What is life like living aboard? What do you love about your lifestyle?

[WannaBeTraveln]

Hello,

First off, I am new to this board and just wanted to say hi. I am really glad I stumbled upon this site for there seems to be a lot of good information here.

What is life like living aboard? Specifically exotic places like the Caribbean , south pacific, etc...

This lifestyle some of you lead seems absolutely amazing. I'm just curious as to how feasible this lifestyle is, and how it all works. Do some of you spend time in the Caribbean one year, and then move on to the south pacific for a year, and then the Mediterranean?

Do you miss the "normal lifestyle"? Do you get bored out there? Is there a pretty big boating community where you can meet others and do things together? Do most of you have significant others that sail with you? What keeps you entertained? Do you literally spend most of your days out in the ocean? Or do you go on land here and there for food, water, excercise, entertainment, etc...? Do you fish for your food?

Do some of you just spend a few months out of the year on your sailboats, or year round? What do you do with your boat the rest of the time if you only use it a few months each year?

In short, what are the things that make you love this lifestyle, compared to living on land? What makes you keep coming back for more?

Sorry for all the questions, and for sounding completely ignorant of your lifestyle. It's a completely new idea for me, and one that I am extremely interested/curious about. Any thoughts you can share with me about this lifestyle would be great.

Thanks so much!

-Casey

[slomotion]

Nothing to be sorry about. Your numerous questions actually imply the answer: There is an amazing variety of cruising lifestyles; and all of them are valid and appropriate for different people.

Don't worry about missing your "normal lifestyle." There is a phenomenon called "island time" that takes care of that. We are no longer cruising and most of all we miss island time. For an entertaining explanation of how this works, go here:

Instalment 20 - February 9th 1997 - George Town Bahamas

[WannaBeTraveln]

Thanks a lot for that slomo. That was a fun read, and I usually hate reading . Sounds like that would be a great time. Things make a little more sense now that I see people use dinghys to get to and from land. I was also happy to see that there are activities you can partake in on the island (Volleyball, softball, etc..) Good to see there is a community of like minded people.

Did you ever scuba dive? Seems like that would be a must if you lived down there for a year.

I read some of your other journal entries and you mentioned that the fish in the area seemed to be depleted. Were you ever able to catch anything, or was it like that the whole trip.

Also, just FYI, some of your links to other journal entries are not working.

Thanks again for the read.

-Casey

[slomotion]

OK - it's not my site. Don Boyd's logs are now 10 years old and some of the links are probably dead or broken.

My wife and I cruised the Bahamas and eastern Caribbean for 2+ years circa 1999-2002 in a Hunter 34. Destiny Calls was one of our inspirations. Scuba diving is indeed a common activity for cruisers; however, plain old snorkling is more common and that's what we did.

Georgetown, Bahamas is probably the sailboat cruising capital of the world - and there's no 'probably' about it during the Regatta in March. Go here:

BoatUS Cruising Logs

And here:

BoatUS Cruising Logs

The Bahamas are very special because there are literally hundreds of islands and they easily accommodate all the varried needs, wants, expectations, and interests of cruisers. We enjoyed visiting party towns like Georgetown and then getting away from it all on some of the deserted or near deserted islands. Being able to alternate like that with easy daysails is part of the enchantment. The Bahamas is the kind of place where you can easliy have a whole beach or even a whole island all to yourself. And if you like diving, well - the waters are some of the most spectacular in the world (this boat's shadow is visible through 10' of water on the sand bottom):

[Delezynski]

Casey,

You might want to check out our web pages. We have lived aboard since 1996. We started in the San Francisco Bay area. We are now in Mexico, on the mainland. We live aboard full time. At times, life cruising IS absolutely amazing! At other times, we wonder why we do it. But all in all, it's GREAT out here!

Greg

[MarkJ]

Sailing beats the crap outta whacking lids on jam jars in a factory.

[eyschulman]

I don't think you will get much feed back of the negative variety on this site regarding your questions. It works for some but not the majority.

[TaoJones]

It isn't where your body is, Casey, it's where your head is that will determine what the experience is like for you. In cruising, as in anything.

If you're at peace with yourself where you are now, you'll most likely remain so while cruising. But if you're feeling lost and grasping for "something" to give your life meaning, doing so on a boat probably won't change that.

There will be good days and not-so-good days, and your attitude will have more to do with which is which than anything else. It's not always going to be Sundowners on the aft deck with bright, beautiful people who find you endlessly charming and witty. There will be times when nothing is going right, when the wind is blowing directly from your destination to where you are, when you arrive at the entrance to a strange, coral-strewn harbor too late to safely enter and you haven't slept for 36 hours, when you learn of a sad event occurring in your family hundreds, or thousands, of miles away and question why you're not there - why you're indulging yourself with this voyage when those you love are suffering.

Cruising can be the happiest time you will experience in this life - or not. No one can tell you which it will be, either. If you really want to know, you will have to create the experience for yourself.

Carry this thought with you:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

T.S.Eliot

TaoJones

[maxingout]

Home is where your heart is.

When your heart is on the water, a boat makes a great home.

[imagine2frolic]

Tao, Dave, and Slomo said it well. Freedom is not free, and it's not always easy, but the rewards are GRAND!!!!!!!!!!!

[GordMay]

As Kris Kristofferson wrote:
“... Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose,
And nothin’ aint worth nothin’ but its free ...”

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by maxingout

When your heart is on the water .. a boat makes a great home.

very true .. but then i remember that i am living in a 12'x20' room and i scratch my head a little. still there ain't nothing like being rocked to sleep and waking up to a fresh breeze on the water.