Why cruise where you cruise?

[Mike OReilly]

Why are you cruising in the area that you are? How did you choose the location, or region? What sorts of things drives you to go to a place, or a area?

I cruised the upper Great Lakes for nearly a decade. Largely I did it because that's where I lived. But as my experience and range grew I increasingly sought out certain areas of Lake Superior, largely for its remoteness and lack of people.

When we left our home in Thunder Bay the ambition was to sail to Newfoundland. We ended up with a multi-year stopover in Lake Ontario, but made it to The Rock in 2017. I guess the draw was again remoteness and few people. But the relatively lower costs, and the cooler temperatures also attracted me.

Now, as I begin to contemplate our next big move (still a few years off I suspect), I've been thinking about what draws me to certain places; what draws you?

[Tetepare]

I’m 8 hour sail to thousand islands. Stuck where I am, but love the islands, the quiet (if you know where to hide) and antique boats.

My other haunt is western province, Solomon Islands. Absolutely stunning, plenty of fresh food, about zero cruising boats, limited tourism. Paradise. Hot. But I like hot.

I believe when one enters the water you should feel embraced and comforted, not slapped like a raw fish thrown in the freezer. Thus, Mike, you and I shall never meet.

[steffan]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

I believe when one enters the water you should feel embraced and comforted, not slapped like a raw fish thrown in the freezer.

+1

We're on Lake Superior until the kids are done with school and the cruising kitty is full. I'm frustrated by the short season, cold water, and conspicuous lack of dolphins. Warmer climes as soon as we can.

[rslifkin]

I'm not retried, so I cruise where I live for the most part. I lived here before I had the boat, so the location was already somewhat set.

[Adelie]

I prefer to go to out of the way places few others think to visit other than locals. Not so much to be away from people but to do something unusual and perhaps a bit more difficult than most.
My favorite places have been MatMats Bay north of Seattle and Anderson Cove (?) on the south side of Sooke Basin, Vancouver Island.

Currently I’m in SoCal where there aren’t many harbors to begin with, let alone any off the beaten path.

[robert sailor]

Up until just recently we have always been on the go..my wife loves to travel and so do I. She tells me we have visited close to 50 countries in the last 8 years. After our Atlantic crossing we were excited to visit the Caribbean..even though we have cruised all over the place neither of us had ever visited the Caribbean, so we did. Spent a year in the Eastern Caribbean and it was fun, the sailing was amazing and easy but it lacked quite a bit on the culture side, something we both really enjoy. There were some Islands that had some neat culture but generally it was in short supply. We sailed to Panama via Venezuela ,ABC Islands, Colombia and San Blas Islands and once we hit Colombia we got our culture fix, wonderful place. We then sailed to the Western Caribbean countries of Honduras, Belize and Guatemala. We really enjoyed this part of the world. Had a health issue that put the brakes on me for close to 2 years and that was a set back from our normal operating style of always moving on but that's now behind me so we have to decide what's next. Could just hang around this part of the world but if I'm not looking over the horizon for new places my Son calls me a loser cruiser, LOL. The Western Caribbean is certainly our favorite area in the Caribbean and offers everything a sailor might be looking for. It's cheap to exist here, lots of great culture, nice land traveling and very easy sailing so I guess even hanging around might be an option but who knows.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

...I believe when one enters the water you should feel embraced and comforted, not slapped like a raw fish thrown in the freezer. Thus, Mike, you and I shall never meet.

How sad .

One of the nice thing about cold water cruising, is that it mostly keeps the tourists away. By that I mean few people choose to cruise these colder waters. For those who appreciate a bit of solitude, it's wonderful.

But to be honest, I really dislike the heat. With the cold you can always put on more clothes. But at some point you run out of clothes to take off when it gets too hot -- and no one wants to see me in that state .

[a64pilot]

We cruise where we do largely cause it easy. But it’s also close to home, close in that one of us could get a flight back pretty quickly, and where we go we always are in contact with family.
Initial plans were much more aggressive, but as the saying goes, life happens, and one or two events we didn’t plan on happened, so now we have to be at least in touch.

[belizesailor]

Western Carib is one of my favorites too and my home cruising ground for about 15 years now! Ive lived in a few different Central American countries (Belize, Guatemala, Panama) and kept my boat there so made sense to cruise there.

Its a great cruising ground. However, as you point out, Central America culture is not as refined as some other venues. On my first visit to Colombia, I thought it was just going to be yet another Latin American country...boy was I wrong! Much more refined than most of Central America. I assume due to being a seat of power for Spain in the colonial era. (Note: Im not including Mexico in the above).

If you do need a more upscale fix while cruising Central America then visit Guatemala City (Zona 10) or Panama City (Casco Viejo).

In addition to some awesome cruising areas, Central America is also rich in history, thousands of years of it, has many current indigenous cultures, and spectacular scenery.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

..........
...........................'cruised the upper Great Lakes for nearly a decade. Largely I did it because that's where I lived................

This sounds right to me. I started sailing in Fort Lauderdale when I was 9 or 10 years old in the mid 1950's. We didn't sail in the cold of winter when the temperatures went below 60*F. Our schools were cancelled if the high for the day was forecast to dip below 60*F. We didn't have heaters in our home or schools. We were raised to be pansies when it comes to cold! Later in our cruising we braved Maine in the summers, but we were quick to escape before September. We did most of our cruising in Florida and the Bahamas.

[Macblaze]

I suppose most people start where they are (although I have read of plenty of west coasters who travelled to Florida to buy their boat and sail off)... I cruise the West coast because we decided it was "the" place to be for our sabbatical and so that's where the boat still is.

I don't know of it is the cold water so much that attracts me, but the PNW has it all. Stay south for warm days and crowded anchorages and plenty of places to party or head north to escape the crowds, enjoy the solitude and commune with wildlife. And the long days are definitely a plus in my books. Although I will admit it is fleece weather more often than bikini weather the further north you go. But Desolation Sound has some awesomely warm water (its where the tides meet coming around Vancouver Island) and swimming is absolutely part of the equation.

I absolutely want to head down the coast again and maybe make it to Mexico but I can almost guarantee you that the next few turns will be to the right, heading to Hawaii and then back north to Alaska. It just so beautiful and exactly what I think cruising (to me) should be... and like that Disney princess says "the cold never bothered me anyhow..."

Having said that, I still havent made the almost obligatory charter trip to the Caribbean so you never know, maybe short days, muggy nights and beaches might just tempt me.

[Nightsky]

We are west coasters who decided to start our cruising lifestyle on the east coast/caribbean because of our ages. We wanted to work our way home (BC) while we age and do the Caribbean and E Pacific while our health was still good and expected to be good for the foreseeable future. Multi-year plan before we get to PNW and cruise closer to home and Alaska.

[Mike OReilly]

A few of you have teased us with the joys of the PNW. I actually have a long-term vision, which is less than a goal but more than a dream, that I'll eventually make it over there. I'm over on the east coast right now (Newfoundland). At the pace we travel you can expect to see me in about 15, maybe 20 years.

Actually, it's a serious thought right now. Once we've explored the wonders of the Atlantic coast, do we head south towards the Caribbean, and then eventually through the Canal. Or do we head east, across the Atlantic to Norway or Ireland?

Or maybe global warming will really get going and the NW Passage will become less of a crazy route. If that happens I could be there in a season, and I wouldn't even have to dig out my speedo .

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

A few of you have teased us with the joys of the PNW. I actually have a long-term vision, which is less than a goal but more than a dream, that I'll eventually make it over there. I'm over on the east coast right now (Newfoundland). At the pace we travel you can expect to see me in about 15, maybe 20 years.

The grass is always greener. Oddly enough I was just musing out loud last night if I ever won the "big one" would I have a boat in the PNW and another in eastern Canada or would i just truck one back and forth? Because sailing it would just take too long

But Nfld is totally on my radar. We did it by car a dozen years ago and the idea of being able to sail into Twillingate or Trinity really does shiver my timbers...

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

The grass is always greener. Oddly enough I was just musing out loud last night if I ever won the "big one" would I have a boat in the PNW and another in eastern Canada or would i just truck one back and forth? Because sailing it would just take too long

But Nfld is totally on my radar. We did it by car a dozen years ago and the idea of being able to sail into Twillingate or Trinity really does shiver my timbers...

"Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton's Harbour, All around the Circle..." is just a day hop from where we're based in Lewisporte. If you decide to visit again I'd be happy to take you and yours out for a sail.

You could be right about the greener grass. We really have no immediate plans to leave this area. And who knows, we may never leave. I love cruising Newfoundland. The waters and coastlines are big and adventurous. The sea life is amazing. Icebergs are simply the coolest thing. And the people -- well, all I can say is that Newfoundlanders live up to their stereotype as being the nicest people on Earth.

The only major downside is the winters ... Lets just say it's a bit hard to live on board over the cold months. There is one of the things that draws me to the west coast; the idea that one can live on board year round, and not have to worry about major blizzards or hurricanes.