I wrote the following last year as an article for the New England journal, Points East. Recently I had a conversation with someone who came to see Midwatch with her husband. She commented that she wasn't crazy about sailing, but I had to run off to work and didn't get a chance to mention the article.
So, here it is. One doesn't need to love sailing to enjoy cruising....
Get this...I don't love to sail. I've lived aboard a 35 foot sailboat for 8 years, and have come to the realization that I really don't love sailing. We are sailing down Jericho Bay in Maine on a broad reach under crystal clear blue skies, and I don't love it. It just isn't one of my favorite things to be doing.
It's "a perfectly beautiful sail" according to most sailors. My husband is gleefully happy, so content and in such an awesome mood that he's actually beaming. Sailing IS one of his favorite things.
When people who don't live on a boat ask me..."Do you love it?!", my generic response has often been "most of the time". I'm not fibbing when I say that. I believe the cruising lifestyle is truly amazing. I just don't love the sailing part. There have been very few times that I've loved sailing. As I write, I can almost here the murmurings of readers and friends..."She must do it for her husband" or "What the heck is she doing cruising?!".
There are lots of things that I truly love. I love spending quality time with my "kids" and their loved ones, as well as with other family members and friends.
Beep and el Capitan in Providencia
I love hiking in the pine forests of Maine, biking along the islands of the Chesapeake, diving and snorkeling the gin clear waters of the Bahamas, Bonaire, Honduras, and the San Blas Islands of Panama. This is to name but a few of my favorite things that cruising (not sailing) offers me.
I also love learning Spanish from the locals while they very carefully pull along side Midwatch to sell us some fish.
Living aboard has afforded us the opportunity to summer part-time along the coast of Rhode Island, where the majority of our families reside, and to round out the summer in Maine. These are two of the most amazing cruising grounds we've visited. And while I don't love sailing, in the event of no wind and engine failure (with the old Volvo), having sails to hoist is something I really do love.
Cruising a 35 foot sailboat allows us to cruise in comfort while being affordable. We have a lovely "kitchen", a "bathroom", two "bedrooms", and beautiful mahogany accented "living room".
I think of our boat Midwatch as a magic carpet. As we're whisked along on our journey, we can relax in the lilting cadence of a calm and serene sea...or, if the ocean's moods dictate, we can find ourselves careening along hanging tightly to the fringes of the carpet...for a wild ride.
But no matter our comfort level, the fantastic elements of nature we experience often offers an ethereal quality.
While under power today, 50 miles offshore, three terns stood perched...face to the breeze as they gently rode a weather old board. Seconds after taking in this sight, the salty fragrance of a whale's spray fills the air. As we catch a glimpse of the huge black back breaking the surface, the horizon blends with the gradient shades of grey ocean, fog, and clouds as the brilliant blue sky eventually breaks through above.
So...no, I don't love sailing.
I may not even like it as a sport.
But cruising however, keeps me connected to the earth's rhythms like no other lifestyle I can imagine. And it gets us where we want to go, on nature's schedule. So, for the time being, I'll put up with a little sailing. At least until we decide not to.
(We spent the winter of 2010 land "crusing" in Mexico, and 2011 feeling out life terra firma. I loved the land cruising and have to admit, I've taken a liking to "life on the hard")
