Quote:
Originally Posted by smackdaddy
Dream like you'll live forever.
Prepare like you'll die tomorrow.
You want to sail around the world? You want to live the dream?
Perfect.
Now comes the preparation.
This is the crux of most sailing forum debates. The bottom line is...there's nothing wrong with the dreaming. It's what gets anyone and everyone started in this beautiful art in the first place.
But no one can argue that sailing big is not, potentially, deadly. You HAVE to prepare.
The question is...how do we let both of these stand?
What do you think? |
Depends on if you are allowing public opinion (and those most against - usually sap the press, internet etc), or what you have to do.
The only real difference of seeing the world and living aboard - is the lengths you have to do it.
For instance, my moving onboard - will require boon docking at least 5 days a week. And I have a dog... (bulldog size - but he's sailed many times before).
Why I believe both the ocean sailor and the live aboard share the most is, that they are both restricted in funds (or ability to use them), the common bond amounts to the ability to survive with no or limited resources. A lot of people never see that quality as we equate stories of that gal in FL, that guy in California etc all attempting "glory of world traveling".. But we never hear about live aboard boon docking failures. And the amount of prep or ability for them use what they got.
Personally - I am scared #@!$%less on the whole living aboard and I have an RV I could land in but its boring when its all said and done (living on a RV). One difference that the marine lifestyle and the RV lifestyle have, is actually - sense of community. Don't get me wrong - RVing can be cool if you do the group thing, but as a sailor you get immediate connections and they remember you. Odds are greater you'll cross paths again or if you here something on the
VHF - you know to go help. Thanks to cell phones the CB is not nearly as proficient as
VHF.
To address this: "The question is...how do we let both of these stand?"
It is not UP TO US, it is up to the person making the adventure to live and die based on what they are capable of. None of us can judge because some have more to invest but lack common sense, others with common sense can do more with less.
When you think about Christopher Columbus and other explorers of the day. They didn't have water makers (but did use rain catchers - if it rained), they didn't have
charts or depth sounders, they didn't have powered fridges etc... Which leads me to the point - you do not have to have it all - to have the adventure if you realize what your limitations are.
Sure I'll have 4 battery banks, solar, a wind gen, LED
lighting throughout, and a Honda 2000 EU to keep things up to spec. Not everyone has, and many - have done without. Adventure begins when you realize you are ready to tackle the adventure knowing that you know what you do not have - but can manage because you know how to handle with what you do have...
- With respect to skills, you prepare incrementally. When learning to ski, no sense going straight for the black diamond slopes 'less you like the taste of bark. Know your limits and increase them a step at a time while building knowlege and experience. Or . . . do it with someone who's already a pro. Or . . . just do it and rely on luck, who knows, you might get away with it 
.
