hello everyone! I have a great idea

[matty133]

Hi everyone,
My name is Matt and I am a college senior at Stonehill College just outside Boston. I plan to move aboard once school lets out and have sufficient funds. That being said, I am trying to use my class projects to further my education on the oceanic life style. I am currently building a dingy for a project in a class.

I also have to write an 80 page book for another class. I want to write on the live aboard lifestyle. I want to get know how from people who are currently doing it.

Would anyone be interested in helping create this book? What I am asking for is a page or so that deals with living aboard....anything (pros, cons, stories, anything)...I will obviously credit your work and will disseminate digital copies once the book is completed if you guys are interested.

thanks for the help
Matt

matty133 at gmail dot com

[slomotion]

There is an amazing variety of cruising lifestyles. There are also current and recent logs available online. These are some good ones:

BoatUS.com Cruising Log

Destiny's big trip, page 1

BoatUS.com Cruising Log

Wind-Borne III - Journal Entries

[matty133]

Great stuff. thanks

[slomotion]

These are all Bahamas/Caribbean oriented because that is what I am familiar with. Some of the interesting things burried within them would be very useful for an 80 page paper - eg.:

1. There are no scientific statistics on cruising boats/people who are actually doing it, but Little Gidding conducted an informal survey of real cruisers in Georgetown, Bahamas and compiled some interesting information in the winter of 2005:

BoatUS.com Cruising Log

2. Because of the variety of life-styles, the question of how much it costs is unanswerable. But, Ithaka created a spreadsheet of the actual expenses of 6 very different cruisers:

cw_stories_9

3. Cruising Attitude - don't leave home without it. Destiny Calls got it right and as a result their logs are just plain fun.

4. What's it really like? Nothing can match Windborne III; it's basically a daily diary.

[Pblais]

I also have to write an 80 page book for another class. I want to write on the live aboard lifestyle. I want to get know how from people who are currently doing it.

Writing about things you don't really know about might be dubious at best. Building a dinghy seems more a project of adolescents. Getting the information second hand is perhaps worthless. Many books about cruising from folks who have done it for many years have already been written. Perhaps you set your sights too low as far as your education.

Getting to know about cruising however is what we do here. There is a great depth of subjects available for free. As far as your advanced educational requirements, I doubt you will find much here of value. Should you choose to forget education and have sufficient funds, then sailing off into the sunset could be furthered from reading what is here already thus requiring little of your education. In that sense we have already done it for you. I would think a serious education would include far more than that.

As always we don't require much as terms of membership only that you register and follow the rules. A desire is about all we require and there is no minimum standard we will test you on. If you can enjoy what is here then you are most welcome!

[Ex-Calif]

Gee, Paul. That first paragraph was really encouraging. Did someone crap in your wheaties this morning?

There are thousands of books written by people without first hand knowledge of events. In fact many people who experience the events first hand are really terrible writers. Probably from following advice in your second paragraph i.e. dropping the education and going cruising.

Building a dinghy is a project of adolescents? Where the hell did that come from?

It is perfectly legitimate to research a subject from sources and write a book. It is an important skill to learn to cross check facts and get it right.

The fact that there are already cruising books written is irrelevant. For every good one there are ten crappy ones.

Matt - You drive on and write a great book! Good luck.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Matt,
Welcome aboard!! Hope you find what you're looking for. I lived aboard a few years in Hawaii and loved it, however, I definitely don't have anything to add to the many books and articles that have already been written on the subject.
It was an extremely glorious lifestyle with other residents of the marina making up a kind of commune. A wonderful way to learn about boat repair, cruising, other places and human nature.
Good luck.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[DeepFrz]

I definitely agree with Paul that writing about something you don't know anything about being a dubious undertaking.

I suggest you write about something you know about. Maybe something about building a dingy.

Edit: The many terrible books and articles that are written by people who don't know the subject first hand should convince you to write about something you do know about.

[slomotion]

Well, Matt called it a "book." But, I took it to mean a "research paper." At the under graduate level, these are sort of by definition about subjects in which the author is not an expert and relies upon outside sources. Bad information is available in everything from medicine and physics to economics and law. We still expect students to analyze, evaluate, and articulate.

[sluissa]

A decent amount of research can give anyone enough knowledge to write a paper/short book on a subject. I doubt most history book writers who write about ancient Greece and the like have much firsthand knowledge either.

In any case, Matt, I'm in a similar boat, in college and want to do full time cruising when I get out. I also think the dinghy is a bit odd for a college project, but hey, if you can get credit for it, I say go for it.

I can't offer much for your research, but there's plenty of info out there, so just go to it.

[alexleclainche]

I say you find a good way to sink your boat, get lost for 30 days, live with dolphins, eat raw fish, and write about your experiences. Sounds like a party!

[cooper]

.....Im about to build another dingy....gee its great to be young again.....

[Moonchaser2304]

I'm confused why any of you would critize anyone for wanting to build a boat of any kind. Regardless of your sailing experience there is a great sense of pride in building anything you can use whether it's a cabinet for the galley, replacing a worn out piece of teak, or building a rowing dingy just for the pure craftsmanship and joy of the woodworking. I just got back from the Port Townsend wooden boat festival and saw many 60's something people (not adolescents!) of tremendous sailing experience discussing the finer points of dingy building as an art form, and I personally plan to build an 18' replica of a sailing dingy I have in a picture of my ancestors.

To me this is a study in a small way of appreciating what our ancestors went through to build a boat before fiberglass, and to have something tangible that other people can see and possibly help other people realize the art form of boat building.


Matt, go for it and enjoy building your boat..I hope you are also studying how boats were made before fiberglass...what kind of boat are you planning to build and what construction method?

[Moonchaser2304]

Matt,
One more thing...I noticed you said "near Boston". If you have not already done so, you may want to visit Essex MA and go visit the boat building museum. Very interesting museum but there is (or was last time I was there) an active wooden boat builder in actual operation building wooden boats in the Essex style. I planned one visit there when I knew he would be available to visit his shop...great guy and a wealth of knowledge on wooden boat building! Very interesting...have not been there in a couple years though..

[matty133]

I appreciate the positive support which came from the majority of the users.

To clairify, this is a project/research paper/ book. It is not something I plan on publishing. I feel that there is no better way to learn than from those who have first hand experience. I may have been unclear, but the "book" would be a compilation of your stories and adventures....in your words...not my interpretation of them.



As far as setting my sights to low in terms of education I must disagree. I have carried a 5 course load each semester of school (8 extra classes total). I am now at the point where I am able to take "fun" classes. At Stonehill they try to educate the whole person meaning I have the chance to tailor my education to my passions. Perhaps these classes I am currently taking are fluff, but I believe essential in a complete education. Enough preaching.

Thank you for the help and I look forward to reading and contributing to the forum discussions.