27 Sep Just go, man. Just go!

Getting out of the office chair and buying the boat is hard. Selling all of your land-based possession is hard. Once you have the boat and are ready to go, sometimes leaving the dock can be even harder.

As I sit here and type this, we have been sitting still, at anchor, for about one week. I am getting ants in my pants, I want to go sailing. Kate and I are beginning to make the last few shore trips to provision the boat.

The reason why we stopped for a bit is to do some boat work, in an area where we have access to a vehicle, and there are many support services and marine stores. Perfect for our tasks. However, the longer you stay attached to the land, the harder it is to go, and you find excuses as to why you shouldn’t leave.

Specifically for us, right now, there is some maintenance we are doing. Do we have to do the maintenance here? No. Can it be done anywhere, yes, we have all the tools and parts on the boat to do it. Is it easier here? Yes. It is so much easier when you have a car and can just run to the chandlery to grab a part you need.

This ease though is what keeps you tied into one place. Comfortable living at home prevents many from venturing out onto the seas and “living the dream.” The fact is, it is much easier to sit at home, tied to cable TV, endless high-speed internet, and have a grocery store and a restaurant less than a 5 min car ride away. It is easy to tell your self that you “need” things in order to leave.

This is the trap we all get sucked into and have to work hard to pull ourselves away from the conventions of today’s “normal” society.

Do we need to have all the conveniences of a home on the water? Well, many before us have crossed oceans with no refrigeration, no running watermaker, no hard drive full of movies and music, no computer. We are so used to these things, that it makes it hard to think we can live without them. We can, and we must sometimes choose to live without a convenience, or we will be forever tied to shore.

Do we “need” that extra piece of safety equipment? Well, people have sailed the oceans hundreds or thousands of years before us with little to nothing. No VHF, no Satphone, no Radar, no SSB Radio, no GPS, no Epirb, no Lifejackets. We take all of these things for granted, and many times don’t want to leave the dock unless all are in perfect functioning order. Limiting risk is smart, but there is such a thing as overkill.

I am not saying throw safety to the wind, we equip our boat with the best possible safety gear we can afford. Sometimes you just have to go and hope for the best. We all want the latest-gen lifejacket, the newest EPIRB, the best MOB devices, etc. To tie yourself to shore though waiting for it, will cause you never to leave.

Do you need the latest-gen anchor? Do you need the newest carbon laminate sails? Do you need low stretch halyards? Do you need a code-0? Do you need a watermaker? Do you need, do you need, do you need? No, you don’t.

You may want it. I sure do. It may make life a small percentage easier. Lighter halyards reduce heel while sailing and rolling at anchor. Better sails reduce passage time and allow you to navigate away from bad weather faster. Better safety gear may help you survive or be rescued in an emergency more swiftly. More compact high tech equipment may help you save space in your “tiny house” of a boat.

Should I wait for everything I want? If that is the case, I would be waiting for a long time. I want a 50ft carbon catamaran with rotating wing mast and daggerboards. I want the 6,000 dollar Winslow liferaft. I want the next-gen lifevest with HIT inflater. Would I ever get there? Who knows, maybe, maybe not. But right now, I can go with what I have, be grateful and happy, to enjoy the experience available to me now.

I am not saying we should all throw caution to the wind or live in idiotic bliss like the characters from Dumb n’ Dumber, but in the end, if you really want to send it, you need to just go, man. Just go!