A Discussion of the Philosophies of Cruising and Circumnavigating

[camaraderie]

CD...well said on the long response to 007! I was gonna comment about the gulf stream not being near the West Indies but no need to further pile on!

[St Anna]

Hey CD,
With respect to your motoring to weather comment. When a cruisers comes into port they always refuel. The honest ones will say they use the iron headsail if they slow to less than 3 or 4 kn. I actually have to make 2300nm against the wind next month and motorsailing will be the name of the game. Either that or a tour of the western pacific - sailing 5000nm to go 2300. Then again, it would be much quieter without the engine!!

[chall03]

CD, Did I ever tell you about the time 37 years ago when I sailed a Beneteau 50 without an engine around the moon ???

Originally Posted by stewsam

I'll get back to the question;

My philosophy is light, small and alone, I want to test my boat, my self and the world, I want to go to the places only a few people ever see and I want to be independant and self reliant doing it. I'll use technology where and when it's useful. The reason for going is because I want to and I can, nothing more and nothing less...

Stew and et all, Ignore James's ramblings, but please look back further in this thread at some of Vega's posts on doing it small and simple but with great common sense.....

Can i say there is always in life two extremes, most of us will be somewhere in the middle.

[Cruisingdad]

Originally Posted by chall03

CD, Did I ever tell you about the time 37 years ago when I sailed a Beneteau 50 without an engine around the moon ???



Stew and et all, Ignore James's ramblings, but please look back further in this thread at some of Vega's posts on doing it small and simple but with great common sense.....

Can i say there is always in life two extremes, most of us will be somewhere in the middle.

Agreed. THat is exactly why I invited Vega to this thread. I feel he gives a great pic of the other side.

- CD

[chall03]

Absolutely!

I think his is a good picture that is grounded in firsthand cruising experience and delivered with a good dose of wisdom and common sense.

CD, (if I may momentarily kiss your ass ) your opinion is also one that I believe should be in high regard here in this discussion, you have likewise been there and done that.

Often I look forward to a time when Josie and I will hopefully have family, and cruising I hope would be an enriching part of our family life, and well I just can't argue with a logic that says use every resource available to keep those you love safe. I, although limited by budget, would probably adopt exactly the same philosophy.

[6string]

Boats - vessels of freedom. When I get out on any boat there is a freedom that I feel that I get nowhere else. I get a greater feeling of freedom when I can move along with just the wind as my power.

I have been boating for most of my 51 years. 40 of those involve sailing. I have been racing scows in the Wisconsin all of that time. In winter we get out on a DN ice boat. I love the feel of the winds power moving any boat. It has always been fun to learn how to handle the different boats and how they respond to differing conditions.

The past 10 years we have been chartering. Lake Superior a few times and 3 times to the BVI. To be able to sail to beautiful places and just hang out is priceless. After our first BVI trip, it took me over a week to get my head back into work. I was hooked on finding a way to get back there, maybe full time.

This fall we bought our first cruising boat. Prior to this I have owned sailboats from 12' to 28' which were purely sailboats. No batteries, no motor, no "gadgets". Just a hull with spars and sails. The new boat to us is a 1986 Baba 40, the SV/ Mezzaluna. What a change. We now have a cabin below deck, a motor on board, batteries, heat and hot water, air conditioning (for now) and "gadgets". When we bought her the fuel tank had a hole in it. I am handy with tools and have been doing all of the work myself. As I went through this project over this past winter I found many things that needed attention. Many I couldn't do in one off season. We are getting the main mechanical things straightened out, getting the rig strong and ready and getting it cleaned up so we can use it this summer. She won't be pretty this summer but she will sail. I am having the time of my life. If I am not at my job, I am working on Mezzaluna.

My wife has been behind me on this project from the day we first looked at it. She has just started helping with the work in the past few weeks. She wants to be able to sail on her too. I am a lucky man. Katie has been my crew the past 20 years racing at home. She has loved the charters. In fact she gave me the business for not taking her to the BVI again this spring when instead I stayed home and spent the entire spring break working on Mezzaluna so we can sail on our own cruiser. She started working on the boat that week.

We are hoping that in the next 5-7 years we can sell our lake home and have enough invested that we can spend 5 - 10 years cruising and maybe circumnavigating. We are taking it one step at a time. We will spend our time for now cruising Lake Michigan and see how we like it. If all is good we will take the next step, what ever we decide that is. (vessels of freedom)

At the end of the day, these are still all sailboats. The gadgets don't sail the boat, people do. The basics of sailing on any of them from 12' to 40' is the same. However, they each are different as each person is different one from the other. You need to learn how they handle, what they feel like moving in the water. How to tune it, what makes it happy versus the boat fighting with you. It is all a learning experience, and that is what is so fun about it. Figuring it all out. Feeling that power and using it to go somewhere.

The "gadgets", they are just extra toys to play with if you are so inclined. Personal preference. We'll have some not all. Do you think the mariners of long ago gave the first guys to use a sextant a hard time for having that "gadget" on board? I see them as a tool that can help make the trip a little easier, sometimes safer and something to enjoy learning. Again, it is personal preference if one should have anything other than a hull, spars and sails. It is not right or wrong.

Here's to another sailing season begining. Our scow racing starts Tuesday. I still own 2 c scows. When I bought my current one, I kept the previous one and let my son sail it. We brought those home and will rig them this weekend. Today I finish sanding and tomorrow the bottom paint goes on Mezzaluna. Choices choices!

Boats - vessels of freedom.


Jeff


SVs'/Mezzaluna, fafakitahi, Hodag

[Cruisingdad]

Everyone,

I received a nice PM from James007. He was in fact a college student writing a paper on the subject and tested this thread and its participants to receive a reaction and evaluate it. As such, I believe we can appropriately dismiss his conclusions and comments.

I merely point this out now in the event that someone would take his advice. I take this thread seriously as I feel it could weigh on the decisions and ultimate judgements of those who read it.

- CD

[LWinters]

I am a new poster on this thread so I'll go back to the original question. I started sailing on inland waters just over six years ago now. ASA classes gave me a start and I built on those in Dallas, Missouri, New Mexico, and finally started chartering in the waters off of California. Two and a half years ago I bought a 1976 Allied Mistress and began her refit for long term cruising. In November of 2008 I quit my job and cut the dock lines.

My window opened Jan. 10 2009 for a Gulf of Mexico crossing from Galveston, TX to Isla Mujeres Mexico. I sail single handed and made the 650+ nautical mile trip in five days four hours. Since thin I hopped down the Mexican cost and am writing this from the anchorage at Caye Caulker, Belize.

I am 33, short on budget, but long on time and energy. I bought a sound boat for under 50K and replaced, serviced, or repaired what I considered essential gear including life raft, epirb, radar, autopilot, watermaker, and SSB. You can definitely go with less, but I sure like the setup I've got. The boat is dry, comfortable, and sea worthy and will carry me as far as I am willing to go. I suppose I definitely fall into the K.I.S.S. philosophy of sailing. Even now I sometimes consider removing some gear like the engine driven fridge so there would simply be one less thing to maintain.

The other thing I've realized is that I get closer to the locals eating in the cheap joints with them than in the more expensive tourist restaurants. Being a single hander with a dog also seems to open more doors than I could have imagined. Money seems to be the least thing that would now keep me from doing this again.

Cheers from s/v Jargo.

Lee

[SeanRW]

Lee,

That's EXACTLY what I would like to eventually do. Simplify my life somewhat, enjoy the travel and keep it basic. Though, I still think an E120 in the head is important !! (kidding)

Seriously though, sounds like it's working out for you well !! Especially the fact that you're getting to know the locals on their "turf" as opposed to the illusionary "vacation" spots. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've travelled extensively and one of my favorite things is to try to avoid the hotels, spas, touristy places and instead, seek out the places less traveled.

Afterall, the whole reason for traveling is to see new places and explore other cultures. If I wanted to stay in a westernized environment, there's plenty of nice hotels in North America or Europe. But then I'd be missing out on the reason for travel in the first place !!

Cheers.

Sean

[tdw]

Now that we've discussed the equipment thing how about destinations and/or cruising grounds ?

Our initial plans are relatively simple, we'd like to spend a couple of years cruising south coast NSW, Tasmania, Lord Howe Island, Queensland/GBR and the Kimberley Coast of Western Australia then the Louisiades and the Solomons, possibly New Caledonia cos that can form part of a loop back to Oz.

Within reason these are simple goals, realistically achievable, indeed all that I've mentioned could be done in passages of not much more than approx 300nms.

That leaves my two other dream destinations being the American PNW and Iberia which are slightly more problematic unless we do buy a boat in the US , cruise PNW then sail her home. Iberia ? Not sure how to work that one in cos I have no real desire to sail across the Indian and into the Atlantic. Charter maybe ? Or buy over there short term ? Not sure.

Ah, I forgot New Zealand but to be honest I suspect that we would charter. Crossing the Tasman holds no appeal whatsoever.


ps - having said all that, every time I delve into Hal and Margaret Roth's "Two on a Big Ocean" I wanna do that circuit, though I'm not at all sure I have the requisite cojones !