Ah real cruising long term stuff, yep as suggested above its not the same a couple of weeks or even a month. I have been doing this for 17 years covered about 140,000nm . For me fitness and or getting old doesn’t have a lot to do with the boat. My fitness is based on the products available in the country, so yep if there are all those bad things like sour cream, nice potato chips, good chese then yep chance are I haven’t had any for awhile so if they are around I will but them. But sialing makes me more active than I would otherwise be. I row, rther than put the tender on, I crank the winch rather than pus the botton, I walk rather than a cab or local transport, I clean the boat rather than paying even the cheap rates in some countries (unless Im trying to help the local’s financial) But yea having just done a re-rig 80% me as a Labouré I can tell you the mussel hurt more with old age. But I still free dive 2.2m to clean the bottom of the boat, I don’t have an Uber account, so I walk. We have a granny trolly for shopping and I become a pack horse, most for exercise, we swim a lot. My other half swims every day, me probably twice a week unless there is lots of good coral & fish to see. She has a Kayak as well.
Kown your partner: Im lucky in some respects in so much as my partner doesn’t need all the grily luxury things. If the hot water is not hot its not a problem, if there is not enough power for the Microwave or toaster, its not a problem, and hair dryer or iron whats that, and a fridge/freezer that can hold 6 months of food, or taps and lights you can leave on, a phone and internet that works all the time…. Na basically give her a kayak, warm clear water with some coral or fish she can individually name and another cruiser she can complain to about the fact she never goes anywhere (even though we done many countries) and shes happy. So yep being able to keep your partner happy is important. Many partnerships have effectively been passing ships in the night for the prior few years and now in the cruising life your as good as in each other’s pocket 24x7
My suggestion to those whom are seriously considering this, and I mean not for a month or two but for say a year or more:
Figure out if you can be happy 24 x 7 with your partner ?
Do a budget and make sure you can live on it ?
Figure out why you want to go cruising, and make sure you can get what you want from it.
Realize its not all sun bluesky and cold beers, or wine on the beach at a bar or yacht club. It can be big sea’s, strong winds, lots of rain, nervous nights not knowing for sure if you home will stay where it is. There is no fence around your home, the neighbor you probably don’t know, the back door is probably not locked, there nearest hospital is probably 24 hours away at best, or a week, if your mum dad son daughter should have a bad turn they could be in need of your help and your miles away…..
Equally you can take your beautiful partner that you love over to the beach dig your toes in the sand with a glass of wine and watch the sun go down into the water, or light a fire and cook marshmallows, or go to that local resort & bar, or see all the coral and fish like diving in a tropical fish tank, or meet people from the “Haves” and the “Have nots” you can go to places no tourist can, breathing cleaner air, eating food that hasn’t been zapped by radiation or injected with steroids, catch your own fish (if your better at it than me) make new friends of all ages, perhaps get quality time with other family members whom now want to come and see you…. well maybe not you…. maybe where you are
I have been meaning to write a book about this as there were many things I have learnt along the way that no-one ever told me.
