Frogwatch ,, you have posted some very good comments over the last week.
Some very honest postings; tough to read sometimes.

Just about everyone, me included, has been a victim of Cruising World
Syndrome. The pictures of beautiful boats, beautiful people, beautiful
islands, the ocean is always just right, the weather is just right, the
personal stories are of couples who love the boat, the sea, the islands, the
sailing ...............................

And then reality; the weather sucks, the marina's are ripping you off, the
local coastal governments are corrupt and taxing you to death,
.......................

And so you get fed up. Is this worth it? ...

But, some of us keep doing it, over and over again. I have been addicted to
this pain since 1978. No detox clinic. Betty Ford? Does she sail? When I
can't take it, I am so nuts I am talking to myself,,, the mailman shows up
with my latest edition of "DIY Boat Owner Magazine".. or "Good Old Boat".
So, I start reading ... and reading ... and reading ... if I do this, and I
get that ,, and then I will do this ,, and I can fix that ...

Ahhhhhh ,,, another fix.


Last summer, for the first time, I started sailing alone. Not by design. I
could not find a crew. Now this really brings out the disease. Try to dock
the boat. Or go and get gas. The kid at the gas dock doesn't give a ****
about the gelcoat.

Ahhhhhh ,,, another fix; my copy of "How to Refinish your Hull" by Don
Casey has just arrived.

And so along with lots of other addicted people, just like Skip and Lydia ,,
we go on. We make one big mistake after another. We run aground, we get
lost, there is frustration. But, we are sailors! And that is a whole lot
better than sitting on your ass watching the grass grow.

I'd rather die out on the ocean, trying to keep my boat afloat, than in some
stinkin hole with nothing to talk about but the beautiful lawn.

F ... that.

Sure there are folks who buy the boat and don't leave the dock. Sure there
are rich assholes who sit on the boat and drink gallons of alcohol. But
,,,, there are a few ,, just a few ,, who actually go forth and really screw
up. Yes!

Speaking of dreams ... the mailman just brought me Bruce Bingham's new
book. I wonder if my cat will go sailing with me? Huummm

Got to go .. another fix ................. Ahhhhhhhhh

Meow.


"Frogwatch" wrote in message
ups.com...
Skip and Lydia got beat up pretty bad and I hope it doesnt ruin their
dream.
However, the few people I know (3) who did this sorta thing, spending
years building a boat, defferred sailing until she was finished, etc.
sailed a short way and ended their dream.
How does this happen? I call it the "Cruising World" syndrome. The
magazines dont give a real pic of what it is like. Most of the
problems are not physical but mental. Days at 4 knots and soon you
are so bored you are talking to jellyfish. Then suddenly you are so
scared you become a jibbering idiot. Then you anchor and you and your
spouse drive each other nuts being so close. Mowing that lawn at your
old place ashore starts to look real good.

How to keep it from happening? Dont defer sailing while you build.
Keep your small boat and sail and cruise regularly. I think Skip and
Lydia ought to have stuck to their original plan of daylight sailing
only EVEN IF IT MEANT GOING DOWN THE ICW DITCH. This would have
exposed many flaws in the plan until they could jump on the outside to
Naples and then Everglades City. From there it is a daylight trip to
Marathon. By the time they really needed to sail at night they'd be
good.

I know another couple who just bought a big boat to fix up, by
coincidence, a Morgan. They talk of selling their old 25' boat but I
hope they dont until the big boat is really ready.