When You Stop Cruising On a Boat
This entire post is along the lines of an Editor's Note. I was all ready to just put this blog to bed for a few months until I could switch to "All New Zealand, All the Time", but then I experienced a midnight epiphany.
Everyone must eventually stop cruising on their boat.
Most cruising books fail to discuss this phase of the cruising life. It's as though the author is afraid that if you -- the voyeur -- learn that the last chapter is not a sail disappearing over a pink and orange laced horizon complete with swelling music and the muffled sounds of theater goers rummaging around in the goo and popcorn detritus around their seats for keys and bags -- well you won't buy the book. Clearly part of what we travel bloggers, authors, and literary wannabes do is sell a dream. And the dream doesn't include stopping.
Yet nevertheless, we all stop. Whether a cruiser stops because the children get too old, the money runs out, family obligations, their boat falls apart, or they simply get sick of the lifestyle, eventually we all return to land. It may not be glamorous or exciting, but it is an important part of the cruising experience. And perhaps we would all be better prepared as cruisers and cruiser-dreamers if we thought of a graceful way to get off the boat prior to cutting the lines.
I don't think DrC and I thought it out carefully enough, to be honest. So once again -- through the Power of Blogging -- I'm going to treat you to an opportunity to sequentially and virtually experience the bumbling and fumbling of the Conger Clan as we attempt to completely upend everything we know and love and replace it with something Exciting and New.
As a result, some of the articles this month are going to be retrospective... trying to recreate how we made certain choices during the past few months. Some I'll throw out as they happen. And a few will be prospective musings and predictions which -- like New Year's Resolutions -- will be highly speculative and completely improbable.
This is an excellent opportunity for long time readers, first time callers to write in with questions. Don't be shy! I was recently told by a reader that I make it very difficult to send me email... probably a hold over from my days in network security. Nevertheless, I'll brace for spambots and offer the following:
toastfloats at gmail dot com
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Everyone must eventually stop cruising on their boat.
Most cruising books fail to discuss this phase of the cruising life. It's as though the author is afraid that if you -- the voyeur -- learn that the last chapter is not a sail disappearing over a pink and orange laced horizon complete with swelling music and the muffled sounds of theater goers rummaging around in the goo and popcorn detritus around their seats for keys and bags -- well you won't buy the book. Clearly part of what we travel bloggers, authors, and literary wannabes do is sell a dream. And the dream doesn't include stopping.
Yet nevertheless, we all stop. Whether a cruiser stops because the children get too old, the money runs out, family obligations, their boat falls apart, or they simply get sick of the lifestyle, eventually we all return to land. It may not be glamorous or exciting, but it is an important part of the cruising experience. And perhaps we would all be better prepared as cruisers and cruiser-dreamers if we thought of a graceful way to get off the boat prior to cutting the lines.
I don't think DrC and I thought it out carefully enough, to be honest. So once again -- through the Power of Blogging -- I'm going to treat you to an opportunity to sequentially and virtually experience the bumbling and fumbling of the Conger Clan as we attempt to completely upend everything we know and love and replace it with something Exciting and New.
As a result, some of the articles this month are going to be retrospective... trying to recreate how we made certain choices during the past few months. Some I'll throw out as they happen. And a few will be prospective musings and predictions which -- like New Year's Resolutions -- will be highly speculative and completely improbable.
This is an excellent opportunity for long time readers, first time callers to write in with questions. Don't be shy! I was recently told by a reader that I make it very difficult to send me email... probably a hold over from my days in network security. Nevertheless, I'll brace for spambots and offer the following:
toastfloats at gmail dot com
Looking forward to hearing from you.