Cruisers not as friendly etc. anymore

Don L said:

Needed a small help item this week. There is close to 400 boats anchored here. The help I need I bet 100 of those boats could have provided and it would have taken less than 5 minutes time. Got no one offering and I even even was offering to pay. Just a few years past I would have been turning down people.

Last week was at an anchorage with a well known cruiser beach. Last time just 2 years ago there were regular sundowners etc. get togethers there. This visit in 4 days there I never saw anyone other than us even go to the beach.

6 years ago on my first year I collected a stack a couple inches high of boater cards. Now for every 10 I give out I might get 1 as newer cruisers just aren't interested in them. Boaters just don"t really even seem to interested in getting together.

The last couple of weeks in various anchorages I have noticed cruisers don't care how close they fly by your boat in the anchorage or how big a wake they made with their dinghies. All they care about is getting to beach bat faster. Just a few year ago it was only the super yachts that acted like owned the water and to hell with other boaters.

Now days it is almost common for someone to take up 3/4 of the small dinghy dock because they needed to lock their boat for and aft.

Maybe it is just me.

Click to expand...

My Adair and i have made thirteen trips from our marina in North Carolina to the Bahamas (irish-eyes-to-the-bahamas,blogspot.com) generally leaving Miami, traveling south in the Exumas then back north through the islands to the Abacos and finally returning to North Carolina. During that time we have noticed that the amount of interaction between cruisers has decreased. Maybe it is the internet and onboard entertainment, maybe it is larger boats with family and guests aboard, mybe it is air conditioning, maybe it is more charter boats and mega yachts, maybe it is more shoreside businesses and services, we don't know, but we have been collecting fewer boat cards, we have sat in fewer cockpits for a drink and snack, and we have attended fewer beach parties as the years went by. We felt the effect most especially on our last trip in 2022. More dinghies were locked to the dock. Participation on the Waterway Radio and Cruising Club net, Cruiseheimers net, the BASRA weather net and the local VHF nets were all decreased.

Don L had no takers on his request to borrow a high pressure gauge. We don't carry one, but a couple of days ago we made a list of things we have loaned or given away on our trips. Her goes...

... loaned water jugs to transport water in Black Point and in George Town.
... loaned out fuel jugs in George Town
... gave away our spare duck bill vent valve.
... gave away engine vee belts from our spares.
... offered our handheld VHF and handheld GPS to a boat that was struct by lightning, but others beat us to it.
... loaned our prop puller.
... let another boat use our Hypalon glue to repair his dinghy.
... gave away our Explorer Chartbooks and our cruising guides.
... filled another boat's 10 lb propane tank from our 20 lb when Clarence's truck would not start.
... gave away a spare Yanmar raw water pump impeller.
... gave away a spare Yanmar fuel filter.
... gave away dinghy gasoline.
... loaned a big wrench.
... gave away a can of Freon.
... loaned a Freon tap-a-can and gauges.
... gave away mangos and bananas we had bought locally.

In return we have been plied with food and drink, met many interesting and entertaining people, and had a ball.