A Open Heart Monologue On The Final Decision

[Sandero]

The problem for many with dreams and visions... is that the skip over the hard work and time it takes to get close to the dream. You can almost take anything... not just a sailing thing... take ballet, for example. A young person sees ballet and is enchanted by the beauty and skill of a ballerina... and dreams about dancing Swan Lake on stage. There is no short cut to being a ballet dancer. It literally takes no less than a decade and virtually daily practice and training with professionals to even be invited into a company... let alone rise in the ranks to principal dancer. Most youngsters who have the vision also accept the challenge and discipline of years of study. They enjoy and learn from their journey. There are no short cuts. You can't buy an elite teacher and short cut the process.

Some one looks at a boat as something one can simply buy and then operate... a business that one can buy or name and then operate... Well yes and no... technically you can buy a boat but to charter it you need to pass certain regulatory hurdles at a minimum. You could buy a qualified boat and hire a qualified captain and pay qualified engineers to take care of the boat... and you could live on it... much like a mega yacht owner does.

Your vision is fine... You will just have to come to terms with the fact that it tales a lot of time and probably more money than you think it will to get there. And everyone who has done it... has traveled that path before you. The good news is that you can (and should) learn from them!

No way to acquire instant wisdom.

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I was introduce to the "sailing experience" in middle age. I, like so many before me was smitten with the who ball of wax. Within a year I had decided to get into it. I bought read every book I could find... this was in the mid 80s before the www.... I took a course in sailing, in meteoroly, several in navigation including celestial... I read all the magazines back then and in a year I bought the boat...a new 36' "racer cruisser"... which I still have today. I wanted to be able to sail offshore. The surveyor told me the boat was well found but not equipped to sail off shore. I spent 6 years fitting the boat out and "learning to sail" her in as many conditions as I could find in that period. My final test was the Marion Bermuda race... Although I am not a racer I wanted to do an ocean passage in a somewhat supervised event... We were not allowed to use electronic position fixers GPS or Loran.... nor auto pilot. We encountered very very nasty weather in the Gulf Stream... a storm that would a few days later on its way across the North Atlantic... sink Mike Plant who was on his way to the BOC challenge. Everyone on our boat (6) was sea sick... but the boat did fine and nothing broke. I know that I was good to go and in the Fall of 91 I did... a full 6 years after buying the boat. And this was what it took for a complete noobie to get there with a very intense learn to cruise program.

The sea is very unforgiving. As a captain you take the responsibility for the safety of your crew and passengers. This is nothing to take lightly.