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Lexington - 3/17/17. 9°. 56'. south. 126°. 31'. west



I am on watch 9-12 p.m. There is no moon yet so it is fairly dark. We are speeding thru the night at around 7 knots using our good old twin headsails. The repair has held up. I am pleased. We are about 775 miles out and today is day 17. This is a little eerie sailing along with little to no reference to your surroundings. I sort of like it when the stars are out but I do prefer a full moonlit night. Sailing is not for everyone and this long haul sailing is for sure not for everyone. I can definitely see a cruising couple with no schedule just heading along not caring if it took 21 days or 31 days. It is a route with consistent winds and moderate seas although for the uninitiated the seas are a little big. You get used to it real easy. Then again some people would not get used to it or want to get used to it.
We are supposed to hit lighter winds in a day or two but hopefully we can use our asymmetrical spinnaker and make good time. Everyone worries about sailing in heavy weather but light air is a more common problem to deal with. That is one reason I am very pleased with the twin headsails. It is just another option that we can apply when needed.
The boat is functioning very well. We are a little bit of an energy hog, most of which is refrigeration. Therefore we have to run our generator each night. Since we are running the generator anyway we can make water more often so we do not have to conserve water. On nights that we don’t need to make water we can run the air conditioner to cool off the boat so people can get to sleep easier. All of which are luxuries but they fit together well. There are people who do this sort of trip without refrigeration, an auxiliary engine, air conditioning, water makers and a lot of the fancy equipment we have. The thought is “do not wait until you have enough money for the perfect boat because you will always need a little more”. Decide to take the big step and jump in with both feet. Lots of people do major cruising in much less of a boat and just get along.
Someone did a study several years ago on how much it cost to cruise. They found that there were three groups of people: 1. The bare bones sailors who saved every penny. They sailed instead of motored. They ate a lot of beans and rice. They did not go to bars or restaurants often. They anchored out much more often than using marinas; 2. Moderate sailors did similar things to save money but were not as strict with their money saving; 3. The third group had plenty of money and spent it on all the above. The study was about 10-15 years ago. The first group spent between $8,000 and $12,000 a year. Second group spent about $35,000 a year and the third group $65,000. I am sure it has changed by now but the concept is still there, i.e., it can be done for whatever you have.
May fair winds fill your sails with the courage to go ahead before you have all the money you think you need. This advice is not intended for any of my children or grandchildren!!! Bob

 

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