Experiences of an 'anti-sailFarer'

[CapnK]

I was called in to the boatyard yesterday morning, they had a Catalina 470 that needed to have the furler/forestay disconnected in order to lift the boat from the water (otherwise, on the way up it will strike the crossarm of the 60-ton TravelLift).

The owner is a really nice guy, it was his first-ever sailboat; he's had her for the past 4 years of cruising. He'd started his trip in Canada, made it down to New York, jumped off from there, and headed to the Carribean. He's working his way home slowly, now.

We talked a good bit as the boat was hauled and worked on. You all know the story, some examples of his observations below...

The in-mast furling, he's grown to hate, and describes with a generous use of expletives. Besides just being plain cantankerous and jamming a lot (requiring a trip forward from the cockpit - gasp! - to unjam it, before refurling...), it's even damaged his sail, because you can only furl with the wind to port; otherwise, it will tear up the bottom of the sail as it gets wound into the slot on the mast. Sometimes, you don't have the choice to change tacks to furl... And of course it never jams in light wind, on a calm day, when going forward would be "safe" and easy...

His expenses have been much larger than what he'd anticipated. For example, yesterday was an over-$1,000 day for him - a short haulout to change his cutlass bearing, and give the boat bottom a quick cleaning.

He chose to anchor out last night, since staying right there at the dock would have added $85 to his daily expenses.

He has to be careful going under bridges on his way north, timing it with the tides, since his air draft is right at 65'. Anchorages he has to choose carefully, even with his 5'6" shoal draft keel.

He's spent an inordinate amount of his cruising time either working on boat systems, or waiting and paying for someone else to be able to do it.

Etc, etc, etc...

And while relating all of this, and the fact that he would sell the boat Right Now if he could (and replace it with a stinkpot!  :o ::)), he spoke of friends he'd made on the way, the many people he saw and met in much smaller boats who had made bigger/longer crossings to be in the same places he was at, who'd given him an education he'd never quite received from the magazines and brokers...

Now, after his own 'anti-sailFar' 4-year cruise, he has come to understand and truly appreciate the KISS-principle that is perhaps easiest done by taking smaller, simpler boats long distances. He's witnessed the success others have with it in action as he cruised. Without any prompting on my part, he was expressing from his own experience what we refer to sometimes as 'the sailFar philosophy'. This is not something we've invented, it's just an easy way to sum up the ideas and concepts of many other small boat, cruise simple aficionados that so many of us quote in our postings here.

His story is a real shame, because his cruise has been so much work and expense that he will be becoming an ex-sailor as soon as he can. By selling him on the big boat idea, the people who make money doing so have lost themselves a customer. Ironic, that... But sad is that the world is losing a sailor...

Maybe just maybe, though, he will get himself a smaller, more manageable sailboat instead of buying a gas-burner, and in that be able to continue to enjoy sailing and cruising in a more 'sailFar-ish' manner... I'll keep my fingers crossed for him. :)

[AdriftAtSea]

I hope he follows our lead and gets a smaller sailboat instead... have you seen fuel prices recently.  I wouldn't be surprised if fuel hits $5.00 a gallon at the marinas this summer. 

Unfortunately, some people think that to cruise, you need to have all the amenities of home.  I think that is pretty ridiculous.  IMHO, if you're serious about cruising, especially on a budget, then you have to make some compromises in your lifestyle.  You can either stay home and have all the nice amenities, like a microwave oven, running hot & cold water, a water heater that can support a 20 minute shower, and such... or you can give up some of those and get the amenities that a cruising lifestyle on a smaller sailboat gives you: waking up in a quiet anchorage and having coffee while watching the sunrise over the ocean, sitting back while the boat sails along a broad reach under autopilot, eating freshly caught fish in the middle of the ocean, grilling steaks on the cockpit barbeque grill under the stars.

I know which I'd prefer. :)

[David_Old_Jersey]

Interesting story.

I suspect that in addition to possibly being "the wrong type of boat" that the Chap in question made the same mistake as many others in buying a boat that was too expensive for his pocket......even though yer can afford the purchase price (with or without credit) this does not guarantee that yer can afford to use her as you wish / dream!

IMO buying a boat right up to your financial limit is risking dissapointment......especially with the philosophies of "bigger = better" and "I need all the toys".

[CapnK]

Fuel here at our marina is hovering right at $4/gal already. Glad I have a blowboat.  :D

I'm fairly certain he CAN afford the boat - he seems intelligent enough to not have dug himself into that type of financial hole - but I think it might just be more than he expected in the other costs on top of the financial ones; the mental and physical price he pays as an older gent who was intending to experience leisure, mostly, and that the boat doesn't allow him as much of that as he'd hoped. :)

The story may not have an unhappy ending...

He called me again yesterday morning. I'd told him of the free charts someone had left at my marina, and had mentioned that there were some for the Med that I would probably never use. That got him thinking, and he's decided to head over that way. He asked to buy the Med charts from me, but I gladly just gave them to him. He's planning to wait for a weather window, leave here bound for Bermuda, and thence to the Med. :)

He's not singlehanding, BTW. Down in Venezuela, he met a lady, a real knockout IMO ;D who seems eminently suited for the cruising lifestyle, and they get along very well. When we were talking about her, I told him that if I didn't like him so much, I'd konk him on he head and take her to my boat. lol  :D ;)

Last, he again started speaking of the people he'd seen in the islands on smaller boats having more fun than he was. When I next speak to him, I might have to point out the Truth he is trying to tell himself, through telling me what I already know... ;D

[Lost Lake]

Methinks you should tell him about the site, take some pics of his lady and post them here, and then offer to be his captain for a couple six-figures a year.... He could relax while you manage his ship for him..... Perhaps you won't have to konk him on the noggin to spend time with his filly! ;D