In one of this season’s first blog posts, I attempted to respond to my sister-in-law Susan who asked, “What’s it like to live on a 40-foot sailboat for an extended period?” At the end of that entry, I promised a sequel. Well, here it is.
In considering Susan’s query, I find my responses seem to fit neatly into two categories – the Good Stuff and the Bad Stuff. Normally, I like to get the Bad Stuff out of the way first, so I am overdue. Though most of these topics had already been floating around in my head, I need to give credit to Leon Shulz who captured them neatly in a chapter in his book, “The Missing Centimetre," about his family’s Atlantic sailing adventure a few years ago on their Hallberg-Rassy 40, Regina.
So, in no particular order, here are All the Reasons Why You Won’t Like Cruising.
Seasickness – As referenced in my North Sea Crossing debrief, seasickness is a fact of life for cruising sailors. While some may dodge seasickness for a time, eventually it seems to afflict pretty much everyone. There are two stages of seasickness. The first is when you wish you would die. And the second is when you are afraid that you won’t. Bottom line: It is very unpleasant. Since it is largely self-inflicted, anyone who has experienced it wonders why they would ever again put themselves in a position to experience it again. Apparently, the Good Stuff about cruising is enough to outweigh the Bad Stuff, because most of us grin and bear it. The good news is that there is a simple cure – go to protected waters and your symptoms disappear.
Inconveniences – For cruisers, inconveniences are a fact of life. Take grocery shopping, for example. At our home in Golden, it’s a simple matter of jumping in the car and driving to the store for a few items. But there are fewer opportunities to acquire needed items when living on board a cruising sailboat. It forces more careful menu planning and provisioning, making the most of less frequent shopping opportunities. Similarly, doing the laundry can become a major undertaking. It’s often difficult to find a washing machine, and when you do find one, you have to be very organized about packing up your dirty laundry and transporting it to and from the washer and dryer. Needless to say, this can be viewed as a hassle. And it’s not just clothes cleaning that is sometimes problematic. Because water is in limited supply on board Windleblo, we try to take showers on shore whenever possible. Imagine if every time you wanted to get clean you had to truck on down to the local rec center or public bath house for a shower. Basically, that’s what cruisers do. You always have your toiletries, bath towel, and shower shoes ready in case an opportunity presents itself. Sound bad? Well, if it’s too much for you, forget cruising.
Space – I wrote a bit in my first entry on live aboard life about the small scale of living on board a cruising sailboat. This is readily apparent when it comes to storage space. There just isn’t enough space to stash a lot of stuff. For some, having to be organized and limit the amount of stuff you acquire may be an adjustment they don’t want to make. It’s not just things that are affected, it’s people, too. Perhaps needless to say, on a small boat everyone is in everyone else’s junk pretty much constantly. This can put a strain on relationships unless everyone learns how to cope. Sensitivity to the collective before the individual is paramount. Emily made an astute observation after being aboard for a while. On board, you need to learn how to give someone privacy even when they are in the same room. This takes practice, as most of us are social animals and tend to want to communicate and interact whenever in the presence of others. But when everyone is together all the time, this behavior becomes exhausting and unsustainable. Adjustments are required.
Tidiness Imperative – Everything must be stowed on Windleblo before we leave the dock. This isn’t just because we are neat freaks. If things are left strewn about, the entire inside of the boat will become a danger zone once the boat starts pitching and yawing in rough seas. I was once told a story of a circumnavigator who rolled his boat in extreme seas. When things settled down, he found a knife stuck in the cabin wall inches from his head. The point is, in rough seas, anything that isn’t tied down can go flying, creating a safety hazard. Understandably, tidiness becomes an imperative on board a cruising sailboat. If you hate constantly keeping house, then cruising isn’t for you.
Problem solving – After a while, it becomes apparent that operating a cruising sailboat is all about problem solving. One after another, obstacles are put in front of you, demanding resolution. Whether it’s the next day’s navigation or repair of a broken component, rarely is your day problem free. In fact, many seasoned cruisers say it is crucial to proactively find problems to solve even if things are going well as a way of avoiding nasty surprises later. So much for “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” With cruising, it’s more like, “If it ain’t broke, go fix it anyway.” If you don’t thrive on problem solving, stay away from cruising.
Acclimating to new places – By definition, cruising is all about moving from place to place. Just when you start to become acquainted with a locality, it’s time to move on. Some cruisers have a term for the feeling they get when a place starts to become too familiar – “Harbor Rot.” This is when they know they need to move on. A consequence of this is that you are forever orienting yourself to new places. You end up having to become proficient at sifting and sorting through a new street network, new transportation system, new grocery store, and sometimes even a new language on a routine basis. If you need the security of predictable routines, cruising is not for you.
Rules – One of the first things you encounter as you come aboard are tons and tons of rules. For the first couple of days, it seems either Jack or Jocelyn is correcting you again and again about seemingly trivial rules. But on a cruising sailboat, things have to be done just so, primarily for safety reasons, and it takes time to absorb all the new ways of doing things and the reasons for them. If you have no patience for learning and obeying new rules, then cruising will not be attractive for you.
The punch line? Living aboard a 40-foot sailboat is all about making adjustments. If you aren’t into making adjustments, you will be miserable.
I’ll write again on this topic. Next time, I promise to dwell on the Good Stuff. But really, you don’t have to look very far for positives. Just pick a random entry on this blog.
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