Hello and Silly Question

[adamskiinasia]

Hello everyone, I am new and was baffled by the repeated use of the word "cruising". If I have a sailboat and I want to SAIL from say Tonga to NZ am I cruising or sailing ? Is this a new term ? To me cruising seems with the use of power as in engines as in a Carnival cruise ship. As well, the old use for the word "cruise" was for single men looking for sex !! Is sailing the world kind of like looking for the perfect lagoon (substitute woman) ??

Correct me if I'm offbase.

[James S]

Originally Posted by adamskiinasia

Is sailing the world kind of like looking for the perfect lagoon (substitute woman) ??

Correct me if I'm offbase.

Yep to the first, and I dont think you're off base.

[James Baines]

Hi, and welcome.


I don't know if there are any formal definitions but I look at it this way:


Any time you are under way with the sails hoisted, you are sailing,


If you are doing that for weeks or months on end, you are cruising...James

[barnakiel]

Cruising, sailing - how does it count?

I think sailing is a narrower term so cruising contains sailing. One can also cruise in a sailing boat without ever hoisting her sails ;-).

b.

[Khagan1227]

What they said.

Seriously, IMHO when the sails are up you are sailing, when you are on the hook and sailing for long periods of time, you are cruising. So, sailing is a subset of cruising.

[savoir]

It all depends on how much beer you stow.

1 or 2 per crew per day is sailing. 3 or more is cruising.

Cruising is more fun. Sailing is faster but not as much fun.

Pretty simple really.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Welcome Aboard Cruisers Forum

It's all cruising, and guess what? It's sailing in a sailboat.

[zopi]

Cruising in a sailboat....loafing along in no particular hurry, no need to be anywhere, and not necessarily trying to get there first...unless you win the evenings drinks by doing so...
I believe the term also differentiates, in literature, the sailor just out messing about in boats, and the racing sailor...

[svcambria]

Originally Posted by savoir

It all depends on how much beer you stow.

1 or 2 per crew per day is sailing. 3 or more is cruising.

Cruising is more fun. Sailing is faster but not as much fun.

Pretty simple really.

Best definition I ever heard...

Michael

[simonmd]

Cruising is for the enjoyment of it, no particular destination, just sailing (or motoring) for the hell of it.

In a day or two, i'll be meeting my new boat and sailing her round Spain to the Med. This would be sailing as there is a destinct purpose (to get back to my home port) and destination. Once I've finished fitting her out to my specs, i'll be off for some more sailing but this time I'll consider myself to be 'cruising' as i'll be doing it for the fun and experience with no deffinate destination or timetable.

I think the actual word comes from the old large passenger ships. The 'Liners' were passagemaking vessels that took people from A to B, Southamton to New York for example. Once air travel rendered them obsolete, they became 'Cruise Liners' where people travelled on them for the enjoyment of being on the ship itself.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by adamskiinasia

Hello everyone, I am new and was baffled by the repeated use of the word "cruising". If I have a sailboat and I want to SAIL from say Tonga to NZ am I cruising or sailing ? Is this a new term ? To me cruising seems with the use of power as in engines as in a Carnival cruise ship. As well, the old use for the word "cruise" was for single men looking for sex !! Is sailing the world kind of like looking for the perfect lagoon (substitute woman) ??

Correct me if I'm offbase.

To me:

Sailing, motoring or motorsailing indicate means of propulsion.

Voyaging, cruising, overnighting and daysailing are indications of the length and, to a certain extent, the arduousness of the trip.

Passagemaking and gunkholing indicate length of individual legs of the trip with the implication that the trip is longer than a daysail.

While cruising has entered the general lexicon meaning: A Disney trip for adults on a ride big enough to act as your hotel, in the yachting community I think it has also retained its earlier meaning of a longer trip on a boat.

[David M]

There is also racing which is different from cruising.

[adamskiinasia]

What great answers !! Thank you so much for your patience at my ignorance.

[savoir]

Originally Posted by David M

There is also racing which is different from cruising.

I know the answer to that one.

When you are racing you throw away your beer to crank a winch.

When you are cruising the winch has to wait.

Eeeeezzzeeee !

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
When I was very young and just starting out in the U. S. Navy my first WESTPAC Cruise on a Destroyer was anything but pleasurable.
Guess I'll have to look it up in the dictionary.
kind regards,