes most of our individual efforts pale by comparison.
I was amazed at what we humans can do when we form
a "behive" to do a project. I envision a sailing "community"
where members could do some farming in the off time and
share all types of activities. There is no reason why everyone
needs a bandsaw, a car, you name it in such a community.
Its a hard concept to grasp when you have been raised with
the idea of this is "mine". I grew up in a family of 15 children
so "mine" at best was several hands preused, such as clothing.
I am interested in a saiing community with environmental
emphasis. I see to many cruisers with no real concept of
being a good stewart of the earth. Bye for now, jameslumley@att.net

[Hudson Force]

I am a member of a sailing community, but not a sailing commune. When Nancie and I bought our first liveaboard sailboat in 1971 communes in farm country were popular, but we chose the independance of a life on the water. Sailboats, by ther nature, are isolated homes that rely on independance and self-reliance. We have made more than twenty trips up and down the East US Coast from Maine to Florida or the Bahamas during our more than forty years aboard and we always run into friends in our community with whom we share our good times, food and wine; however, when we are underway we are making our own independant decisions,- our course, our inlets to break, our anchorages, our landfalls and our destinations. We love our coming across our cruising friends when traveling, but cruisers are fiercely independant.

[jdlum46]

Pursuing the idea of "sailing commune", I did some internet
exploring today and found that there is a group with a farm
in Norway, which is building or has built a sailboat and they
call themselves, "Sailing the Farm Sea Gypsy Tribe of Tomorrow". They have exposure on Lonely Planet, Couch
Surfing, Permies and other sites connected to a sort of
avant guard back to nature thinking. I have had difficulty
getting an email for them, although they keep saying in
their posts to come and join them. I think it was Groucho
Marx that said, "I wouldn't be a member of any organization
that would have me.? I don't know if that was said out of
a sense of independence and self reliance or just self
contemplation.
But for me being 66 yrs. old and having seen my closest
younger brother die of pancreatic cancer at age 60, I'm
convinced that in the long run the grim reaper wins and you
aren't taking anything with you and I don't have a wife or
off spring. So a tribe, commune, collective, co-op, cult,
sailing gang or sea gypsies, they are all looking more
attractive with each passing day, (notice I did not mention
Pirates or free loaders). The trouble many people have
with the term "commune" is it conjurs up a vision of
what was told to me in Poland in 1979 when I visited. I
asked a Polish guy who spoke a little English. I said, " why
is it where ever I go nobody seems to be working?" To
which he promptly replied in broken English, "Well see
this is communism and therefore we pretend to work and
they pretend to pay us." So nobody got paid and nobody
was really working. So somebody would say that is why
the communist system failed, ergo in a lot of people's
mind any cooperative or communal effort is doomed to
failure but hold on whats all this talk about China on the
rise and the American economy on the decline? Enough
said just my = two cents. Jdlum46

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Jdlum46.

[goboatingnow]

commune, hmmm.,, sailing commune, does that mean all the girls would sail topless . Thats whats comes to my mind.

Im reminded of one of my favourite lines

""Doctor, you mentioned the ration of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?"
"Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature"
"

Id replace "human race" above with "sailing commune"

dum-di-dum, back to the medication
Dave

[Kenomac]

Hmmmm.... I've found that most cruisers I meet are independent and self-reliant, the traits which have attracted them to the cruising lifestyle.

The communists on the other hand, seem to want to live in large communities where they can have other "suckers" do the heavy lifting for them. Communism and cruising lifestyles seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum... 'just an observation.