Plan? No Plan? A plan written on beach sand?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

This is where I am the opposite!....... I love long ocean passages.
The smells mid ocean, devoid of any land contamination,
the albatross and other ocean birds
the rythym and isolation of separate watches where time stands still, yet the clock gets moved back or forward one hour, ......a funny reminder that out there, a land world is controlled by a clock.
My immersion into clouds, waves, wind and weather as each brings a message of hope or steely grit if the barometer drops.

It is a whole other world mid ocean, where ironically it is the only time I have no plans ..... and my mind can rest.

Pelagic,
Well written. This is pretty much how I feel about passages a few weeks after they are over and I've surpressed the parts that suxed. Prior to a passage there's the anxiety of when to call the weather window, during the passage it is pretty much determination and tenacity, post passage is a good sleep and dealing with customs and looking at the .ist of things to inspect or repair. Then a few weeks and a few beers latter I start to remember how good it was.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

This is where I am the opposite!....... I love long ocean passages.
The smells mid ocean, devoid of any land contamination,
the albatross and other ocean birds
the rythym and isolation of separate watches where time stands still, yet the clock gets moved back or forward one hour, ......a funny reminder that out there, a land world is controlled by a clock.
My immersion into clouds, waves, wind and weather as each brings a message of hope or steely grit if the barometer drops.

It is a whole other world mid ocean, where ironically it is the only time I have no plans ..... and my mind can rest.

This is how I believe I will respond. I’ve certainly enjoyed the passage rhythms on the smaller ones I’ve done. But as I say, my longest so far has only been three days. Time will tell...

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I am that accidentally circumnavigation.. Lol....never really was the plan, but sooner or later you have to go around the world to get home.

Once you get to Oz or NZ is becomes a lot easier to keep going than to come back.

[daletournier]

Lol.... See there's the problem, it's only been a week and I'm of again, I haven't had enough time to delude myself on how wonderful the last one was. [emoji3]

[conachair]

I've a little android app called wecroak which reminds you several times a day that you are going die with a quote. Actually quite nice and helps not getting wrapped up in stuff which really doesn't matter but just a bit of fun really.
Quote just now -

Wabi-sabi is exactly about the delicate balance between the pleasure we get from things and the pleasure we get from freedom from things.

Leonard Koren

So quick google, https://medium.com/personal-growth/w...e-11563e833dc0

Seems to brush on this thread. Viciously generalising but new cruisers do seem to be desperate to control the world and micro manage everything while the guys and gals after half a decade or so just don't care so much, take it more as it comes. A bit anyway.

By the way, you're all going to die.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by conachair

I've a little android app called wecroak which reminds you several times a day that you are going die with a quote.

Thanks for that...I now know what my "quotable" last words will be...............

"I have a frog in my mouth"[emoji6]

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Thanks for that...I now know what my "quotable" last words will be...............

"I have a frog in my mouth"[emoji6]

"Told you I was ill..."

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by conachair

I've a little android app called wecroak which reminds you several times a day that you are going die with a quote. Actually quite nice and helps not getting wrapped up in stuff which really doesn't matter but just a bit of fun really.
…
Seems to brush on this thread. Viciously generalising but new cruisers do seem to be desperate to control the world and micro manage everything while the guys and gals after half a decade or so just don't care so much, take it more as it comes. A bit anyway.

By the way, you're all going to die.

Thanks Conachair, from my perspective, this gets right to the core of my initial question. I see this as a spectrum between those who believe they can control the future, and those who know they can’t.

Planners try to bring order to chaos. Non-planners try and dance with the chaos as best they can. Most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes. No right or wrong way. Just different, and as the saying goes: vive la difference!

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Thanks Conachair, from my perspective, this gets right to the core of my initial question. I see this as a spectrum between those who believe they can control the future, and those who know they can’t.

Planners try to bring order to chaos. Non-planners try and dance with the chaos as best they can. Most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes. No right or wrong way. Just different, and as the saying goes: vive la difference!

Not about planning here but I am a bit of a control freak. I will say on passages that I was always very relaxed because the little person in my head speaking to me made it very clear that I had no control over winds and seas and my only choice was to react and deal with whatever came up, same for the boat issues.
So I can say that passages were very relaxing for me but I still don't like them, watching paint dry might be relaxing as Well??
I'm no different than others where I recreate reality and convince myself that the last passage was a pretty good one and I was always up for one more....in my case it was an "alternative reality" (most Americans understand this these days) so on reflection I can only BS myself for so long....passages are a pain in the butt and are on my minus scale of things I enjoy.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Planners try to bring order to chaos. Non-planners try and dance with the chaos as best they can. Most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes. No right or wrong way. Just different, and as the saying goes: vive la difference!

I think that is a bit oversimplified Mike.

Crisis management is all about lack of planning and if you have ever worked with someone who is "too busy to make plans and get organized"....they are a pain in the ass!

Then there are those types who are really smart and inventive, who seem to purposely create stressful situations, so that they can shine and show everyone how good a "leader" they are.![emoji57] ...sorry I just don't celebrate their difference, if their lack of preparedness creates problems for me

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I think that is a bit oversimplified Mike.

Crisis management is all about lack of planning and if you have ever worked with someone who is "too busy to make plans and get organized"....they are a pain in the ass!

Then there are those types who are really smart and inventive, who seem to purposely create stressful situations, so that they can shine and show everyone how good a "leader" they are.![emoji57] ...sorry I just don't celebrate their difference, if their lack of preparedness creates problems for me

Well, it was intended as two extreme examples to define a spectrum in the hopes of furthering the discussion.

I’m sure you’re right about the challenges of dealing with non-planners in certain situations. I could offer other examples in dealing with what I’d call over-planners. This overlaps into the perfectionist realm, where it becomes impossible to get anything done. This can be equally frustrating at times.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Well, it was intended as two extreme examples to define a spectrum in the hopes of furthering the discussion.

I’m sure you’re right about the challenges of dealing with non-planners in certain situations. I could offer other examples in dealing with what I’d call over-planners. This overlaps into the perfectionist realm, where it becomes impossible to get anything done. This can be equally frustrating at times.

Yes, we should differentiate between "personal planning" and "operational planning"
The personal only affects your partner and family.

I see nothing wrong with aspiring to perfection as a standard and goal to aim for.

Best advice given to me by a Superyacht owner was to keep pushing for perfection, but at 95%.....slow down[emoji4]

Robert Browning Quotes. Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?

[daletournier]

"The enemy of a great life is a good life "OR "the enemy of a good life is striving for perfection "....I once was a believer of the first statement, not so sure now? maybe good is good enough?

[TxCoastSailor]

My wife and I are novice cruisers having just left our home port of many years on April 6.

We do have a plan more or less for the next two years but it is pretty flexible. We will likely spend this summer along the northern coast of the GOM. In the fall we will probably head down to south Florida, the keys and into the Bahamas. In the spring of 2020 up the eastern seaboard to the Chesapeake bay then back down south the following fall and possibly into the Caribbean. Notice there are no hard dates on any of this and if it happens that way great, if not that’s OK too. Time will tell.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by daletournier

"The enemy of a great life is a good life "OR "the enemy of a good life is striving for perfection "....I once was a believer of the first statement, not so sure now? maybe good is good enough?

I’m a strong proponent of “good enough.” I suppose this makes me the opposite of a perfectionist.

Perfection as an abstract ideal is fine — something like world peace, zero poverty, or the perfect IPA (forgive me … I’m drinking a beer right now). But in the real world none of this exists.

I view most problems in terms of an exponential graph, with accomplishment running the vertical axis, and effort/resources running the horizontal. It takes few resources to progress along the first ~75% of the curve. Beyond this the input demands to achieve each incremental progress percent rises steeply, until we reach perfection which requires an infinite amount of resources.

The skill in managing any problem, be it for an individual or collective, is to know when the input costs begin to exceed the incremental increase in benefits. IOW, I think it’s vital to understand when something is “good enough.”