Is the Cruising Lifestyle Dying ?

[salticrak]

Does the relative lack of young cruisers have anything to do with the zeitgeist of our times vs that of the hippie era?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

Paris is only unstepping your mast and a few days motoring up the Seine. Paris Arsnel marina is a great place to winter, it's just under place de la bastille.

Great photo!

It's in the plan...

[Freerider]

Originally Posted by carstenb

The good news is that as all us old geezers decline or die, a lot of great boats will be for sale - cheap!

Do you promise? I wouldn't mind maybe picking up a Nordic 40/44 for around $30K, when I'm done with my current boat.

[GrowleyMonster]

I find this distressingly true. There are lots of older boats out there that can be bought for less than a toyota corolla. No reason why younger singles and couples shouldn't be flocking to cruising in droves. I guess it is a good thing they aren't, though. It keeps old boats cheap enough for me to afford them. I also can't help but notice that it is nearly all White people getting into it. New Orleans is like 80% Black and I know only one Black sailboat owner, and he doesn't cruise, AFAIK. He day-sails out on Lake Pontchartrain a few times a year and has parties on his boat a couple times a month. Really... there is no logical reason for other ethnicities to avoid sailing and cruising, and nobody is really stopping them. Just one of those things, I guess. Hispanics? Native Americans? Asians? The only time I see them in the Marina, they are working on stuff, or cutting the grass. They aren't sailing. They see boats for sale for under $10k but they just don't go for it. I bought mine for $2000. Anybody with a job could save that much in a year or two if they were interested enough. Don't get me wrong... it doesn't really bother me all that much, but it sure doesn't have to be this way.

I mostly see younger sailers out racing around the bouys and stuff. They don't cruise as much as us not-so-youngsters and maybe they never will. But as they get older, as career demands get less burdensome and easier to manage, I think many of them will come around. If they don't pass some law against it for our own good.

[John A]

Z

Glad to hear you're down to Z-town!

Has Rick's Place re-opened?

all the best

[zeehag]

john a--thankyou--ricks is something by another name now--i fergit what name it is..there ar emany places with new names and new owners--is a gorgeous place, albeit overgrown..has been done well, and tastefully, however,..LOL

[susswein]

I think the age gap being talked about here applies more to Americans than to other nationalities. Besides sailing I've been doing backpack-style travel in the 3rd world for many years, and 90% of the 20 or 30-somethings you meet are European or from Australia/New Zealand. The culture in those countries considers it quite normal to quit your job and take a year or two off to travel, and getting another job when you return from your travels doesn't seem to be a big issue. By comparison, The culture in the US is that you need to focus on your career and climb the corporate ladder, and most employers will reject you out of hand if you show a 1-2 year "traveling sabbatical" on your resume.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Event_Horizon

I'm a 'younger' member of this forum (28). In my casual observation there is little to no difference in laziness or stupidity from my generation to any other...despite what they say.

At 28 my stupidities were only just starting . everything up to then had just been practice!

[Hermanns]

Wow - lots of food for thought and great opinions.

Personally, it has taken us almost 10 years to set ourselves up (financially and personally) to even think of the cruising lifestyle (low budget, long term goals):

1. Pay off college debt (this now hovers over $100k minimum for a undergrad + masters per person)
2. We bought a property (we used to live there, now rent out). This will provide a asset for the future and income monthly (about $2k cash flow once paid off in 10yrs)
3. Clean up credit - a must do now to obtain a 'luxury' boat loan.
*At least for a 30 yr old boat...you must now put >30% down minimum - so for our $160k boat you can see the challenge!
4. We haven't had kids yet, and after 10yrs of being together; may simply wait till cruising full time to enjoy them and traveling as a young family in our 40's
5. It costs a lot to work, trying to do all this and save money for the cruising kitty/401k's is a chore in itself.

Those are just a few of the items that most 30-40 something professionals have to consider. For us this is a marathon, not a sprint - some may agree or disagree at the logic, but it's helped us frame the large life decisions we've had to make to set ourselves up for cruising success!

I wish everyone luck in casting off from shore, and will support anyone also on this journey. Erika and I are looking forward to being in the Ba Ha-Ha this year to remove the 'training wheels' - hope to see some other CF'rs there!

-Jer

[Tar34]

Originally Posted by Event_Horizon

I don't think nihilism means what you think it means...

The guy said he was a car nut, liked punk rock, and didn't believe in god. Nothing read as rebellious or destructive in my book. Then again it's all about perspective.


Which giants of medicine?
What written word do you recommend?
And what does "the unraveling of what some call Intelligent Design" even mean?


I'm a 'younger' member of this forum (28). In my casual observation there is little to no difference in laziness or stupidity from my generation to any other...despite what they say.

I'm not going to hijack this thread we'll keep it lite ( sic ). I think it you who has ascribed a narrow meaning to the word "nihilism". To expand: skeptic, negativist, cynic, pessimist; disbeliever, unbeliever, agnostic, atheist.

That being clarified, I just tried to offer offer up some possible source of inspiration. If he were inclined toward the sciences, he might fine inspiration in researching the origin of complex specified information or find joy in Shakespeare's use of English. Or maybe holding a beating heart while grafting a vein is pedestrian to you, but I remember being put to sleep with ether dripped on cotton gauze. So I offered him a lagniappe of something familiar, like an old pillow,
and linked to the video. You are you say 28? Your lordship, though not clean past your youth, have yet some smack of age in you, some relish of the saltiness of time.

[Andrew Troup]

I'm rather surprised at the vitriolic responses on page one to the OP.

I'm not sure how a factual observation can be offensive, unless those taking offence consider that the world should tiptoe around them by resorting to euphemisms and platitudes.

When I was young I regularly sailed with people two or three times my age. Often they were people I already knew through a shared interest in the mountains.


I've noticed that it's not so easy to find young people these days who enjoy the company of people my age or older.

I think that's probably a commentary on both age groups. I find many baby boomers pretty hard to be around as they (we) age, too...

I think there's a general tendency to want to optimise one's social contacts, rather than get the most out of whatever contact circumstances dictate, and I think that's a shame.

- - - - - -

The 'youngest at heart' sailor I know was fifteen when I was born in the mid fifties.

He recently came back from the Pacific, and coming down the NZ coast finally broke the "200 miles in a day" barrier, something he's been determined to do ever since he built his beautiful 40' cruising yacht.

We came close on several occasions on one trip back from Fiji, surfing regularly into the 14s and 15s and at least once past 16 kn, but it always eluded us by a few miles.

I wasn't on this latest trip, but I can well imagine his child-like, uncensored delight.

[svmariane]

Hanging on the hook here in Pago Pago.

Went online and caught this thread, read through most of it, then stuck my head out the hatch....

A few "older" types are working on their boat, a few more are socializing with pre-sun-downers, a few are holed-up below decks during the early afternoon heat (like me).

But the fist-full of younger ones - the mid-20's to mid 30's- are ashore, out and about doing who-knows-what.

You know what? It's attitude. And I'm logging off right now...

[Kettlewell]

I think I would choose the word "evolving" rather than "dying." My wife and I took off and did some cruising in our twenties and now continue to do it today, and some things have changed and some have stayed the same. But, it's still great fun!

[John A]

Originally Posted by salticrak

Does the relative lack of young cruisers have anything to do with the zeitgeist of our times vs that of the hippie era?

I think it has everything to do with the recession!

When I started cruising in late 2000, everybody was out enjoying earlier retirement. And then dotcom stuff went in the tank, 401k's soon followed, and the houses everyone had rented out were vacant, and grown children needed support. Cruisung was something that people could no longer afford..

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by RabidRabbit

I have been rather bummed to not meet more of the under 40 crowd. I'm a recovering punkrocker, car nut, mechanic, metalhead, atheist. I have nothing in commen with babyboomers except floating on water. The boomer gen formed their opinions about morals, jobs, god, government, over 50 years ago. I didnt have JFK, I had MTV and that doesnt make me wrong. In 50 years I'll be the old one talking about the good ole days. Sure I chat with lots of cruisers, but for sundowners I would rather hear Black Flag over jimmy buffet.

We have a lot in common!

I think far away from population centers like the USA and Mexico you will find more younger people. As I said, just having sailed the pacific. I can say I never had any trouble hanging out with young people.

Originally Posted by Tar34

If he were inclined toward the sciences...

....Sorry about the paucity of role models. Your nihilism is rooted in taking comfort in mind numbing media. Try looking to the giants of medicine, the written word, and the unraveling of of what some call Intelligent Design. I feel your pain when it comes to Jimmy Buffet. To lighten your load here is an ode to the to the isolated, disillusioned and small boat cabin fevered.