If You Returned To Land - Why?

[cbtucker]

Yep, it's been a little while since I posted one of my questions. So I felt it was time to see what kind of discussion I could get going.

I like reading various blogs on sailing and have compiled a list (it's 84 now) of people in various stages of sailing. The question I have is, If you returned to living on land, why? Was it for health reasons? Homesickness? Financial? Just didn't like living on a boat?

Now I realize that on a Sailing forum maybe there won't be that many people that have returned to land and are on here. But I thought I'd take a shot.

[svdagny]

We temporarilly returned to land so the kid could get his high school diploma. Also the old homestead needed TLC. Luckily we´re back on the boat now.

Originally Posted by cbtucker

Yep, it's been a little while since I posted one of my questions. So I felt it was time to see what kind of discussion I could get going.

I like reading various blogs on sailing and have compiled a list (it's 84 now) of people in various stages of sailing. The question I have is, If you returned to living on land, why? Was it for health reasons? Homesickness? Financial? Just didn't like living on a boat?

Now I realize that on a Sailing forum maybe there won't be that many people that have returned to land and are on here. But I thought I'd take a shot.

[JeanneP]

It seems to me that with the exception of a few couples, such as the Pardys and Hiscocks, liveaboard cruising is a way station in life rather than a permanent lifestyle. Age, health, or children/grandchildren introduce different paths along the way.

After almost 18 years outside the US, we decided to sell our sv Watermelon and move back to the US, but we could not adjust to living in a house in the same place full-time, so we went looking for other alternatives, and the one we most enjoyed was being back on a boat.

MV Watermelon is a more comfortable boat for our advancing (but not advanced) years, and we continue to move, though not so far as before. I think it will most likely be health that will plunk us down on land permanently, but I don't think I'll abandon Cruiser Log and its members even then - for me, cruising is a place to live, and a state of mind as well as a lifestyle.

These past few weeks we have been on a "busman's holiday" - taking a river cruise down the Danube River. It has given us a taste for a more leisurely way to see this part of Europe, and a good idea of what more we'd like to see here. And we are enjoying it so much that I think we might do a few more like this - it's an interesting "tasting" trip around a region.

More when we're back from the trip and I can sort out all our experiences.

[Aquaria]

Originally Posted by JeanneP

It seems to me that with the exception of a few couples, such as the Pardys and Hiscocks, liveaboard cruising is a way station in life rather than a permanent lifestyle.Â*Â*Age, health, or children/grandchildren introduce different paths along the way.

After almost 18 years outside the US, we decided to sell our sv Watermelon and move back to the US, but we could not adjust to living in a house in the same place full-time, so we went looking for other alternatives, and the one we most enjoyed was being back on a boat.

MV Watermelon is a more comfortable boat for our advancing (but not advanced) years, and we continue to move, though not so far as before.Â*Â*I think it will most likely be health that will plunk us down on land permanently, but I don't think I'll abandon Cruiser Log and its members even then - for me, cruising is a place to live, and a state of mind as well as a lifestyle.

These past few weeks we have been on a "busman's holiday" - taking a river cruise down the Danube River.Â*Â*It has given us a taste for a more leisurely way to see this part of Europe, and a good idea of what more we'd like to see here.Â*Â*And we are enjoying it so much that I think we might do a few more like this - it's an interesting "tasting" trip around a region.

More when we're back from the trip and I can sort out all our experiences.

... that is good to hear - your posts and topics are valuable and great! Thank you for this.

And Watermelon indeed brought up a point, for what quite many blue water sailors leave the oceans at a certain time: there is much more water to see far away from the oceans. SO, why not sell the ocean going vessel and buy a (smaller) comfortable motor vessel and roam all the rivers and waterways in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Very good friends who sailed around the world sold their boat, bought kayaks and paddled down many rivers and quite some miles of the New Zealand coast and later took their bicycles and cycled around the Baltic Sea and the USA from North to South. Â*Many attractive alternatives to Â*Living aboard/Blue water sailing.

We are not yet "done" with sailing but we know that ten years from now (or hopefully later) river boating will be an attractive alternative on all the rivers and channels between the Atlantic Ocean, Â*Mediterranean and Â*Black Sea...

Uwe

SY Aquaria

[redbopeep]

We've been living at anchor and coastal cruising up and down in California only, but we feel this is a timely topic for us since our lifestyle for the past 4 years has been without job-related income and pretty much as any other cruiser would have--distance or coastal it seems the same. We've been focused on the rebuild of a large boat and that has kept us close to the States, alas. Now, we've not "returned to land" but we've found ourselves in a situation that will have us "docked" in one place for a year or more. Reason? Complications of unexpected extended family matters and health matters. Throw in a desire to fund the complications from sources other than cruising kitty or retirement funds--and that brings us to picking up jobs or consulting for a bit. Throw in that we fell in love with San Francisco when we were there last summer and guess what? We've sailed back up the coast and now we're docked in the Bay.

You know, stopping into a shore-based life for a bit is very common among cruisers. For example, even though the Pardeys market themselves as full-time cruisers, if you take a careful read of their writings you'll find that they mention that they've spent on average 6 months/year cruising and the other 6 months working and/or inland traveling/living. A less-known cruiser on SV Precipice, (a little wooden Bristol Channel Cutter like Taleisin, the famous boat sailed by Lynn and Larry Pardey), having just completed the Northwest Passage in 2009 then spent what looks like all of 2010 and part of this year "land based" in Nome Alaska working to build up the cruising kitty and pay for some fixes to the boat. You can see their story here.

It is interesting to follow the blogs of people like Rolland, Deb and their girls Jannelle and Bianca on SV Precipice. Sailing, sailing, sailing and then a bit of land based life then back to sailing.

Fair winds,

[caddyspanker]

Back on land. It has been 13 years since being on and off ground. Needed some stability.