wrote in message
oups.com...
My annoyance with that silly Mark Twain quote prompts this post.

(and)

Now, I have seen enough of this silly Twain quote. In twenty years,
you will regret the things you did not do even if you do go cruising.
If you go cruising, it keeps you from doing other things.

More below, but...

Herewith, for the next while at least, is my old sig, before I was busy
contemplating casting off the bowlines. Longtimers here will recall it :{))

Hope you get your offspring straightened out and actually get to leave
sometime...

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

The Society for the Preservation of Tithesis commends your ebriated
and scrutible use of delible and defatigable, which are gainly, sipid
and couth. We are gruntled and consolate that you have the ertia and
eptitude to choose such putably pensible tithesis, which we parage.

Stamp out Sesquipedalianism



Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to many
people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with intense zeal.
I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity that they would
abandon society for such a narcissistic goal. If you spend all of your
time cruising, you essentially give up making any difference to the
rest of humanity. My personal belief ("belief" means I have no proof
or even a good argument for it) is that each of us has some unique
skill that could somehow be of use to humanity.

Your apparent intelligence from other posts (as compared to Neal's constant
nose tweaking disguising, rather than enhancing his various values) suggest
you know very well what the quote's about.

It's not about cruising (yes, I know you were looking for information about
why people cruise). It's about not sticking in a rut. The sailing analogy
was appropriate to his interests, but didn't require everyone of the time -
then or now - to go off and cruise.

And, unless I'm totally unusual, and the folks I read about or talk to in
the SSCA (the real cruisers, as to be a Commodore you've had to lived aboard
for quite a while) and other active cruisers in my various travels and
internet contacts are (unusual) as well, casting off everyday cares has
little or nothing to do with it. Instead, it's how they choose to spend
their lives, or a portion of them, at least.

Why does someone hike, let alone climb Killamanjaro? Why does someone
wilderness camp? Why does *anyone* go to Disneyland?

Because that's what they want to do with their time and money at the time.
Last I heard, you wanted to cruise, too. Why did you want to do that?
Especially with a punk? (Sorry - I've had 4, and so has Lydia. That makes
8 exposures to punk or saint potentials. Her eldest has been busted for
running Ecstacy from France, and her youngest has spent time in slam for
underage drinking, so I'm not taking pot (excuse the expression) shots. I
know a punk when I see one. Fortunately, they don't have to stay punks all
their lives, and hers haven't, either. I didn't belittle that (your desire,
much frustrated, to cruise).

Unfortunately, very
few people ever discover this skill (a topic that I spend hours
discussing with my unhappy state worker neighbor)but I think you ought
to give it many real tries before giving up and going off cruising.

Giving *what* many real tries? Doing something you hate, earning just
enough to survive to get up and do it again the next day? Not everyone
(yes, there are many, but they are in the miniscule minority) has an
income-production activity which so captivates them that they hate to quit
doing it - even to the point, sometimes of eating, let alone departing the
"rat race". Your situation isn't unique, but pretty close. Good on you for
having something you hate to leave. But don't **** on those who chose to do
something else.

I have no problem with people who retire and then go cruising, they
have already made their contribution. My argument is with people who
aspire to cruising as their life goal.

I've not seen why, yet. WTFC what someone wants to do with their life goal?
I know a few masters and doctoral earners who basically subsistence survive
(in a variety of circumstances, none cruisers). Did they aspire to that when
they spent all that time and money getting all those letters after their
names? Doubtful, but, as the saying goes, whatever floats your boat (with
apologies to the premise that somehow cruising is "bad" as it's not about
boats, but what gives one comfort or joy).

The most interesting and to my mind the most successful cruising person
I have ever seen was when I had my old 23' boat docked waaaaaay up the
Carabelle River at a place for $20/month. The boat next to mine was a
trashed out 21' Venture. One day, its hatch was open and a voice
invited me aboard and when I stepped into the cabin, I stepped into
water 1" deep. In the gloom I saw huge cans of green beans labelled
Department of Agriculture that i recognized as early 60s cast-offs from
fallout shelters in Tallahassee (this was 1988). The Master and
Commander of this odd vessel was named Jack who told me that until 6
months ago he had been a homeless drunk but he had somehow been given a
check for $500 that he used to buy this floating (sort-of) home of his
on a whim. I never learned the rest of his story but clearly he had an
interesting life as he had only one ear, half of his left hand,
something wrong with one eye and other physical markings of a less than
normal suburban existence. Jack had a black mongrel dog named "Crow"
that perfectly matched him as it was missing a front paw and its lower
jaw was bent at a strange angle to the rest of its head from being run
over.

And your point about Jack and Crow is?

Jack sailed this amazing little boat with duct tape repaired sails all
over the northern gulf from Cedar Key all the way over to (this is
almost unbelievable) New Orleans. I'd run into him at odd places and
he could describe the channels of all the cool places I wanted to visit
that also did not have marked channels.
One day, I ran into Jack on a brand new top-of-the-line boat ( I cannot
remember the brand) so I asked him if he had won the lottery. He said
no and volunteered to show me what he was doing so we went below where
I found myself wading through wood shavings. Wood carving tools were
scattered round as were what looked like wooden masks with intricate
gold inlays; they looked sort of Japanese with black lacquer and gold.
He told me that he had carved one and sold it in New Orleans (something
to do with Mardi Gras and Voodoo etc.)and since then had so many orders
he couldnt fill them all and that he didnt even begin working on one
till he was paid several thousand dollars for it. I never saw him
again after that but I always think of him as what a successful cruiser
should be.


And, this has what to do with "Why cruise?"? And why does someone who
happened to fall into something that they loved doing (which happens to be
profitable) *while living on a boat* make him better than his doing the same
thing ashore but wanting to hit the high seas, but not having a boat on
which to do it?

Sorry, I'm a bit grumpy today, having dealt with an automotive repair person
I had to tell how to do their work, an ear with a hole in it (again),
stopped up Eustachians so all I hear is tinnitius, trying to arrange flights
from UK for Lydia's mother who'll help on the boat for 5 weeks before I go
get cut again (so I can raise my arm), all before noon.

And, we're going, not because we're retiring, though it looks like that.
It's because that's what we want to do. We'll be working during the high
season and cruising the rest, because our savings and investments (Social
Security is a long way off) won't allow us the luxury to just cruise. Even
if it were, likely we'd be involved in something productive, helping out in
the areas we visited, just cuz we're like that.

So, for us, "Why Cruise?" is "Why Not?" - and because that's what we want to
do. We want to see and learn new cultures, test ourselves against nature,
find our own food where and when we can, and leave a clean wake (SSCA motto)
wherever we go.

HTH...

L8R

Skip - home briefly before a 4-week liveaboard-on-the-hard/workaboard trip
and Lydia - still home, trying to build the kitty, refitting as fast as we
can


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

(sorry, couldn't resist :{)) - you can always stop reading at "Morgan 461
#2, to save yourself!)

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message ...
snipped a priori pabulum
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

Way too much clutter on that foredeck. . .

CN

In article .com,
wrote:

My annoyance with that silly Mark Twain quote prompts this post.

Although casting off everyday cares to go cruising sounds ideal to
many people, I have to wonder about people aspire to it with intense
zeal. I wonder if they have so little to offer to humanity that they
would abandon society for such a narcissistic goal.

They aren't abandoning humanity or society. The cruising community is
its own society: different, but not nothing. I could easily argue that
it's a more humane society than what we see on shore.

From what I've seen, cruisers tend to contribute more to the communities
they find themselves in than most people could comprehend. As a minor
item: When I'm travelling back and forth to work each workday, I'm
usually too "busy" to help stranded motorists on the side of the road.
When we're cruising, we go investigate boats that might be broken down
and help one or two a season. Stories of cruisers helping the
disadvantaged that they contact are legion.

And I find most people in the workaday world have narcissistic goals,
though they're expressed in socially acceptable terms. Most are
basically drifting on autopilot, and very *BUSY* doing it.

If you spend all of your time cruising, you essentially give up
making any difference to the rest of humanity.

Not true.

My personal belief is that each of us has some unique skill that
could somehow be of use to humanity. Unfortunately, very few people
ever discover this skill, but I think you ought to give it many real
tries before giving up and going off cruising.

Most people don't have unique skills. They're essentially cogs in the
wheel throughout their lives.

That said, I know I have a few unique skills that I've utilized
successfully over the years, whether I've been paid for them or not. I
can point to a few people who changed careers to match their real
abilities due to my input. But that was "luck".

I get paid to utilize other of my skills to allow people to do their
jobs more easily, but when push comes to shove, I wonder whether their
jobs are really worth doing in the first place.

I understand your viewpoint, but you're assuming others have your
ability level, and that's not true from what I've seen you post.

I have no problem with people who retire and then go cruising, they
have already made their contribution. My argument is with people who
aspire to cruising as their life goal.

That's assuming that retirement, or cruising, is the end of contribution
to society. I find that's not true.

-----

One part of our considerations is that we tread quite a bit more softly
upon the Earth in our boat than we do in our relatively modest house.
Treading more softly would be a considerable accomplishment in my mind.

-----

BUT what's wrong with our deciding that we've contributed enough to
society if we can maintain our desired lifestyle with our available
resources?

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/