Sailing Off Into the Sunset

[Roger Long]

Here's one of those things that has been making the rounds of the Internet and lost its attribution somewhere along the way. Some good information and food for thought though for anyone contemplating long distance cruising.

This is a complicated subject these days even for people with tons of money.

One of the first things consider is where you live. For example if you live
anywhere on the US East Coast, "sailing off into the sunset" is a very
difficult technical accomplishment. In fact it may be impossible. You will
either crash into the dock at the west end of your marina, or run aground
along some sandy coast. Either way you'll probably need costly repairs to
the boat, and that will cut into the old nest egg. Some of the above
comments will not apply if you have an amphibious vehicle.

Until a month or so ago it was possible to "sail off into the sunset" from
the West Coast of Florida. Unfortunately the activities of Big Oil and some
of their fully-owned subsidiaries in DC and Crawford, Texas, have curtailed
a lot of this activity. Most of this sailing destination is now closed and
will remain closed for what is called "the future" as far as marine life is
concerned. According to the Federal Register "sailing off into the sunset"
from western Florida is now under the control of the Department of Homeland
Security and is regulated using armed USCG vessels. Be careful with this. It
may be safer to just head for Cuba and suffer the consequences.

US West Coast sailors are luckier when it comes to "sailing off into the
sunset." The only problems they encounter (besides racial profiling by the
INS and Tea Party vigilante groups) are earthquakes and the accompanying
tsunamis. I haven't personally experienced one of these but I'd guess that a
set of sturdy drop boards and some good oilies are a good investment if
you're thinking about this.

Happily these problems do not exist in many other parts of the world. If you
live on the west coast of Ireland or in the Hebrides, you're good to go.
Just don't forget to release all the docklines. The same is true for a lot
of Portugal and western Spain. Western Africa is another possibility if you
don't mind your typical bloody revolution every 3 weeks, genocide once or
twice a decade, and bad drinking water. Do not (I repeat: DO NOT) enforce
"close pack" on your crew. This leaves a bad impression with local
authorities.

Right now we are not recommending Thailand, and in fact I'm not even sure
they have a western coastline. I hear there are some bargain slips in Greece
though.

I don't want to give the impression that things are terrible everywhere, but
you must admit that life used to be a lot simpler.

 

[woodster]

that is a good read Rodger......after reading it what came too mind ...was maybe the Kingston Trio could turn it in to a song ....but i think maybe they did that about 50 or so years ago........

regards

woody

 

[Ed Schenck]

Well here in west Florida sailors sail off into the sunset almost every evening. It is why we sail I think, so that we can get away from what is bothering the writer. He or she probably doesn't sail.

 

[sailaway78]

Sounds to me

That quote sounds to me more like a political rant, than good sailing advice. I have done the east coast twice, from NY down to Fl. and beyond. None of those problems encountered. Whether or not the oil spill will have much effect on the west coast of Fl. still remains to be seen. While the oil spill is a total disaster for the environment, I don't think it will have much effect on sailing/boating, once the leak has been stopped for a short time. Most of the oil is going to either wash ashore, or sink into the water column.

 

[Gail R]

That quote sounds to me more like a political rant, than good sailing advice. I have done the east coast twice, from NY down to Fl. and beyond. None of those problems encountered. Whether or not the oil spill will have much effect on the west coast of Fl. still remains to be seen. While the oil spill is a total disaster for the environment, I don't think it will have much effect on sailing/boating, once the leak has been stopped for a short time. Most of the oil is going to either wash ashore, or sink into the water column.

Well considering the lack of success w/r/t that over the past month or so, I'm not nearly as optimistic as you are. I am glad we're a few thousand miles away.

 

[Gary_H]

I just sail off into the sunrise instead. Then turn around that evening and sail into the sunset. Get up the next morning and repeat as neccessary.

 

[Pegleg Sailor]

Stupid rant by a racist, ignorant sheeple. How about we keep things here to boating/sailing?

 

[Rick Webb]

No Problems Here

I am just about as far west in Florida as Florida goes. Obviously written by someone with an agenda so no sense going into it's accuracy.

 

[LuzSD]

gosh, I thought it was tongue in cheek......you are all so serious this morning! Take a breath, geezzzzz

 

[Ross]

Appearently some people don't understand satire. It is a sad day when we poke fun at ourselves and others take it seriously.
Rather like the statement that says: "There are 10 kinds of people. Those that understand binary and those that don't."

 

[LuzSD]

as I read it, I could hear Andy Rooney's voice..... I thought it was a hoot! sort of a sad hoot, but a hoot nevertheless

 

[Ross]

I am just about as far west in Florida as Florida goes. Obviously written by someone with an agenda so no sense going into it's accuracy.

Actually you live on the south coast of Florida. If you sail west you sail parallel to the coast and don't go very far away from land.