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Cruising
Don't Wait to Enjoy the Cruisers Life
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Quick Links...
Associations & Publications Bills Blog Boat Services Books Book Reviews Food Substitutions Interesting Stuff Loree's Blog Parenting Afloat Provisioning SeaWolf Links
Associations & Publications Bills Blog Boat Services Books Book Reviews Food Substitutions Interesting Stuff Loree's Blog Parenting Afloat Provisioning SeaWolf Links
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Welcome to the sailing sight designed by cruisers for cruisers... or wanna be cruisers!
I'm Loree and my husband is Bill (you'll hear more from him later). By way of an introduction, we spent five years cruising aboard our sailing catamaran, Yesterday's Dream, with our daughter, Shannon, and are about to do it all again. That's us on the left as we stood atop the Hopetown Lighthouse in the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas.
Over the years, many people have asked us how and why two consummate 'dirt dwellers' decided to walk away from their homes and business and sail off into the sunset to do some long term cruising. The cruising lifestyle is not for everyone. Looking back on everything, our adventure truly started in the summer of 1980. Bill and I vacationed at the now defunct Club Med on Paradise Island in the Bahamas that year. While sitting on the deck overlooking the harbour, we noticed an exquisitely beautiful Tahiti ketch anchored right in front of us. As we watched, a man came up through the companion way, stretched, looked around, smiled and went below. Bill and I looked at one another and simultaneously said, "I've always wanted to do that." It was at that instant that our dreams and plans to do some long term cruising began to evolve. Even though neither of us had even been on a sailboat or done any sailboat cruising, we knew that the cruising lifestyle was what we wanted so we put ourselves on a five year plan to... learn to sail, learn about boats, get our finances in order, find out about home schooling and drop out. The reason we put ourselves on a five year plan is that five years is just about the limit of our attention span. The bottom line is that we did it... and you can, too! All it takes is desire, knowledge and preparation.
From the outset, we beat our heads against the wall trying to find information that would answer our questions about the cruising lifestyle and provide guidance on sailboat cruising, cruising sailboats, cruising with kids, safety, sailing budgets, onboard schooling, training, certifications, equipment... just about anything having to do with plans to do some extended cruising. In 1980 the internet wasn't around and information was sparse. Most of it came from friends, acquaintances, book stores or the good old library. After much trial and error, we now know what we need to do to sail off into the sunset again. More importantly, we know where to get the information and equipment we'll need for our next sailing adventure. Certainly not all of it, but a goodly portion. There are great products and companies out there and there are also poor products, scam artists and companies whose customer support leaves a lot to be desired. This site is dedicated to helping wannabe cruisers get the information they need from the people who are out there doing it or have been out there and done it and to help those people who are currently sailboat cruising to get the information they need to sail safely and to make informed decisions on what products and vendors are good to use and what ports are good to visit. With the help of other long term cruising people and their experiences, we hope to help current cruisers and wannabes avoid the losers and go right to the winners. Whatever you call it... long term cruising, sailing, sailboat cruising, dropping out... you can accomplish your objective. We did and we started with nothing but a dream.
I'm Loree and my husband is Bill (you'll hear more from him later). By way of an introduction, we spent five years cruising aboard our sailing catamaran, Yesterday's Dream, with our daughter, Shannon, and are about to do it all again. That's us on the left as we stood atop the Hopetown Lighthouse in the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas.
Over the years, many people have asked us how and why two consummate 'dirt dwellers' decided to walk away from their homes and business and sail off into the sunset to do some long term cruising. The cruising lifestyle is not for everyone. Looking back on everything, our adventure truly started in the summer of 1980. Bill and I vacationed at the now defunct Club Med on Paradise Island in the Bahamas that year. While sitting on the deck overlooking the harbour, we noticed an exquisitely beautiful Tahiti ketch anchored right in front of us. As we watched, a man came up through the companion way, stretched, looked around, smiled and went below. Bill and I looked at one another and simultaneously said, "I've always wanted to do that." It was at that instant that our dreams and plans to do some long term cruising began to evolve. Even though neither of us had even been on a sailboat or done any sailboat cruising, we knew that the cruising lifestyle was what we wanted so we put ourselves on a five year plan to... learn to sail, learn about boats, get our finances in order, find out about home schooling and drop out. The reason we put ourselves on a five year plan is that five years is just about the limit of our attention span. The bottom line is that we did it... and you can, too! All it takes is desire, knowledge and preparation.
From the outset, we beat our heads against the wall trying to find information that would answer our questions about the cruising lifestyle and provide guidance on sailboat cruising, cruising sailboats, cruising with kids, safety, sailing budgets, onboard schooling, training, certifications, equipment... just about anything having to do with plans to do some extended cruising. In 1980 the internet wasn't around and information was sparse. Most of it came from friends, acquaintances, book stores or the good old library. After much trial and error, we now know what we need to do to sail off into the sunset again. More importantly, we know where to get the information and equipment we'll need for our next sailing adventure. Certainly not all of it, but a goodly portion. There are great products and companies out there and there are also poor products, scam artists and companies whose customer support leaves a lot to be desired. This site is dedicated to helping wannabe cruisers get the information they need from the people who are out there doing it or have been out there and done it and to help those people who are currently sailboat cruising to get the information they need to sail safely and to make informed decisions on what products and vendors are good to use and what ports are good to visit. With the help of other long term cruising people and their experiences, we hope to help current cruisers and wannabes avoid the losers and go right to the winners. Whatever you call it... long term cruising, sailing, sailboat cruising, dropping out... you can accomplish your objective. We did and we started with nothing but a dream.
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So What Is this thing We Call Cruising...
That's an easy one. Sailboat cruising is living aboard a sailboat and traveling. Some people call it extended cruising. But... and it's a very big but... that doesn't mean that it is a
24/7 endeavor in which the cruiser has to sell his/her home and
possessions and be a nomad for the rest of his/her life. Some do, but
most don't. Many cruisers choose to 'drop out' for a finite amount of
time. Some go for weeks; some go for months and some go drop out and do some extended cruising for a couple
of years. Some go for a period of time each year. Some build up their cruising kitty and go for as long as the money lasts. Many
cruisers do lake, river or coastal cruising; a great many island hop;
and the really venturesome cross the oceans and visit Europe, Asia and
the South Pacific. It's not where, or how long, or how far you go...
it's that you go and smell the roses along the way. So don't feel
trapped into making a decision you're not yet prepared to make. The one
sure way to eat an elephant is one small bite at a time. So begin your journey by reading and learning.
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When we decided to go cruising...
We had no knowledge... just an overwhelming desire to sail off into the sunset. It seems that both of us grew up with the sailing movies of the late 50's and 60's. Some of you will know which ones we're talking about... Donovan's Reef, Tales of the South Pacific, Hawaii, The Old Man and the Sea and a myriad of others. Watching the movies and reading the books certainly instilled the desire, but we had no personal knowledge or points of reference. Most sailors are either born into the sport, having family members who sail, or they live in a boating community. Not us. We were raised to believe that when you left school you got a job, a spouse, a home and started a family... in that order. Then you started to collect cars, toys and a whole bunch of other "stuff" so you could be successful, make your parents proud and your friends envious. We did all that. We got our educations, had a business, two homes and three kids. We were work-a-holics and a couple of the fastest rats in the race. And then life threw us a couple of curves that shook us to the core. Bill's mom died at 57, within a year of his dad's retirement; my dad died at 68, just 3 months before his retirement, and a friend of Bill's dropped dead of a heart attack at the rip old age of 38. It was those events that made us realize that there were no guarantees in this life. We chose to get our lives in order and live life to the fullest THEN and not wait for a retirement that might not happen and certainly did not happen for some of the people we loved. It was the best decision we ever made... both for our youngest daughter and for us. Shannon was 9 when we finally dropped the lines and went sailing. Karen was in high school and living with Bill's ex-wife. Bobby was college bound and didn't want to come. Had we known what a wonderful gift of life and family that we would be giving to Shannon, we would have left 10 years earlier and taken our two oldest children sailing, too. The older kids came for vacations and summers, along with friends and cousins, so they had a taste of the cruising lifestyle, too, and loved every minute of the time aboard Yesterday's Dream, an appropriate name for our first boat.
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Our First Steps...
Where to begin was and still is a very daunting prospect. Remember, we knew nothing about sailing or boats in 1980 and by 1984 we had purchased Yesterday's Dream, a Gemini Catamaran built by Performance Cruising, and we were in our final preparations to depart on our first sailing adventure.
We started by reading everything we could find about sailing, boat design and safety. We've provided a list of books that helped us immensely on our Books Page, so take a look and get started! Next, we contacted our local Power Squadron and took the Coast Guard Power Squadron course to learn the lingo and rules of the road. It was one of the best things we did and we highly recommend that anyone who wants to go boating/sailing should take the course. You can find locations and contact information on-line at Coast Guard Power Squadron website. There were no sailing schools where we lived so we took vacations where we could devote a lot of time learning to sail on small boats (lasers and hobies were our preferences). Go to Bill's Blog to find out about his first sail on a small boat. We read and were told that small boats are very unforgiving. If you can manage a small boat, you can graduate to larger boats quite readily. If possible, charter a boat. There are a number of good boat charter companies that even provide captains for the uninitiated. If you can't afford to vacation at a boating friendly resort or charter a boat, go to your local boat clubs and sign up to crew. Don't be shy. Many sailors can't go out as often as they'd like because they don't have crew. Bring your biggest smile and a positive attitude. You'll be surprised how many people are willing to teach you just to have someone to sail with. When we started off, we just walked into the Nyack Boat Club one weekend and and asked to speak to someone. Next thing we knew we were given the grand tour, being introduced around and asked to come again. We eventually joined the club and had a couple of wonderful years sailing in the Hudson River after we learned to sail and purchased Yesterday's Dream.
Where to begin was and still is a very daunting prospect. Remember, we knew nothing about sailing or boats in 1980 and by 1984 we had purchased Yesterday's Dream, a Gemini Catamaran built by Performance Cruising, and we were in our final preparations to depart on our first sailing adventure.
We started by reading everything we could find about sailing, boat design and safety. We've provided a list of books that helped us immensely on our Books Page, so take a look and get started! Next, we contacted our local Power Squadron and took the Coast Guard Power Squadron course to learn the lingo and rules of the road. It was one of the best things we did and we highly recommend that anyone who wants to go boating/sailing should take the course. You can find locations and contact information on-line at Coast Guard Power Squadron website. There were no sailing schools where we lived so we took vacations where we could devote a lot of time learning to sail on small boats (lasers and hobies were our preferences). Go to Bill's Blog to find out about his first sail on a small boat. We read and were told that small boats are very unforgiving. If you can manage a small boat, you can graduate to larger boats quite readily. If possible, charter a boat. There are a number of good boat charter companies that even provide captains for the uninitiated. If you can't afford to vacation at a boating friendly resort or charter a boat, go to your local boat clubs and sign up to crew. Don't be shy. Many sailors can't go out as often as they'd like because they don't have crew. Bring your biggest smile and a positive attitude. You'll be surprised how many people are willing to teach you just to have someone to sail with. When we started off, we just walked into the Nyack Boat Club one weekend and and asked to speak to someone. Next thing we knew we were given the grand tour, being introduced around and asked to come again. We eventually joined the club and had a couple of wonderful years sailing in the Hudson River after we learned to sail and purchased Yesterday's Dream.
We went to every boat show we could
get to and talked to everyone who would talk to us. We made a point to
sit in on the free seminars that all boat shows provide. We also met
and talked to many cruisers/writers
who were promoting their books at the boat shows. I can't even begin
to count the number of marina docks we walked! I'm going to jump ahead
here and give you one of our fondest memories of boaters. Early on, we
drove to Annapolis and were walking the quay. By this time we had
pretty much decided that we were going to purchase a catamaran but were
still looking for input. A couple on one of the boats tied to the
quay, a Prout catamaran named "Oz",
were just dropping their lines and preparing to shove off. "Great
boat," yelled Bill, "how do you like it." One thing lead to another
and before we knew it, Frannie and Jim Beckley
tied back up and invited us aboard. The next couple of hours were
spent with us asking questions and getting information and becoming
lifelong friends. The point is... don't be shy... most boaters are
friendly, warm people, who love to chat, meet new people and show off
their boats. Oz is a memory, but Jimmy and Frannie have been lifelong friends.
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Some things to know while doing your research...
Unlike now, in 1980 there was no internet. Research on sailing and extended cruising was pretty much restricted to the library, bookstores and talking to experienced sailors. The internet certainly will shorten your research time, but it will not replace the information or experience you can gain by talking to other people who are seasoned cruisers and/or crewing on boats. Internet research is also not nearly as much fun as talking to someone who has been 'out there 'doing it.' The best way to reach seasoned sailors is to visit marinas and strike up conversations with them. Tell them you're hoping to do some extended cruising. Ask if they have any 'blue water' or coastal cruising experience. Talk about the pros and cons of their particular boats. Keep the dream alive by having them relate their personal experiences. Even if they're only weekend cruisers, they'll have lots of stories to tell. There's nothing a cruising sailor likes more than talking about the places they've been, the people they've met, the things they've seen and imparting some of the wisdom they've picked up along the way. And there's nothing more inspiring for a would be cruiser than listening to these tales.
As you collect information, you will find that there are an inordinate number of opinions on each and every cruising topic. and every person you speak with will assure you that THEIR opinion is the only one worth pursuing. As with many things in this life... it just ain't so. Question everyone about the same subjects. Meld your findings with your research, factor in your personal wants and needs and then add common sense to the mix. And no matter how much you learn or how many nautical miles you travel, never, ever stop asking the same questions. You will inevitably learn a better, safer and wiser way to handle almost every situation if you do so.
When we started, we had no preconceived notions or prejudices regarding boats, other than that we wanted a sailboat. We were partial to the beauty of that Tahiti Ketch we saw in Nassau Harbour, but went into the deal with an open mind. Although not the case now, in 1980, multihulls were few and far between. Our own research told us that a catamaran was a safe, stable and roomy vessel, but they were poo-pooed and denigrated by most of the traditionalists we met. And they weren't particularly pretty... most looked like clorox bottles to us. Needless to say we were torn... multihull/monohull.... monohull/multihull... a beautiful Tahiti ketch or a clorox bottle... the whole thing made our heads hurt. Finally, we were fortunate enough to speak to John Murray, a well known and respected naval architect, who assured us that our choice of a catamaran was a good one for exactly the reasons we discovered in our research. He gave us the information we needed to sift through all of the verbal negatives we had encountered. Since our primary focus was on multihulls, one very important tip he gave us was that we must always ask the person who denigrates or espouses a multihull, or any boat for that matter, what first-hand, up front and personal experience they have on that type of vessel. With regard to multihulls, John warned us that we would be surprised to discover that despite the fact that they had been around for hundreds of years, very few modern day sailors (at that time) had any personal experience with multihulls. Although this is not true today, in 1980, he was correct. When we backtracked and started asking about personal experience, we found that those that were the most vocal, had little to no personal experience. They had 'heard' or 'read' or 'knew someone who...' The lesson to be learned is to be sure to determine what experience level your source for information possesses and factor it in with everything else you're learning and doing. Don't make the mistake of ignoring information just because it came from a novice. The name of the game is 'go sailing.' Sometimes 'newbies' can give startingly valuable insights.
As you collect information, you will find that there are an inordinate number of opinions on each and every cruising topic. and every person you speak with will assure you that THEIR opinion is the only one worth pursuing. As with many things in this life... it just ain't so. Question everyone about the same subjects. Meld your findings with your research, factor in your personal wants and needs and then add common sense to the mix. And no matter how much you learn or how many nautical miles you travel, never, ever stop asking the same questions. You will inevitably learn a better, safer and wiser way to handle almost every situation if you do so.
When we started, we had no preconceived notions or prejudices regarding boats, other than that we wanted a sailboat. We were partial to the beauty of that Tahiti Ketch we saw in Nassau Harbour, but went into the deal with an open mind. Although not the case now, in 1980, multihulls were few and far between. Our own research told us that a catamaran was a safe, stable and roomy vessel, but they were poo-pooed and denigrated by most of the traditionalists we met. And they weren't particularly pretty... most looked like clorox bottles to us. Needless to say we were torn... multihull/monohull.... monohull/multihull... a beautiful Tahiti ketch or a clorox bottle... the whole thing made our heads hurt. Finally, we were fortunate enough to speak to John Murray, a well known and respected naval architect, who assured us that our choice of a catamaran was a good one for exactly the reasons we discovered in our research. He gave us the information we needed to sift through all of the verbal negatives we had encountered. Since our primary focus was on multihulls, one very important tip he gave us was that we must always ask the person who denigrates or espouses a multihull, or any boat for that matter, what first-hand, up front and personal experience they have on that type of vessel. With regard to multihulls, John warned us that we would be surprised to discover that despite the fact that they had been around for hundreds of years, very few modern day sailors (at that time) had any personal experience with multihulls. Although this is not true today, in 1980, he was correct. When we backtracked and started asking about personal experience, we found that those that were the most vocal, had little to no personal experience. They had 'heard' or 'read' or 'knew someone who...' The lesson to be learned is to be sure to determine what experience level your source for information possesses and factor it in with everything else you're learning and doing. Don't make the mistake of ignoring information just because it came from a novice. The name of the game is 'go sailing.' Sometimes 'newbies' can give startingly valuable insights.
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Gentlemen... Take Care of Your Ladies
Do not lose sight of the fact that if the little lady ain't happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy! For sure, if she ain't happy with your boat, she ain't going sailing much and if she ain't going sailing, you ain't going sailing much, either! So if you want to do some sailing or cruising, extended or otherwise, you need to make sure you're lady is happy and on board with the program
Dreaming has been one of my greatest hobbies. I can sit and dream for hours on end about any number of things. That's how I ended up owning a boat and living the cruising lifestyle that seems to be every sailor's version of heaven; sailing off into the sunset looking for the next tropical island to explore. But there is a hitch to the dream. If your dreams are like mine, there is a lady present or the dream ain't worth a damn. I got very lucky in that my wife, Loree, enjoys the cruising lifestyle as much as I do, but I never lose sight of the fact that job one for me is to keep my lady happy.
When we were doing the major refit of Sea Wolf, a 50 foot Prout Quasar, my job was put to the test more than once by the many details that had to be watched as the job progressed. One day I was down in the engine compartment while Loree and my G.C. were having a heated argument about fiddles. For those who don't know, a fiddle is the little lip that is put on the edge of every boat counter, shelf and table to keeps thing from falling off. The GC, being a mono hull sailor and accustomed to doing everything at a 45 degree angle, wanted them and Loree, being a multihull sailor who never did anything on a tilt, saw no need for them. Frankly, I could care less if there are fiddles or not. Whatever makes Loree happy, makes me happy. Well, the GC was giving Loree a hard time and I found the need give him a reality check. I told him to listen carefully and said, "Bob, aside from the fact that she is the one writing the checks, I think that I'm the luckiest guy in the world because I have a wife who is willing to go sailing. She is also up to her eyeballs in the muck and mire of gutting and rebuilding our boat. If this lady tells you to paint the entire boat PINK, you paint it pink because I don't care what color it is so long as I can go sailing.
Well, this became the new buzz word around the boatyard. When Loree said she wanted something a certain way, I would hear Bob say "I know; I know; think pink." As it so happens, the next week we were about to fair out the hulls to get ready for the new Awlgrip paint job. In order for Awlgrip to adhere, the previous coating must be sanded. The way you make sure that you don't leave any portion of the hull unsanded, is to put a light color wash over the entire surface of the boat and then sand the wash off. When I was at the paint store getting what I needed for the wash step, the guy behind the counter asked if I wanted red or blue paint. Realizing that when you dilute the red to make the wash, it would become pink, I told him to give me the red. So back to the yard I went and in two foot high letters I wrote "THINK PINK" across one hull and "BILL LOVES LOREE" on the other hull. You could see this spectacle from all the way across the yard and everyone in the yard was getting a real kick out of it. So much so that at 6PM everyone was still hanging around to see the look on Loree's face when she came home from work. Needless to say there was a lot of laughter and camaraderie that night. Loree was delighted and kept laughing all night. All I can say is... do I know how to get points or what?
Do not lose sight of the fact that if the little lady ain't happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy! For sure, if she ain't happy with your boat, she ain't going sailing much and if she ain't going sailing, you ain't going sailing much, either! So if you want to do some sailing or cruising, extended or otherwise, you need to make sure you're lady is happy and on board with the program
Dreaming has been one of my greatest hobbies. I can sit and dream for hours on end about any number of things. That's how I ended up owning a boat and living the cruising lifestyle that seems to be every sailor's version of heaven; sailing off into the sunset looking for the next tropical island to explore. But there is a hitch to the dream. If your dreams are like mine, there is a lady present or the dream ain't worth a damn. I got very lucky in that my wife, Loree, enjoys the cruising lifestyle as much as I do, but I never lose sight of the fact that job one for me is to keep my lady happy.
When we were doing the major refit of Sea Wolf, a 50 foot Prout Quasar, my job was put to the test more than once by the many details that had to be watched as the job progressed. One day I was down in the engine compartment while Loree and my G.C. were having a heated argument about fiddles. For those who don't know, a fiddle is the little lip that is put on the edge of every boat counter, shelf and table to keeps thing from falling off. The GC, being a mono hull sailor and accustomed to doing everything at a 45 degree angle, wanted them and Loree, being a multihull sailor who never did anything on a tilt, saw no need for them. Frankly, I could care less if there are fiddles or not. Whatever makes Loree happy, makes me happy. Well, the GC was giving Loree a hard time and I found the need give him a reality check. I told him to listen carefully and said, "Bob, aside from the fact that she is the one writing the checks, I think that I'm the luckiest guy in the world because I have a wife who is willing to go sailing. She is also up to her eyeballs in the muck and mire of gutting and rebuilding our boat. If this lady tells you to paint the entire boat PINK, you paint it pink because I don't care what color it is so long as I can go sailing.
Well, this became the new buzz word around the boatyard. When Loree said she wanted something a certain way, I would hear Bob say "I know; I know; think pink." As it so happens, the next week we were about to fair out the hulls to get ready for the new Awlgrip paint job. In order for Awlgrip to adhere, the previous coating must be sanded. The way you make sure that you don't leave any portion of the hull unsanded, is to put a light color wash over the entire surface of the boat and then sand the wash off. When I was at the paint store getting what I needed for the wash step, the guy behind the counter asked if I wanted red or blue paint. Realizing that when you dilute the red to make the wash, it would become pink, I told him to give me the red. So back to the yard I went and in two foot high letters I wrote "THINK PINK" across one hull and "BILL LOVES LOREE" on the other hull. You could see this spectacle from all the way across the yard and everyone in the yard was getting a real kick out of it. So much so that at 6PM everyone was still hanging around to see the look on Loree's face when she came home from work. Needless to say there was a lot of laughter and camaraderie that night. Loree was delighted and kept laughing all night. All I can say is... do I know how to get points or what?
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