Don't quit yet, but here some advice...

[Richard5]

To the OP, and others; I have BTDT regarding rowing/paddling against a current/incoming tide/opposing wind. Take it for what it is. Afterall, it sure beats sitting in your office...even if you have a window over a grand vista.

A canvas duffle...at least the bottom won't tear out when soggy.

These are the days when one feels alive. Laugh! for you are not shore bound wishing you were "out there". It is ATTITUDE mates.

If'n you don't feel the cold you are dead. Pain is weakness leaving the body. Where'n the hell did you get the idea it was all unicorns and rainbows. Whoever told you that needs a sock in the mouth. Choose life!

[Brian in Az]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

That was pretty negative!
I thought we were here to encourage each other?

No, we are here to share the truth. The good, the bad and the ugly of it. A boat, whether sail or power has it's pitfalls and it's strong points. No one boat can be everything to everyone. He learned that he would prefer a power boat. Nothing wrong with that. The only thing wrong with this thread are the negative replies to his post.

Truth on the internet is refreshing.

Sailing is not for everyone. Everyone loves the romance of sailing, the storybook fiction of calm seas, silently flying along with the wind at your stern, drifting into a secluded lagoon with white sandy beaches, ... you get the picture. He just painted a picture of reality and it clashed with some people's dreams.

Take a moment and notice that he started with the title "Don't quit yet..."

[Don1500]

OK, I've been at this a year now and here is what I found.
1. Be your own best friend. You'll meet lots of people that are great, spend lots of time having fun with them, but if you sail alone you will spend the majority of time alone. If you can't get along alone you will have a problem.
2. Make friends whenever you meet someone, there are no strangers, just fiends you haven't met yet.
3. The wind is always against you, and the waves are always across your beam. When you get to port if you can't say,"It was bad, but I learned something for the next time." start thinking of another life style.
4. Sitting alone, at anchor, on a beautiful night, with no bugs (but that never happens), sipping a nice beer or wine, is the best time you can have alone. You will find yourself thinking "It doesn't get any better than this!", then it does.
5. If you really can't stand being alone, find a girl in every port, or bring one with you.
Also, those girls in bikinis, they just take that fast boat to get where I am. They generally say the big power boat owner is "compensating".

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Corpus

Are you planning on taking some time off, maybe a year, maybe fovever, sail down the carribean and if things go well, cross the Panama canal and just keep going? Ya so was I, here's what I've learned. (...)

(...) I certainly don't regret my adventure, but it wasn't at all what I expected.

And would it not have been twice that boring, if things DID turn out as you expected?

If things are as we expect them, is it still an adventure?

b.

[Richard5]

One year I kept track of the winds. In just over 300 hours flown I had winds within 30 degrees of the head 83% of the time. Now this just didn't make sense at all seeing how much of my time was out and back trips within a few hours. Points on the compass, it didn't matter. It just is....

[cruzer757]

Originally Posted by Don1500

OK, I've been at this a year now and here is what I found.
1. Be your own best friend. You'll meet lots of people that are great, spend lots of time having fun with them, but if you sail alone you will spend the majority of time alone. If you can't get along alone you will have a problem.
2. Make friends whenever you meet someone, there are no strangers, just fiends you haven't met yet.
3. The wind is always against you, and the waves are always across your beam. When you get to port if you can't say,"It was bad, but I learned something for the next time." start thinking of another life style.
4. Sitting alone, at anchor, on a beautiful night, with no bugs (but that never happens), sipping a nice beer or wine, is the best time you can have alone. You will find yourself thinking "It doesn't get any better than this!", then it does.
5. If you really can't stand being alone, find a girl in every port, or bring one with you.
Also, those girls in bikinis, they just take that fast boat to get where I am. They generally say the big power boat owner is "compensating".

Don, I really like your summary. I think you hit the nail on the head.

[SailingwithSoul]

Originally Posted by Corpus

-The moral of the story is: buy a power boat, better yet, convience your friend to buy a power boat. While sailing my sailboat I was passed by many a power boat full of girls in bikinis hanging over the sides, not one sailboat though.

I have the same opinion that pertains to single guys with Ferrari's, Lambo's, big power boats and mega yachts - You only need a big engine if you have a small mast.

[The Garbone]

LOLZ, what a post. If you don't want that C27 anymore I will take it off your hands. I need a good starter boat before I jump into a 36 to go offshore in.

[rebel heart]

Sounds like someone who didn't know beans about seamanship or sailing did zero beneficial prep work and then SURPRISE had a really bad go of it.

Spend a weekend on an anchored boat in inclement weather and you would have learned all of the lessons about getting groceries back and forth. Spend a week and you would have learned how to provision well in advance.

My advice: it's not going to Mars, but it's not going to the corner store either.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Not to say cruising is all mia tias and yahtzee but a lot of this is horses for courses.

Several years ago I was eating dinner with my girl friend and her sister at a well known sea food place. I ordered the Captain's Platter which was a lobster tail, and a small portion of grouper, snapper, oysters, clams, and fried mullet. My girlfriend's sister commented she did not eat mullet, it was a trash fish. I can still remember as a kid fishing with my Dad buying mullet from commercial fishermen in the Ten Thousand Islands on the first night we were there, frying it up and being happy to have something to eat.

Some folks can have the same experience and come away with a completely different take on it. How many times have we seen posts about a running generator ruining an anchorage for folks who don't think things like AC are required. On the other hand I can understand how some folks would think AC is needed for them to enjoy the trip.

Both boats in general and cruising particular are not for everyone. What worries me most about the OP's post was the comment about hot babes on motor boats. Like most males over 15 years old I have realized if you don't have lots of hot babes waiting in line to be with you on land buying a sailboat (or motorboat) will not result in hot babes waiting in line to be with you.

It is important to be realistic about your expectations both on land and at sea.

Mullet was viewed as "trash fish" when I was growing up in Fort Lauderdale. Imagine my surprise when I spent the night at my Catholic best friend's house one Friday night and they were having mullet! I guess they saw the look on my face, and her dad explained that where he was from, Canada, it was a delicacy. I ate it and it was really good.

I view Mackerel as trash fish. I just ate more of it than I could bear as a child.

[Corpus]

ok about the girls...it was kind of joke. My point was that if you just want to have "fun" serious cruising is probably not the thing to do. Sailing is more like climbing a mountain or something, very amazing and very rewarding when you're on the top but it definetly takes some work to get there.

Like some have alluded to here, buying a boat, or a Ferrari won't change who you are. Your circumstances might change, but if you're still the same person, you'll get the same results.

I had a kelt 7.6. I decked it out in Miami and it was pretty sweet, but I couldn't even stand up strait inside. Yes, you can only buy what you can afford, but I think I settled too soon, when I could have gotten a bigger boat for the same price. From Miami I sailed it to key west and back in about two weeks. Then I was pondering going to the Bahamas, when I got a good offer to sell and I took it.

Before the Kelt I had a Catalalina 27', I also took ASA 101-104. Like I said before, the sailing part is easy, it's the things you can't know until your out there for a few days in a row that get ya. (And btw when the forcast say 10kn it's usualy 15-20kn.)

It always bug me when the "old hands" make comments like those of us that haven't been doing this for 30 years are clueless. Richard5 - Why are my comments laughable? Everything I said happened to me and is true - at least for my situation. Yes I'm sure there are thousands of miles of flat ocean, which might drive a person crazy. However, I would have killed for a day with no wind and no waves, a nice relaxing day of running the motor, reading a book and catching some fish. My problems weren't that I didn't know how or couldn't do any certain thing. My compaint was that many of the tasks required weren't very fun.

In the end, I'm very glad I did it and want to do something similar again some day. Why did I start this post? -The same reason most people post I guess, to here my self talk.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Am not terribly sure how telling OP his experiances were not real adds to the story .



Lol - I shouldn't have wandered off before finishing this post!

[propellanttech]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Am not terribly sure how telling OP his experiances were not real adds to the story .



Lol - I shouldn't have wandered off before finishing this post!

I don't think anyone is trying to say his feelings about what he encountered were wrong. I think people are trying to relay their perspective of a similar situation.

You could take an 18 year old, put him a boat and drag him around the Caribbean for 6 months, and ask him what he thought. The answer would probably not be greatly positive.

Take the same person when he is 30-35 years old, and you will get a different response.

Everyone moves through different points of their life at different times. Some people will never love cruising under sail, it just isn't for them.

I really don't think anyone here is trying to change the OP's thoughts about what he felt.

James L

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by propellanttech

SNIP

You could take an 18 year old, put him a boat and drag him around the Caribbean for 6 months, and ask him what he thought. The answer would probably not be greatly positive.

Take the same person when he is 30-35 years old, and you will get a different response.

SNIP

I am reminded of Buffet singing

"Mother, Mother Ocean I have heard you call,
Wanted to sail your waters since I was three feet tall"

The first time I went to the Bahamas with my Dad I was in the ninth grade. Got a job as a deck hand on a Mike Burke's Windjammer boat when I graduated from high school and sailed to the Bahamas for a few months before attending college.

At 35 I would have loved to go sailing, but it seemed more important to be making the big bucks. On the other hand I have three brothers and one sister and none of them have been on a sail boat since my Dad sold his before moving from the Keys to Texas to retire.

I have no doubt the OP was relaying his true feelings. The question is why he misjudged what would happen if he bought a boat and sailed from Miami to the Keys. I have seen several other posts along the lines of "I bought a boat and sailed around a little in the IC water way (or to the Keys) and my expectations were not met".

The real trick is to match your expectations with the reality of cruising on a sail boat. I think I can do that for myself, but really have no idea how to help others do it.

[Kettlewell]

I think the OP is trolling for entertainment here.