Cruising Sailboats: a Dying Breed?

[CaverCop]

If I may throw my .02 into the conversation. I am an avid caver as well as a sailor (36ft Catalina). This same conversation is frequent in caving circles and the National Speleological Society (the national caving club) has a mere fraction of the membership it once had. often times people cite the same issues: to much training, to hard to do, not sexy enough. Caving numbers have plummeted while rock climbing and mountaineering numbers have soared. I think both are indicative mostly to todays society and yes a little bit on the fact that twenty year old boats can still cost hundreds of thousands of dollars...