Did the Sailors Life Choose You, or You it ?

[beau]

An interesting question and very suited to this forum.
I think i like the freedom to make your own choices.
To change your back fence view as you please.
I like the people i meet when cruising.
I like to visit and understand other cultures or just pull up on a deserted beach and explore.
I will never go back to suburbia or live in a home unit again, never.
I hope to end my life on the water. whether intentional or otherwise.
A friend of mine (cruiser) said to me one day " there is no rough weather if you do not have a schedule" i am finding that so important in my life right now.
I have always been in a hurry to get somewhere for what.
i have found this forum extremely helpfull and it offers great support for those of us who pursue the dream.

[masajista]

you hit the nail on the head Beau! the majority of my 12 hour workdays are trained for, timed and planned right down to the seconds most of the time... gets kinda nerve wrecking after while.
Casey

[edgesoftheearth]

I have been living aboard for 2 years but I have been sailing since I was 10. My school on the Chesapeake had a dinghy racing team. Mostly 420's but also Lasers. I joined in 7th grade and never looked back. My jump to living aboard was because my boyfriend was already living aboard and it was something I always wanted to do but couldn't afford to buy a boat. It was the logical next step. So I guess it was a choice but it was also fate.

[otherthan]

When younger I went to png on the iland of jobi (now yapan) to study my favorit animal varanus jobiensis, this animal has kept my interest for more then 25 years hans the nickname jobi.
anyways when on the island I met an amasing aussi girl living on her sailboat right there in paradise. I fell in love with the girl, I left but the memories never left me.
now a few decades latter after years of swiming against the curents, I finaly optained my own sailboat, and now that iv battled cancer an almost fatal accident that cripled me and left me walking needing assistance for 7 long years, now that I can almost touch my dream, the menace of it crumbling down like a card castle because of arthritis in my hands. Reading these threds is giving me the juice to keep at it, I see I am not the only one with such a dream.

rgds

[otherthan]

oh my I didnt mean to sound so pathetic hihihi
just wanted to some up my reasons for bieng on this path

[sailorboy1]

I was in Cancun Mexico and was walking on the beach thinking about how I was going to able to travel more when I came to the marina. Said to myself "maybe a boat" and then thought that I wouldn't be able to afford the fuel so thought "how about a sailboat". And so I started down the path of the dark side!

[zeehag]

jobi--is still able to do dream--- arthritis in hands--i have tendinitis inmy thumbs--i know isnt easy to typo or work without thumbs/hands--and tthe pain is imoressive, to say the least--- you kno wwhy the torturer always goes for hands and feets???/ MORE NERVE ENDINGS!!!!!! LOL i sso much fun-- but, ever so slowly, the work gets done-- you will finish the important things and i will meet you out there....i meet guys with functioning hands and no income and help them survive --i cook good foods an d have decent help--mebbe that can work for you?? always is something to barter, even if only sharing a dinner with someone who isnt able to eat regular meals....as long as these are neighbors i am ok with it--i used to help anyone-- some folks got to be like the proverbial bad kat-- stuck around the cooking pan all the time--couldnt get rid of em--- i am a bit pickier now--my helpers own boats and live nearby. and arent thieves

[delmarrey]

For myself, I think it's in the blood. My father was a Merchant Marine and a decedent of the Islanders (Scotch, Irish, English and Dutch +). As a child I was alway in the water (creeks and lakes). Was great at Math, Science and mechanics. Then I went in the Navy, found out I don't ever get sea sick, and have been messing with boats ever since.
Story of my life!

[Capt Phil]

Me old mum had a sea going boyfriend when I was around 7 or 8 who would spin tales to me at night when he was in town about sailing adventures around the world. I particularly enjoyed his story of being sunk by a U-boat crossing the North Atlantic during WW2. Ran away from home at age 15, lied about my age and went to work on a west coast tug boat... never looked back. What a life! Capt Phil

[Pelagic]

I like to think “I” chose the Life, but then again, I do struggle with proving my own existence.

Nevertheless… there has never been a full day where I regretted my love of the Sea

[hummingway]

I've alway loved the water, canoeing as soon as I could hold a paddle. When I was a teenager my dad bought us a sunfish and I sailed when I could. I didn't get back to sailing untill a band mate reintroduced me to it in Mexico a few years ago. I think I'd say the sea chose me but I chose to sail.

[serah]

Born into the life, but chose it of my own free will. My parents sailed a Fireball on the lake even when I was still in utero. Moved from Northwestern Ontario as a toddler, first thing my family did when we arrived to the coast was buy the deck and hull for a Fraser 42, which lived in my backyard for the first two years or so. I was there side by side with my dad, pretending to help as he laid the ballast, finished the fibreglass and built the cabinetry. We sailed that boat all around the PNW for weeks every summer, and up and around the Island when we could. We lived aboard for a few years when I was still a kid. It tapered off when I was in uni and more interested in dinghy racing and kayaking. I drifted away from it for a few years in the skinny years after uni, until I met the man with whom the dream was kindled again. We now have our own boat, with plans to go offshore in five years.

So yes, I was born into it, but I had to choose it as my path on my own. It was a bit of a shock to go from the fully kitted family liveaboard 42' to our barebones 24' ex-racer. But she was our boat, and the cruising was our dream, not just what my family did. We chose this life. My sister hasn't caught the cruising bug, despite going through the same experiences as me.

[Johnathon123]

Originally Posted by serah

We chose this life. My sister hasn't caught the cruising bug, despite going through the same experiences as me.

Its interesting isn't it that siblings exposed to the same stimulus as you don't have the same reaction to it. My 2 brothers and 1 sister could think of nothing worse than a day sailing. I could think of nothing better!

Sort of the whole nature v nurture argument.

[serah]

Nature vs. nurture indeed. My sis enjoys the boat, but I think it frightens her. I was always interested in learning the "hows" of sailing; rig tuning, and sail shape, and trim and all the little things. She was interested in the exploring when we arrived, or setting crab traps, but not in the journey. One of my favourite moments with her recently was being able to take her out on my boat, just the two of us when I could really explain to her how everything fit together. She'd grown up with "halyards" and "shrouds" and all the words, but no one had taken the time to explain why they were important. I was the one who would ask, and learn. She was too shy and never got on as well with our dad.

Perhaps it all just goes to show that if you want your kids to love this life, take the time to explain it to them. Let them trim the sails, and choose how to do so.

[RNGypsy03]

Our boat the Chrysalis definitely chose us. We had set out to buy a totally different brand of boat, not even considering the one we ended up with. But in the end, this was the right choice. Through a series of inexplicable events, we made the choice we did, and I can't help to think that it was meant to be. That being said, we live aboard, in the middle of a refit to head to Central America by next summer. We live with our two dogs, who seem to have fallen in love with Chrysalis as much as we have. You can follow the journey of the Chrysalis via our blog (from the dogs' point of view) at Sailboat Dog. We invite any support or comments because as any of you know, it takes lots of encouragement to get a project like this underweigh.

Best regards,
RNGYPSY03

www.sailboatdog.com