Visit our Popular Forums

Shawna · 22-12-2016, 17:08

Where do you travel? Is there a certain time of year you like to be certain places? Do all Sail Yachting folk do the same circuit? Or are there sailboats all over the world at any given time? Is there a circuit for families? Adventurers? Couples? Do you all go with the wind or do you prefer to go against it to get to certain destinations or practice skills? What makes a good trip to you? Do you like to see lots of people at the Yacht clubs? Or anchor somewhere remote where maybe no one has? Are there such places? Or is everything on the Internet nowadays? Do you have auto pilot and radar systems or do you like to travel with a compass, the stars, and a watchful crew? What does sailing mean to you and why do you do it?

Pelagic · 22-12-2016, 19:18

Hi Shawna,
The simple answer up to your last sentence is "Yes and No"

Sailing means to me:
Not being limited in choices or destinations
Not being limited to the need for an engine.
Choice of managing a complicated or simple boat
Ability to follow KISS principal whenever needed..
Freedom of the choices I make, most especially the neighbors

**Don C L** · 22-12-2016, 22:16

Are you doing a school report?
I'm only sailing locally, coastally, islands...
At the tiller, with the family along, with a good breeze is one of the few times/places when I honestly do not want to be anywhere else.

**Adelie** · 22-12-2016, 22:51

Freedom.

rrn · 22-12-2016, 23:37

i live aboard in alaska the scenery is unmatched when there is a plethora of activity about
i use any means available for safe navigation i have never sailed my sloop across the ocean i have been on some cross ocean voyages on large ships
there are some challenges to sailing small boat across an ocean but it is nice to know that my vessel is capable where as most small fishing boats bigger than mine are not so freedom maybe a very great perk plus the abundant seafood
the only thing is it is very difficult to make the necessary connections with some one else that craves that same life style as work takes me away from the immediate proximity of my beloved boat plus the seclusion that remote alaska offers so when enjoying my boat again away from the dock there is only a natural connect with the nature around
i will not give up my boat for a mere relationship tho
so to answer your question what is sailing to me living life to the fullest possible extent in my book with so many different opportunitys of where to go live and enjoy

salticrak · 23-12-2016, 00:57

Simple.Building a catamaran and sailing it saved my life period.

Goosebumps · 23-12-2016, 01:14

life at its most intensive. I liveaboard East Africa on the hook since 2007. There is no other way of living that creates so many opportunities to enjoy life at a more intensive level.

carlheintz · 23-12-2016, 08:31

To sail, or not to sail, that is the question.
Whether it is nobler to live an ordinary life,
Or seize the sheets, trim the genoa, unreef the main
And live in the moment.

Free, from the chains that bind men to cubicles.
Free from the paths that are etched into land,
Unmoveable. Concrete. Regulated. Congested.

Far better it be to be free, yet
A servant of the wind and the tides.
Anticipating, then bowing to their demands.

Slipping between sky and sea,
The magic of the waves and wind,
Primal forces at work.

This is where I am destined to be.
This is why I sail.

moseriw · 23-12-2016, 08:33

a vision?
I have my pretty girlfriend of 47 ft and bring her to a good as new state.
And sometimes we both enjoy nature sailing along in almost all winds upto Bft 11 and my girl likes 9+ best showing me that she likes to roam rough seas.

**boatman61** · 23-12-2016, 08:39

Cigarette's, Beer, Rum, Good Food, Sun, New Faces and Places, Dolphins, Whales, Adrenalin..
And that's just my deliveries..
What does a boat mean to me..??
WORK..

Panope · 23-12-2016, 08:45

I like to build or change stuff and then see how it works.

Steve

Paul Kelly · 23-12-2016, 08:45

Sailing to me is:

Planning
Doing
Risk
Challenge
Occasional boredom and patience - on a long motor home for example
Being continually aware
Adapting and improvising
Getting weather beaten
Reward - usually reaching one's destination but also often of the sights en route
Physical exercise and occasional exertion
And even if I am only away for a weekend trip it always feels I've been away a lot longer.

Finally, tongue in cheek, I always say the best thing about sailing is the cold beer and/or the hot shower at the end of the day.

But to get to that end of the day you have to enjoy everything else first.