- vacuum-seal meats
- ponder food and entertainment
requirements - better source parts and equipment
- share skills and barter
Now before we cover off on each of these
items, I will just speak quickly of lifestyle.
THIS CRUISING LIFE
In my years we both have seen a very
distinct change in the types of people
cruising out there.
There are those who are bare bones,
those like us I guess who are moderate
livers; then there are what seems to be a
new breed of cruiser who want to transfer
their land based lives to the boat.
Now this is cool. But, depending on
how you set up your boat, it can be very
expensive and, for me, importantly it can be
environmentally and personally unfriendly.
I went to a boat show a few years back.
I hopped on board a very f lash catamaran.
To me it looked like an apartment.
I commented to the salesman “wow,
haven’t things changed”.
Now this cat had a real life 24 volt stand
up fridge/freezer. They had it displayed
with an espresso machine, microwave,
an ice machine and TV/surround sound
system. Each ‘bedroom suite’ had separate
TV’s and air-con.
The guy was trying to sell me that I
could use my hair dryer and bring along
all my cooking appliances. I have to
say I was gobsmacked. I could not stop
laughing actually.
I wanted to look at the engine, check
out the systems. I wondered why it had all
these modern conveniences, however was
not set up with a watermaker and solar for
the longer term.
He replied, with a wink, “most people
don’t leave the marina luv!”
So, ignoring that generalisation, I asked
him “how do you run all of these things?
Are these all 12V appliances”
“No,” he replied. “You would need to
run your motor for a few hours each day
to recharge the batteries to keep things
humming along.”
That is where he lost me. I mean,
awesome! But not for me.
Why? I love cruising for the peace and
tranquility and connection it brings me.
I love being able to get really remote, to
be away from civilisation and land for
months at a time.
I love listening to nature – not the sound
of an engine running for 2-3 hours in the
morning, then again in the evening. I love
the smell of salt air, not fumes.
If I wanted to live in an industrial zone,
I would live in the city. While I can see how
people would love all the above items on
board I am not certain, however, if people
realise the cost of it. The cost financially
and the cost personally.
Essentially we are living in a tiny house,
so for me the noise of it would be akin to
parking your car in your lounge room and
running the motor for a few hours, while
trying to remain calm during the whole
process. .I do not get on well with noise
pollution. I get agitated by the sound of an
engine. Except maybe when the motor is
saving my ass in a squall!
Then there is the cost of fuel for all of
this. Groovy if you are coastal cruising and
can pull into the next marina. But that just
simply does not occur at a remote atoll in
the middle of nowhere.Lastly, there is the environmental cost.
For me, living minimally, with a low
carbon footprint is important. I love that
we are mostly self sufficient. I love that we
create our own power. I love that we burn
very few fossil fuels.
I love that we are mostly independent.
I love that we do not need to bounce from
town to town in order to refuel and take
on water.
I love that we don’t impose our needs
on remote communities that can also be
struggling with finding water and fuel
to survive.
So, as I said earlier, we have many of
the mod. cons. However, our goal is to
live as sustainably as we can, in a way
that we can afford and in a way that we
enjoy, which happens to still include some
luxuries. We just have our mod. cons in a
different kind of way.
So, lets tackle some of the points I
made earlier:61
http://www.mysailing.com.auMAIN: We love our cruising life!
BELOW: Who needs pro tradespeople?
Rebedding a staunchion.