Six Months in a Leaky Boat - Part 3 of 3

Those that wander are not always lost

I know, I know, it has taken me quite a while to write this instalment.  But to describe what the cruising life is really like, and then tell of how we are coping, is actually a difficult task.

When I dreamed of the cruising life, I thought of sunbathing, long walks on white sand beaches, hot cocoa on night watch and gazing at the stars.  And yes, cruising life has been some of that (although the hot cocoa never happened – more likely to cause third degree burns as the boat pitches, or vomiting over the stern), but it has also been a lot more.

Cruising is not like weekend sailing or chartering.  It is a lifestyle choice.   Cruisers are a community united by their dream to leave the hustle and bustle of busy life behind and sail off into the sunset.  Unlike casual sailing, cruising requires socialising.  Like moving to any new community, meeting your neighbours and gathering a group of friends is important. 

As a cruiser, the needs of the boat become your main concern – is there water? fuel? is the engine running efficiently? what is the electricity consumption? generation? Basic household tasks such as provisioning (going to the supermarket) and doing the laundry, will also occupy significant parts of your day.

For us, the cruising life has been two extremes.  First, it involved constantly moving from island to island.  The only constant was change.  We were moving down the chain of islands on the schedule of hurricane season - the need to get out of what the insurance companies call “the Box”.  This moving about was quite exciting in many ways.  There was always something new, each island being very different from the last and the next.  There were different cultures and languages to contend with and scenery to explore, hot pools to sit in and baguettes to devour.   But this also came with strains – never knowing what you would be facing next, were your next laundry or supermarket would be, whether the fuel dock is still in the same location as the cruising guide says, and never being able to quite settle.

Second, the cruising life has involved sitting still to wait out hurricane season. Hurricane season lasts from the start of June to the end of November.  Many cruisers don’t get out of the Box until July or August, but then some others stay out of the Box (usually in Grenada) from early June to December or January.  Cruising life here lives up to the saying about cruising being maintaining your yacht in exotic places (usually fixing/servicing something in the back of a confined space with an inside temperature pushing 40).  But it is also about participating in the numerous cruiser social events.  There are happy hours to attend, bands to watch and domino games to lose (well, in my case anyway).  This side of cruising comes with its own strains too – getting itchy feet from staying in one place too long, the inch of growth on the hull (literally) from staying put for 1 month (and who knew that you could get barnacles on your anchor chain!), and the heat of summer making life uncomfortable and more difficult to get out and about.

I must be honest, I have found cruising a struggle at times.  At first I found the constant change exhausting and the loss of stability unsettling.  Leaving my career, friends and family, and income behind weighs heavy on my mind at times.  While encountering different cultures has been exciting, it is also stressful.  The culture shock sometimes leaves me reeling.  The rules of behaviour and cultural identifiers are different than at home, differ from island to island, and also between us and other cruisers.  We are not used to the culture of haggling or tipping, or having to be so concerned about safety.   We cannot always identify with other cruisers’ fondness for Bubba Gump shrimp, or breakfast biscuits, or them with our fondness for fish and chips, jandals, or snags on the barbie.  Although, these differences often lead to may laughs and good times (we have been invited for breakfast biscuits tomorrow).  But sometimes I also long for something (anything!) to feel familiar, for my own washing machine and dryer, for a supermarket that stocks Watties tomato sauce, Minties and Pineapple Lumps, and for someone to tell me “yeah, nah”.

Cruising life has also been terribly rewarding.  The number one reason being the people we have met.  Everywhere we have been we have met like minded people who have thrown their arms open wide and accepted us into their circle of friends.  The generosity of these people has been astounding, offering us their friendship, knowledge and help (not to mention their food and wine!).  We have met people from such a wide range of backgrounds, from fellow lawyers and engineers to teachers, nurses, bankers, mechanics, doctors, pilots, fireman, entrepreneurs and everything in between, from all four corners of the world and all age groups. 

While we are always busy with social events or working on the boat, the pace of this lifestyle is definitely slower.  I have finally been able to relax and get on to all those books I have been meaning to read – 50 books in 6 months!  Getting away from it all has also enabled me to get a new perspective on life, and on the things that used to worry me in day to day life back home.  There is more time to reflect, but also getting back to basics reminds you what really is important.

So in answer to one friend’s question “are you bored of doing nothing yet?” – No, no, not quite yet!