Cruising and Modern Conveniences- All is good with Universe

[clakiep]

I did most of my sailing before internet and GPS age. Two atlantic crossings Brasil-Greece and back plus lots of sailing on the brasilian coast. I dind't even had SSB or VHS at the time. I never forget the feeling of beeing alone with the ocean together with my crew, and getting back to civilisation at landfall. This is today almost impossible and would be even considered risky and unsafe. You do sail away but in some way you are still there, imersed in the communication. information and propaganda buzz. Lost times ? I am afraid so.

Capt. Claus

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Yes, this is the old school way of cruising. But judging from the active cruisers I've met (well over 100 I suppose), it's no longer the template - it's become an outlier. Probably 80% of the folks I've met are 60-ish (+/- 10 years or so); fairly recently retired and appear to have a decent nest egg. There area few outliers on both ends - low-budget and hi-budget. Their goal is adventure travel, not becoming the next Pardey-esque cruiser and drinking warm (hot?) beer or bathing in salt water.

And if crowded anchorages is any indicator, they are fairly prolific. A friend spent 2-years cruising from San Diego to Florida in 1996-1998 and has followed my progress. Compared to his recollection of the anchorages, there are a LOT of folks out cruising these days.

I can't speak to other parts of the world of course, but for the crotchety old-school pundits on CF who think interest in cruising is diminishing, you're only partially right: interest in bare-bones cruising is probably diminishing becasue there are options.....and many of us prefer to cruise with our spouse. The bare-bones cruisers I've met are single, unshaven men on old, tired boats who talk about the good ol' days. Not an attractive look.

I think you need to get a wider sample . The cruisers in my neck of the woods lean towards the simple, "Pardey-esque" as you put it. I can only think of one solo guy, and that's because his wife recently died. Most here sail and cruise as couples.

I'm sure it's always been the case that those who cruise at the low, and high economic end, have always been outliers. That's just a characteristic of any bell curve. The CF crowd certainly represents more of the high-end folk, but in places off the beaten path, there are plenty of people cruising in simpl(er) boats.

BTW, off the beaten path, anchorages are not crowded. Most have refrigeration (so the beer is cold), and I don't know anyone who bathes in salt water.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I think you need to get a wider sample . The cruisers in my neck of the woods lean towards the simple, "Pardey-esque" as you put it. I can only think of one solo guy, and that's because his wife recently died. Most here sail and cruise as couples.

I'm sure it's always been the case that those who cruise at the low, and high economic end, have always been outliers. That's just a characteristic of any bell curve. The CF crowd certainly represents more of the high-end folk, but in places off the beaten path, there are plenty of people cruising in simpl(er) boats.

BTW, off the beaten path, anchorages are not crowded. Most have refrigeration (so the beer is cold), and I don't know anyone who bathes in salt water.

It's probably somewhat of a geographic thing. Some areas have more simple cruisers, some have less, as different cruising grounds will appeal more or less to a given type of cruiser.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by clakiep

I did most of my sailing before internet and GPS age. Two atlantic crossings Brasil-Greece and back plus lots of sailing on the brasilian coast. I dind't even had SSB or VHS at the time. I never forget the feeling of beeing alone with the ocean together with my crew, and getting back to civilisation at landfall. This is today almost impossible and would be even considered risky and unsafe. You do sail away but in some way you are still there, imersed in the communication. information and propaganda buzz. Lost times ? I am afraid so.

Capt. Claus

Its down to choice really.. my solo and crewed Transats are pretty much silent and alone on the big blue.
Used to post my Spot link for CF to follow but gave that up, even then it was only for 1/2 hour twice a day.
None of the 'Buzz' you reference above..one can still live without it.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

It's probably somewhat of a geographic thing. Some areas have more simple cruisers, some have less, as different cruising grounds will appeal more or less to a given type of cruiser.

Completely agree. Which is why I feel the need to push back a bit. Personal anecdotes are the worst kind of data. It's a big world, and we tend to see what we choose to see.

Technology and knowledge moves on, and the whole bell curve has certainly shifted to embrace this fact. Marine refrigeration is a good example. Decades ago, it was complex and fragile tech. Today, it is a mature, reliable and relatively inexpensive piece of kit. Most cruising boats, even most simple ones, will have it on board. I bet if the Pardey's were leaving today, they'd have it.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

. The bare-bones cruisers I've met are single, unshaven men on old, tired boats who talk about the good ol' days. Not an attractive look.

Well that is the truth in my experience. But mostly what I have noticed is that maybe they were cruisers once, but now are now just people living on a boat that more times than not is falling apart.

[TPG]

I'd say my cruising has evolved from where I started. We're very comfortable on our boat and it makes life easier afloat, but more systems = more maintenance.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

It's probably somewhat of a geographic thing. Some areas have more simple cruisers, some have less, as different cruising grounds will appeal more or less to a given type of cruiser.

I think I was pretty clear that I could only speak of the area where I am cruising - Mexico and Central America. There are a LOT of boats cruising here, quite a few who will jump-off to the South Pacific (including one Nordhavn powerboat who is trying to talk his wife into the idea.....). The boats I've met are mostly setup for full-time cruising, though I did hit a vein of part-time cruisers in Mazatlan who come Nov-Apr to cruise the coast of Central Mexico.

A quick check of NoForeignLand shows one boat in Newfoundland ("Tantalus"), one boat in Nova Scotia ("Odino"). Four more in Maine; and a couple dozen in the CT/MA/Long Island Sound area. I left Weebles on the hard in Chiapas MX which is a small marina a few miles from the Guatemala border - not prime cruising grounds (though a popular stopover). There are a total of eight boats on NFL in this marina - probably another 30 that are not NFL users. Contrast to Sea of Cortez where there are 100's if not 1000s - I'd guess the vast majority of which are well-equipped with modern conveniences. Well over 90% of the cruising boats I've encountered have Starlink, for example.

Ensenada MX seems to be the Valhalla of aged-out cruisers, a few of whom used a walker. It's a bit sobering to see - . My hunch is they have some sort of meager retirement income but not much else so don't have a lot of options except to live in a relatively inexpensive marina on their old boat (Ensenada probably has the least expensive marina space on the Pacific). They are almost exclusively single men - my strong suspiscion is a few of the low-budget folks I've met out cruising are on a similar cruising path.

[CyKlop]

One of the things I keep in mind is that "skills" are constantly evolving. I'm sure that, back in the day, there were old-time navigators that were decrying these babies that were using "maps" instead of their prized rutters. Then the maps made way to hand-drawn charts... then those hand-drawn charts gave way to naval charts, thence to governmental charts, thence to... etc.

Each change brings with it a change in required skills. "But what about..." Sure, there ar drawbacks to anything new. Paper charts blow overboard, tear, or get sodden. Electronics fail for many reasons, and can lie to you too. Choose your poison.

What is more important is teaching people to use their poison of choice properly and safely, and THAT is where we are falling down.

[Kettlewell]

A quick check of NoForeignLand shows one boat in Newfoundland ("Tantalus"), one boat in Nova Scotia ("Odino"). Four more in Maine; and a couple dozen in the CT/MA/Long Island Sound area. I left Weebles on the hard in Chiapas MX which is a small marina a few miles from the Guatemala border - not prime cruising grounds (though a popular stopover). There are a total of eight boats on NFL in this marina - probably another 30 that are not NFL users.

Side note, but the information I can see at https://www.noforeignland.com is pretty much useless in Southern New England. Is it because I'm not a member or just nobody posting around here?

[clakiep]

Just completing : in my perception cruising under sail at my time was more of a mission do get somewhere, and there to enjoy the anmenities of civilization. To day it seems to be more the case of beeing somewhere, only on a boat, and having everything you have at land on board.

Capt. Claus

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Side note, but the information I can see at https://www.noforeignland.com is pretty much useless in Southern New England. Is it because I'm not a member or just nobody posting around here?

Kettlewell - see attached screenshot from NFL on my PC. There is a 'filter' button on the right margin - you may have 'places' filter turned off; same with boats. It's a cool App - better than ActiveCaptain was because it has vessels and it's easier to update locations.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by clakiep

Just completing : in my perception cruising under sail at my time was more of a mission do get somewhere, and there to enjoy the anmenities of civilization. To day it seems to be more the case of beeing somewhere, only on a boat, and having everything you have at land on board.

Capt. Claus

If your perception of 'today' is drawn from YouTuber's, I agree 100%. But from my experience of actually trekking through cruiser destinations, folks are doing what they've always done - showing up and enjoying the places they visit, meeting one another, and fixing their boats.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Kettlewell - see attached screenshot from NFL on my PC. There is a 'filter' button on the right margin - you may have 'places' filter turned off; same with boats. It's a cool App - better than ActiveCaptain was because it has vessels and it's easier to update locations.

Cool app. Never heard of it before now. Thanks .

[Kettlewell]

see attached screenshot from NFL on my PC. There is a 'filter' button on the right margin - you may have 'places' filter turned off; same with boats. It's a cool App - better than ActiveCaptain was because it has vessels and it's easier to update locations.

The available information is very skimpy, incomplete, and not anywhere near what you would find in any cruising guide to the area. I really don't see anything useful about it for around here. Plus, some of the information is just plain wrong, which is usually the case with crowd-sourced stuff.