August 26, 2004--Casting Off

We have sometimes been accused of trying to escape real life when we disappear over the horizon toward distant remote anchorages. However, the reality is that when we cast off from shore, to sail away from the modern world and all its support systems, we are on our own to face the realities of life.

Shore inhabitants have innumerable infrastructures to help them survive easily and comfortably - supermarkets with all their fresh and ready-made food, hardware stores with bits and pieces, service stations with fuels and newsstands, book stores, libraries, cinemas, electricity and water mains, police protection, dentists, doctors and well equipped hospitals with ambulances. And all of that within easy reach, a short drive or even a quick phone call away.

Cast off, aboard the yacht, we have to make up for all these conveniences by providing them for ourselves. Food, water, electricity, fuel, reading material, entertainment, medical needs and even our own protection become our personal challenges. As the little plaque in the head says: "There are no plumbers at sea" - no supermarkets or hospitals either. And the same applies in most remote anchorages.

The challenge involves choice, forethought and many decisions. We have to learn and be prepared to do much more ourselves than we ever did ashore.

To deal with the lack of supermarket, we must stock our own shelves and refrigerator with foods for as long as we intend to be away, plus emergency supplies in case we should be delayed by the unpredictable. Sounds easy? It isn't. The bigger the crew, the more challenging it becomes.

Water only comes out of our taps if we make sure that we have some in our limited capacity tanks. We collect rainwater from the deck or the mains'l and today many yachts run watermakers. But on the west coast of Mexico rain collection was in our imagination only, and watermakers, with their many idiosyncrasies, can turn into wishful thinking as well. So we have to be conscious of and cautious with water. Again, crew numbers can increase this challenge too.

We turn on electric lights and radios, and run appliances and computers, but it is not just a case of paying the bill. We have to produce the juice and store it. This means engine alternators, generators, solar panels, wind generators and storage batteries with all their potential failings.

Engine, generator, outboard motor, heating stove and cooking range all need fuel. Diesel, gasoline, propane, have to be planned for carefully because they can be impossible or very expensive to obtain. And without fuel, our life comforts would deteriorate quickly.

Then comes the guesswork of preparing and stocking for the unpredictable. A mechanic or a doctor without the tools of his trade is not much better off than your average Joe. On the other hand, Joe with the tools can do surprising things if needed. So we try to bring the tools, the spares, the information, the medications and whatever we think we may require. Deciding on the needs is difficult, finding and storing it all not easy either, and the entire exercise can get very expensive.

Some people need more entertainment than others. We content ourselves with enjoying life aboard; with some added reading and canned music, we can keep amused and happy. Many yacht crews today seem to need to sustain their screen watching habit and they bring scores of videos and electronic games for the purpose.

Last but not least, we have to deal with navigation - more than finding our way home from the shops or from work. It is a case of finding the tempting destinations over the horizon and getting there safely. Where a sextant, an almanac, some sight reduction tables and charts used to do the job, today we indulge in the electronic marvels that make voyaging easier and safer. We also keep busy navigating the sinuous course of "what if", and prepare for that with everything from flares to...whatever...ad infinitum.

We hardly need the strength, patience and endurance of the early pioneers, because we bring most of our home comforts with us. However, whatever do-it-yourself skills we can assimilate help, because we eventually need them all, and inevitably will have to hire the ones we omit. Voyaging on a yacht can be an enjoyable game, but it is far from being an escape from reality.