Cruising Can Be Boring

[zboss]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diZKuKxXCjg

[Lodesman]

I think some of you must be doing it wrong. Take up a hobby? Write a book?!?!?
Bad weather day at anchor is a perfect time to tackle the "to do" list. And no matter how many bad weather days there are, that list never gets any smaller

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Let me explain - too much of a good thing will turn bad, correct?

I think that is it pretty much, years ago when I first got back into diving, I went on a week or 10 day live-aboard diving trip where we dove three times a day and a few nights too.
Towards the end of it many people were sitting out dives and even I had become somewhat bored of it.
I think if I jumped into cruising and had bought a boat in the South Pacific so that from day one I was immersed, that it would be overload and would become boring.

I see why some do as Ken does and 6 on and 6 off, but even if I had a job that would accommodate that I don't think I could do it, the hard date at which vacation ends has always haunted me and has a tendency of ruining vacations for me.

We will see how we take to cruising, I think I will be fine, my Wife worries me, she is going along, but its my dream not hers, so we will see.

[zboss]

Setting goals is not a bad idea. When we got married one of our promises to each other was to see the world. As we developed as a married couple we also decided that a goal for sailing would be to find that place that we would one day settle down. Along the way we have found that the most precious thing to us is the time we get to spend with new friends and we have focused more on helping other people reach their goals - regardless if its finding a place to shop or completing a boat project so they can move forward. This has allowed us to become more involved in the people around us and the communities we visit and has staved off boredom. Although I do admit we get bored after many days of rain at anchor.

If your only goal is to find that next beach bar then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

[zeehag]

boredom is a state of mined... is why gods made fishing and repairing and learning and communing with nature..beats I - 5 at rush hour.
so much to do ....
procrastination is also a good hobby.....

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by zboss

As we developed as a married couple we also decided that a goal for sailing would be to find that place that we would one day settle down.

Funny you should say that as that is one of our goals to, to find the place to call home after cruising

[TomLewis]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Lots of folks find cruising boring...the personality/skills that earned them the money/freedom to cast off cruising also makes them not able to unplug and relax. They drive themselves or their crew crazy not knowing quite how to deal with the down time. Heck some cruisers I know have even start a business from an anchorage in Mexico just to feel busy again. They failed at "retirement" and enjoy working....or so my wife tells me....

I haven't gotten bored with cruising yet, because I suck at retirement. I retired in 2011, laid out for 1 1/2 years. Had to go back to work, 6 mos later, laid out another 6 mos, etc. Now here in 2017 I am about to go back to work again. I will keep trying to retire though so I can get bored with cruising!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I was never able to be stationed in Hawaii when I was in the Army, however talking to those that were, most ended up hating it.
Joke was just another day in (expletive deleted) paradise.

I was in Hawaii recently and would see Army guys in full camo uniform doing things alongside the road. It was humid and hot and they looked miserable. I was thinking Hawaii would be the last place I would want to be working under someone's close supervision!

[ColonelWima]

It shouldn't be boring. Of course in the Americas there is little to discover as you are in a only, what is it , 200 years old history place. Come to the east mediteranean. Beautiful islands, cheap nice harbors, avoid the marinas. Rent a car drive around and experience what you even can't imagine. Good cruising involves weather planning. Rum is a dirty drink, so start enjoying wine.

[Arthur Garfield]

Fifty years ago,from my parents,we were taught that if feeling bored-you're the bore.There's wonder in changing oil/fuel filters.Lol


All the Best

[valhalla360]

Sitting at anchor or hanging out on a beach day after day and...it's fine for a week or so but I would get bored out of my mind if it was months.

A 4 week crossing would be slow torture after the first couple days (assuming it wasn't hair raising). It baffles me the guys who hang out at anchor only going in every week or two to fill water/fuel tanks.

That's why we like coastal cruising and traveling inland waterways. Lots of cities and cultural sites, new scenery and at least on the inland waterways, unless the weather is truly horrible, you can usually pick your travel days.

[Seighlor]

For me, the early years were the best. Every passage was a new challenge. But then, any open water passage was, if nothing else, a navigational challenge. Small boats, at best, had a wind vane. Autopilots are a newer innovation. GPS... no such thing. It was DR and a sextant. Sometimes, maybe, an RDF. But never boring.

[RaymondR]

If you are finding cruising boring you are obviously not being adventurous enough. Go out and battle the killer rough seas instead of waiting out bad weather in an anchorage. I am sure that if you intersperse the days of sublime light wind sailing and beautiful anchorages with the odd moments of pure terror your outlook will change for the better.


Occasionally I suffer from ennui with the cruising lifestyle and think about giving it up then come to my senses with contemplation of the possibility of rotting in front of a TV whilst waiting to die - bugger that mate, I'll continue to put up with the odd boring passage or outwait of bad weather in an anchorage and maybe even try to sail to windward occasionally if it keeps me from coming to a bad end at the hands of civilisation.


Get a grip on yourself man, go tell your partner she has a fat butt or pull the head off your engine if you're bored. Life is too precious to waste with the land bound rat race.

[Hudson Force]

I remember some times during a long watch at the helm sailing in light winds when I took on tasks that would not of kept my attention at other times.

Once, I remember finding my wife's emery board next to the binnacle and noted that it had four panels of varying degrees from coarse to polish. I spent hours tending my fingernails resulting in a shine that would shame most men.

On another long watch I mounted an LED light inside a plastic soda bottle with an on/off switch and a loop to hang it from, producing a spare anchor light to suspend in emergency. I did this with the same care that someone might build a ship within a bottle, but not nearly as impressive.

Much can be achieved by a bored sailor!

[CaptRory]

I get bored too. So I come home and always really glad to be here. And then I get bored and do something else. And then I want to get away, so I go cruising. I (and a lot of other people) use their boats as cool little waterfront condos in any coastal city we want. Bored? Move the boat. You don't have to be anchored out in a beautiful cove with an awesome beach, you can be tied up in a vibrant city and go back and forth from that city. If you get tired of sailing, you can get a delivery captain to move it around for you. Lots of people have second homes, mine is one that is one that I can move.