What is something that really surprised you about sailing/boating/cruising?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

A friend of mine owns and single hands a Bristol 30. Last year, she started thinking about upgrading to a slightly larger and newer boat. Larger and newer wasn't an upgrade! She's fallen in love with her Bristol 30 again.

Nice.

It happens with these old boats no matter their weaknesses like no being fast and unable to point.

They are never the less tough old boats that can get you home or back to shore.

[Rumrace]

Dad bought an aluminum power cruiser. I can not remember the brand but it was cool. So in 1958 I inherited the family sailboat. I was too young to sail alone so I mostly sat in in the yard.
The plank just below the proud one on the port bow blew I managed to beach at the neighbours cottage. Other planks were decayed and the mast had a fracture.

July 5th 1936 My Dad, his brother and 4 friends had built a marine railway on Toronto Island. The handcrank is long gone. This is likely the only know photo of the beast. Dad entered the war early and didn’t get out until 48 so poor boat suffered in a barn up at Lake Simcoe.

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by Mike Stim

I'm surprised at boats I see in marinas that are not using a proper cleat hitch.

or tie up to the dinghy doc with 1ft scope then proceed to wrap 10ft of painter round the cleat instead of tying through the cleat with a bowline with enough scope to let other dinghies access the pontoon.

[APWTryfan]

Good question with lot's of good responses. We just spent 4 days on the hook in Desolation with our daughter. Our neighbour's were on their boat with their parents and 2 daughters who were the age of our daughter. We swam, played, hiked to the lake, tubed and shared food and drinks every evening. Great friends were made and we exchanged numbers. I think the bonds made are due to like minded people enjoying nature and the experiences it offers at their best!

[NPCampbell]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Drive across south Texas some time.

South Texas is sensory overload compared to West Texas ... then again I am biased cause my family is from Corpus.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by NPCampbell

South Texas is sensory overload compared to West Texas ... then again I am biased cause my family is from Corpus.

Not a Texan so maybe terminology is wrong. I wasn't thinking of the coastal area with Corpus.

We've done El Paso to Rio Grande Valley a couple times and we started making a game of how long between seeing other cars in either direction. Yes, the western half of the trip was the most desolate.

[MicHughV]

To start off with...many sailors were/are originally attracted to the sailing life by some or other video/movie, etc....palm fronds swaying in the breeze....beautiful beaches, etc.

The reality is quite different. Your living space will likely be around 350 SF or less. You will have to share this living space with a diesel engine located more or less in the middle of your living quarters.

Most likely, you'll have to pump your own p**p either overboard or to a holding tank.

A good portion of your living space will include a variety of expensive electronics.

Your kitchen.....called a "galley", will be slightly, only slightly bigger, than your shower.

Sleeping arrangements, will almost assuredly require you to climb over your partner to get to the bathroom....for some weird reason, called a " head" on the boat....

You will have to learn a whole new language of " boat speak"

You will be living in a salt water environment, and it won't take long for you to develop a distinct love/hate for it.

You will be showering in a space about 2'x2'. Forget about long, luxurious showers. Using a gallon of water per shower is considered extravagant.

You won't have a car, so trips to the grocery store, or anywhere else will be a challenge. You may enjoy riding a bus again...then again....you might not.

You will quickly learn that having ice cubes to spare for the evening cocktail can be in short supply.

Assuredly, air conditioning, will be a non-event on most any trip.

You will be on your own, often 100's of miles from any shore, where there is no 911 service, so if the doodoo hits the fan, usually at night, it will be up to you, to get you and your crew, out of a pickle.

You will also, assuredly, have to deal with some not-so-nice weather from time to time, which may last for days, requiring you to sit in your cockpit in foulies for hours on end.

While you will meet many nice people whilst sailing, there is a good chance you'll meet some not so nice people, usually when anchors drag in the middle of a crowded anchorage.

While the wind may be " free", this will not be the case when trying to find a slip or an overnight transient dock, where the term "daylight robbery" will take on a new meaning.

Your boat will be a depreciating asset, requiring considerable sums of money to stop it depreciating too quickly.

Insurance companies don't really give a damn about where you want to cruise, they prefer you stay tied up to a dock 24/7.

So, why do we do it ? Are we masochistic, or otherwise lost our senses?

It's that one perfect day on the water that can wipe the memory clean of a 1,000 miserable days that precedes it.

[macieknan]

It surprised me how foreign it felt to wear shoes again after four months

[MicHughV]

I was about 12 months into my first voyage, when I got some sad news about my mom, requiring me to fly back.

Stepping into a car for the first time in 12 months, I was quite alarmed at the speed we were travelling, even though we were only doing about 25 mph.....which seemed blistering fast to me..