Not everyone likes to travel in the same way. Some people carry several suitcases and park themselves in a single city for a week or two (or even longer), adapting to local life and becoming a temporary resident.
Some people want to be footloose and see it all and carry their belongings in their backpacks so they can quickly and easily move around, changing location every few days.
And some people, like my friend Craig, carry their house with them as they travel over water for many months or even years. You see, Craig is a sailor, and the owner of a 37-foot Pacific Seacraft called Luckness.
Craig started taking sailing lessons as a hobby in 2007, and in mid-2009 bought his own boat. In late summer 2011, after retiring from his job (at the age of 50) and selling his house, he left Seattle single-handed on an 11-month voyage down the coast to California, then Mexico, Hawaii, and back to Seattle. His trial trip was a success, and after a year living on his boat in the Seattle marina, he’s leaving today on an open-ended voyage that will take him through the South Pacific to New Zealand. Can you imagine spending three months in French Polynesia snorkelling, sunning yourself, and enjoying deserted beaches while fraternizing with other sailors over a couple of beers and BBQed fish? If so, blue water sailing may be for you!
This kind of travelling isn’t for everybody obviously. Most sailors travel in pairs. It can get quite lonely on these multi-week passages into open ocean. You have to be confident, knowledgeable, self-reliant, and not too concerned about not talking to another human being for weeks! And forget cappuccinos. For Craig, it seems like the perfect life. He likes travelling with his “house” and belongings, never having to unpack and repack, and being able to stay somewhere longer or leave as it suits him (currents and weather permitting of course).
I met up with Craig today, after many years of hearing about his new passion, and was able to board his boat. Luckness was “on the hard” (that is, on-land) with a new coat of paint drying on its hull. I have to admit that standing on top the boat, with the wheel in my hands, and imagining I was on the ocean (and not motionless in a parking lot) I felt pretty powerful! What a feeling of freedom one must have. Yet, I would never be “brave” enough to sail alone on the ocean, having to wake up every 20 minutes during sea passages to check instruments.
So I think I will keep travelling overland in my old way, even though I still hope to join Craig one day for a short journey on Luckness, somewhere warm and tropical. 🙂
Read more about Craig’s adventures on his blog.
at 8:39 PM
Great article, Marie!