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Old 09-25-2021, 04:53 PM   #7
Frosty
Guru
 
City: US PNW
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 943
As mentioned above, I'm sure there's not one universal answer.

For me, I grew up with small boats: skiffs, dinghies, canoes. The minute I discovered that you could actually live and travel on a sailboat, that's what I wanted to do.

What do I enjoy about it? Just some stream of thought answers....

-Self-sufficient island feeling. Basically managing your own little world.
-24 hour day with no set times you are supposed to be awake or asleep
-Just the feel of it, being out on the water for days and weeks, in your own world but in the big world, floating on its surface. Swells, stars, the moon, your thoughts, books, birds, bioluminescence, the sounds of sailing the boat.
- Little things become important rituals (dinner in the cockpit with both crew, etc.)
-Being part of a team yet being alone (if double-handed then basically solo when on watch but part of a team overall).
-Being out there and doing the planning/navigating/marking your spot on the small-scale chart every day.
-The relative independence. Freedom and responsibility.

After the bluewater:
-Ability to visit places and not arrive at an airport or via a highway.
-Anchoring out on your own boat as a visitor to a foreign land.
-Dinghy/shanks' mare for every day transportation
-Snorkeling and swimming right over the side (also possible without doing bluewater depending on where you live, I grant).

Just writing this I yearn to be back out on a long passage. All stowed up and ship-shape, heading out in a few hours....

(Then too, I enjoy inland river cruising. You never know what's around the next bend, interesting mix of commercial and pleasure traffic, quiet anchorages, watching the banks slide by...)
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