Young People Cruising

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Kim Gregory

Us youngsters anchored out, and had to compare notes to find where to buy food (chicken $0.39/lb!), gear (anchor lantern, propane, used sails), and find free entertainment (St. Augustine had free outdoor movies!). There were often stores within a couple of blocks from shore, and swap meets, flea markets (Stuart, FL), that would do for parts. If you knew where to find them - a guide for the younger crowd would be GREAT!

\


That lifestyle is not limited to "youngsters". Here's a good long thread for a start:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nth-40051.html


and the follow up:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-ii-79067.html

[DefinitelyMe]

‘Younger’ cruiser here. 34 currently. Started long-distance cruising in my own boat when I was 24. I can’t look at the Facebook group because the internet isn’t good enough for that sort of thing while anchored off Pantar Island in Indonesia.

I have read this thread with interest. Some very astute comments from the older generations regarding the situation of younger people (and some not so astute of course). And vice versa.

For my part:

The wealth of information gleaned from the centuries of collective experience here on cruisers forum when it comes to all aspects of cruising is, in my opinion, unparalleled anywhere else on or off the Internet. Most of the advice and experience that I have drawn upon and which has been of great value to me has come from older cruisers.

People of any age group and in respect to any discipline can be narrow-minded at times and unwilling or unable to consider alternative viewpoints. I would say, however, that such a mindset is more common among more seasoned sailors (who may or may not be more advanced in years) than newer ones, and more common among sailors in general than people from the non-cruising community. This is unfortunate. People all have different views of how things should be done. Some are more effective than others, but most are valid. There is no such thing as the perfect sailor. I think a lot of sailors (and people in general) could do with being a little more tolerant of other people’s motivations and viewpoints. There is absolutely nothing wrong with motoring from marina to marina. There is absolutely nothing wrong with not having an engine. Adherents to both trains of thought are neither wrong. There is much potential for mutual life enrichment. It doesn’t matter how many years you have been cruising for, or how much experience or ability you think you have. Every now and again you will screw up. It’s the nature of the game. It’s what, for me, keeps it so exciting. It is worth bearing this in mind whenever one is asked to give advice on a topic. Or whenever one is giving advice on a topic, whether asked to or not :-)

One of the things that I value most about this community is the incredible diversity of people with whom it is possible to form real relationships. In no other lifestyle can I envisage a situation where a lab technician, an ecologist, a plastic surgeon, a businessman, a lawyer, an IT specialist, an artist and two self-professed bums would all find themselves sitting together having dinner on a dock on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Yet such situations are common in our world, and that is something to be celebrated I feel.

Time and time again any pre-conceptions that I have had about people on a certain boat, or people of a certain age, have been proven to have been unfounded and false.

Young and old, we all have something to learn from one another.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by StuM

That lifestyle is not limited to "youngsters". Here's a good long thread for a start:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nth-40051.html

and the follow up:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...-ii-79067.html

Thanks Stu. Exactly my point.

This notion that only the young (whatever that means) are living frugal cruising lives is bullcocky. There are a number of folks here on CF — I amongst them — who have gone down this path. The idea that only kids cruise on small budgets, in very modest boats, is a fallacy.

Although I will admit, it might seem that way from the prevalence of opinion here on CF where nothing smaller than a 42 foot boat will do, along with a budget of many thousands per month, and all the creature comforts of a land house.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, guys, just saw where this has drifted off to. So, a few more thoughts.....

Of course, all of this probably depends a lot on where you are. In the US, from California, all across the waters of the southern parts, there are LOTS of boats. Boats to choose from, if you're buying, and happy to start smaller and learn as you go. There are also a wealth of ready-made boats for the rest of the US maritime areas. In WA and in ME there are pockets of wooden boat enthusiasts. The point is that, inexpensive boats can be had.

Ever since I've been cruising full time, (since 1989), there have been a few younger cruisers, and more elders. And, of course elders can be very frugal, but most of them we see these days have, in someone else's words, "too much money, and too little experience." And it shows in their lack of people skills, lack of interest in others than those like themselves. I agree it is largely due to marketing; to laziness, now they have GPS, and lots of electronics, and watermakers, and comfort's easily obtained.

It was the organized cruises like Jimmy Cornells, where rich folks with lots of *stuff* came to isolated island places and overwhelmed local resources; things like the Puddle Jump, "okay, let's bring cliques to the South Pacific" that are partly to blame. The islanders came to view cruisers as sources for *more stuff*. Plus times always change, not always for the better.

If you belong to the *pampered princess* school of yachting, *naturally*, lesser yachts are of lesser interest.

As long as there are a few young wanderers among us, they will definitely be welcome, and they will probably be practical, optimistic souls, who rather enjoy building their skills. Hey, guys, WELCOME!

Ann

[Trimaran Ken]

Originally Posted by timlabute

Perfect t example right here. Telling me I can’t do something. This is the problem I’m trying to solve.

You are both right and wrong. Yes there are old salts that say "shut up and do it (my) the right way". These people are doing you a disservice unless they back up their statements with facts and evidence for you to evaluate. If people don't try new things, the world would get very boring.

However, when one of us old timers who have already made every mistake in the book, sees someone about to do something really foolish or even life threatening, we tend to speak up in hopes that using our experience may save someone a lot of grief or even their lives.

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by timlabute

To be honest, when we ask questions many of the older folks (not all) look down on us or give us the feeling we can’t possible go cruising yet and that we should all work until we’re 65 before sailing.

I know from where your coming from.
I'm no spring chicken but when I was younger looking for help and learning opportunities and got a lot of guff from most of the adults I encountered, this was mainly pertaining to motorcycle repair and travel options. I went on anyway and taught myself to fix and maintain them, and traveled extensively on motorcycles.
When I got into sailing I lucked out by finding a working mans marina when I bought my first auction boat, some of the older guys couldn't be bothered, but a few were quite happy to help and offer their knowledge and a helping hand. This also extended to sailing and crewing opportunities, as well as race crew opportunities, with the right captains of course.
Now that I'm older I always keep a humble opinion of myself and am always willing to help anyone interested in this pursuit of ours. It's always in the best interest of the sailing community to be open to encouraging the next generation who bring energy and new perspectives to this lifestyle we so love. Well, some days I love it, some days not so much, but overall it's great.
I'm not sure if it's an age thing or just personalities, I've found being a bonehead has no age bias, it's an individual thing. Some people are happy to help and share, some not so much.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by lifeofreilly57

...I'm not sure if it's an age thing or just personalities, I've found being a bonehead has no age bias, it's an individual thing. Some people are happy to help and share, some not so much.

Exactly right. It’s not an age thing. Although maybe it takes getting older to learn this bit of wisdom .

[secrabtree]

Tim - If you ask cruisers with the intention of obtaining ALL of the knowledge you'll need to cruise you will have set up a never ending search and waste valuable cruising time. Just go! You can learn as you go. There ARE a few skills you should have, and this list is going to be different fron different cruisers, for different intended areas, etc. But here's MY opinion:
1. Learn to sail. This does NOT mean only in clear open water and winds in the 8-12 knot range
2. Learn to read charts. The amount of information they have is amazing. And NOT just an electronic chartreader
3. Get advice from all cruisers you meet and learn to separate the wheat (valuable truth) from the chaff (bull)
4. But GO. You can satisfy number 3 as you are already cruising, and do a etter job of separating.

[sailorboy1]

Just scanned through the last 3 pages of this thread. Sure a lot of unfounded stereotypes and assumptions being throw around.

The truth of cruising is that it pretty much can be done by any age group and fininancal level. It’s just the details that change on how to go about it. I’m only cruised 2 years and have mostly only done USA East Coast but have seen a HUGE valaince in the how and who of cruisers (except the well off as I can’t afford to get closer we to that to even find out what it may be like).

But, I’m still trying to figure out what the special problems of the “young” cruisers are

[redhead]

Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe

‘Younger’ cruiser here. 34 currently. Started long-distance cruising in my own boat when I was 24. I can’t look at the Facebook group because the internet isn’t good enough for that sort of thing while anchored off Pantar Island in Indonesia.

I have read this thread with interest. Some very astute comments from the older generations regarding the situation of younger people (and some not so astute of course). And vice versa.

For my part:

The wealth of information gleaned from the centuries of collective experience here on cruisers forum when it comes to all aspects of cruising is, in my opinion, unparalleled anywhere else on or off the Internet. Most of the advice and experience that I have drawn upon and which has been of great value to me has come from older cruisers.

People of any age group and in respect to any discipline can be narrow-minded at times and unwilling or unable to consider alternative viewpoints. I would say, however, that such a mindset is more common among more seasoned sailors (who may or may not be more advanced in years) than newer ones, and more common among sailors in general than people from the non-cruising community. This is unfortunate. People all have different views of how things should be done. Some are more effective than others, but most are valid. There is no such thing as the perfect sailor. I think a lot of sailors (and people in general) could do with being a little more tolerant of other people’s motivations and viewpoints. There is absolutely nothing wrong with motoring from marina to marina. There is absolutely nothing wrong with not having an engine. Adherents to both trains of thought are neither wrong. There is much potential for mutual life enrichment. It doesn’t matter how many years you have been cruising for, or how much experience or ability you think you have. Every now and again you will screw up. It’s the nature of the game. It’s what, for me, keeps it so exciting. It is worth bearing this in mind whenever one is asked to give advice on a topic. Or whenever one is giving advice on a topic, whether asked to or not :-)

One of the things that I value most about this community is the incredible diversity of people with whom it is possible to form real relationships. In no other lifestyle can I envisage a situation where a lab technician, an ecologist, a plastic surgeon, a businessman, a lawyer, an IT specialist, an artist and two self-professed bums would all find themselves sitting together having dinner on a dock on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Yet such situations are common in our world, and that is something to be celebrated I feel.

Time and time again any pre-conceptions that I have had about people on a certain boat, or people of a certain age, have been proven to have been unfounded and false.

Young and old, we all have something to learn from one another.

I was formulating my post and read this one. I think I agree with every word in this post. I must admit that even though I've been sailing for 25 years and living aboard for 4 I still feel (an probably always will) like a newby looking for answers to the 2,418 questions that occur to me every day.

I come to CF and listen to the answers to my questions. I don't know if the people answering are young or old and I don't care. The level of expertise usually comes through in the detail of their answers and it's now my job to do some more research and find out if it's truly a solution to my problem or they're just armchair gurus.

When I was in my teens Abby Hoffman (Google him) said "Don't trust anyone over 30." The generational mistrust will always be there. I try not to sound like a sneering old fart when answering other's questions because I hope for courtesy when I'm doing the asking. And I usually get it.

[Salmoneyes]

My input, for what it's worth....

I have noticed that in this day of social media where many people are no longer having face to face conversations, communications are often misinterpreted.

Language and more specifically terminologies, are different between countries, and regions within countries, as well as the generations within all those.

Additionally, writing styles differ across those boards.

I am new to using this medium for communicating and it certainly is a double edged sword. On one hand I learn a great deal about topics I am researching. On the other, I find my self sifting through a lot of stuff that adds no value to the topic being discussed.

I have even personally been publicly shamed within this site for not using a specific writing style, where the critic never even addressed my question.

Im 53, and have spent the majority of my life on and around boats, both pleasure and commercial, fishing, sailing, building and repairing. If I have learned anything from that, it's that I could never know everything I need, or would like to know, in this lifetime.

I have learned to listen to everyone, and then try to figure out which answers come with the most amount experience to back them up. Young or old, there are a lot of "opinions" floated about by folks who really have no experience to backup their position, rather they are just parroting what they may have heard from someone else.

I do not use FB socially, but on occasion some one links to FB and I will include it as I believe responsible research requires due diligence..

In parting, I would add that drawing lines in the sand only furthers the division between you and those on the other side. If your true intentions are to learn and understand new things pertinent to your situation, you would be well served to listen to all, and then synthesize that information to formulate your own reality.

[D.C.Y.]

What are the qualifications to be considered a young cruiser? Is it simply years on the planet? Do you have an age window of acceptability in mind? Or is there some sort of matrix of age, experience, mental and physical health, number of prescription drugs, etc etc that would be used to determine ones temporary inclusion to the “younger cruisers group?”

[Souzag818]

''The one thing that is true about all of us when we are younger is we think we have it all figured out, that people older than us don’t understand, things are different now, it’s not the same as when they did it.
Then you mature and learn better, and possibly listen to the older people that have been there and done that before''

So true Anyone with kids would say the same...Hasn't changed in decades.

[OldManMirage]

Originally Posted by Salmoneyes

My input, for what it's worth....

I have noticed that in this day of social media where many people are no longer having face to face conversations, communications are often misinterpreted.

Language and more specifically terminologies, are different between countries, and regions within countries, as well as the generations within all those.

Additionally, writing styles differ across those boards.
.

This is spot on. As more of my customers like to communicate through text and email, I have found it is easy for someone to get the wrong idea of how I am responding to them. Where I might think I am being open and thorough, they get the idea I am being condescending or pedantic.

It's a classic case of "what you hear is not what I am saying !"

Without the facial and vocal cues that come from really having a conversation with someone, we are essentially clueless as to how they may be speaking to us.

And that is the real problem with online communications. And forums !

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Funny thing about facebook: Most of our nieces & nephews under 30 don't have an account (a few do but mostly to appease parents and aunts desire to stay in touch).

Facebook has really become the domain of the proverbial middle age soccer mom.

I've always looked at FB as boasting, bitching and ********. "Look at me, don't you wish you were me" or "damn you Trump, or Obama, etc" or look at this picture of a cat hanging on a clothesline. Not enough time in the day for that. Plus I don't want my life out there. The people who I want to be informed about my life, know...