The Greatest Country On Earth To Cruise Is...

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Richard_W

Yes, close enough ... but EU is not a country ... it is 28 or so countries lumped together.

Having lived in the US , neither is it. It's 52 countries lumped together. !!

Dave

[ausaviator]

I'm American. I don't think it's the best country but it is one of them. I think a lot of the hate we get is jealousy. Mostly because we are the most powerful, richest and influential country.

and there is your problem... you THINK you are powerful and THAT is why everyone wants to bomb you.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by shanedennis

Winter? What winter? Huh? Thanks in part to you I am in Miami soaking up the sunshine here at the Coconut Grove Sailing Club. Kinda speaks to the climatic diversity of this country.

Coming to South Florida by boat on the outside along the Gulf Stream is really cool. Wow. The Gulf Stream. It feels almost supernatural in it's power

I think it is. I blame the Gulf Stream for starting this thread!

Wait a week, if you don't cross you'll be freezing. Have a great trip.

[Richard_W]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

It's 52 countries lumped together.

There was 51 posted earlier, 52 now ... 53 anyone? It's 50 states (fifty) ... just FYI ...

A state of the United States of America is one of the 50 constituent political entities that shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Because of the shared sovereignty between each U.S. state and the U.S. federal government, an American is a citizen of both the federal republic and of his or her state of domicile.[3] State citizenship and residency are flexible and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).

This excerpt also outlines the difference between US states and state members of the EU.

[northoceanbeach]

Originally Posted by Palarran

Honestly I can't see why anyone would want to "cruise" the States. What is there to see? The whole East Coast is flat from the shore except Maine. So you see trees and sand. You can visit a lot of really big, dirty, noisy cities. Some are cool - like Charleston but most I'd skip. And where are you going to anchor or moor? Usually in some out of the way cesspool.

The West Coast is mountainous but doesn't have many harbors in order to shelter. Maybe Washington / San Juan's would be ok for a month or two. The Gulf - dear god no.

The Great Lakes are very nice. I live on one and used to think it was the best - until I saw more. This summer we boated around Grand Traverse Bay and I couldn't help thinking how ignorant I used to be. Still beautiful but no where near the best.

Alaska would be kick ass but pretty cold for the time available to "cruise".
Hawaii - excellent but apparently you can't get berths and harbors available to anchor in are few. I'll fly there and stay in a villa.

You know, if you live here and want to sail or boat, yes it's nice. But to say it's better than Greece, Croatia, Italy, France, well, my list can go on, no way. And I haven't been to my Shangri La yet - New Zeeland. Australia, French Polynesia, the Caribbean as a whole, and so many more.

We went through the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro this year and IMO, that was the most beautiful place I've been on the water. Santorini second.

This, while a negative view, sums American sailing up pretty well.

The two biggest problems discussed elsewhere are the healthcare system and the violence.

Healthcare is yet available to a lot of people. But hopefully that is about to change. At least it's a step in the right direction.

The cities are crazy bad. Most of the east coast and Midwest are ghettos and the west coast is marginal. I don't feel safe in a lot of places and I don't feel that I should have to feel scared to walk around my own country.

Still. There a lot of worse places. The entire African continent. Russia and all of Asia except Japan. Central and South America. Basically everywhere except Europe and Australia/New Zealand. And half of Europe is only staying afloat because they are mooching off Germany. England is mostly illegal immigrants over stressing the social system. The financial and health quality of life may be better in Canada but for the most part the quality of life is worse because the weather is terrible. How many people live in japan, Europe and Australia? Even 10% of the world? That puts us in the top twenty, but from the tone here it like we are Sudan.

When all is said and done, we still just beat all the rest of you at sailing by designing the fastest boat imaginable. So I say jealous.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by northoceanbeach

it(s) like we are Sudan.

When all is said and done, we still just beat all the rest of you at sailing by designing the fastest boat imaginable. So I say jealous.

Who designed built and sailed what exactly?

You dream of being like the Sudan.... the diving there is brilliant....

[El Rubio]

Originally Posted by SailBender

Do you understand that when someone does not have health insurance the only care they can get is in the emergency room? You cannot go see a specialist once you develop cancer unless you pay out of pocket or have insurance. That fact alone should tell you that indeed, every single day, people die in the US because people cannot afford health care. There are no cancer treatments in the ER. There are no treatments for the thousands of other debilitating illnesses in the ER. That is not what an ER is for.

This simply isn't true. While many people do get treatment at the emergency room, there are many many free hospitals, clinics and programs for those unable to pay. In New Orleans, we had a hospital, destroyed by Katrina, called Charity Hospital. It was free to those who could not pay, which was most of the patients. It was paid for by the state of La. Current state budget for health and hospitals is almost $9 billion for this year. What do you think that pays for? There are several smaller regional hospitals that are also part of the same state run system. If you can pay for services there, you will, but most don't. There are clinics and doctors offices around all of these hospitals and most of their patients are on Medicaid or other free programs.

[Parmenter]

Originally Posted by Richard_W

There was 51 posted earlier, 52 now ... 53 anyone? It's 50 states (fifty) ... just FYI ...

It would appear that Americans aren't real smart when it comes to geography

Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES - YouTube

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Richard_W

There was 51 posted earlier, 52 now ... 53 anyone? It's 50 states (fifty) ... just FYI ...

A state of the United States of America is one of the 50 constituent political entities that shares its sovereignty with the United States federal government. Because of the shared sovereignty between each U.S. state and the U.S. federal government, an American is a citizen of both the federal republic and of his or her state of domicile.[3] State citizenship and residency are flexible and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders (e.g., paroled convicts and children of divorced spouses who are sharing custody).

This excerpt also outlines the difference between US states and state members of the EU.

That excerpt could read like the EU. , ie shared sovereignty , shared citizenship , freedom of movement and work etc. all EU current concepts.

As for 52 states well having lived in three of them there's no excuse for my brain fart.

Dave

[bgallinger]

God bless America and all her citizens.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by bgallinger

God bless America and all her citizens.

Which of the many gods would that be ?

I think several of the minor ones publish blessing prices on the net and accept PayPal
Dave

[boatman61]

What makes me smile about this thread is.. in the years I've been a CF member I've read about how shitty, tough and dangerous the W Coast is to sail up and down... grim warnings of rocky cliffs and nowhere to hide if the SHTF...
On the E Coast there's currently a Thread running where everyones telling a guy that if he goes outside the ICW he'll die...
And the thing that amuses me most is the Caribbean now seems to be part of the US..
Now I will admit that parts are beautiful... loved Vermont... NY sucked... NC was excellent and Florida... well... its Florida..
Met some awesome folk and met a coupla anus's... about the same average as the rest of the world... but the best country to cruise in... no.. sorry... the British Isle's beat the crap outa ya on all fronts...
When its not raining...

[RainDog]

Funny this thread started with a guy from Australia visiting the US and learning from it. It has since proven consistently exactly why most people need to travel the world more to help overcome their stereotypes and misconceptions.

A significant % of all the statements made on this thread are obviously false to anyone with access to google. I prescribe a heavy diet of travel and reading, and rigid abstention from all TV news.

"We will not cease from our exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
- T.S. Elliot

[zboss]

America. We have Britney Spears and Budweiser! Those slack jawed people to the north of us don't even have proper money.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by boatman61

When its not raining...[/SIZE][/FONT]

When's that? Third Tuesday in July?