My point is I have cruised the ocean many a day....like some others here.
For a brief period it has it's romance for me...for some...always....
In my experience...most find it boring rather quickly.
Thus all the attractions on cruise ships.
To do it earns a bit of bragging rights...just like the crossing traditions of Equator, Dateline, Artic/Antarctic circles...etc....but in the long run many would rather "be there" than cross.
I know I would....not much to see and the threat of danger is pretty lopsided in my book...but for some...it is the "call of the sea"....
For us, no interest in bragging rights, no braving it against the elements as we will do all possible to minimize risks. There are excursions we have no interest in. Antarctica is one of those. Panama Canal was a great adventure, Cape Horn does not hold any appeal. Circumnavigation doesn't attract us as right now there are just too many areas with risks we're not willing to take. Even in Central and South America there are areas we'll avoid. We aren't really risk takers, so are very careful to control and manage those risks.
Crossing the Atlantic after the first time probably does become just about getting to the other side. But the first time it's an adventure that we want to pursue. Same thing, one day to Hawaii and to the Galapagos.
Over time as world conditions vary, our plans well may. We'd love to spend time in the Pacific, boating around Australia and New Zealand. Today if we were ready to do that though, we'd fly and then charter there.
For us the sea is beautiful, but we still are risk managers, not takers. An example of that would be our Alaskan cruise. We did hire a pilot/captain very familiar with the area to help lead us. Could we have done it without? Yes. Would it have been as safe or as free of stress? No. We have been to Eleuthera several times but we still use a pilot into Romora Bay.
Once we've crossed the Atlantic and returned, I have no idea if we'll do it again. The next time, maybe ten years later, we might ship the boat or even charter in Europe.
As to finding things boring, we entertain ourselves pretty well when at sea. However, we've never been at sea the time it takes from Bermuda to the Azores. Our longest trek so far was 760 nm, about 64 hours. Bermuda to the Azores will be around 150 hours and depending on conditions could be longer. 130 hours minimum to 200 hours maximum.
When we started anything that required traveling at night seemed long to us.
When we do cross, too, we will be extra cautious weather wise with no preset calendar. If that means spending a month in Bermuda or the Azores then so be it. Those are not bad places to find yourself "stuck".
To us so much is just being on the water. Yesterday, we spent over 10 hours on the Chesapeake, going nowhere. We docked last night the same place we had the night before. We just took it all in and basked in the beauty.
We're not followers or copiers so we'll never go somewhere just because others have or others say it's the thing to do.
And the Great Loop is our next big adventure. It comes before a crossing. And although we'll travel home in the interim, we don't anticipate the boat making it home for perhaps 3 years.
