Cruising plans for this up coming season?

And upgrades to boot?

For myself I am hopping to get in some weekending on the Bay.
I have gotten out of habit, but I was getting out for afternoon sails there for a while.

A pledge- do a bit of varnishing and get out on the water this year.

 

3 weeks Istanbul and Northern Agean, 2 weeks Athens to Corfu, 2 weeks Albania and Montenegro, 10 weeks Dubrovnik to Venice, 2 weeks Sardinia Corsica. Plus the associated 3000 miles intransit .

 

It is a bit like that song, "Gonna be a good time then son, gonna be a good time. . . . . . . .", which never seems to happen, always something that has to be done first, (like working on a relationship, fixing things, finishing the gardens, - - - - Arrrrrgh. . . ), which puts forming a relationship with the sea and ones boat more and more likely to be deferred

I yearn to go but. . . . . ?

 

Boats are a fantastic waste of money when owned by young people.

The only people I see who are really going for it , having fun, tearing thru thousands of miles in the finest boats and telling sea stories are retired , over 65 , divorced and with very few life commitments.

Marinas are overflowing with boats burning up in the sun and growing barnacles as their young upwardly mobile owners do whatever young upwardly mobile people do .

 

Hi michael,
That is what I figured I would be doing (67 now) and enjoying travelling and stuff - nothing too ambitious just cruising the region, up and down the Great Barrier Reef coast of Queensland and the occasional jaunt over to PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu - (Great big sigh of disappointment & sadness.)... My boat is sorted out for a non marina life...

 

masalai: "... 'Gonna be a good time then son, gonna be a good time. . . . . . . .', which never seems to happen..."

On the topic of not doing things planned, my father and I have been planning to go do something "next year" for over ten years. It's always "We'll go next year.". Sure, I'm an able bodied man I could do it myself, but the point is doing it with the old man. It's both our faults, we can never get stuff straight to make it work.

I only bring that up because it is because of this that I have made it a point in my life to actually do everything I set out to do. I told a buddy a while back just, as I was getting into sailing, that I'd like to live on a boat for a while, see the world, experience it's people. Basically describing a cruising life before I really knew what to call it. Since then I've bought a boat, taught myself to sail it, started studying naval archetecture, and taking other basic steps toward my dream.
The point is that yes, there is an overwhelming number of dreamers, but some of us are doers too..

Back on topic... Plans this season?
Not really cruising, but there is a sailing club in Lake Washington (port of Sacramento) that competitively sails the Coronado 15 ( www.lwsailing.org/ ). Mine is registered with the class association here in the USA, and I have the racing sails for it. I actually only have the racing sails for it which made it funner to learn to sail on, planing on day 2 will do that... So this season I think I'll be racing

 

Go for it. Another detail critical to a cruise is shipmates. Takes years to develop a gang of mates who also have the freedom to get on with it. All time on boats is about sea stories, beer and tavernas with mates. We have been working on cruise planning for three months...matching shipmates to cruise legs. Hmm, Doctor "G " is into the history of Venetian Empire so best if he is aboard third week of August and Mr 'W" the fisherman gets mid september when the tuna are hot.

 

masalai: Just saw your last post, sorry to hear that your boat's not ready to sail. To much work to get her out this season?

 

No cruising for me for another year or two.
However, I will be on the boat every single day! I have to finish building her.

Michael, is that itinerary all play, or are those your charters?

 

Hi Comrade,
The boat is ready (clean the propellers and load the 'portable stuff') - the leave pass and crew are part of the problem and to achieve the primary objective of a run to PNG (Milne Bay Province) I need some contacts (names and postal adresses as that is how one communicates in those remote regions) see http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-building/my-little-piece-peace-25962-133.html#post531103
Cheers all...

 

I see that as well, but also young people who sail extensively.
For me- I bought my first boat right out of college and sailed the pis out of her while attending to a heavy work schedule growing relationships and other commitments. I couldn't be kept away and sailed whenever I could. As things went along I day sailed less however and shifted to longer cruises as my horizons and experience broadened.

The last few years and the business concerns have shut me down though
This year- back to it I hope.

A couple of threads made me laugh of late.
The first was someones mussing over cruising with fair lasses:
"sunset cruises only, gentle summer breezes and chocolate with wine each evening"....

I remember sitting with that fair lass in a small cafe as I was working on buying my first boat. A blowy November day with the wind driven rain sheeting horizontally over the water outside..
All I could think was- "I can't wait to be out there SAILING!"

Well I got my chance and a week later I was out there in the freezing rain and I hauled her along to put up with my incompetence and long struggle to learn how to voyage on boats.
She is still with me and we still sail together..
I asked her about the chocolate and warm breezes requirement and she shock her head and said of sailing "whats not to like- you are on the water".

She did allow the women might be put off by skipper they can't trust or who yell their heads off.
Boy we have seen some grim scenes of wife berated by husbands as the guys screw up bringing boats along docks... One old gal who owns a waterside cottage here told us years ago: " the less they know, the more they yell".

The second thread of note that makes me pause- Just buy a damn boat already, any boat, and sail the piss out of it- then lets talk....

That thread upstairs ya know...?

 

No its a private yacht. The owner generally allocates 150 days per season for 2 regattas and touring .

With charter you must work the same geography, same schedule for practical and legal reasons.


private yachts can operate out of commercial ports and change geographic region at will .

I rarely encounter " crewed" charter boats outside of marinas.

 

Oh. For some reason, I had thought you were a charter captain, like me. I didn't realize you worked aboard a private yacht.

Yes, red tape appears to be a hassle over your way. I have been trying to figure out how to set my boat up for doing charters in the med, but the regulations seem too tough.

I'll stick to the states and the carribean, I suppose. Though I would pay someone to help me wade through the red tape to charter there. I am a citizen of Ireland, so i was hoping that could help in some way.

She is a beautiful boat. Nice lines. I am partial to the dark blue hull as well.

We charter out of the same area (not the same port) for part of the year, then charter 1000+ miles away for the other part of the year. We island hop and do small passages on our charters, bringing guests to experience all the fun only a boat can deliver. We never stop in the same port twice, except to bring the guests back if they desire.

It sounds like you don't have these types of charters there?

 

Dark blue is an owners fantasy....never paint a boat dark a colour, you will soon regret it.

 

You can't take a compliment?