What happens to all the wannabees?

[Networker]

Back in 2013 I finished school and dreamed every day about sailing to keep my sanity. Then I joined here in 2013, bought a sunfish and tried that for a few weeks on a pond, then did my ASA 101, 103, 104 that summer, chartered in BVI’s that winter but then life happens and had to focus on work. Never let the dream die though.

Fast forward to last year in Covid, and me and my wife decided to join a local sailing club in NYC to get out of the house, and sailed all season around the Hudson. Was great, had the whole river to ourselves, no ferries or any traffic. Learned a ton just using the J/24’s. End of fall, decided we’re not spending another lockdown in the cold, moved to Miami and got our first boat - a 2000 Beneteau 40 CC all set up for blue water cruising.

Previous owner added a ton to it before sailing it over here from UK, and we plan on taking it the rest of the way around the world. Doing her refit now, will take it to Bahamas all winter and keep getting ready for the big push off in a few years.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Thanks Mate, Recovering well at the moment,

Not looking forward to the other side being operated on at a later date,

Well, its a good time in history to have medical issues. Image taking an ugly fall during the Golden Age of sail. The medical tech/knowledge today is amazing, hope it serves you well.

[Superseapig]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Well, its a good time in history to have medical issues. Image taking an ugly fall during the Golden Age of sail. The medical tech/knowledge today is amazing, hope it serves you well.

Agreed. Brian, that kind of injury just isn’t the life sentence it used to be. Even if you can’t manage to hold on to the boat, I doubt you’ll live a boring sedentary life once you’ve recovered. Best of luck to you.

[Cheechako]

What happens?
A) Buy a boat
B) spend 3 years "fixing it and preparing"
C) Quit jobs, head out to sea
D) Pull into first major port after an offshore passage, Sell boat.
E) Divorce occurs.

[nolakennedys]

Life happens. I think many of the "couples" are young and not married and try to make a living off of Patreon or something via YouTube but soon realize that's rarely feasible for most without the most basic of regular incomes.... I joined this forum several years back and only recently were we able to finally afford and buy a boat. Now we are in it hip deep in the yard and we have the motivation as well as the income to fix it properly and get it back on the water. Getting sailing lessons as well. I have been around boats all my life and have a good 100 hours on our boat motoring, but sailing her is new to me and my wife. When I retire in 5 years, I look forward to hanging out on it for months at a time. I don't want to live on it full time though. At least not right now.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Perhaps a better Thread is:
"What Kills all the Wannabees"

Being down here in La Paz, Mexico we see many many new cruisers either buying boats here locally or in their first wide-eyed season of cruising and the NO 1 thing I think that kills the cruising Dream for so many is the inability to deal with the constant maintenance that is required on a Cruising Boat. You either do it all yourself to save for Taco Money if you are on a tight budget OR you Pay others. When paying others you are now on someone else's schedule of repairs. That alone nuts people up when they realize that their "crisis" to get some gear fixed isn't the crisis of the repair shop.

So how can new cruisers guard against this?
90% of this is mindset. Almost everyone coming down Baja has big plans in Season 1 of South Pacific, Panama, Go Go Go...but the first year of cruising is such a major adjustment that there should be NO SCHEDULE in year one at all....other than decompressing and slowing your ass down and learning your boat and most of all learning about what cruising Style works for You vs the Delos Crew.

[CatNewBee]

Thrue, no schedules any more, boats are a parallel universe with different time measurements. It is no longer seconds, minutes or hours. It is more like weeks, months, seasons.

You do what you can when you can. And it takes as long as it takes. You can estimate a duration, but there is always that one screw...

[sailinglife]

I actually had to look up when I joined this forum.

My story :
Joined in 2015 after transitioning out of the military in 2013, going to school and struggling to adjust. Saw the short doc on YouTube "Life aboard a 28 foot wooden boat" that I am sure A LOT of people saw and sparked the fire. That is when I joined and started to do a little bit of research by reading books and reading this forum. I made a comment or a message to a poster on here looking for Crew in San Diego, CA. After volunteering for a boat show, I went to go interview with him and his wife and they gracelessly accepted me on to sail and crew with them on the weekends.

During this time I was playing video games and editing a few videos so I thought "Hey, I could start a YouTube channel too!" Well my first day crewing, their friend/neighbor/fellow liveabord joined us, and he gave me some sound advice "just enjoy it and live in the moment" from then on, I never recorded again ( took a few pics for myself and to show my family/friends ) and honestly will never try to start a channel.

Anyways, I moved to Florida for school at the end of 2015, sailed once in Tampa,FL but being busy with school and gf, couldn't really sail. Tried buying a boat once, but my gf at the time talked me out of it, probably for the best, but damn would have worked out in the end.

After moving around the country for awhile working on school, life depression, finally made it back to Florida. Set a goal of mine to either 1. live by the ocean in Cocoa Beach, or be a live aboard by the end of the year. 2 weeks later I bought a '78 Columbia 8.3 project boat.

Was it a mistake, yeah probably. Is it worth it? Honestly, I think so. I love spending the weekends on it at the marina. Sadly engine doesn't run right now, and can't sail it, but she is mine. I am putting in the work to live aboard by October to save money and pay off debt but also fix her up more.

When I move aboard, I am joining a sailing club, will learn how to sail, go out sailing every other weekend while I fix up the boat and just live the life I want. I will pay off debt, finish my degree and in 1 year I will see if I enjoy it still. If I do, I will continue it for another year, if I don't I will sell it, and just move back on land.

I love living in tiny houses so if this doesn't work, a van or small RV will probably be next but I really do enjoy being on the boat.

**Edit : Rest in Peace Captain Don. Thank you for taking a chance on me and letting me crew on your boat. You literally are what stoked this flame and I will never forget you. I forgot your wifes name, but if she visits on this site, thank you as well, you were great and loving.

[nolakennedys]

Wow!!! Awesome brother! Stay the course and live your dream!!

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Perhaps a better Thread is:
"What Kills all the Wannabees"

Being down here in La Paz, Mexico we see many many new cruisers either buying boats here locally or in their first wide-eyed season of cruising and the NO 1 thing I think that kills the cruising Dream for so many is the inability to deal with the constant maintenance that is required on a Cruising Boat. You either do it all yourself to save for Taco Money if you are on a tight budget OR you Pay others. When paying others you are now on someone else's schedule of repairs. That alone nuts people up when they realize that their "crisis" to get some gear fixed isn't the crisis of the repair shop.

So how can new cruisers guard against this?
90% of this is mindset. Almost everyone coming down Baja has big plans in Season 1 of South Pacific, Panama, Go Go Go...but the first year of cruising is such a major adjustment that there should be NO SCHEDULE in year one at all....other than decompressing and slowing your ass down and learning your boat and most of all learning about what cruising Style works for You vs the Delos Crew.

Yes Rich and let me add that they see Delos and the other youtube stars and it never dawns on them that they are mostly riding on other peoples money and sponsorships. The other thing that kills it, is a bad experience with crew and the occasional entitled docksider.

[Tetepare]

Boating friends of ours were adequate weekend coastal sailors. They sold the production boat, bought a serious blue water boat, and a year later retired and left. That lasted a month. Boat sold

Why? They didn’t address the waste and engine electric problems that annoyed them for the year before they left. No engine 5 miles from port is an annoyance. No engine in the Atlantic is a problem. They also never had the blue water boat out in any but the finest weather, and the longest pre-departure trip was 15 miles.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Perhaps a better Thread is:
"What Kills all the Wannabees"

Being down here in La Paz, Mexico we see many many new cruisers either buying boats here locally or in their first wide-eyed season of cruising and the NO 1 thing I think that kills the cruising Dream for so many is the inability to deal with the constant maintenance that is required on a Cruising Boat. You either do it all yourself to save for Taco Money if you are on a tight budget OR you Pay others. When paying others you are now on someone else's schedule of repairs. That alone nuts people up when they realize that their "crisis" to get some gear fixed isn't the crisis of the repair shop.

So how can new cruisers guard against this?
90% of this is mindset. Almost everyone coming down Baja has big plans in Season 1 of South Pacific, Panama, Go Go Go...but the first year of cruising is such a major adjustment that there should be NO SCHEDULE in year one at all....other than decompressing and slowing your ass down and learning your boat and most of all learning about what cruising Style works for You vs the Delos Crew.

I am also in Mexico and I see a number of new cruisers arriving here after a trip down the coast (their first ocean sailing trip) from the USA or Canada.

I feel that many of these new sailors find that being on the ocean in a small boat is just plain unpleasant. It moves constantly, it is hot (or cold and wet), there is a lot of work, the sailing conditions are rarely perfect, or even nice, and, of course there are the maintenance and breakdowns. What is present in their minds is, "Why am I doing this to myself?".

The people with loads of sailing experience before they left know what to expect and deal with it better. Many of the newbies with little experience simply don't want to put up the sails ever again, and generally don't.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I am also in Mexico and I see a number of new cruisers arriving here after a trip down the coast (their first ocean sailing trip) from the USA or Canada.

I feel that many of these new sailors find that being on the ocean in a small boat is just plain unpleasant. It moves constantly, it is hot (or cold and wet), there is a lot of work, the sailing conditions are rarely perfect, or even nice, and, of course there are the maintenance and breakdowns. What is present in their minds is, "Why am I doing this to myself?".

The people with loads of sailing experience before they left know what to expect and deal with it better. Many of the newbies with little experience simply don't want to put up the sails ever again, and generally don't.

Oh so true...and it's not like you can just take a break and not worry about anything. There is the ongoing costs of slip, maintenance and so on. But at least they got out there. Not everyone has the financial means to maintain the lifestyle.

[redhead]

After reading so many first posts here on CF it boils down to this in my mind -

Some people "wannabe" in order to escape the life they're living at the time.
Some people "wannabe" in order to get to the life they want.

Just as with any other life choice you bring yourself, your attitudes and your intentions, and your budget with you, there's no escaping them.

IMHO if you're running toward sailing you might just succeed and if you're running away from something else - probably not.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by redhead

After reading so many first posts here on CF it boils down to this in my mind -

Some people "wannabe" in order to escape the life they're living at the time.
Some people "wannabe" in order to get to the life they want.

Just as with any other life choice you bring yourself, your attitudes and your intentions, and your budget with you, there's no escaping them.

IMHO if you're running toward sailing you might just succeed and if you're running away from something else - probably not.

The problem is that when running toward sailing the sailing you find might not be the sailing you imagine it will be after watching all the YouTubes.

It's really best to have A LOT of sailing under your belt before taking off on your "we have no schedule and we're sticking to it" dream trip.