"Flying Pig" wrote in message
...
"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
anews.com...

Skippy seems to make Wi-Fi his main concern when visiting ports of call.

To me this seems rather pitiful. Whatever happened to cruising for the
sake of the simple and enjoyable cruising life which is NOT to be had if
one motors from one port to the next where one can connect to the
Internet to run one's mouth for hours and hours each day?

What kind of mentality tells a sailor that his audience can't get along
without him or he can't get along without his audience?

I couldn't cruise that way. I wouldn't cruise that way. That's not
cruising. I couldn't live that way. That's not living That's going around
yelling, "Hey lookit meeeeee!"


Wilbur Hubbard


Now, Willie, you know that's not quite right...

I can't comment on others, but we sail, using the motor only as a last
resort. It's true that we "shop for internet" while we shop for water as
we anchor, but that's driven by 2 things.

And, you don't understand the absurdity of your methods? You don't see how
what you do is a *******ization of cruising and voyaging? You need to
examine what your goals are and write them down in order of priorities. If
your main goals involve 'keeping in touch' then you're in the wrong place
doing the wrong thing.

Cruising and voyaging are NOT all about keeping in touch. Keeping in touch
is anathema to the cruising life. You are trying to combine two things that
are at the opposite ends of the spectrum to the detriment of both of them.
By trying to do both, you are doing neither well.

Are your goals so vague and cloudy that it pleases you to be mediocre at
everying caused by doing several things half-assed so you can cram them all
in? For me it's always been quality over quantity. I guess for you and most
others these days priorities have changed. It's now all about quantity over
quality. That's the very definition of mediocre. It saddens me to have a
noble pursuit like cruising and voyaging reduced to mediocrity.


The first and foremost, a condition I knew about when I married her, is
that Lydia has stainless steel hawsers rather than apron strings, enhanced
and confounded by her relatively recent awareness of grandparent(well, I
guess I should say grandmother, as, if it's not of her bloodline, the
interest in FTF or telephony/video contact is nearly invisible)hood, which
make the need for reasonably reliable contact, either via email or video
skype, paramount. It's (the hawsers) one of the conditions I accepted as
the cost of cruising - and, even our relationship, which preceded our
splash by a long time.

A very obtuse way of saying you actually enjoy being a henpecked husband.


Second is that, unlike a huge majority of cruisers (not necessarily here),
we don't return to our home port, with all the attendant benefits of a
landside connection, transportation and a fixed location for a base, after
each trip or voyage. As a result, anything we need is hugely more
effectively done over the internet rather than on an expensive shore card
(see the Ragged subthread) or even more expensive cell connection.


I suppose one can then conclude that prior to the advent of the Internet
nobody really enjoyed cruising and voyaging. Nobody was able do it well
without the umbilical cord? The audience? May I suggest that until you cut
the cord you are an 'unborn' cruiser and will never be an accomplished
voyager.


FWIW, we also have Ham, SSB, VHF and other connectivity - but the internet
works any time we're within a league of shore, for the most part (there
have been only a less-than-handfuil of times we've not found open access
in our three years plus of cruising, much of it done under way).

So, weather is the prime concern, navigation the second, provisioning and
safety the third, and on and on. WiFi is only one of the primary concerns
:{)) - but once the others are resolved, item 1 above trumps most other
stuff...


Weather the prime concern? lol Says, Skippy as he and his overloaded boat
are cruising the Bahamas during hurricane season. Duh! If weather were your
prime concern you'd be off cruising someplace and some time where there were
no tropical cyclones in the offing.



Yah, I know, you'll get off on your rant about women on a boat. However,
that part aside, those of our sexual orientation usually prefer to have a
companion if she's up to, enthusiastic about and reasonably (I only put
that label on myself; "highly" may come one day...) skilled at seamanship.
So, there you have it...


And, I am entirely correct to rant about 'certain' women voyaging under
sail. In the history of mankind there have been perhaps fewer than a 100
women who voyaged under sail and who were not a detriment to the enterprise.
Susan Hiscock comes to mind. Any woman who does not enjoy cruising that
involves less than 'sailing' a floating condominium with generator power
enough to light up a small city is never going to be anything but a severe
drag on the proper exection of the enterprise. Better to admit you're
henpecked and go live ashore with the other house husbands.


As to the last, in a check of the archives, I think one would find that
you've had orders of magnitude more presence here, usually to stir up
something (and which, as we've discussed, with some mutual amusement, I
usually won't take the bait on). Ergo, Pot, Kettle.

But I love you anyway :{))


I'm semi-retired from the cruising life now. When I did my major cruising
some years ago, I did it as a purist. I did not 'sail' a condo/house tied to
shore with a long umbilical cord. Nor did I do it as a floating beauty
saloon/gossip column. Definitely not a case of PKB. Consider this, the only
reason I bother with you at all is I think you two are one of the few
couples these days who might actually enjoy cruising like it was meant to be
if only you could honestly examine your priorities and commit to those which
are really the most important in your lives.


Wilbur Hubbard