So I was chatting over sundowners the other night with a fellow cruiser who was regaling me with tales of all his charter trips. He asked me my cruising plans. When I mentioned up the Florida coast to the Abacos in the Bahamas, he scoffed! “But that’s so tame!” he cried. And I got to thinking. I picked up a couple of cruising mags and looked through. I glanced at the titles of cruising books. And I thought some more.
Why is it that we have to go to the ends of the earth, encounter life threatening storms, and sit in a mud hut eating yak dung yogurt for it to count as an adventure?
Airplanes are wonderful. They fly you to Thailand and back all in the space of 10 days. Within that time you can rent a boat and sail where you’re told. Then you get back on the silver bird, go home and check another place off your “gee I must cruise there list.”
Not that charters are a bad thing. They are an excellent way to see places that you otherwise couldn’t get to because of time/money constraints. They are an excellent way of learning about cruising. They are an excellent way to cruise for a short period of time without investing a lot of money.
It just seems to me we sometimes get caught up in this competitive cruising game. It’s the same all over the world of travel. Adventuring is an attitude – it’s about being open-minded. You can go adventuring in your own backyard.
As I write this I sit aboard in Miami Beach. We found a great anchorage just south of the Venetian Causeway on the east side of the Bay. The holding is good, protection is 360 degrees and there’s three dinghy spots within a mile. There’s only 12 other boats in the bay. Today we went to the Bass Art Gallery to see an exhibit on the history of the Art Deco architecture. Then we found a great Cuban diner where the staff spoke no English and had a $4 lunch. We baked on the beach and then strolled along Ocean Drive watching the beautiful people. At the end of Lincoln Mall we hopped in our dinghy and buzzed back. Now I sit under a new moon looking at all the lights. This is an adventure to me. It’s all in attitude.
I’m often asked by people if I think they should sell their house and possessions and sail into the sunset. I don’t know. I know what I would do. You have to make your own decision. There are some things to think about.
Think about your cruising plans. There’s the journey and there’s the destination. Each is important. If you’re hopping on a plane and flying to the Cook Islands, the journey is negligible. If you’re planning on sailing there you’ll spend months or years steadily living your life while marching around the globe towards your goal. In either case, why do you want to go to the Cook Islands? Are you interested in the history? Geography? People? Seen a photo and just want to go?
The Cook Islands are just an example. My point is, make sure you’re heading somewhere because you really want to spend the time to get to a certain location. The most important thing I’ve learnt since I took up cruising is “Know thyself”. Just because I’m happy on a small boat doesn’t mean you will be.
When we bought Forbidden Planet we kept our house and rented it out. Yes, if we’d sold it we could have bought a much bigger boat. At the time we hadn’t a lot of sailing experince. And as we’re not independently wealthy nor near retirement age, occasionally we have to work (argh! the four letter word). But the deciding factor for me was, will I like this enough to always want to do this? Without the experience I just didn’t know. It was a cautious move. Maybe you won’t be so cautious.
In a longwinded way my point is that you have to know what you want to do. This is hard because if you’re contemplating a very major life change like selling everything you’ve got and sailing around the world you won’t know if you like it until you try. Seems like a really big step to take all at once. Baby steps are fine by me. Again, that’s me. You have to make your own decision.
It’s all about having fun. Everyone’s idea of fun is different. The trick is to know what your own idea of fun and adventure is, and then to do it. I’m having a grand time on my little boat putzing around. Maybe I’ll sail around the world one day or maybe I won’t. Don’t get caught up in the competitive game of someone else’s adventure. You don’t have to dump your whole life and rush to the ends of the earth to have an adventure. If you want to, great, send me a postcard. I’ll get there eventually, on my own terms.