Women & Men: A Day in the Life of Fulltime Cruisers

[hfc6301]

Originally Posted by krafthaus

Cruising Couple,

s/v Rasmus – Young couple from Chicago. One of the better blogs you’ll read. They are in Grenada now, but she’s having a baby so moving back to Chicago for a while. You’ll enjoy reading their blog back in time. Nice video clip she made for the January 30th post.
http://www.windtraveler.net/

I recommend this blog. I cruised around Grenada and the Grenadines with Brittany and Scott for a week on the Diamant and they answered alot of questions for my wife and I. I also know that if you have any specific questions Brittany answers all of her emails. Her baby is due any day so she might be delayed a week but she will get to your questions.

[Gasman]

This might be my 2nd post on this forum, but it seems that "they", are the world over.
Honestly, I get what you mean Darby and would have loved to had read more on the subject as I'm more than considering it, but it would seem too many &^%* want to take issue with your request.
Pity one was from Australia, but there you go!

[Jimbo485]

So, rather than continue with the off-topic dribble which has filled this thread already, I will attempt to answer the OP.

Woke up this morning about 8 am, wandered up on deck, looked down at the bottom, 2.5 m deep, could see the crab holes clearly on the bottom through the transparent water, had a lazy piss off the transom and cast an eye around the bay to see if anything had changed. Looked pretty much the same as the night before but the sun was out and the solar panels were already pumping 10A into the system.

Dove off the bow, swam about, thought of what we would do today - which maintenance projects, which upgrade projects, schoolwork, etc. The neighbour shouted out a friendly greeting and invited me over so I swam across and hauled myself up his transom to see him and meet his new girlfriend. They kindly offered me a "Wake and Bake" which was definitely a new phrase for me.

Chewed the fat for a while with them and then I kicked off as net controller at 9ish from their boat. That led to a comment by me that there was a sailmaker friend onboard our boat who was available, which of course led to a couple of enquiries. Of course the sailmaker was still hungover, draped across our front tramps where he had slept the night before and he looked like he was contemplating a quick dip himself to return his brain to something more human. I don´t think he really appreciated the plug I had given him over the net.

So the sailmaking stuff for our friend led to a couple of hours of opening up sails on our front deck and a beer or two with other cruisers until we could get rid of everyone by about midday. We had to gently push them off, otherwise we would still be drinking with them now. Ya gotta watch out for the alcoholic cruisers! And that sometimes includes us...

Opened up the internet, did a couple of hours of schoolwork with my son, made 200 litres of water between 10 am and 2 pm, did a little work on a new cockpit table and repairs to the companionway door. After a late lunch, we did some more boomerang throwing practice and didn´t scare too many people going past in their dinghies. We are getting better but still need more practice.

Had a quick snooze in the afternoon because of the effects of the previous nights activities. The sun went down over the entry to the bay, had dinner shortly after, played cards, bit of reading and then thought I would check out CF before hitting the sack.

And so another day draws to a close. Boat maintenance is always part of it. Count on an hour or two a day on average. If you don´t do it everyday, it will pile up and you will still have to do it sometime. And the social life can be a killer unless you can control the friendly bastards on the other boats.

Good night!

[zeehag]

lol full time cruising doesnt mean always at sea--also are things to be repaired and rest stops that last a longer than ye want to time, as mail is difficult to receive in mexico---and some places need to be experienced longer than others.......
today marks 1 full yr of doing it in my own boat, after time spent in opb, i am living the life--my ketch is a dream to sail and attracts attention, even if i dont want her to do that....
yes a ketch is easier to handle for long distance sailing than is a sloop.
fixed 3 things now-mebbe gonna fix a couple other things before i leave la cruz de huanacaxtloe, nayarit, mexico for points south.....

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by zeehag

lol full time cruising doesnt mean always at sea--also are things to be repaired and rest stops that last a longer than ye want to time,..........................

True, as above by Zeehag, we're at a dock for a month (2 wks remaining) before heading north to Maine for the summer. No matter how small a task, I try to do something for the boat every day. Today I took a grease gun to the fittings on my manual windlass and the carrier bearing on my shaft, five minutes of easy work! Were visiting with family this afternoon to dye Easter eggs. We've been out for a few day sails, but it will be nice to be away again soon.

[annk]

Woke up around 6am and listened to see how hard the wind was blowing. Intended leaving the marina yesterday to head 100 miles north to the haulout yard. Put it off with 30k blowing still blustery this am so decided to call the yard to say we'll be a day later. No problem.

Got up, fired up computer and checked weather whilst brewing tea and making porridge.

Bit of surfing(computer), checked emails. Made up a large Eggplant parmigiana to sustain us on the travels tomorrow, roasted a heap of chicken legs for same. collected ice for icebox.

Better half planned our routed from here to the haulout yard and then our Atlantic crossing that we start sometime in may. From Florida to Portugal, estimated time 32 days.....

Stopped for a chat with neighboring boater and watched large motorboat tie up one dock across, the crew all dressed in black with gold epaulettes looking like something out of James Bond!

sorted out new halyard for ensign as the original has nearly worn through.Other half about to go and replace it. Checking all running rigging ready to depart tomorrow.

Mentally checking provisions for next week or so.

All this interspersed with cups of tea, pieces of cake, fresh from oven and general chatter about tomorrows trip....

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Cruising Couple

(...)

1) Is there a "typical day"?

2) Maybe share one best piece of advice?

3) Would you make the same choices?

1) A typical day is split between: a) the watch (when sailing, in our boat, there is ALWAYS a person on a cockpit watch, b) the sleep, c) the cooking. I (male) will spend more time on the daytime watch, up to 10 hours. My first mate will have more night watch time (at times 6+ hours). I try to participate in cooking and I wash all the pans and utensils, but I cook less - because I am not a good cook, because I get dizzy down below, because I am a lazy bum and tend to abuse others. This is also one of the things I will do differently - I will take over some of the tasks done by the first mate.

2) Advice? Well: talk openly about what you want to do and listen patiently to what your sailing partner(s) want to do. Then be fair and agree on what is going to be done and when. Do NOT place your fancy cruising life dream before your partner's choices. If this is not possible, sail alone or find another partner.

3) It does not matter, choices done are choices done and there is no guarantee that the other choices (the ones not taken) were better (or worse) from the choices we made.

On the afterthought: I would make the following choices differently:

1) I would hold on to the office, & go sailing LATER, by about 10 years,
2) buy a bigger boat (ours is 26', I would prefer a 30-32' one),
3) get a better windvane.

Cheers,
b.

[JanetGroene]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

If anyone is interested in cruising Europe we sold everything we own, took our kids out of school, bought a boat and are now cruising with no time constraints and no ultimate destination.

To keep people interested the blog is totally unpolitically correct and not a typical sailing blog but hopefully has a bit of humour.

If anyone wants to know more or has any questions about what we are doing just e mail. We love to chat, and drink and just enjoy life.

The website is below along with the blogs.

Sailing Cygnus III around the world

The words "no time restraints" are very important here, and wise. A typical day for the truly free will be different from that of the couple who are on a two-year-sabbatical or have other time commitments. Of course, Mother Nature imposes her own time restraints at times when one has to catch the tide or get outta town before hurricane season or winter.

[Amapola]

We cruise 6 months per year and almost exclusively anchor. It's similar to living on land in that you have cooking, cleaning, repairs, and maintenance just like at home. We do a lot more reading and relaxing afloat.