So.... You want to cruise on a sailboat

[LauraleeG]

Originally Posted by Tsalta

Wife #1 and I are about to spend our first couple of overnights aboard. We are not venturing very far and will just float around Moreton Bay. Whilst we have done loads of day sails over the years, there has always been the hot shower at the end of the day and a big wide comfy bed.

After lipping off about cruising for years, I’m petrified I will be the one who doesn’t like it.

I hope the “Truth” is somewhere close to the dream.

Will advise.

And so?!!?

[LauraleeG]

What did you discover?

[LauraleeG]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

What's funny to me is the mere expectation that the cruising lifestyle is somehow above all the normal grind of life. It's all just life, after all. No one expects any life choice or lifestyle to be all giggles and kittens, so why should the cruising lifestyle be any different?

Yepper!! Humans are fascinating. When we have this- we want that. When were are here, we want to be there, when we are there we want to be here... it takes work to stay in the moment and see the beauty all around and know this too shall pass.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by theDangerz

100%

Dont get me wrong... we still make many/most of our decisions based on where we can drop the hook with nobody (or a chosen 1-2) boats around.
But even on the occasions when that cant happen... it's still better than any alternative I can imagine!

I can't tell you how many times, but it's notably more than I'd like, that we're the ONLY boat in sight, and another boat pulls up and drops the hook within shouting distance.

WTF are they thinking? Even more so, we generally anchor relatively far out so that the bugs have a lot further to fly to find us, so it's not like it's the best spot to get to shore from.

Sheesh.

That said, I'd trade that for sitting on the hard doing major refits, or stuck somewhere waiting for parts that MUST be installed in order for us to proceed, and the like...

[NedX]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

I can't tell you how many times, but it's notably more than I'd like, that we're the ONLY boat in sight, and another boat pulls up and drops the hook within shouting distance.

WTF are they thinking? Even more so, we generally anchor relatively far out so that the bugs have a lot further to fly to find us, so it's not like it's the best spot to get to shore from.

Sheesh.

That said, I'd trade that for sitting on the hard doing major refits, or stuck somewhere waiting for parts that MUST be installed in order for us to proceed, and the like...

"That guy's anchored here. Must be good ground." is probably what someone on board is telling the skipper when they do that.

Or perhaps, if they are more experienced, "The bugs out looking for us have a 50-50 chance of finding them instead."

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

I can't tell you how many times, but it's notably more than I'd like, that we're the ONLY boat in sight, and another boat pulls up and drops the hook within shouting distance.

WTF are they thinking? Even more so, we generally anchor relatively far out so that the bugs have a lot further to fly to find us, so it's not like it's the best spot to get to shore from.

Sheesh.

That said, I'd trade that for sitting on the hard doing major refits, or stuck somewhere waiting for parts that MUST be installed in order for us to proceed, and the like...

Yeah, we always laugh and cringe at the "pack mentality" many have...
We're busy trying our best to not see other humans for days on end; then someone pulls into a bay with what could be miles of great holding and they drop anchor close enough to actually cause concern if winds shift.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Davy J

Sorry,
As crowded as the photo looks, and yes, there was, at that time, about 300 boats in the harbor..........

Funny that the mooring field in the picture has plenty of space between the boats. Much more that the anchored boats along the edges of the field.

The current truth is ........

It is 79 degrees out with low humidity, light breeze and sunny here in crowded Boot Key

[Davy J]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Funny that the mooring field in the picture has plenty of space between the boats. Much more that the anchored boats along the edges of the field.

The current truth is ........

It is 79 degrees out with low humidity, light breeze and sunny here in crowded Boot Key

What is the situation like there........? Some friends of ours, asked if we are coming down. Our plan, last week, was to untie the dock lines on Thanksgiving and start to head south. A cold front coming thru Tampa Bay is going to bring overnight temps in the 40's.............

We high-tailed it back to the marina........

Is there any activities at the tiki..........?

Otherwise, we might as well stay out in the back country..........

[sailorboy1]

No activities in the lounge. Some outside activities are starting up at the park and dinghy drifts are going. I wouldn't be surprised if the place is full by next week after this front passes.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by CaptCorn

That glass looks only half full of rum needed to try to deal with the 24/7 stress that no one has mentioned.

The truth?


Six months after we had been cruising, I realized I didn’t need to take the high blood pressure medication I had been taking for ten years any longer.

[theDangerz]

Originally Posted by Group9

The truth?

Six months after we had been cruising, I realized I didn’t need to take the high blood pressure medication I had been taking for ten years any longer.

Good on you!
Almost exactly the reason I agreed to leave to begin with...
if only doctors would start handing out prescriptions that read "go cruising and relax" rather than listing drugs.

[darylat8750]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Well, one can still make a plan - circumstances don’t affect that at all.

Following the plan, that’s something completely different.

We started developing a rough ten year plan a few years ago, getting ready to leave next year. So far the first 6 months are intact, but it gets a bit murky after that.

Any Battle Plan lasts until the first shot is fired.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by Davy J

Or maybe like this..............

Wait. Is that water liquid? Jealous

[Andrea7413]

Well, I'm one of those fools you speak of.

I read books, watched videos, took (6) 3hr classes in a 22' sailboat, poured over 1,000's of boats until I found my baby and purchased her. She's a 40yr old 35' boat that I purchased for $27,000. I sailed her from Long Island to Delaware City where I will be leaving from in Aug2021 after a minor refit of the electrical system.

I'm 44yrs old and I have a small nest egg which I will use to sail the rest of my life. I'm leaving an engineering job, earning $130,000/yr, to live a life doing what I want to do and to live a life that has a personal meaning to me.

The American Dream is all but dead, it is a mechanism for corporate America to use you up until your life is spent, then send you out to pasture to live in misery for a few years until you die.

I have no illusion that sailing the world will be a walk in the park, I know it will suck 90% of the time but it will be my time living life on my terms.

The greatest thing my dad taught me was not to be afraid to do something you don't know how to do. When I was a child I wanted to accomplish four things in life; be a scuba instructor, did that for four years in my early 20's, be an engineer, went back to university at 27 and got a degree in chemical engineering, to sail the world and study marine biology.

We are our most pure when we are around 10yrs old, we are old enough to know practical constraints in the world but not so jaded that we've lost the ability to dream. I lost my way for around 20yrs, as many of us do but I plan to get back on track and live a life worth living.

I know all of this will seem ill fated to everyone, perhaps it is but I've never failed at anything I've put my mind to and I won't fail at this either.

Fair winds and following seas to y'all

[sailorboy1]

“Fools” someone was calling someone a fool, on this thread?