Just Go Live!
Published: Thursday, August 27, 2020
By: Bob Bitchin
If you have ever considered sailing and cruising as a way of life, I would highly suggest that now is the time to make those dreams happen because what’s going on on the mainland is truly sucky.
Now I won’t sit here and try to tell you that I have all the answers. Hell, if I did, I wouldn’t be sitting here looking into this goofy computer; I’d be out sailing, where I belong! But I was able to get out there for a whole lotta years and a whole lotta miles, and if there was nothing else learned from those 100,000 sea miles, it is just how little of the news we really want to be watching.
Example? Easy. You all remember when the O. J. Simpson case was going on? Well, Jody and I don’t remember it at all. You see, the year that was big news, we were cruising in the South Pacific and never saw a news story about it. Years later, when we returned to Hell—my Hell being anyplace that is supposedly civilized—we found that people glue themselves to the big glass eye (better known as a TV).
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am one for good entertainment. When we cruise, we always have a selection of at least 100 movies to watch. But they are on DVDs. (And VHS before that!) So, we watch what we want to watch, not what somebody is trying to sell us.
And no, I am not trying to sell you anything… except maybe the beauty of the cruising lifestyle as opposed to what’s going on in the world right now. I have to admit, I am looking for a way to get away from this ‘civilized’ world because these people are not civilized. You need to get out there to meet civilized people, like the people of the South Pacific, who still manage to live the Polynesian lifestyle with the world burning down around them.
Here’s the deal. In civilization, everything spreads like a virus. Oh, yeah, Covid-19 is a virus. Sorry ’bout that. But, it’s true! When the pandemic started, we were sailing in the BVIs. There were no cases in paradise. In fact, the first case “flew in” on the day we left the islands, and the “civilized” places, like New York, LA, and Chicago, don't stand a chance.
And then top it all off with the recent civil unrest. Before I go on, I gotta tell ya, I would be out there marching with them except we now live 40 miles from the nearest protest, which was pretty small in Chico, California. But I digress.
Here’s the facts. When you are cruising, you think back to days in the “civilized” world, and you see them as a nightmare because that’s what it is when living in our civilized society today. You gotta worry about someone stealing your stuff. You gotta worry about insurance. You gotta worry about taxes. You gotta worry about car payments and all these great, new monthly charges you get for participating in today’s digital world. Hell, I know people who spend almost $300 a month just for TV? What kinda sickness is that?
Nay. Nay, I say. We need to get back to the basics. When I was cruising, I used to read a book just about every two days. Now, on land, I am lucky if I get to read one book a month, or even a quarter! There’s no time. Gotta get the car washed; gotta go to the doctors; gotta go to the store. Gotta, gotta, gotta. When you’re cruising, you don’t ‘gotta’! Period. All ya gotta do is keep the boat floating, which is not as hard as some might think when it’s all you have to worry about.
Well, yeah, ya gotta worry about money, and ya gotta worry about weather and fuel. But you will be surprised just how little time is spent maintaining the boat, and how much time is spent planning a meal. Hell, the biggest problem I had while out there was that I didn’t always know if I was being called below for lunch or dinner.
While cruising, you don’t have to worry about what to do. The boat tells you. If the boat thinks you’re having too much free time, it’ll break something. Then you get to go fix it and feel like you are actually accomplishing something.
And storms? Well, I got to a point where I liked to see the dark clouds ahead. Why, you ask? Simple. When you come out of a storm, you have the feeling of accomplishing something. You get a feeling as the lightness overtakes the dark, and as you see the sun start to peek out below the clouds: you did it. You sailed through a storm. You don’t get to feel that when watching TV or a movie. No, you have to actually accomplish something to get that feeling. Kinda like slaying the dragon, so you can kiss the fair maiden. You have to face the dragon to earn that!
Old Franklin D. Roosevelt said it best: “Fair seas never made a skilled sailor.” Ya gotta go out and face the dragon. I can tell you there is no better feeling in the world than arriving at a far-flung destination after fighting the sea gods for days and weeks. The harder the crossing, the more appreciated is the safe anchorage. You earn it. It’s not given.
That’s really what made me love the lifestyle. I will never forget the feeling of pulling into Nuku Hiva, in the Marquesas islands after a 21-day crossing from Mexico. As we pulled into the bay, another sailboat was leaving, and we waved.
That wave was one of the highlights of my life! There are no fakers out to sea. Either you belong there or you don’t, and you find that out fast. Once you’ve entered that fraternity of capable seamen, your life will change for the better, forever.
What’s the point? Again, simple. To my knowledge, I’ll only live once. As long as I can spend at least half my life at sea, I will be a happy man. Not sure if you knew this or not, but the years spent at sea don’t come off your life. They are bonus years.
The pandemics and protests won’t miss you, and I can tell you this as a fact: If you are “out there,” you will not miss them either!
Just remember that the difference between ordeal and adventure is attitude. You put two people on a boat sailing across an ocean, and one could have the worst ordeal of their life while the other has the greatest adventure, and the only difference is attitude. So as long as you can keep a starboard attitude, life is a great adventure. So, get out there and live it!
This article first appeared in the Fall Issue (Sep/Oct) 2020 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
