Quote:
Originally Posted by positron
I had an uncle who did decades of subsistence sailing around Australia. My girl friend and I were hoping in following in his footsteps as we both have strong sailing background and the desire to leave the office behind, but to tell you the truth I don't think it is possible anymore. We are both in our early 30's and have worked our asses off to amass about $120KAUD for a boat, but I can't see it ever happening. The more I read here, the more disillusioned I get. It apears that only multimillionaires like MarkJ are able to do it. I guess times have changed and was I born about 20years late. There are to many government restraints now.
|
Yours is an interesting (to me, anyway) post. I guess it got me thinking about the actual nature of cruising the world.
It seems to me there are two types of cruising. The one is simply cruising along with no specific
destination or ETA. While the other is cruising to places for sight-seeing, etc. So I guess I could describe the former as just a cruiser, and the latter as a tourist making their own way to sundry destinations.
So the former, perhaps not particularly interested in seeing the sights, could
cruise aimlessly around the world without wishing to touch dry-land for long periods of time. There they are in their mobile home, just cruising, filling in the days as they choose and without any particular purpose other the attaining the simple joy of cruising through the myriad environments nature throws out on a daily basis.
Of this type there will be some; perhaps even many, who will choose to break into the daily routine, find a port and stop off and maybe get one or more cash-paying jobs for a period; mostly for the break in routine, but also to add a bit back to the coffers.
Somewhere above here (this post) a contributor seems to scoff at being paid US$20 a day to polish boats. But it's not just the
income which is the issue. While polishing, or
living aboard in the area, one would come into contact with myriad interesting folk and even opportunities. But hey! US$20 is US$100 a week. That would buy me
food and supplies for another 10 days at sea.
And you never know. I might just luck into saving the first son of the Crown Prince of somewhere from drowning, or being eaten by a big yellow dog. You know what I mean? That's the opportunities thing.
But, inevitably, the itch to leave land behind will return and the aimless cruiser will be off. This type of cruising, assuming you keep natural challenges to your boat to the minimum, and live a relatively Spartan, yet comfortable life, can be extremely
cheap.
Yet those who are cut out for this sort of life are few. Typically they will be loners (either individuals or couples) whose interest in contact with other humans is extremely limited. Such folk will be perhaps aware that the human body is but a vehicle for the human brain, and that their entirety is, in fact, lodged in their brain and thus lack the need of external (read fabricated) existence.
Not so for the
destination cruiser who wishes to see all the sights. They will want to go to many of the flash destinations accompanied by the flash costs.
Whereas the aimless cruiser sees life as "being here/now, doing this", the tourist cruiser needs the "been there, done that" stimulus.
I guess age will have a lot to do with determining the type. Younger folk tend to 'need' to achieve, whereas us older flogs have "been there, done that" can see no more purpose for existence than simply that it's a better alternative to not existing.
I am certainly of the aimless cruiser persuasion. I enjoy my own company (saves a lot of arguing) and am perfectly happy to have zero contact with others for quite extended periods.
Setting aside boat costs my daily needs while aboard amount to a cost of less than $10.
And like another contributor above asserted, I prefer to careen after leaping over the side and scrubbing her ladyships bum. Then antifouling one side, then going through the whole process on the next tide to antifoul the other.
The process can take two whole days. Gee! I'm glad I don't have to be anywhere soon! :--))
Whereas the tourist cruiser hasn't, or doesn't want to take the time. Thus they have to pay shore charges for so many things.
Remember the days of early discovery, when sailing vessels put to sea for like 9 months at a time. They couldn't buy what they needed. They made do with whatever came to hand. But they had a purpose....To discover.
These days one can 'discover' everything right here in front of a PC except....
Why one really exists. For me it's the little things, like sitting on Point Nemo watching Al Pachino's version of The Merchant Of Venice. Weird, eh!? But it just rips my copy book to think of being 2,688 NM from everywhere while watching one of the world's greatest actors repeat, with such skill, the vision Shakespeare saw as he wrote.
I think the aimless cruiser is more likely to discover the answer to that incredibly complex question way more quickly than the tourist cruiser, and do so very cheaply.
That was a long dissertation. But I hope it helps a few.
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions