| I am a big fan of reality. When I have an ambition to do | | | | bunk with the fan on me is uncomfortable. |
| something, I like to have the most realistic expectations | | | | There were days during the summer in Baja California |
| possible when I set out. In that spirit, I have thought | | | | where we got up with the sun, did what we needed to |
| about what I don't about the sailboat cruising | | | | get done in the first two hours of the day, then just laid |
| experiences I have had. I pass them on to you to so | | | | on towel-covered settees until dusk, when we could |
| that you can work on setting your own set of realistic | | | | once again get our bodies moving. And I've taken |
| expectations. | | | | many a shower in tropical marinas where I didn't |
| Leaving new friends behind. This is the flip side of what | | | | bother to towel off, using the water as a cooling agent |
| I love about cruising. It seems like as soon as I've made | | | | until it was replaced by sweat. |
| good friends, one or both of our boats are taking | | | | We fought the heat and humidity by either being in the |
| off-usually in opposite directions. I hate saying goodbye, | | | | water as much as possible or, if we in port and the |
| and saying goodbye is an integral part of cruising. And | | | | water wasn't swimmable, sitting under the nearest roof |
| for as many folks as I've stayed in touch with, there | | | | or palapa to stay in the shade. |
| are more that I haven't communicated with in a very | | | | Boredom. I feel a little guilty over this one. I mean, it |
| long time. I remember all with fondness, and wish there | | | | seems totally ungrateful and unappreciative of me to |
| was a way that we could get together! | | | | admit that I get bored when I'm out cruising. But it's true. |
| Dealing with government bureaucracies. This is a huge | | | | There are stretches of time sometimes when I am out |
| frustration for me as I am now well endowed with | | | | of ideas for things to do, when there are no books I |
| patience. Whether dealing with agencies in my own | | | | want to read, no writing I want to do, and nowhere I |
| country or with officials in foreign ports, there is a | | | | want to go. When I'm in this mood, no amount of |
| similarity to the experience that makes me gnash my | | | | natural beauty or anticipation of new places to go will |
| teeth and my blood pressure rise. Knowing that it is not | | | | pop me out. It is an excruciating experience. |
| wise to show my impatience in any way only makes it | | | | The good news is that I do end up pushing through the |
| more stressful. My only solution is to breathe deeply | | | | boredom, which is fortunate, since I think that's the only |
| and remember that this experience comes with the | | | | solution to the issue. What basically happens is that I |
| territory. | | | | get bored with boredom, and come up with something |
| If you dislike dealing with government employees and | | | | to do or see or read or write that absorbs me. And |
| officials, be warned. No matter where you cruise, you | | | | the up side is that I've ended up reading, doing, and |
| are likely to have more interface with this particular | | | | writing things that I would never have read, done, and |
| part of the human race than you did when you lived | | | | written without the boredom. |
| on land. | | | | Seeing the adverse effects that humans have on |
| Gales and thunderstorms. As I've gotten older, my | | | | ecosystems. I've save this for last because it is the |
| tolerance for sailing in bad weather has lessened. | | | | saddest. If you love nature like I do, expect to be |
| Twenty years ago, when I experienced my first and | | | | grieved by what you sometimes see. Especially in the |
| worst Atlantic gale, I pretty much took it in stride. Now, | | | | crucially biodiversde tropics, there is no getting away |
| when I'm in bad weather, I can't help wondering what | | | | from the impact we have on the environment. Dead |
| the heck I'm doing out here. | | | | coral reefs, clear cut rainforests, litter along roads and |
| I hate having to live in foul weather gear. I hate trying to | | | | in fields, and plastic bags floating a few inches |
| move around in a bouncing cabin. I hate get tossed | | | | underwater (dangerous to sea animals and saltwater |
| from one side of the bunk to the other when a wave | | | | intakes) were common sights in Latin American |
| breaks over the side. And I am in awe of the ocean in | | | | waters. |
| bad weather. Besides its tendency to grow very big | | | | In Panama, fishermen would come alongside to see if |
| waves that dwarf the boat, it attracts lightning strikes | | | | we would like to buy lobsters they caught-and more |
| that can be most unpleasant. | | | | often than not they were either very small or |
| Beating to weather. This is almost as bad as gales and | | | | extremely gravid females. Also in Panama, we made |
| thunderstorms. Neither Ciao Bella nor Nehalennia are | | | | a point to stop at an anchorage on the |
| designed to sail well to weather, and if there are any | | | | recommendation of an old salt who had cruised the |
| kind of seas, they both virtually stop in their tracks | | | | area a few decades before us; he said that the sea |
| when they plow into a wave. The seesaw movement | | | | fans were not to be missed. He was wrong. The sea |
| of the boat makes be very crabby, and I again find | | | | fans were missing, all gone. |
| myself wondering why I'm doing this. | | | | This is not a judgment one way or the other. It's simply |
| Heat and humidity. This is another area where I'm | | | | a fact. Living with this fact has made me more careful |
| getting less tolerant as I get older. I hate being hot, and I | | | | about the way I live, both on the water and off. I may |
| hate being sweaty all the time. Really hot weather | | | | not be able to stop the clear cutting or the overfishing, |
| saps my energy and makes my brain move in slow | | | | but I can make sure that my habits are good ones |
| motion. Nothing motivates me...even just laying on the | | | | within the context of the planet. |