10 Questions for Georgia

Paul Lever and Chris Hunter have been cruising since 2010 aboard Georgia, an Outbound 44 hailing from Seattle, WA, USA.

They left the Seattle area and traveled down the west coast of the US, Mexico and Central America to Panama. After transiting the Panama Canal and visiting the San Blas Islands, then went to Florida and up the ICW of the US to the Chesapeake and then on to the Canadian Maritimes. They then went to the Bahamas and back up the East Coast of the US. Then they traversed the eastern Caribbean, ending in Bonaire and Curacao. They left the ABCs and went back through the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Most recently they have transited the S Pacific and spent last cyclone season in New Zealand. They have just completed the passage out of NZ and are currently in Fiji.

You can learn more about their cruise on their blog.

Why did you change boats and what do you see as the major pros and cons of your changeover? 

The short answer is so that I could stay married:) I'm a big fan of taking the boat you have to cruise in. We had a nice J/37 that was easy to handle offshore, fast and reasonably comfortable. After a couple of years of cruising we decided we were going to be out for a long time and we wanted some more creature comforts, not the least of which a larger galley. The Outbound is a really well thought out offshore vessel with a decent turn of speed. Con is having more money tied up in a boat-- a depreciating investment.

Having cruised both the Atlantic and the Pacific, how do they compare?

The Atlantic side is so much more crowded than the areas we've traveled in Pacific. The Pacific islands and island people are very interesting and generally extremely friendly. The distances you have to travel are much greater in the Pacific, but the coral reefs make it all worthwhile. On the Atlantic side, outside the US, you tend to see boats that are redoing their passages - like in this is the 5th time we've done XYZ. On the Pacific passages it is often the first time for everyone, making it easier to develop a cruising community.

What mistakes did you make in your first year of cruising?

Every cruiser needs to work out what cruising style is best for them. Are they commuter cruisers who spend 6 months on the boat and 6 months back home? Do they get to an ex-pat hangout and just want to enjoy the ease of being in the tropics and forget sailing? Do they want to get in as many stops, anchorages and ports as is possible, collecting all the t-shirts on the way? Is making distance and passages what it is all about? Are short jaunts from home the way to go?

I think we started out moving too quickly and trying to make distance. Our cruising style has worked into making significant jumps to get to a cruising ground and spending more time in one area rather than trying to see it all.

What is the most important attribute for successful cruising?

Its all in the attitude. The attitude you have with your partner. The attitude you have toward officials. The attitude toward locals. The attitude and respect you have for the weather. And the attitude to working through all of the repeated maintenance items and jobs of daily living that are never ending on boat. If you are going to let these items get you down, then cruising is just not for you.

I am pretty good at fixing things quickly on the boat. I'm even OK with doing the same job over again. I do tend to get a bit down when its the third time on the same 'fix'.

Share a piece of cruising etiquette 

That's just too easy a question. Use a long painter when you tie up your dinghy at a dock and leave the outboard down. A far more difficult one to answer would be proper anchoring etiquette. As far as I can tell, that totally depends on what your nationality is.

What piece(s) of gear would you leave on the dock next time? Why?

We left with one of those large, Conestoga Wagon covers for the boom. Although it's important to have shade in the tropics, that cover was too much effort to put up, take down, store and deal with when the winds got crazy.

How did you (or did you) gain offshore experience prior to leaving?  

I've done the early retirement thing a few times and took an Alberg 35 from Annapolis to Venezuela in my younger days. Chris and I have done the Inside Passage to Alaska and back down the outside. Also, while we were waiting to get our finances in order and sell a house we helped friends bring their Cal 40 down the Pacific coast from Washington to San Francisco.

Everyone who plans on taking up long distance cruising should take the opportunities available to crew on a few offshore passages. You'll learn a ton and be much better at setting your own expectations.

What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn't expect to enjoy?

The first thing that pops into my mind is not killing or being killed by my spouse while living in such a close 24/7 environment. The second is Gin and Tonics.

Cruiser rant: What is something that drives you crazy?

Cruisers that start the blame game and yelling when an anchoring situation occurs. Its amazing how a tiny bit of courtesy and cooperation can make what looks like a bad situation calm down and work out for everyone. Being told that I dragged upwind with a string of F-bombs at 3am just doesn't help the situation get better.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

How long do you plan to cruise?

We left with an open time frame. After a couple of years it was clear that we were going for the long run. Its now been 7 years and we are half way around the world having covered about 33,000 miles (more than enough to make it all the way around). We still take it one year or one season at a time. Its important to us to have the boat out of the Cyclone and Hurricane belts during the season as we are not one to tempt Mother Nature. We started out as full time cruisers, but now try to spend a few months each year back in Washington with our new, above average granddaughter. We'll keep going as long as its still an adventure and our health holds out.

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10 Questions for Impi

Brent Grimbeek and Ana Hill began cruising in 2011 aboard SV Impi, a Lagoon 440.

They have cruised Cape Town to Brazil, Tobago, Grenada, Lesser Antilles, British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, Galapagos, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and on to Australia

You can learn more about their cruise on their blog, through their videos, or their Facebook page.

What is something you think potential cruisers are afraid about that they shouldn't fear? And what is something potential cruisers don't worry about that perhaps they should?

A lot of people we speak to have experience of sailing in the proximity of the coast and are fearful of sailing out of the sight of land. In fact, ocean sailing is way easier and safer than coastal sailing.

A lot of potential cruisers think that all they need is the money to buy a boat and that afterwards you just need money for food and diesel.  Few wannabe cruisers realize the costs of maintenance on a boat and/or have the skills to do good maintenance themselves.

This can result in boats gradually going down hill, becoming unsafe and unseaworthy.

What do you think is a common cruising myth?  

That you are free as the wind!  Unfortunately, the way the world is nowadays we are dependent on banks as one is not allowed to carry cash in excess of 10000 of the currency of the country you enter into without doing a declaration thereof.

In many countries although not in Australia and New Zealand, having a bank account is dependent on having a proof of residential address.  This can become complex once one leaves the home country and maybe lets or sells one’s house.

Finish this sentence “One thing I’ve learned about navigating is ... that charts in many territories are inaccurate.  This requires us to use satellite photography as to avoid reefs and coral.

We were fortunate to learn this technique in French Polynesia from some fellow cruisers.  It enabled us to navigate through the Tuamotu Islands without any hiccups as we could clearly mark and identify coral heads.  Similarly charts are very inaccurate in Fiji and sailing from Vanua Levu to the Lau group overnight we were confident that we would not hit a reef as we planned our course very carefully using satellite photos.

Whilst at anchor in the darkest night we can be confident that when the wind changes we are not going to hit any rocks as our boat position can be easily monitored on the satellite photos.

With the benefit of hindsight, what are the boat selection criteria you would use to purchase a boat for long term cruising?

Buy a safe boat that is reasonably fast on the ocean and comfortable at anchor. Equip your boat in your home country and not once you are underway.  For us South Africa was a good country to do this with skilled technicians and affordable prices.

So why do we love our Lagoon?  Well it is a very safe boat, the underside ‘nacelle’ – a large bullnose protruding between the hulls toward the trampoline area tapers, as what I can only describe as a ‘third suspended hull’ – do not think Lagoon build this in as a beautiful looking feature, for it certainly is not – it is undersold and holds a phenomenal ‘secret’ to safety at sea. Let me explain.

We were sailing around the southern tip of South Africa when a storm descended upon us. The waves were breaking to the extent that the surface became filled with foam and soon we were dropping down these colossal monsters doing 17 knots bare poles. Every other catamaran there had to head out to sea, since dropping down these waves would see the bows dig into the back of the wave ahead and they feared pitch poling. Impi was the only boat to successfully round the Cape that day for shelter in the anchorage – why?

We soon learned the magic trick of Lagoon. As the bows descended into the wave ahead, that ‘bull nose’ of the nacelle would make contact with the water surface driving the bows upward, time and time again. The suspended hull effect would assist with keeping the boat steering straight down the wave, where catamaran skippers fear the boat broad siding down a wave face. This feature alone ticked a huge box for us, a major point of safety that was going to prove to be invaluable in some pretty ferocious storms we would encounter crossing many oceans of the world.

In the catamaran sailing community, we often hear sailors measuring the success of a boat by the height of bridge deck clearance – ‘the higher the better’, they would say. This is the clearance or height from the surface of the water to the underside of the boat between the hulls. Now whilst a certain amount of height helps in lighter weather conditions, many sailors do not realize that in heavier sea state conditions, too much height has a negative effect in that the wave energy under the boat gathers more momentum before hitting the underside of the bridge deck. Too little clearance is also not good as the boat can feel unstable, but in our opinion, Lagoon have cleverly found the sweet spot between.

Another incredible attribute to the Lagoon 440 is how the boat sails on different points of sail. The Lagoon 440 surprises so many fellow sailors and especially mono-hull sailors, who do not want to believe a catamaran can sail past them to their windward side, on a close ‘point of sail’. Yes, thanks to the two shorter spreaders on the mast, the Lagoon 440 sails very well upwind since the leech of the genoa can be hauled in closer before being obstructed by the spreader tips. This feature, together with the genoa car tracks, that are positioned closer to midship than many other models of catamarans makes the Lagoon 440 a terrific boat for sailing close hauled. In fact, the Lagoon sails well on all points of sail when using a variety of sails along with a barber hauler configuration for wind astern of the beam.

We can store an asymmetric sail, spinnaker, storm sail and extra genoa with ease and all concealed below the deck in lockers and not stored inside the living area of the boat.

When it comes to speed, of course the Lagoon is not a racing boat as ours is loaded with all sorts of home comforts, but it moves on average 150 to 240 nautical miles per 24 hours depending on the winds, currents and the sails rigged. For example, our previous passage from New Caledonia to Australia was an easy 4 day passage.

The Lagoon 440 leaves the factory at around 12.5 tons, but loaded weighs 16 to 17 tons depending on water and diesel on board.

Of course speed is great while sailing, however, for us arrivals and the time spent at our destination are more important. We arrive with our boat clean, all salt washed with fresh water from our 900-liter water tank and 12V water maker that produces around 60 liters per hour for the 20amps that drive it.
The solar input via our 5 Kyocera 135w each panels (675w total) sees us topping up the batteries, up to 50 Amps, and plenty enough to run the Spectra Newport MKII.

Arrival also sees us with all washing clean, dried and ironed with our normal household ‘6kg washer dryer’ fitted into an outside cabinet, next to a sink and cockpit fridge.

Inside the boat, our fridge may be nearing empty but the freezer will often be loaded with fish caught en route.  Thanks to the outside basin, those can be cleaned and filleted outside, a very clever and well thought through feature by the Lagoon designers who make Impi as close to a home on the ocean as one can get.

As soon as we are cleared, we are ready to explore the delights of islands unlike some of our co-cruisers who are hunting around for laundries, water, and electricity and stay stuck in marinas for days, sometimes weeks on end.  Usually a one-day turn around is all Impi needs before heading out to those ‘paradise like anchorages’.  With 80 meters of 13 mm chain, 20 meter of rope and a 33 kg Rocna anchor, a Delta stern anchor with 20 meters of chain, we can anchor just about anywhere, and the Lagoon carries the weight with ease.

Our Lagoon 440 has enough space for all our dive gear, dive compressor, the heavy dinghy with its 30 HP engine which the davits carry comfortably, makes it a breeze to immediately be exploring those delightful underwater corals.

Of course it all comes down to preference and what one wants to get out of a boat – for us it is more about a home which has the ability to carry all the home comforts safely and at fair speed from one destination to the next.

We live for extended times on anchor and our air conditioning, heating and refrigeration facilities ensure that we make plenty of friends!  It is not unusual to hear:  “Let’s all meet on Impi, because they have space to seat 10 round the table, enough plates and cutlery, air conditioning and a lot of space to store cold beers!”

Lagoons are sturdy boats developed not just for a charter market, they are usually baptized in rough seas - they need to cross the Bay of Biscay on their maiden run and that sea can get seriously upset with tremendous wave action as it is very shallow.

Our patio is similar to that of a mono hull turned side ways, protecting us from large waves from the stern.  In extreme weather conditions, catamarans should not as a rule, be pointed toward the weather as one would in a mono-hull.  Well, for the odd wave that may escape and descend on the boat, we do love the high back of the Lagoon 440, which provides some protection from a wave otherwise finding the aft door into the saloon.

The bridge, a feature seldom found on any other brand for a 45 foot catamaran, gives excellent visibility when cruising through reef-infested waters and is always the place our guests spend most of their time when cruising the islands.  In bad weather it is comforting to be up there as one can feel the wind and the ocean away from the noise below and inside. It brings a new perspective and certain control in what otherwise one perceives to be life-threatening conditions. It is also the area where with wind from astern, we would sleep during crossings wearing our life jacket and harness, mostly because the motion is less aggressive up there.

Another feature we loved about the Lagoon when shopping for catamarans, is the strength and thickness of the ‘fiberglass ‘ – the coach roof is solid and sturdy. It feels safe and offers living room upstairs, something much needed when sailing for years on end.

We do believe the Lagoon 440 is a terrific deep ocean sailing catamaran - we have never regretted our choice of boat to circumnavigate, the boat keeps amazing us.

How did you gain offshore experience prior to leaving?  

We studied for our captain’s license in South Africa with a private tutor who accompanied us on our first long ocean crossing from Cape Town to Brazil.  We have sailed just the two of us ever since.  Our tutor taught us a lot about sail rigging and trimming.  We did our first crossing using 2 genoas most of the time or an asymmetric sail.  Our top speed was 21 knots.  That was a bit too scary! We took 21 days to sail from Cape Town to Fortaleza. You can read about our first sailing experience on Amazon kindle – Atlantic Crossing in 21 days.

Describe a drool-worthy perfect cruising moment

Difficult question as there have been many, so maybe I must go back to the first one, which was in Northern Brazil.

We went into uncharted territory there! With only a vague description from a Brazilian sailor, we headed for Lencois Maranhenses, a national park.  It was described to us as a desert with freshwater lakes.

To get there we cruised for several hours up a muddy river with a 6-meter tidal range. We both started doubting the intelligence of doing this, as there were no other yachts around, just a lot of local fishing craft.  We had been warned that not all of these people were friendly!

We anchored out in the river at night and the next morning took the dinghy further up river where we were told by our friend to anchor.  It was a place we could only reach at high tide, taking care to avoid sandbanks.

A local fisherman drew a map of the course to take to enter and as the tide went up we took Impi into a real paradise with hundreds of red ibis, flamingoes and other birds. We were astounded by fish with 4 eyes, we had never seen before and the most awesome white sand dunes and fresh lakes where cattle would come and drink.  Beautiful jangadas, the local fishing boats, with blue sails would go up and down the river bringing in the daily catch.  The people would take pictures of us, as it was so rare to see a yacht there!  They were very friendly and didn’t even speak Portuguese but an indigenous language.

What is something that you read or heard about cruising, that you found particularly accurate?

You cannot go on a charter vacation on a boat for a few weeks and say you have ‘cruised’.  I think that depending on the level of stress in your life prior to cruising it can take several years to actually shed that stress and get into a cruising lifestyle.  To find that connection with wind, weather and ocean, to open your heart to the beauty of your surroundings is something that some people never achieve.    In our modern lives our spirits get shredded and torn into multiple directions.  Cruising for us enables us to get whole again and to have that peace inside with makes us strong enough to deal with adversity and patient enough to wait for any weather window.

What is the next piece of gear you would add to your boat if it were free?

We would upgrade our solar panels to SunPower solar panels.  At this point in time these panels have the highest energy output up to 327 W.  They carry a long power and product warranty and we believe that together with our lithium batteries, which we installed earlier this year, these would significantly reduce our need for the use of a generator.

Have you ever felt in danger and if so, what was the source?   
   
We have felt in danger a few times and we have learnt from it.  One area, which is neglected in a lot of sailing courses, is teaching students how to read the weather on our planet.  We have learnt as we went along and sometimes because we got ourselves into bad situations.

One of these times was sailing from Ua Pau in the Marqueses Islands to the Tuamotu.  The weather looked good according to the GRIBS and the forecast from Meteo France, so we left together with Tempest, an Amel mono-hull, skippered by our friends Bob and Annette Pace, medical professionals from the US.

As we went into the night the benign winds picked up to over 60 knots and the previously calm seas were whipped up into 5-7 meter waves crashing on Impi’s side.  I prepared grab bags, food, meds ready in the cock pit should we need to abandon ship. We kept out a small jib and encouraged Tempest to do the same and sailed all night through vicious waves making speeds around 12 -15 knots on a small jib!.  As the day broke, we saw a Japanese ship on the AIS and contacted them. They told us not to turn back as the storm was worse behind us then in front of us.  They were such great guys, giving us a weather forecast all the way to Fakarava, which proved to be accurate.

One of the reasons we learnt, why we had not read the weather accurately was because we didn’t look at the 500HP layer, we had just looked at the surface weather. What can happen is that the top layer breaks through to the surface given the right conditions.  You then can end up with a rapidly deepening low and cyclone strength winds.  We have learnt to always look at the top layer structure now as to avoid putting ourselves in that position again.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

We volunteer for an animal welfare charity Bien Naitre Animal in New Caledonia and encourage cruisers, friends and followers to become members of this charity as to set up a mobile veterinary clinic in the outer islands of New Caledonia, a service which currently does not exist.  We are grateful to the Down Under Rally Go East for their contribution to the fund. Watch our video on Moose, the abandoned island dog.

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10 Questions for Naoma

Nicole and Ryan Levinson have been cruising on their current voyage since 2014 aboard SV Naoma, a 1988 Ericson 38 hailing from San Diego, CA, USA. They left San Diego for Mexico and then made the jump to French Polynesia where they have been cruising since 2015. They have been sailing together since the late 1990's but started more seriously cruising the waters off Baja, Mexico and southern California in 2006.

They say: "I may seem like I have the maturity of a 10 year old but really it's more like a teenager..."

You can learn more about their cruise through their videos or on their Facebook page.

Cruiser rant: What is something that drives you crazy?

You mean aside from Nicole doing Yoga in her black bikini?  We don't appreciate when cruisers publicly post detailed information about some of the more remote or less commonly visited areas they've explored.  Especially in the Soggy Paws Compendiums or on personal blogs where they include names and/or coordinates.  We think the Compendiums and blogs are a valuable resource, especially for new visitors to an area, but we strongly believe they should be focused on information about the "gateway" anchorages.  In other words, anchorages that are generally already well known and commonly visited.  Once cruisers reach those gateways they can explore remotely or remain mainstream as they see fit!  We personally witnessed one particular spot in the Tuamotus that was more or less ruined (in our opinion) after detailed information about it was included in the Compendiums and shared widely via email.  One season we anchored there alone.  The next season there were a dozen other boats having endless beach bbqs (and leaving the fire pit residue) on the otherwise pristine beaches, disturbing motus that are bird nesting places, leaving the remains of trash burns, stomping all over the coral in the shallow water, carving their initials in trees, etc.  We heard it just got worse as the season progressed.  There are plenty of anchorages for that kind of behavior but precious few that offer a glimpse of "untrammeled" nature or the experience of true solitude.  If you "discover" a remote uncrowded paradise please don't share it with anyone except maybe a few trusted friends or you will destroy the chance for cruisers following in your wake to also have the special experience you had!  Certainly don't share it with the entire world on the internet or Compendiums!

What is something you think potential cruisers are afraid about that they shouldn't fear? And what is something potential cruisers don't worry about that perhaps they should?

Many potential cruisers, especially from the USA for some reason, are afraid that if they have not adequately prepared for every conceivable contingency then they are doomed to certain death on the high seas.  It is up to each individual to decide what level of preparation is "right" for them but potential cruisers should know that no matter how much they prepare there is always something that they didn't foresee that could cause injury or death.  Accepting a level of risk is a fundamental part of cruising and a key part of adventure!  The thing potential cruisers SHOULD worry about is letting their fear and endless preparation become a reason for never leaving.  There's a great saying, "There are two types of cruisers - Those that leave without being fully prepared and those that never leave..."

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?

The location of good surf spots in French Polynesia...  :)  Kidding aside we feel we were given excellent information before we left and can not really think of any other particular thing we wished we had known.  On the other hand there was a lot of stuff we were told that we later regretted ignoring such as "have a gravity feed system pre-rigged for butane" or "you will want a bigger watermaker" There was also plenty of stuff that people told us or we read that turned out to be a bunch of garbage...  Consider the source!

Was there anywhere you visited that you thought was overrated (not as good as you had heard)? Was there anywhere you visited that you thought was underrated (better than you had heard)?    

We were not big fans of Nuku Hiva, especially when compared to the other islands in the Marquesas chain.  On the other hand we thought the Marquesas in general were underrated.  We only spent six weeks there our first time through but when we returned we spent six months and could have easily spent more.

What is something about the cruising culture you like and what is something you dislike?

We like the sense of community that we've experienced amongst cruisers, especially in the South Pacific.  There is a strong practice of looking out for each other and expressing genuine good will towards each other.

We are not fans of the packs of boats that travel en masse like locusts swarming anchorages with a sense of entitlement since they are part of this-or-that rally or whatever.  Luckily the rally clones tend to blaze through, always in a hurry, and once their trash is picked up and whatever damage they caused is repaired, life usually returns to normal.  :)

Nicole adds that she thinks it's an unfortunate tendency for many cruisers to crowd into certain anchorages and just endlessly socialize with each other rather than seeking a deeper connection with the local place and people.

With the benefit of hindsight, what are the boat selection criteria you would use to purchase a boat for long term cruising?

At the risk of sounding glib I'll say that the main requirements for a boat for safe fun long term cruising are the boat must be likely to stay afloat, can move, and can hold food/water.  Anything else is just layers of comfort and increased margins of safety.  I think too many people stress about what is a "blue water" boat or whatever even though they plan to follow relatively easy trade wind routes.  Those people often end up in somewhat unresponsive expensive tanks built to survive cyclones despite never seeing winds over 30 knots...  Thor Heyeredahl "sailed" from South America to the Tuamotus on a bunch of logs tied together!  People cross oceans in kayaks, paddleboards, whatever.  Think of it this way, what are the chances you will simply drop dead or become gravely ill in the next three weeks?  Fairly slim, right?  The same is true of a blue water passage!  In many places if you sail during the right seasons you have extremely little chance of experiencing a major storm.  If you can stay afloat, keep moving, and have food/water the chances are you will be fine even if "extra" stuff breaks like your chartplotter, computers, etc.

With that in mind, and the benefit of hindsight, if I were to start over I'd likely pick the same boat but possibly modify her to have fewer through hulls and possibly more secure hatches and portlights (enhances the "stay afloat" factor!)  Our boat is fun to sail, she is responsive, handles well, is fast in wide range of winds, and is well built.  She would probably not be our first choice for sailing in high latitudes or long off-season passages in a cyclone area but those are not our intended routes. We see a HUGE variety of boats out here, from cheaply built coastal cruisers (some don't even have toilets) to top dollar luxury ocean sailing yachts with all the latest gear.  The boats are all different but they have one thing in common... They all safely crossed the ocean to get here.

Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting cruising?

A programmable battery charger (versus one with a few pre-set programs) so we could more easily equalize our batteries. Possibly a charger that can handle both 110v and 220v.  When we left we did not yet have a Honda 2000 gasoline generator but it has become invaluable and has saved us from having to put countless hours on the engine.  We left with 400w of solar but have since increased to 700w.  Finally, a larger capacity watermaker would be nice.  Ours is efficient, small, and reliable (so far) but at 7-8gph it takes a looooong time to fill our tanks.  Sorry, I know you asked for one thing so consider this a 4 way tie...  :)

How did you (or did you) gain offshore experience prior to leaving?

We did not gain any offshore experience before leaving but we were both already sailors with extensive coastal experience.  I (Ryan) have been sailing most of my life.  For over a decade I taught keelboat sailing at a few notable centers including J-World and as an adjunct professor of keelboat sailing at San Diego State University.  I have a masters license and have worked as mate and captain of large (120'+) luxury sailing yachts in California and Mexico.  I sailed on the US Sailing national team and was a former national champion (along with my teammates) for my class.  I am an Emergency Medical Technician.  Before this voyage I spent a few years studying extensively - stuff like celestial navigation, life raft survival, long distance communication, diesel engineering, electrical maintenance, marine firefighting, meteorology, and other related topics. With the exception of the rigging we did nearly all our own boat work and installations while preparing Naoma for this voyage.

Nicole is also a certified sailing instructor, although for smaller boats, and she has experience working on large sailing yachts including standing navigational watches.  She is an Emergency Medical Technician and is a former San Diego ocean lifeguard.

Having said all this we are often anchored next to people who literally purchased a boat having never sailed a day in their lives before heading out on their voyage.  I'm not recommending that, but it does help keep things in perspective...

What do you dislike about cruising that surprised you? 

Cruising can create distance from your "community" back home, not just in a geographical sense but also because this is a truly life changing experience that few or none of your friends and family will never really be able to relate to.  We were not so much surprised by that fact per se but rather by the extent to which we find it's true.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

What is your favorite YouTube sailing channel?

Two Afloat Sailing!  ;)

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10 Questions for Domino

JP and Marie have been cruising since 2010 aboard MV DOMINO, a 65' Malcolm Tennant Power Catamaran flagged in Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Since 2010, they have cruised from Paraguay to Argentina, Uruguay, the entire East coast of South America, Caribbean Islands, Cuba, Yucatán, the entire East coast of the US and the Chesapeake Bay, Central America (Caribbean side), Panama, Galapagos, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti and its Islands, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, and now New Caledonia.

JP and Marie built DOMINO themselves and they left behind 6 children and 13 grandchildren when they headed out cruising. DOMINO is currently for sale

Read more about their journey on their blog.

Finish this sentence. "Generally when I am provisioning...". 

I look for the freshest produce and canned goods with the least additives, enjoying the opportunity to discover local flavors.  At the town market, I often ask the ladies how to prepare the produce they sell.

What do you enjoy about cruising that you didn't expect to enjoy?  

Doing nothing.  I never thought I would enjoy just sitting, meditating, looking at nature, doing nothing at all.

How did you (or did you) gain offshore experience prior to leaving?   

Uh... we didn't.  Just hopped on the boat and left.  1 day passage, followed by a 2-day passage, and so on.

Share a piece of cruising etiquette

To guests who come and cruise for a while: don't bring roll-away suitcases.  Backpacks and soft bags do not scratch the decks and are easier to stow away.  To dinner/happy hour guests who kindly bring drinks on board: please, take your rubbish with you as you leave.

In your own experience and your experience meeting other cruisers, what are the common reasons people stop cruising? 

• They get on each other's nerves
• They have gone as far west as they dared
• They miss family and land possessions

Tell me your favorite thing and your least favorite thing about your boat  

Favorite: Parties 60, dines 8, sleeps 2.

My least favorite thing?   Umm.. no washing machine!  Of course, we have the room for it, all the electrical and plumbing, easy ventilation for the washer/dryer combo, but no machine!  I think JP uses this as leverage... after 10 years of doing my laundry in an oversized sink, spinning it in a high speed spinner and drying it in the sun, I still hope that some day I won't have to depend on the weather to do my laundry!

What are some of your favorite pieces of gear on your boat and why?  

• Refrigerator- I can't imagine cruising without one, and mine is quite large, enough for 6 weeks of fresh produce.
• Bread machine - We're French, therefore eat a lot of bread!
• Our big 6' radar array antenna.  We see targets clearly and early... peace of mind.

Where was your favorite place to visit and why?  

The Galapagos.  There is nothing like it, above or below water.  Unique!

What mistakes did you make in your first year of cruising?  

Plenty! Racing the Brazilian Coast Guards entering Rio de Janeiro while ignoring the proper entrance channel, as the coast guards had fun pinning us on the rocks is my favorite!

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?  

How do you not get on each other's nerve when you live in confined quarters 24/7?   

Headphones, private space, yoga, and a sense of humor!

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10 Questions for Delos

Christine Myers and Stephan Regulinski are on their second Amel SuperMaramu 2000 (53’ ketch). The first was Delos hailing from San Francisco, CA, USA and now Hanalei, hailing from Kailua, HI, USA. They cruised from 2000-2005 and will begin cruising again in 2012. On their first cruise they visited Turkey, Mediterranean Europe, Atlantic Europe, North Sea, British Isles, Ireland, Scandinavia, Canary Islands, Morocco, Gambia, Cape Verde, Caribbean, Panama, Galapagos, South Pacific, & New Zealand. You can read more about them on their website or at their blog.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?

• Colleges are going to love that your kids made this trip.
• Your family will become very close.
• This is not a vacation; it’s a way of life. Save something for the next trip.
• It takes six months to adjust.
• Don’t rely so much on the internet in port or e-mails at sea.
• Just about every port in Europe has a different kind of plug.
• What happens at sea does not stay at sea.
• Tahiti is overrated, overpriced and overcrowded.

What has been the most affordable area to cruise and the most expensive?

Turkey was least expensive, along with La Gomera (Canaries) and West Africa.

Norway; Porto Cervo, Sardinia; and French Polynesia were the most expensive.

Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting cruising?

Solar panels.

What did you do to make your dream a reality?

We sort of won the lottery the first time; this time we are selling the house.

What is something you like about the cruising culture and something you dislike?

I love the openness, friendliness and mutual support of the international cruising culture. I dislike the focus on alcohol, especially in the Caribbean and South Pacific.

With the benefit of hindsight, what are the boat criteria you would use to purchase a boat for long-term cruising?

More energy-efficiency. But having said that, we just bought another boat and it’s exactly the same. I would consider length vis-a-vis European dock length pricing.

Describe a ‘typical day’ on passage on your boat.

It takes us about three days to adjust to passage time. Before that we’re all a little spacey while adapting to passage time. Typically I would stand the early morning watch, put out fishing lines, then do roll call on the net at 8. Kids will be up later. They’ll do schoolwork or read, depending on how rough it is. Back to sleep until noon or so, then up for the next watch. Chop vegetables in the afternoon and work on meal prep, check fishing lines. Dinner at 6. Everyone except watchstander goes to bed early, soon after dinner.

How did you gain offshore experience prior to leaving?

We crewed on friends’ boat from San Francisco to Santa Barbara.

What advice would you give to parents thinking about taking their children cruising?

DO IT! DO IT NOW!

When you meet another compatible kid boat, change your plans and hang out together. They don’t have to be the same age. Social interactions become incredibly important.

Try to get some homeschooling experience before you leave, and at least make sure you have good supportive resources. Don’t get stuck with set curriculum or try to recreate a classroom.

Adapt curriculum to your cruising experience and kids’ learning style.

Be flexible and creative about when ‘school time’ happens.

What question do you wish I had asked you … and how would you answer it?

How did your kids adapt? What were their challenges?

Here I’d point you to the blog because the topic is too big.

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10 Questions for Alianna

Sim and Rosie Hoggarth began cruising in June 2004 aboard Alianna, a Corbin 39 hailing from Falmouth, United Kingdom. They bought Alianna in Antigua and sailed the loop, down the Caribbean chain, across to South America, up Central America and North American as far as Washington DC and back down the Bahamas to the East Caribbean. You can learn more about their journey on their website.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
I had very limited sailing experience but my husband had been sailing for years.  I had complete faith in him and everything we learnt we learnt together.  Ignorance is bliss they say and we have enjoyed the whole learning experience.  I don't think there is anything we wished someone had told us before we got here, otherwise we might never have got here.

Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting cruising?
We are a pretty basic sailing boat - we have all the necessary safety and navigational equipment but we don't have radar and I have always felt that it would help when we are on passage to check which way storm heads are moving.  We have managed 7 years without a water maker and other items that some cruisers feel essential - its all a matter of personal comfort.  Sim wishes that we had built a bigger frame to house more solar panels, we physically can't carry any more, while there is always a need for more power.

What mistakes did you make in your first year of cruising?
We were very very cautious the first year of cruising, getting to know the boat and living together in a small space.  I don't think that we made any major mistakes, except in perhaps spending money on items thinking we were going to sail around the world that we now don't need - maybe we shouldn't have been so hasty in that respect.

What is the next piece of gear you would add to your boat if it were free and why?
That's a tough one, I would be torn between a radar for reasons explained above, new sails as ours are very old and baggy or a freezer for ice at cocktail hour - can I have them all?  Sim says an extra 10ft but I don't think it matters how big your boat is you will always need more space for something. If an extra 10ft is unrealistic he would like furling gear for the inner staysail as at the moment it sits on deck and hardly ever gets used.

What is something you think potential cruisers are afraid about that they shouldn't fear?
We both agree that the fear the unknown whether it be weather related, country related or boat related most of the time its never as bad as it seems and the cruising community is a tight knit of people who are always willing to help.

And what is something potential cruisers don't worry about that perhaps they should?
Obviously that same can be said if you don't have any concerns about the above either. Have some respect for everything from the sea, to your boat and the countries you are visiting. Also you need to be able to do a lot of your own maintenance, everyone has to call in some help sometime but unless you have bottomless pockets the ability to do the majority of your own maintenance makes the lifestyle much more affordable to people who are on a budget.

In your experience, how much does cruising cost?
Cruising can cost as little or as much as you want it to.  We consider ourselves to be at the lower end of the scale - we try to live on a US$1000 a month with additional expenses of about $5000 per annum accounting for overspend or haulouts or insurance etc.  We know people that live on less and many that live on more.

How did you (or did you) gain offshore experience prior to leaving?
I had very little experience sailing on a yachts although I had clocked up a few sea miles of off shore sailing on Tall Ships as deck hand and watch leader, I joined a dinghy club before we left and took my day skipper course.  Sim has been sailing his whole life, racing Hobie cats, working on the Tallships as a marine engineer and doing deliveries.  He had his own 20ft sailboat in Cornwall and an RYA Off Shore yachtmaster certificate.

What is a tip or a trick you have picked up along the way?
This is not a tip or trick, its just sensible.  Get the best and biggest anchor you can afford. Buy good quality.  You will have many peaceful nights if you have confidence in your ground tackle.

Where was your favourite place to visit and why?
I don't think I could choose a favourite place and why - The reason we love cruising is that each place tickles a different spot, that's the beauty of being able to move your whole home from one place to another.  But in general terms the East Caribbean offers the easiest sailing with short hops between islands and beautiful comfortable anchorages for most of the time. I do love the Western Caribbean for its different cultures and life styles.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

How do you decide when you are ready to go cruising? 

Sim felt that at the time he was young enough to go away cruising for 5 years and still be able to get work when he returned. Rather then wait until has was at retirement age.  I was at a time when I was ready for a change of lifestyle.  Once we made the decision to go sailing we sold up and shipped out within 6 months. Best decision we ever made.

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10 Questions for Bika

Henrik Nor-Hansen and Nina Kristin Nilsen have been cruising since 2005 aboard Bike, a Contessa 26 hailing from Stavanger, Norway. Since 2005 they have cruised through Europe, Africa, Caribbean, South America, North America. The boat is currently in Mexico and they have an upcoming Pacific crossing. You can follow their journey on their blog or website or by email (sybikaAThotmail.com). Henrik & Nina say: We spend short stints on land in between, but have no plans of moving back ashore. The freedom of the cruising lifestyle is too addictive. Also, the questions are answered by Nina only.
 
Where was your favorite place to visit and why?
Oh oh. Uneasy question. Brought up as a good Norwegian social democrat, I have a hard time singling out favourites. As there's no escaping the Scandinavian mode of thought, as a cruiser I must give every place equal opportunity to charm me with music, stun me with scenery, I must look upon each stranger as an unknown friend. But I'll work around your trick question by picking out this one: Bika. Our boat is my favourite place to be. Because the scenery constantly changes, new friends are always to be had, I'm travelling the world with my best-friend-husband, and I wake up aboard every day feeling immensely free.

What is something about the cruising culture you like and what is something you dislike?
The one-big-family aspect of cruising is both a blessing and a minor curse. It's wonderful being able to knock on any hull, for whatever reason, just because we are fellow cruisers. The strong sense of sharing among cruisers is what makes it possible to live wonderful lives at the edges of society. Money can't get you that lifesaving spare part in a remote anchorage, but a fellow cruiser can. Then there's the sense of belonging. None of your friends and family living on land can truly understand what it's like to live afloat. But other cruisers do.  And the minor curse? Because you find so many friends among fellow cruisers, you find less local friends.

Across a year, what do you spend the most money on while cruising?
Food and drink. A flight back home to visit family and friends. The boat. Generally in that order, but as we recently have done a major refit, the boat expenses have taken a temporary lead.

While cruising, what do you do about health & boat insurance, medical issues, banking and mail delivery?
We've had health and boat insurance while cruising in the US, but generally do without both. We have some buffer money for whatever emergency may arise, trust local medical services (for prevention we live a healthy lifestyle and carry our own remedies), we use internet banking and have most mail delivered electronically.

How did you (or did you) gain offshore experience prior to leaving?
Like the average cruising couple, I was the rookie while my husband had grown up sailing. To find out if cruising could be for us, we went on an eight week long sailing trip along the Norwegian coast. We went offshore to see if I'd freak out from loosing sight of land or heeling over, we navigated by lighted buoys through dark nights, we ran out of butter and bread. And loved it. Henrik had sailed since he was a baby, even crossing the North Sea and Skagerak, while I only had one year of mostly coastal cruising when we took off.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
Skip the plans, skip the prearranged route (we had them, but soon dumped them).

What is the most difficult aspect of the cruising lifestyle?
Having to go back on land to earn a little money now and then. Office work, set hours, TGIF, all that.

What are some of your favorite pieces of gear on your boat and why?
Our pressure cooker, as it saves time and gas, doesn't give off steam, has a lid that stays on in bumpy seas and cooks healthy food. Radio podcasts (Radiolab! This American Life! The Moth!) on our mp3-player, for night watches. The newly installed AIS receiver, for peace of mind, and because ships reply more if you use their name. The SSB receiver for weather offshore. The sailmaker's bag for offshore repairs. Our laptops, for almost everything.

What did you do to make your dream a reality?
We set a date, May 15th 2005, and stuck to it. Our decision was based on trust and enthusiasm. Trust in the seaworthiness of a small and affordable boat, and in us as a couple. And enthusiasm, as you can just do it, if you really really want to.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it? 

What gear or gadget do you cruise happily without? 

Ha ha, most! Inboard engines are not essential for small boats, you can charge your battery from solar power, and sail into harbours (as, being sailors on a sailboat, really makes sense). Chart plotters, well, paper charts never fail, and need no electricity. Fridge or freezer? We do like our grandparents did, we salt and dry fish and meat, top our butter off with brine, wax cheese and know that eggs stay almost forever. But we wish we had a dinghy we could sail, and a sat phone, just in case.

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10 Questions for Reach

Mark Cole and Michele Kelly began cruising in 2008 aboard Reach, a Manta 40 catamaran hailing from Mystic, Connecticut, USA. They traveled from the East Coast US to the Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean, Venezuela, ABC islands, Columbia, and now San Blas Panama. Readers can learn more about them on their website.

What (if anything) do you wish someone had told you before you started cruising?
Michele:  Be true to yourself.  Before cruising, we soaked up as much information as we could from all available resources.  Our friends and seasoned cruisers delighted us with their tales from the high seas, but wisely told us that ultimately, you won't know what cruising is like until you're actually out there.  Not only did this prove true, but we also learned that to be happy you have to figure out what works best for yourselves.   It helps when the boat feels like home.  There is no right or wrong boat or way to cruise since it is about personal choices and it always surprises me when people are adamant otherwise.  We try to apply this basic principle to our choices in boat type, primary navigation, boat systems and life in general, which for us includes keeping a good sense of humor, not taking ourselves too seriously and enjoying what we do in both the exciting and the mundane.

Mark: It is in my nature to gather data and to group, distill and analyze it before making decisions (I’m a scientist), so I spent a lot of time asking advice from other cruisers, mucking through the various discussion boards, reading all books I could find, etc.  So far, I haven’t found that there some particular fact or circumstance I should  have known before setting out, but there were three things I was told that I think all potential cruisers should hear.

The first is that everyone I talked to, without exception, who retired at the usual age and then went cruising, told me that they wished they had gone cruising when they were younger.  Two reasons were cited: that certain aspects or intensities of cruising slowly close down as one ages, and that many of those things one stayed shoreside working toward like a “proper” retirement package, new cars, bigger houses, more entertainment, etc become so unimportant and trivial when looked back upon from a cruising lifestyle.  No one complained that cruising wasn’t fulfilling, fun or was a bad decision - simply that they wished they had gone when they were younger.  Intellectually, we took this to heart and it became the driving mantra to go cruising for us.  Yes, this is an old saw that is repeated in many books and discussion boards; however, it took being out cruising full time until we truly understood what it means and why.  Potential cruisers will need to intellectualize it, like we did, while having faith that it is true and that they will discover why only after they have been out cruising.

The second thing was not so much a piece of advice, but rather a condensation and synthesis of discussions with cruisers.  When talking to cruisers from a wide variety of backgrounds, from boats spanning 60’s pocket cruisers to expensive large yachts, from personal fortunes ranging from a few dollars to many millions, from those staying close to home to those ranging the globe, all of them described the exact same experiences of meeting people and cultures, living by one’s own ethos and standards, enjoying the scenery, fixing things that break, sharing stories of bad passages, reveling in the sublimeness of good passages - in essence, all these cruising people were the same.  No one out here debates any of the pedantic stuff littering the bulletin boards about what makes a “proper” cruising boat and a “real” cruiser.  It just doesn’t matter out here - we are all seeing the same things and having the same experiences.

Related to this is the third piece of advice - again, an old saw that is only really appreciated once you make the break and see it from the other side - which is “Go Now”.  We were told that our boat would never be “ready”, that there would always be shore-side “commitments”, “obligations” and “emergencies” that would just take “one more year”, that our retirement plans would never be “secure”, that our families would never become “more comfortable” about our plans, that our house would never be “ready” to sell, that our jobs would easily go on without us “winding them up for transfer” - essentially, that the list of things we thought were influencing our departure could easily be wrapped in “quotes” and tossed away.  In the end, the only piece of sticky tape remaining for us (really, me - Michele was innocent in this) was the belief that we could sell our house for a bit more money if we waited a little longer.  Luckily, our good friends (and long-time cruisers) stepped in and convinced us (me) that the difference we were holding out for would not begin to cover the costs of the missed experiences of the first year out, and that we (I) would forget about that “lost” money immediately.  Today, I have forgotten the price at which we sold our house, and what amount we wanted to hold out for.

I once read a letter to a sailing magazine describing a couple who worked hard while waiting to retire, purchased the boat of their dreams and spent two years completely refitting it.  While backing out of their slip on the dreamed of day, waving good-bye to all their friends as they departed on their long-awaited and well-deserved cruising lifestyle, the husband had a fatal heart attack.  The wife, writing the letter, described how she wished they hadn’t waited so long and urged everyone considering cruising to “go now”.   I have never forgotten that letter.  The first point about “Go Young”, coupled with “Go Now”, really lit a fire under us to wrap things up and go.

When we left in 2008, Mark was 45 and Michele was 39.  Our families understood, our house sold easily, our retirement plan is what it is, and our jobs didn’t even hiccup without us.  Our boat is still not “ready”, but we haven’t noticed that for a couple of years now.  After three years cruising, Mark is currently 35 and Michele is 29.

No one told us we would get younger out here.

Is there something you wish you had bought or installed before starting cruising?
Michele:   During summer seasons, we coastal sailed on "Reach" before selling our house to live aboard and go cruising full time.  One system that had never been commissioned until a few months out was the watermaker.  While it is possible to take on water at marinas in the US or Eastern Caribbean, it was another chore and we had to watch usage.  We live at anchor 98% of the time and the watermaker gives us complete independence.  Water is not as abundant in some other countries we've visited; for example, there are little to no water sources in some of our favorite places, like the southern Bahamas, Venezuelan out islands and the San Blas.  I prefer fresh water for showers, dishes and laundry as opposed to salt water, since things like hair and clothes don't dry out from residual salt.  For us, this is a critical piece of gear.

Mark: AIS (Automatic Identification System).  These existed before we left cruising, but with radar, good charts, a radio and many years of navigation experience around ships and shipping, I just couldn’t see the point of wasting $189 for an AIS receiver.  After 1.5 years out, we installed an AIS receiver.  Wow.  It is one of the best things we have put on the boat and certainly THE best thing under $200.  We don’t miss having a transponder model or a full bells and whistles system, although others may want them.  The simple receiver interfaces easily to the chart plotter and shows all commercial ships and information (and any recreational boats with a transponder).  The difference in navigation ease and information over radar and VHF is tremendous - particularly during night passages.

Also, a water catchment system.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.  After 1.5 years, we added some inexpensive gutters to our bimini and lead the water through a filter before the tanks.  No sense letting all that free water go to waste.

Our boat was very well equipped when we bought it, and has full navigation electronics, radar, autopilot, watermaker, diesel generator, inverter/charger, air conditioning, SSB/HAM radios, a large solar panel installation, a good refrigeration/freezer system, large RIB dinghy with 15hp outboard, etc.  What we consider essential for our personal cruising lifestyle is the GPS, autopilot, watermaker, SSB, solar, reefer/freezer, inverter (just large enough to run small appliances off and charge computers) and a good wifi system.  One must have some type of dinghy and we personally would not want to be without a RIB with an outboard large enough to plane with two people and a healthy amount of cargo.  If we didn’t have the diesel generator, I would get a portable Honda generator.  If we didn’t have the room for solar, I would get a wind generator.  I would consider the radar essential only if cruising in areas where fog is common.  The watermaker is not essential if your cruising grounds are in areas with a lot of marinas or other water supplies.  For us, it is essential since we have been cruising in areas such as the Bahamas, where you have to jug water (this gets old very quickly) and the San Blas, where you have very limited access to sporadic or questionable supplies.  Air conditioning is not essential and wouldn’t be on our boat if it wasn’t already installed.  Regardless of lifestyle and comfort choices, I would have at a minimum a good, trustworthy autopilot/self steering and a GPS.
 
What mistakes did you make in your first year of cruising?
Michele:  We have each bottomed out in shallow depths in soft sand or mud while at the helm.  That was the result of exploring off the beaten path so it's usually worth it, less a little bottom paint.  It's not the result we'd want in rocky or coral areas, however.  Also, I was fairly radio shy at first on the VHF, but have mostly gotten over it as this is our primary means of communication.

Mark: Fortunately, we didn’t make any big mistakes - certainly nothing that cost us money or set back our cruising plans.  While not really a single “mistake”, a couple of passages in snotty weather did teach us to wait for good weather windows and not push on to a schedule.  It also taught us that our boat would do just fine in those conditions.

What is the next  piece of gear you would add to your boat if it were free and why?
Michele:  OceanAir hatch screens.  At anchor in a nice breeze you typically don't need screens, but when you do find yourself in a buggy place you really need it!  We were trapped inside by swarms of mosquitos for several becalmed days at the ironically named "Dos Mosquises" islands.  We have removable hatch screens that when not in use, just lay around various cabins in the boat and get in the way.  It would be a luxury to have sliding hatch screens, but they are very pricy and we have 6 hatches.

Mark: Possibly a wind generator.  It would be a mounting challenge for us, but we still might add one someday.  If gear is being handed out, I would replace our 6 gal/hr DC watermaker with a larger output (~20-30 gal/hr) AC powered one that could also be run off the inverter when a charging source is present.  Water is such a differential out here in terms of lifestyle, particularly in the tropics where a good rinse after swimming and a nice shower before bed is in the realm of necessity.  To be able to wash down the boat after a salty passage is not a luxury, but indispensable maintenance.  Even with a large solar installation, there is a limit to how much we can run our watermaker and still maintain the batteries.  DC watermakers really only work to spec when the battery voltages are in the charging range, so we end up running it when motoring or during the height of sunny days, or running the generator during less sunny days.  When motoring or running the generator, we are providing more energy than the watermaker consumes.  It would make more sense to run a larger output one during these times and fill the tanks in a shorter period.  If we didn’t have a generator, I would get a portable Honda for running the watermaker.

What is something you think potential cruisers are afraid about that they shouldn't fear? And what is something potential cruisers don't worry about that perhaps they should?
Michele:  Is it scary? Some potential cruisers worry about multi-day passage-making for various reasons.  Well-planned and executed passages (clearly an understatement) can be one of the most pleasant times spent on your boat, traveling along with your entire home in peace and solitude.  A truly good passage lets your mind travel to new places as well.  We get into a focused "zone" when passage-making and become relaxed and well-rested, keeping low stress no matter what the conditions.  By running 3-hour watches from 8PM-8AM and catching naps during the day, we sometimes get more total sleep on passage than normal.  Passages are always one of our favorite experiences on "Reach".

To worry or not? It's easy to relate dinghy travel with as much as certainty as driving a car on the road, until something goes wrong (or even worse, drifts away or is stolen).  It's important to be aware of your environment and think about what you would do if something went wrong; for example, if your prop spins out when you are miles away from your boat as happened to us.  Fortunately, it still got us back to the boat at idle speed.  I find myself always double checking things in our dinghy to be prepared for excursions with a handheld VHF radio, sufficient gas, spare prop and a good anchor.  If you are alone in an isolated region, that VHF probably won't do you any good anyway, but oars, a bottle of water or small ditch bag might.

Yes, Worry. Most of us are aware of incidents of violent crime targeting cruisers.  We've made decisions not to travel in questionable areas without a "buddy boat" nor in some areas all together.  For us, it just isn't worth the risk, independent of others' experiences or attractions.  On a weekend when we were considering making a particular trip alone, another single boat taking this route was boarded and robbed and it certainly hit home that this could have been us.

Mark: Almost universally, potential cruisers (any many actual cruisers) are afraid of storms and sailing in bad weather - particularly at night.  I think this fear actually ends some cruising plans before they are implemented, and there are cruisers out here who travel only by daytime hops in calm weather because they still fear it.  And bad weather sucks.  We hate it and avoid it as much as possible and experience fear when we are caught in it.  It is OK to be afraid as long as you confront your fear for what it is, understand that it is natural and unavoidable, and go on with your plans knowing that you will meet it again.  So while it is OK to fear storms, you shouldn’t let that fear control you or your plans.  For most cruising grounds, getting caught out in a storm is remarkably rare unless you are foolish enough to have an unyielding schedule or not learn to understand weather patterns.

There are two things potential cruisers don’t worry about that will shut down their cruising plans immediately: Schedules and “Knowing Thyself”.

Schedules are a killer.  While they are completely normal and expected on land, out cruising they will break you, make you miserable, lead you into taking your boat out when and where it doesn’t belong and, in general, completely muck up your life, if not actually damage you or your boat.  Unbelievably, we have met new cruisers who have shown us DETAILED schedules for the next TWO YEARS of their cruising.  And I mean details like: Jan 4 - Port A, Jan 6 - Port B ... for the next two years!  One was traveling from the Chesapeake to the Caribbean with scheduled plans for every single day and passage  times and dates for the whole year like it was a package vacation with airlines and trains!  It is OK to have general plans, but if you are a potential cruiser with a detailed schedule, tear it up now before you get into trouble.  If you are the type of person who compulsively needs to have detailed schedules, you are not going to make it as a cruiser.

Know Thyself: it is an ancient piece of advice, but advice that shore life rarely requires one to learn.  Out cruising, however, not recognizing or understanding your personal needs, desires and requirements will end your cruising lifestyle.  We can recognize these cruisers within 5 minutes after being introduced.  It is that obvious to everyone except them.  By this I mean if you require fancy restaurants and fine entertainment and think you can fulfill this out cruising, you won’t make it.  If you are being torn away crying from your house that means the world to you and think the boat will be a substitute, you aren’t going to make it.  If you have grandchildren that you must spend a lot of time with and spend most of your cruising days pining for them, you aren’t going to make it.  Similarly, if you have a newly married son/daughter with plans for children, and you know those grandkids will be the most important thing in your life, starting a cruise is a waste of time.  If you are a type-A personality that can’t sit still and/or needs to “run the show”, you might make it.  You will be the one staying in popular anchorages organizing all the cruiser field trips, potlucks, games, community benefits, making arbitrary “anchorage rules”, policing the VHF, etc.  Overall, the cruising lifestyle is very rewarding, but very different from any lifestyle shore-side.  Like any choice, certain options are available only at the expense of other options.  Successful cruisers have embraced the cruising lifestyle while willingly giving up their previous lifestyle.  If you cannot give up your shore lifestyle, and hope to meld it into the cruising lifestyle, you should either plan something like “6 months out, 6 months at home” type of cruising, or forget about going cruising - there are much easier ways to see different places and experience different cultures  than dragging yourself to them on a small, slow boat.

In your experience, how much does cruising cost?
Michele:  We retired early to cruise indefinitely so we have had to plan well, first to build our savings and then to make it last.  I track our spending using Quicken so we can see how we stand against our budget goal of around $30k a year.  About half of our budget is spent on mandatory costs that come from personal decisions about health/boat insurance and boat maintenance.  These costs can be high so we actually spent 40% more than intended the first two years out in the US, Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean.  No matter how much outfitting thought we'd covered before leaving (chain, new canvas, rigging), we ended up making major boat investments in the past two years (haulout, bottom paint, new props, sails, generator, chain) due to more wear and tear when cruising 365 days a year versus seasonally and some system failures.  Our discretionary spending has been low and is easier to control.  We rarely eat out, so groceries are one of our major expenses averaging $115 a week.  We expect annual spending to decrease in the SW Caribbean.

Mark: Whatever you have.  Really.  Everyone wants to see actual cost figures and breakdowns, but this question will never have a meaningful answer.  There are so many gradients of costs of living and lifestyles and so many cruising grounds offering different bang for buck and too many options for adjusting one’s lifestyle to one’s money availability to make a descriptive equation or algorithm.  If the Eastern Carib is draining your money, go to the Western Carib.  You can live forever on very little in Mexico.  The minimum cruising requirement is to maintain a sea-worthy boat, operate it safely and have enough to eat.  So you must spend a finite amount to achieve this, but it could represent the cost of some decent galvanized rigging, a handheld GPS and a handline and/or pole spear to catch fish, supplemented with rice and beans.  Everything on top of that is optional, although these options may be considered non-optional for many cruisers.  But the one thing about cruising that seems identical to land-life is that if you have the money, you will spend it.  There will be times when the money is flowing out so fast you can’t count it and other times when you can’t remember where your wallet is since it has been that long since you needed money.  We have spent more than our budget goal the past couple of years because we made some specific decisions to maintain a certain cruising lifestyle.  New sails, new generator new anchor chain and new propellers were unexpected expenses that we undertook.  While anchor chain and propellers are somewhat essential items, the sails and generator were not necessarily so.  So whatever money you have, you will spend it and be happy.  It is almost impossible to become destitute out here as long as you don’t have a money-draining problem such as alcohol, drugs, etc.  And the overall enjoyment of the lifestyle seems to be wholly independent of the amount of money thrown at it, as long as one’s expectations/requirements are matched to one’s wallet.

How did you (or did you) gain offshore experience prior to leaving?
Michele:  My first offshore trip was a six-day trek to deliver our newly purchased catamaran from Florida to Connecticut.  We recruited three friends to join us so we all had partners for night watches, which helped me learn a lot.  It was a good challenge to participate in weather routing, provisioning and offshore navigation for the first time.  It was a beautiful trip riding the Gulf Stream currents, watching dolphins, sunsets and sunrises, and catching fish along the way.  There was also some rougher weather and the boat was new to us, yet everything still went well.  Fortunately, this was a great experience and I was immediately comfortable offshore.

Mark: I have been sailing essentially all my life.  I started gaining true offshore experience in the mid-80’s when I bought a 26’ sailboat with a friend and we spent summers cruising it.  Offshore experience really just boils down to three things: knowing your boat, having navigation skills and understanding/controlling your personal fears.  Potential cruisers shouldn’t worry much about a lack of offshore experience - the first two aspects can, and should, be acquired while coastal and day sailing, and the third aspect is only mastered by going offshore.  So offshore experience is a tautology - the only way to gain offshore experience is to experience sailing offshore.  Just go do it - take shorter overnight sails if you are concerned, and wait for good weather windows.

What is a tip or a trick you have picked up along the way?
Michele:  The secret to clean onboard laundry is wringing.  I started off using laundry machines or services in the US and Eastern Caribbean.  Then I realized that we could buy new clothes for the cost of washing them over time.  In the SW Caribbean onboard laundry is a necessity.  I use a Wonderwash pressure washer, but was never totally satisfied with the final results as fabrics dripped-dry on our lifelines and ended up hard with un-rinsed dirt and soap.  An article in the Caribbean Compass magazine caught my eye about an electric spin dryer and I realized this was the answer for me.  It is essentially a big salad spinner running for a minute or two on 110V power.  I use it to remove soapy water, which helps get rid of the dirty water, and again after the fresh water rinse.  A thorough wringing makes line-drying extremely quick and probably helps to extend the lifetime of your clothes by reducing wind and sun damage.

Another important discovery was that Claritin (loratadine) works wonders to stop bug bites from itching.

Mark: Two tips we have learned that are invaluable.  First, wait for a decent weather window  for a passage and, when it arrives, take it and go as far as possible while it holds out.  This may mean shortening or lengthening your original stay and plans and possibly skipping some stops along the way that are less important to you.  For example, the trip from the Bahamas to Puerto Rico is a notorious upwind slog through strong trades, squalls and large waves.  It is mostly done through short hops through Mayaguana, the Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic and across the Mona Passage, and is only reasonably done during lulls in the weather - which can make the passage take weeks or even months in total.  While in the Bahamas, we had a whopper of a cold front come through and, after riding out the first hit, jumped on the 20-25kt Northern winds on the back of it and had a four day broad reach straight to Puerto Rico - an almost unheard of event.  This did mean that we shortened our planned stay in the Bahamas by a week or so, and we did miss visiting the Dominican Republic, but our goal was to get to Puerto Rico.

Second, always have the boat prepared for the unexpected.  If you are anchoring in trade winds that NEVER blow from the West, make sure you are clear to swing when the wind blows from the West.  If you are going to walk a beach on a clear and cloudless day, close the hatches before you go so that the rain doesn’t soak the interior.  If you are just going to motor 1 mile across that flat lagoon, don’t leave anything on the counters/table that will break when that single wave from a far off wake rolls you.  And if it is going to blow 40 knots at anchor, it WILL be at 2am, so prepare the boat every night before going to bed.

Where was your favorite place to visit and why?
Michele:  I'm sure we both have the same response here - the Jumentos in the southern Bahamas.  It is a secluded place where you must know what you are doing and fend for yourself.  It draws other independent people like ourselves with whom we have a lot in common and have made life-long friendships.  It was exactly what we'd both envisioned for our cruising life and more:  sailing and seamanship challenges, hikes and beaches, excellent fishing, meaningful encounters with cruisers and locals, solitude and independence.

Mark: There are so many great places with such wide varieties of experiences, and even the not-so-great places are nice.  Overall, I enjoyed the Bahama out islands the best - particularly the Jumentos/Raggeds - due to the isolation, fishing, required self-sufficiency, spectacular water and rough and rugged beauty.  The San Blas islands are similar and a close second.

What question do you wish I would have asked you besides the ones I've asked you and how would you answer it?

Michele:  What do you love most about cruising?

People.  Cruising brings a new twist to relationships.  It removes many social barriers and/or expectations in modern life (keeping up with the neighbors, rat race, new toys, etc).  We have to figure out who we are without our careers to dictate our identity.  We spend more time with our partner than ever imagined before we went cruising.  We reconnect with family and friends in new ways.  We have so much spoken and unspoken in common with other cruisers.  And we meet and relate to people in the countries we visit.  Not surprisingly, human nature is universal and we find curious, shy, funny, nosey, bossy, friendly, rude, helpful, clever, caring people in various encounters.  It keeps life interesting and in my first year cruising, I found that I naturally sought out role models when trying to figure things out for myself.

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