I came across the following poem which I think says it all about this cruising lifestyle:

Mother and Father go sailing, you know
Every autumn they pack up and go
Far from the winds and the cold and the snow,
South to the sun and the sea.
I love to think of them sailing there,
The blue of the water, the gold of the air.
Skimming the whitecaps without a care;
Imagine a life so free.
I build up a picture of sea and sky:
Of lazy harbors and bays drifting by.
I build up this image of pie-in-the-sky;
Till their first letter reaches me.

Oh! The propeller shaft is knocking
And the fuel injector's clogged.
There is dry rot in the transom
And the hull is waterlogged.
The heat exchanger's bugged up
And it won't exchange its heat.
When the spinnaker blew out last night;
We lost another cleat.
But, in spite of these small incidents,
When all is said and done;
It's great to spend our holidays
sailing in the sun.

Mother and Father are sailing, you know,
Down in the south where the fair winds blow,
Basking all day in the warm sun's glow
While sea birds circle and dive.
I think of them strolling the silver shore,
Small dinghy bobbing, the flash of an oar;
Sleek hull shadowing ocean's floor.
Then a second letter arrives.

Oh! We lost both anchors overboard
And now the gasket's blown.
A connecting rod has broken
And the piston rings have gone.
Some moron ran aground last night
And blocked the harbor's mouth.
But we couldn't leave here anyway;
The wind's not from the south.
But, in spite of these small incidents,
When all is said and done,
It's great to spend our holidays
sailing in the sun.

Yes, Mother and Father are sailing today;
Crisp bow throwing a fine salt spray.
Sails stretched taut as they cleave their way,
Through the crystal waters clear.
I like to think of them browned by the sun,
Enjoying the speed of a long clear run,
To a small still bay when day is done.
But a third letter is here.

Oh! The captain gets quite anxious,
When the oil pressure drops.
The main bearing seizes solid
And the halyard ties in knots.
We hit a small reef yesterday,
So now the bilge is full.
And he says the blasted bilge pump,
Is clogged with knitting wool!
But in spite of these small incidents,
When all is said and done,
It's great to spend our holidays
sailing in the sun.

From: The Cruising K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple System) Cookbook
Written by: Corinne C. Kanter