Confessions of a Cockpit Potato

[rognvald]

Hud,
You bring up a good point. I have said for years that there are two general types of sailing: Adventure Sailing and Gunkhole Cruising. They both have their merits and appeal to different personalities. The first comprises those who want to cross oceans, sail to faraway exotic places and many times, the destination takes precedence to the journey. The latter is well described in your above description. It entails a "stop to smell the roses" mentality where the journey and the destination have equal importance and miles per day is irrelevant. Now, to the "exceptionalists"-those who say there are cruisers who combine both-- that is of course true and taken for granted. But, these generalized differences have been valid in my experiences. I remember one passage to Nassau after a long wait in the Berry's. There was a frantic group who were behind schedule and decided to follow the anxious herd, despite a nasty, lengthy northeaster and were dutifully bashed and bruised by the time they got to Nassau. We spent the day in our dinghy anchored off a small reef of Elkhorn Coral fishing for tasty Yellowtail Snappers. The next day, the wind had lightened and although we had a left over swell, we had a nice reach into Nassau Harbor. The stories of broken boats on the VHF when we arrived were entertaining. We spent a day reprovisioning and and left before noon the next day across the bank. Most of the frantic group were still in Nassau when we were an easy hundred miles south. There is much to be admired in your approach to sailing. Good luck and good sailing.