August 5 , 2004--It's the People We Meet

We sometimes find ourselves wondering where the years have gone and how we can still be just cruising around and being happy doing so. Yet we can't think of another way to lead our lives on our budget that would be half as much fun.

	Laughs over coffee.

It's the people we meet that make the cruising life so interesting - offbeat people leading offbeat lives - talented, interesting, thought-provoking folk. We meet cruisers of many ages, nationalities and backgrounds, with varying levels of education and expectations, with differing values and views. We exchange ideas and info, tips and tools, books and stories, expertise, help, hilarity and hospitality. We feel immediate rapport more often than not because of shared interests or mutual acquaintances. Occasionally we make lifelong friends and somehow manage to keep in touch for years, even after they swallow the anchor. Cruisers tend to make fascinating Earth People.

Some of our friends and acquaintances cruise on massive budgets on megabuck money trees. Others are self sufficient on the smell of an oily rag. An amazing number of blue water cruisers supplement the cruising kitty as they travel in any of a variety of ways. We've known many floating wood carvers and silver smiths, countless sea going writers and painters, a good number of photographers, sail makers, hairdressers, doctors, dentists, divers, carpenters, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, shipwrights, riggers, refrigeration experts, computer buffs and teachers, and quite a few bakers. Even a couple of scrimshanders. The talent and skill afloat is staggering.

Age differences make it all the more fascinating Ð a range of ages from old fogies of our vintage and older - though young at heart - to the very young. We love to see the increasing number of children on cruising boats, often sailing in company with other boats similarly endowed. There's usually a morning lull when home schooling goes on below decks. Come afternoon, all hell breaks loose as various families congregate for swimming or snorkeling expeditions, picnics and what have you. We've been lucky enough to make the acquaintance of such an assortment of ages and stages of cruising folk that we can hardly believe our luck. How we do enjoy keeping in touch...E-mail helps maintain friendships. Our minds boggle at their energy and endeavors. We're mainly good at relaxing.

Autopilot discussions with a cruising friend.

We've often made a point of visiting our cruising friends wherever they have landed themselves. They all seem to find different objectives and localities to set forth on their next trips. And what trips they undertake...new boats, new businesses, new degrees and professions, new spouses or just new houses. One couple built ten boats over 40ft, one of them an 80 ft schooner, with their own hands and hired help, plus two houses, before they separated amicably, remarried and built more houses. In this way many of our friends have multiplied, one couple becoming two couples in our burgeoning address book. Many raise families and their children have become good friends too. In some cases we have cruised in company with the second generations in their own boats and have got to know them better than we knew their parents.

We have witnessed first hand the amazing mobility and versatility of people in our western society just by watching our friends. The cruising sailor may be an extreme example, but that only makes it all the more fascinating. This specimen is an international one, adding yet more color and flavor to the rich brew. From dropouts stretching the offerings of the welfare state to wily market manipulators making fortunes, we know a sampling of them all. Engineering geniuses, builders, pilots, architects, orchardists, sculptors, computer nerds and a host of others have all amazed us with their various approaches to leading their lives, and with their remarkable enterprises. Not only have we been fascinated, but they too seem to enjoy our continuing curiosity and interest in their endeavors.

These days there's absolutely no way you can meet everyone leading this vagabond existence, nor would you want to. The sheer numbers are staggering. We all cruise in different ways toward varying goals. Some cruise in flocks, seldom going beyond their immediate buddy-boats for companionship. (Long gone are the days when we knew most every boat in an anchorage) Some cruisers choose to hit most of the bars and restaurants as they travel, taking tours, buying up arts and crafts. Others make their own entertainment, preferring to visit out of the way, little-frequented anchorages. There's room for us all.

We still go on meeting new people everywhere we cruise. We enjoy swimming or rowing about, talking to new acquaintances to find out from where they hail and where they are bound. We meet for coffee, wine or a meal, and more stories are told, and another friendship happens.

Some people get their entertainment by watching actors pretending to be other people. We seldom see a movie and so far have never owned a TV or video. We get to know real people, and that's what makes this way of life so incredibly interesting.