Women & Men: A Day in the Life of Fulltime Cruisers

[Cruising Couple]

For the benefit of those of us who are planning on cruising fulltime, would those of you who currently cruise fulltime share a little bit about your "typical" day?

Is there a "typical day"?

Maybe share one best piece of advice?

Would you make the same choices?

Please replies from women and men, or couples, are needed for perspective. This will be a great read for all of us and so helpful.

Thanks and Be Safe!
Darby

P.S. I don't mean to offend, but this is for CRUISERS -- not live aboards. Please those who are sailing a good amount and not living on the hook or at the dock. Not a bad life though

[Hudson Force]

I'm not sure that you can draw a harsh line separating "cruisers" from "live aboards". We are cruisers that live aboard. I know many cruisers that also have houses, but I don't think you would exclude us because we don't have a house. I'll take yesterday as a "typical day",- we never were ashore. We ran our generator for a couple hours in the morning while we were anchored from the night before in Hobe Sound just north of Jupiter, Florida. We raised our anchor by 11am and cruised south on the ICW, motoring light with the genoa out off and on through six bridges to North Lake Worth near Palm Beach where we anchored for the night at about 2pm. We spent the afternoon reading. Most of our days will be repeats of this as we cruise down to Key Largo; however, we will have more sailing south of Miami. We've been cruising and living aboard for many years. Most of those years we spent half of the days of each year working while living aboard and cruisng when we were not working. Did that make us "live aboards" and not "cruisers"? I don't think that "live aboards" can properly identify just those that have boats that never leave the dock, though I understand your distinction. ...I just can't easily define it!

[boatman61]

Hmmmm... typical day on the Algarve...
Wake around 10am.. jump in the dingy and ride to Ferragudo for fresh bread... and Bolo de Berlin for brekky... back to the boat.. eat, relax with a coffee or two.. maybe go for a sail... around 5pm find myself near Lagos so head into Alvor and drop the hook..
Dinghy ashore and grab a Costello/salada con batata fritas and a few Superbocks, listen to some live music then head back to the boat...
Or.... just head for the beach... then hit the entertainment in the square for the evening..

[IslandHopper]

So where do you live if you are Cruising full time...........

[mikefossl]

Originally Posted by Cruising Couple

P.S. I don't mean to offend, but this is for CRUISERS -- not live aboards.

My assumption is that the thread is focused on those of us who are sailing around from place to place living on our boats rather then simply living on our boats as an alternative to living in a house.

We were cruisers for a year when we Sailed from Mexico to Japan and live aboards since then. Next month we'll be cruisers again when we head off to Hong Kong on our way to New Zealand.

[Hudson Force]

We just spent three months at a dock in the Saint Johns River near family from Thanksgiving through the new year and we spent a couple months in Baltimore during the heat of the summer with our air conditioner on at the dock. We never hesitate to stay at a dock and "live aboard" and we also cruise when it suits us. I suspect that there are many more people who live aboard and never cruise compared to those that always cruise and never stay docked for a length of time. I'm sure most people must use their boats for some time away from the dock. Anyway, I understand the intent of the original post. So, what are the typical cruising days for those in addition to Boatman61 and I?

[atoll]

fishin

the one that got away - YouTube

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

So where do you live if you are Cruising full time...........

What defines 'Cruising Full Time'... last year my boat was on the hard... still is.. but I logged 5000+ miles... looks like by June this year I'll have logged another 13000 more..
Is that anywhere near 'Cruising'..... does it matter who's boat your living on...

[matauwhi]

G'day, Darby. Starts with a long cuppa (no need to rush it) with two "brekkies". Then try to get a walk ashore in, maybe followed by a boat project or repair if needed, lots of reading & radios. Then there's the sailing. Sailing to get rid of trash, sailing to do laundry, sailing to do a shop-up, sailing to go get the teeth cleaned, sailing to go play with the dolphins, etc. Oh, then there's the afternoon cuppa! Hope that helps. Cheers.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by boatman61

What defines 'Cruising Full Time'... last year my boat was on the hard... still is.. but I logged 5000+ miles... looks like by June this year I'll have logged another 13000 more..
Is that anywhere near 'Cruising'..... does it matter who's boat your living on...

ahhh, but where you living aboard or cruising ? that was the point of my, quite obviously now poor attempt, of a humorous question in my first post.......

When I spent 6 years "living aboard", while "cruising", around the top end of Australia, SE Asia, PNG, New Cal and NZ, i didn't just hand in my cruising classification just because i swung around on the pick for a week or a month while taking in the sights or earning a quid......get it?

Anyhow Darby, i knew exactly what you where getting at and apologise unreservedly for taking the ***S....

As far as the typical day goes ? i will get back to you on that Darby, i now have to go and take over the watch....

[krafthaus]

Cruising Couple,

I’d suggest reading some blogs to get a good idea. Here are some you can read and they provide an excellent perspective on what you are looking for.

s/v Bella Star – Fun younger couple from Seattle sailing around Pacific side of Mexico. http://www.svbellastar.com/

s/v Zero To Cruising – A couple from Kingston, Ontario. Bought a smaller catamaran, sailed it down to the Caribbean on the intracoastal waterway, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, BVI’s and enjoying life in the sun. They are near Antigua right now and post an update daily. Interesting reading.
http://www.zerotocruising.com/

s/v Bumfuzzle –They sailed around the world on a cat, sold it, did some other traveling in a VW van then started a family. They have another boat now and sailing around the Pacific side of Mexico.
http://www.bumfuzzle.com/

s/v Valentina – Sonny & Kay Sides. A retired couple from Texas spending their time around the Caribbean. Mostly Columbia and Panama in the San Blas, but now in Honduras. http://www.sailingvalentina.com/

s/v Rasmus – Young couple from Chicago. One of the better blogs you’ll read. They are in Grenada now, but she’s having a baby so moving back to Chicago for a while. You’ll enjoy reading their blog back in time. Nice video clip she made for the January 30th post.
http://www.windtraveler.net/

Yoders Afloat – A couple cruising around Pacific side of Mexico and especially the Sea of Cortez. They are at Mazatlan now.
http://yodersafloat.blogspot.com/

s/v Eagle – Couple from Washington cruising around La Paz area of Sea of Corez right now.
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/bigleftturn/

s/v Estrellita – Nice younger Canadian couple sailed around Pacific Northwest then sailed down the USA west coast to the Baja and La Paz and then the Pacific side of Mexico. Getting ready to sail into the South Pacific now.
http://thegiddyupplan.blogspot.com/

s/v Lightspeed – Nice couple have cruised for a long time and very interesting post. I’d recommend reading back from the start.
http://www.ecosailingcharters.com/

Besides this, read some books. An Embarrassmentof Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof is one good one.

Good luck!!

[colemj]

A lot of these types of questions are addressed in the "interview with a cruiser" project. The INTERVIEW WITH A CRUISER Project

Mark

[Palarran]

I think reading blogs is a great idea. I would probably focus on ones with cruisers closer to your age though (no offense). I have a list of 10 and have read through most of them completely. I like this one the best as they are traveling my route:
Welcome to Zia Later!
Though they are cruising with young kids.

Here are two more for us middle agers:
About « of Butterfly and Barnacle
and
aVida

[Cruising Couple]

Originally Posted by krafthaus

Cruising Couple,

I’d suggest reading some blogs to get a good idea. Here are some you can read and they provide an excellent perspective on what you are looking for.

s/v Bella Star – Fun younger couple from Seattle sailing around Pacific side of Mexico. http://www.svbellastar.com/

s/v Zero To Cruising – A couple from Kingston, Ontario. Bought a smaller catamaran, sailed it down to the Caribbean on the intracoastal waterway, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, BVI’s and enjoying life in the sun. They are near Antigua right now and post an update daily. Interesting reading.
http://www.zerotocruising.com/

s/v Bumfuzzle –They sailed around the world on a cat, sold it, did some other traveling in a VW van then started a family. They have another boat now and sailing around the Pacific side of Mexico.
http://www.bumfuzzle.com/

s/v Valentina – Sonny & Kay Sides. A retired couple from Texas spending their time around the Caribbean. Mostly Columbia and Panama in the San Blas, but now in Honduras. http://www.sailingvalentina.com/

s/v Rasmus – Young couple from Chicago. One of the better blogs you’ll read. They are in Grenada now, but she’s having a baby so moving back to Chicago for a while. You’ll enjoy reading their blog back in time. Nice video clip she made for the January 30th post.
http://www.windtraveler.net/

Yoders Afloat – A couple cruising around Pacific side of Mexico and especially the Sea of Cortez. They are at Mazatlan now.
http://yodersafloat.blogspot.com/

s/v Eagle – Couple from Washington cruising around La Paz area of Sea of Corez right now.
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/bigleftturn/

s/v Estrellita – Nice younger Canadian couple sailed around Pacific Northwest then sailed down the USA west coast to the Baja and La Paz and then the Pacific side of Mexico. Getting ready to sail into the South Pacific now.
http://thegiddyupplan.blogspot.com/

s/v Lightspeed – Nice couple have cruised for a long time and very interesting post. I’d recommend reading back from the start.
http://www.ecosailingcharters.com/

Besides this, read some books. An Embarrassmentof Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof is one good one.

Good luck!!

Originally Posted by colemj

A lot of these types of questions are addressed in the "interview with a cruiser" project. The INTERVIEW WITH A CRUISER Project

Mark

Originally Posted by Palarran

I think reading blogs is a great idea. I would probably focus on ones with cruisers closer to your age though (no offense). I have a list of 10 and have read through most of them completely. I like this one the best as they are traveling my route:
Welcome to Zia Later!
Though they are cruising with young kids.

Here are two more for us middle agers:
About « of Butterfly and Barnacle
and
aVida

Very good suggestions and resources! Thank you all. This will keep me busy reading.

Palarran .... I turned 50 in December and all of the sudden I start getting comments like "for us middle agers." Pfff. LOL

[Nostrodamus]

If anyone is interested in cruising Europe we sold everything we own, took our kids out of school, bought a boat and are now cruising with no time constraints and no ultimate destination.

To keep people interested the blog is totally unpolitically correct and not a typical sailing blog but hopefully has a bit of humour.

If anyone wants to know more or has any questions about what we are doing just e mail. We love to chat, and drink and just enjoy life.

The website is below along with the blogs.

Sailing Cygnus III around the world