Is liveaboard lifestyle a dying lifestyle

[Hartings]

Originally Posted by Hardhead

I think there used to be a higher bar to becoming a cruiser. Celestial navigation, no TV on board, maybe no real electricity. A lot of varnishing & high maintenance wood boats were self-selecting bars, that only let a certain breed of person through. Take offshore fishing for example. It used to be you would see very few boats all the way out at the continental canyons fishing. Now there are hundreds on a weekend, and maybe 5% could get back to port without a GPS. People who did it acted like gentlemen, now they act like "Wicked Tuna." Same with "cruising" I think. Anchoring was free, and no harassment - now it's swamped with everybody and their brother, and there are a lot of bad apples that serve to speak for "cruisers" as a whole - one derelict boat makes more of an impression than a hundred that are well behaved. Those people who get into it now are just not as committed as someone who bought a wood boat, and learned celestial navigation. More are disillusioned and drop out, because they were disillusioned getting into it, IMO.

I think you need to accept that times change - not necessarily for the worse and things 20/30 years ago were not necessarily better. Always hankering after the ‘good old days’ is a very limiting pastime and runs the risk of making you a grumpy old man. Embrace change and enjoy today.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

BUT... you got stuck before you started hitting the truly remarkable spots just 20.1 miles south.

Hey now we're almost in boukari now

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

Hey now we're almost in boukari now

You’ve traveled 5km, around 3 miles over two months.... impressive.

[etbdjr]

Just do it! We are in our 60’s ( ahem) ... we are full time on a Catalina 36. We own a slip as a base in Key Largo but spend most of the time in the Bahamas from feb to June. I save a fortune and love my lifestyle as does my wife. Junkyard dog thinks this is normal. We have plenty of friends doing the same. Avoid the cities and known haunts if indigents! See you out there.

[thomm225]

It's definitely slowing most probably because you are so isolated in a world that's full of constant communication

(But) if you have a goal that you are pursuing maybe to cross an ocean to visit a new country and learn about them and their lifestyle or to sail around the world then there is a purpose and that is a good thing

Otherwise it can be such a slow an uneventful lifestyle and possibly unhealthy if you are not getting enough exercise

You can even see it here on CF where some cruisers without a real goal seem to be more concerned with how much money they can save rather than what is the next adventure and actually spending as much time on CF as they did before they started cruising full time. This is disturbing.

Or they are worried about their batteries and how their charge may be low by 1 or 2%

I don't believe most of us had this as a goal when we considered the idea of cruising

My boat will still sail without batteries...…...or a fridge or a queen size bed

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by thomm225

It's definitely slowing most probably because you are so isolated in a world that's full of constant communication

(But) if you have a goal that you are pursuing maybe to cross an ocean to visit a new country and learn about them and their lifestyle or to sail around the world then there is a purpose and that is a good thing

Otherwise it can be such a slow an uneventful lifestyle and possibly unhealthy if you are not getting enough exercise

You can even see it here on CF that cruisers without a real goal seem to be more concerned with how much money they can save rather than what is the next adventure

I'm not sure about that Thomm,

We don't feel isolated when cruising. In ports we are in direct contact with our neighbors, anchored or docked, and we are fully a part of a community. We always have Internet and all the socializing that entails, and even at sea there are daily nets, if communication is your thing.

Honestly, we never felt while cruising that our lifestyle was either slow or uneventful; there was always the excitement of a new port, new friends, or an upcoming departure, and then...the excitement that sailing often offers (whether you want it or not).

Unhealthy lifestyle? Well now, we've come to believe that living on a moving platform, climbing up and down a ladder then off and off the boat ten times a day, pulling on lines, everything seems to be good for the body. Even living a mostly outdoors life seems good. Plus we walk so much. I don't know about that unhealthy part.

Money wise? Yeah, we are really concerned every day about the increasing costs. It has nothing to do with cruising. Some cruisers have no concerns about money, others are dreadfully tight. But anyhow, our goal is not to save money, but how to keep having those next adventures without having to go broke.

Our goal was not to cross an ocean or circumnavigate the world, but to live on the boat in some different places. We've been doing that for 33 years, we still love it, all of it, sailing, racing, cruising, exploring, being in a liveaboard community, even boat work.

[Hardhead]

Originally Posted by Hartings

I think you need to accept that times change - not necessarily for the worse and things 20/30 years ago were not necessarily better. Always hankering after the ‘good old days’ is a very limiting pastime and runs the risk of making you a grumpy old man. Embrace change and enjoy today.

I don't mean to be that way. There did used to be a greater level of basic competence required though - just by necessity. It is what it is - and the "good old days" were always controversial - and alternatively, things always changing for the better is controversial, in reality. Really, of course, the best thing that could happen is more people getting into the pastime, and not making overly bad impressions. The more people out enjoying the water - the more people that should be influencing the powers that be, and the more people looking out for the health and accessibility of the waterways. The worst thing is them being deserted.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Hartings

Always hankering after the ‘good old days’ is a very limiting pastime and runs the risk of making you a grumpy old man. Embrace change and enjoy today.

But that's a pastime on FakeBook and many online forums.
We did it with no refrigeration.
We did it with no water maker.
We did it with a Sextant and no GPS.
Heck...we did it with no motor.

We cruised 2007 to 2012 and smart phones came out while we were away and without a phone. So I came back and said WTF....why do I need this "smart phone" anyway, screw them I thought...damn new stuff, who needs it.. But a short time later I realized I could now work from literally ANYWHERE so now...well....I work from Anywhere as long as I have my phone for client emails and customer service.

Old Timers lament the "new technology" and the "new Cruisers" that it brings into the anchorages but the more things change, the more they stay the same.....humans need something to complain and feel miserable about.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

You’ve traveled 5km, around 3 miles over two months.... impressive.

It is quite impressive indeed A favorite quote from my favorite author Paul Bowles: Tourists rush from place to place...travelers move over periods of years

As an ex travel junkie, I appreciate that I can do that as my whim dictates. Or the whims of my wives. But still, close enough.

In general, everything has changed with travel. It all used to be more 'adventurous', if you mean we did without comfort and quick googles and gps. I walked thru many cities with a paper cutout map and a hand compass, and I'm only 42! Living by the shore on Kotor bay in a VW for months is not the experience people want or have the time for now... Now everything is sanitized otherwise people complain and post reviews, everything is easy because before, when it took me a week to get somewhere far away, I'd have another 3 months to explore. Now, people can't do that, but no worries, there are 5 flights a week for 100 bucks. People go for weekend raves in places in Africa it took me days of public transport to reach only 20 years ago. I can't watch the movie The Beach without yelling about PARASITES for days after I don't have the cruising experience of most of you yet, but I saw what easy mass tourism does to places overland, and here in the med I see the ratio of flotillas and charters to liveaboards quite easily.

I do think the era of adventure travel (including i imagine old school liveaboard cruising) is fading and in some cases largely over unless you get into war zones, and I've no interest in that anymore. Almost everywhere you'll find complainers and credit card captains and drunk yobbos and booze cruises and the rest. Find your peace as you see fit, when and where you can. Which is why I've only gone a few miles in as many months

I feel like I've gone off topic. Trust, this rant could have been much longer! Good morning, y'all

[Jim Cate]

I do think the era of adventure travel (including i imagine old school liveaboard cruising) is fading

I think the current definition of "adventure travel" is staying in a three star hotel... oh the horrors we faced...

Jim

[john61ct]

I still see plenty of young people backpacking on the cheap for months and years all around the world, maybe not $5 a day anymore but that still covers the food and clothing parts of the budget anyway.

There are lots of interesting cultures and places sending them out there and welcoming them as visitors. The wealthier, more boring parts of the world, not so much in either direction.

Were yachts **ever** a big part of that scene? Maybe as much as converted schoolbuses, those are still happening too just not as much.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by thomm225

It's definitely slowing most probably because you are so isolated in a world that's full of constant communication

(But) if you have a goal that you are pursuing maybe to cross an ocean to visit a new country and learn about them and their lifestyle or to sail around the world then there is a purpose and that is a good thing

Otherwise it can be such a slow an uneventful lifestyle and possibly unhealthy if you are not getting enough exercise

You can even see it here on CF where some cruisers without a real goal seem to be more concerned with how much money they can save rather than what is the next adventure and actually spending as much time on CF as they did before they started cruising full time. This is disturbing.

Or they are worried about their batteries and how their charge may be low by 1 or 2%

I don't believe most of us had this as a goal when we considered the idea of cruising

My boat will still sail without batteries...…...or a fridge or a queen size bed

What a mouthful, having described our predicament(s) in several regards.

However, I'd take issue with physical fitness. Just being on a boat forces activity, and if you're cruising, your cruise destinations, and the journey, even more so.

That said, we're now fighting batteries and a voracious refrigeration system while we try to enjoy the Abacos (Bahamas)...

And cruising - maybe even including, if we could find them at all, the difference in cost for replacement batteries - is less expensive by far than parked on a ball in Vero Beach where the admiral's mother lives, and we do church stuff when the temps are tolerable (we leave in the summer if we can manage; it's excruciating on the water in Vero in the Summer without air conditioning).

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

However, I'd take issue with physical fitness. Just being on a boat forces activity, and if you're cruising, your cruise destinations, and the journey, even more so.

I guess everyone has a different idea of what physical fitness is.

I feel like I need at least one day a week of aerobic exercise like a 2.5 - 3 mile run/jog and/or a 25 mile bike ride on the weekend to get the heart rate up to maybe 140-160 bpm coupled with pull ups, push ups and stretching

I have noticed though that a couple days on the boat does wonders for sore legs. My boat is 27' with a fairly short LWL so it does move around a lot when the wind and waves are up so the legs get a good workout/stretching session

Then there's getting the sail up and down. I have to go to the mast for that. Pulling the anchor up is another job that gives you a bit of a workout especially if it's windy and you are sailing single handed

[accomplice]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I'm not sure about that Thomm,

We don't feel isolated when cruising. In ports we are in direct contact with our neighbors, anchored or docked, and we are fully a part of a community. We always have Internet and all the socializing that entails, and even at sea there are daily nets, if communication is your thing.

Honestly, we never felt while cruising that our lifestyle was either slow or uneventful; there was always the excitement of a new port, new friends, or an upcoming departure, and then...the excitement that sailing often offers (whether you want it or not).

Unhealthy lifestyle? Well now, we've come to believe that living on a moving platform, climbing up and down a ladder then off and off the boat ten times a day, pulling on lines, everything seems to be good for the body. Even living a mostly outdoors life seems good. Plus we walk so much. I don't know about that unhealthy part.

Money wise? Yeah, we are really concerned every day about the increasing costs. It has nothing to do with cruising. Some cruisers have no concerns about money, others are dreadfully tight. But anyhow, our goal is not to save money, but how to keep having those next adventures without having to go broke.

Our goal was not to cross an ocean or circumnavigate the world, but to live on the boat in some different places. We've been doing that for 33 years, we still love it, all of it, sailing, racing, cruising, exploring, being in a liveaboard community, even boat work.

Except while passaging, I regularly see far more people when I'm cruising than when I'm at my land home.

I also get much more exercise while cruising (daily hikes and kayak paddling) than not. For the couple of weeks a year I'm offshore, that isn't the case, but otherwise I'm far more active when cruising.

As for expenses, the costs of cruising permits pales in comparison to the cost of maintenance and upgrade (even doing it oneself), insurance, and even fuel. How much one pays for dockage is entirely up to the cruiser (ie. how often does one anchors out vs. stay at a dock). Food may cost a little more when cruising, but if that's an issue one can plan to do major provisioning when one has access to discount/big-box markets.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I'm not sure about that Thomm,

We don't feel isolated when cruising. In ports we are in direct contact with our neighbors, anchored or docked, and we are fully a part of a community. We always have Internet and all the socializing that entails, and even at sea there are daily nets, if communication is your thing.

Honestly, we never felt while cruising that our lifestyle was either slow or uneventful; there was always the excitement of a new port, new friends, or an upcoming departure, and then...the excitement that sailing often offers (whether you want it or not).

Unhealthy lifestyle? Well now, we've come to believe that living on a moving platform, climbing up and down a ladder then off and off the boat ten times a day, pulling on lines, everything seems to be good for the body. Even living a mostly outdoors life seems good. Plus we walk so much. I don't know about that unhealthy part.

Money wise? Yeah, we are really concerned every day about the increasing costs. It has nothing to do with cruising. Some cruisers have no concerns about money, others are dreadfully tight. But anyhow, our goal is not to save money, but how to keep having those next adventures without having to go broke.

Our goal was not to cross an ocean or circumnavigate the world, but to live on the boat in some different places. We've been doing that for 33 years, we still love it, all of it, sailing, racing, cruising, exploring, being in a liveaboard community, even boat work.

Sounds like you have picked a lifestyle that suites your needs.

When I do my short 40-70 mile weekend cruises, things get a bit slow after the first 5 miles which is when I set everything up, raise and adjust sail, set autopilot, raise and secure the outboard, bring out the electronics, and cross the first shipping channel

Then there are a few slow hours sailing to the anchorage I plan to stay at. Usually first thing the next morning sometimes before I've even made coffee, I have the boat moving again because simply sitting at anchor gets old fast

I don't have a motorized dinghy but a kayak I store on deck which allows me to get to land to hike, get supplies etc

I usually try to do my aerobic exercise a day or so before my sails. This allows me to relax during the slow parts and read etc