Capt. Marc, veteran of multiple ocean crossings, and instructional pro, invites you to join him for lessons and/or excursions under sail. By special arrangement only.
Sailing Around
Jim H. wrote to me…
“As someone noted on another board, financial problems have prematurely ended more cruises than any boat, skill, health or weather problems. Others have noted that it seems like many or most of the cruisers they meet are in retirement age. We may also end up in that group, but not without making an honest effort at designing a 1-5 year cruise financially and kids-wise, not to mention “pucker factor” and motivation-wise.”
Dear Jim H,
I’m glad you enjoyed the clip. I have enjoyed your thread and the various replies have provided me with a chance to reflect upon what we did in the run-up to our family cruise, the cruise itself, and our ultimate landing. It’s clear that you understand that the undertaking is qualitatively different form a “vacation”. The biggest risk has little to do with storms, pirates, and partially submerged containers. The primary risk is that your journey will transform you and your crew in ways that you cannot know at this point in the process. I don’t think that people uncover some underlying truths about themselves. Rather, they emerge as new selves during the journey.
You mention things that end voyages and point to money as the primary cause. My observations are quite different.
The first, and most prevalent reason for abandoned voyages is mistaken expectations. Most people spend a lot of time, effort, and money, in the expectation of transforming their lives to some “better” reality. Some seek white sandy beaches and cheap beer. Others expect an unbroken chain of adventure and discovery. Somewhere between year one and year two, they realize that life is life, whether at sea or ashore. Their voyage provides no escape from the life’s petty demands. One common refrain has it that the definition of cruising is “repairing boats in exotic places”. I would also add…doing laundry, finding food, teaching kids, washing the dog, worrying about money, looking for work, making and losing friends, etc. …in exotic places. This discovery is a great disappointment for many aspiring cruisers. They head home with various face-saving excuses to friends and family and sell their boats.
Most people, myself included, set out to journey under sail with misguided expectations. These fantasies are good because they get us going. The next step is to allow our expectations to yield to the true nature of the journey–to let go and permit the transformations to unfold. For some, this is a brutally fearsome prospect. They tenaciously refuse to let go. For others, at some point in the journey, a tipping point occurs, and it dawns on them that cruising’s rewards have nothing to do with the character of their routes and destinations. The rewards are the inner changes wrought as they become liberated from the straight-jacket of preprogrammed lives.
The second reason voyages are abandoned is health. As you have noted, many cruisers wait until retirement to begin. Many were waiting until the process of transformation would no longer be of great consequence. The kids are grown and gone. The house is paid for. The career is ended. I say, hooray to those retirees who waited and still managed to get out there long enough to sail passed their tipping point. And for those who waited too long…? Regrets? How could anyone know without having done it?
If you have the will and the means, don’t worry about sailing “around the world” just go out there and sail around…the world.
Marc
S/V Songline
www.SailtheChannel.com
[print_link]