Quote:
Originally Posted by chall
From someone who was done with this thread 
Like you said, different people cruise and sail differently. Others buy big, expensive boats, outfit them to cruise the world and never leave the dock. Have a sail, pour a rum, relax and let it go man. |
FTFY
Yeah but I have used this thread to show others how humans throw
money at things, not only to feel safer, perhaps make life easier but just because its easier than thinking.
I used to restore vintage guitars, real vintage-pre 1934 only. A customer would come in with their Holy Grail guitar and get a full
restoration because it was this guitar that would make them Jimmy Page or whom ever their guitar god was. This guitar would have "that" tone they were seeking. They would get the guitar, love it yet hardly play it. Within in a few months, they would walk back through the door with the next Holy Grail guitar, this one for sure!
But these
kids never saw that it wasn't the guitar, it was the lack of playing, practice, talent and dedication to the instrument. They would never experience what worked and what didn't because they didn't play any guitar enough to really learn its nuances.
Yes, the 'player' had it all, everything that Jimmy had, guitars, amps, pedals, tens of thousands of dollars spent along the way to become something they would never be. You can't buy talent nor experience. I loved my patrons but I always expressed these exact thoughts to them as I counted the cash they handed me. My
advice was rarely taken but I did retire at 40 so I have that going for me.
This is no different. You can't swear to what works in our harsh
marine environment if its only been tested at the
dock. I can't take any one seriously who dropped a half mil on a cruising
boat and after *5.5k NM docks the
boat.
I have played in the Ocean since I was 4. I celebrate 48 years of board surfing March 1st. I have crewed over 20k, sailed my own more than 15k solo, recently paddled a 12'6" SUP 550 miles down from
Oregon to
Santa Cruz just because I thought I could. I am shaking down my own boat now in hopes of getting her to Manzanillo in the Spring. I am on the dock daily talking to the salts, the sailors with the worn boats having just returned from some far away island. I listen to them, live their stories as they tell them. I heed their
advice because I respect what they have done and how they did it. I can see it in their boats. Just a few days back, I watched a sailor
service his winches and I am now doing my own-having never had one apart but I did watch intently and took notes.
I don't know everything about boats/the ocean/cruising. I am the last guy you would ask about the
ICW (America ends at I 5 for me). You won't see me in threads about the Atlantic passages or Europe/The Med/Africa. I know nothing about those and do not need to.
But I do think for myself and I am usually capable of self
rescue. In spite of my thoughts expressed ITT, I am very open minded.
I get that there are always other ways of doing things.
Anything.
Consider me the other end of the cruising spectrum from Mr. Tacoma, he can spend money on
gear for cruising, investing in all of the latest and greatest gear for cruisers and their boats. He documents EVERYTHING.
Me? I will build it, fab it, find it used or plain old make do before I part with so much as a dollar. And when I do part with that dollar, you can bet the gear was lightly used after
purchase, maintained very well and most likely put up
for sale by a cruiser such as Mr. Tacoma.
At 1/3rd of new.
I am no math wizard but I think I am making out ok here.
I will tip my hat to Mr. Tacoma, he spoke of hauling a rode/anchor as being way too hard for any mortal to do so a powered windlass is a must.... so I spent a few days setting the bow (35 lb.)and the stern anchor (35 lb.) and then hauling them up by hand, in our silty sand bottomed bay no less. Sometimes, I didn't even use gloves! Just wasn't the difficult chore he made it out to be and I benefited greatly from the practice, learned a lot about my boat, cleaned my gear and can now drop both, set them and get them up and safely stored (200' feet/50 chain/150 rope) in thirty minutes if I don't hurry (who hurries on a boat?).
Now back to Op, he is way overthinking this boat of his, his travel plans, his very major purchases of
electronics...in my opinion. I get that he is excited...I get it, I really do...but....Every one here in this thread is doing his thinking for him-my opinion. Every question he has asked could have been answered via
google, the myriad of websites and information out here in the 'tubes, using his own knowledge and
learning as he went.
Research is fun,
learning is fun.
Gear
reviews? maybe CF is a better some than some but only if that gear has been tested and used. Which leads us back to the dock where Mirador has sat for a few years. I can't take any thoughts Mr. Tacoma has too seriously, not only about gear but sailing in general. I have more NM's under me than he does. Doesn't make me a "better" anything, not my point nor my mission in life. But the student listens to the teacher, as long as the teacher knows more than the student.
Now Mr. Boatguy I think, the
delivery skipper in
Portugal or
Europe, that man is worth listening to and I have a feeling he and I could while away some hours and I would steal every thing he knows.
I feel you get more knowledge and thought from the raggedy
Cheoy Lee that limps into port, the
skipper finishing up yet another Hawaii/Oregon run,
sails torn,
sheets pilled, down to signal
flags and the
emergency rudder than the high value and Bristol production boat that is some how as new after 19 years.
One boat sailed obviously and one did not.
Pick your teacher.
Now, do the right thing and always make good choices.
Love,
Oregon Waterman
*Number was 5k on the website, says its 15k ITT, don't care, it ain't enough for me, hell, I have twice that and I am still seeking and researching.
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