The yacht you sail on should be one that the crew can cope with both personally and financially. If the complexity of the vessel is beyond the crew's abilities to service and maintain, finding help can be difficult and expensive. With the availability of all the gadgets marketed today, yachts tend to become extremely complex and challenging to keep in working order. A mistake is to set off with too many complicated systems that can fail in the hostile marine environment. The pleasure you derive from your vessel may well be inversely proportional to its complexity. Keep it simple, at least to start with, particularly if you are not a natural tool user with deep pockets. (But don't throw away your heater when you get to the tropics, you'll need it again sooner or later.)

So many cruisers find themselves making each of their landfalls a boat repair stopover. In her beautifully written book "Following Seas", Beth Leonard says that on their first circumnavigation they got the feeling that cruising was a case of sailing to exotic places to work on their boat. Any boat taken on a cruise will need maintenance. But if the crew can do it themselves with on board tools and spares, it will be far easier than finding professional help and having to ship in parts and equipment.

While choosing a cruising boat it is a good idea to look at the practical aspects of the vessel. Beautiful boats are nice to look at but some of them can be real taskmasters to their owners and crews. Classic lines with low freeboard and varnished teak trims galore may lose some of their charm when the lee deck goes awash and leaks dribble on the bunks, or the varnish starts peeling in the sun. In my eyes, beauty is related to function, not necessarily to history. The elegant yachts built by the wealthy that are still regarded as the beauty standard were maintained and crewed by paid hands that had to endure the inconveniences. When we owners take on the jobs, we may as well make it pleasant for ourselves. I never cease to be amazed that yacht designers still expect the helmsman to stand out in the weather. Two wheels if you want, both in the rain and spray. It is left to the owners to try and invent some sort of dodgers and find adequate foul weather gear. (Auto pilots can and do fail.) How successful would car manufacturers be if they suggested that drivers wear wet suits when it rains? However, if ownership of a classic showboat, regardless of work and expense, is where you find pleasure, then that is one way to go.

Once we leave homeport, the shore boat becomes our lifeline with the rest of the world. A capable stable dinghy makes a big difference to the options we have when we get there. Many cruisers have gone cruising with impractical skiffs that make their cruises difficult if not dangerous at times. We started off with a 10' sailing double oarlock rowboat. It was adequate, but in 1967 we built a motorized planing skiff that we can also sail and row double, and we have found it infinitely more versatile. We can choose our anchorages for shelter or charm, and not have to concern ourselves about proximity for commuting. Distances, wind and wave conditions that made us hesitate in the rowboat are not a problem in the speedy motorized one. Our problem with it now is its weight. Waterlogged, the old work horse is so heavy that it is now dangerous and challenging to load on deck. We only carry it on deck these days to cross oceans. For coastal cruising, we glom it on to the hull like a limpet with its outboard, tank, oars, wheels and all. On our list of THINGS TO DO is 'build new dinghy'. A large solid boat may be too cumbersome on some yachts, so inflatables are favorites today. But all inflatables are not created equal and choosing a sturdy seaworthy one is important.

It seems to me that some cruisers look for challenges, if not hardships, when they plan their cruises. Sailing around the world (some do it non-stop), high latitude icy anchorages where you have to beware of frostbite, endurance passages where all the islands on the way are regarded as obstacles to avoid, are not uncommon yacht itineraries. Not our idea of fun cruising. However it takes all kinds to make a world and if you are sure that that is what you will enjoy, then why not? Many of our buddies thrive on it. It's a matter of taste. I remember discussing sailing with Commodore Tomkins in the seventies. He couldn't see the point of just cruising, any more than I could see the point of racing.

In the end expecting too much is perhaps the worst mistake of all. Cruising is not all perfect bliss and downwind sailing. It can be hard work, uncomfortable, even frightening. Disillusionment can set in. It's better to remain a little skeptical, only to find it's better than you expected--if slightly different from what you imagined. We certainly never planned to spend more than half our lives afloat. It just happened. And we don't want to change.