I retired and moved aboard Kelly Rae almost 11 years ago – April 1 2006 was the pivotal date. While it is constantly amazing to me that so much time has gone by, so much water has passed under KR’s keel and so many harbors and countries have been visited and enjoyed, I certainly recognize that I am no long-standing bastion of the cruising world. While anchored in Pipe Creek earlier this week there was a couple on a boat moored next to me who had spent their winters here for the last 27 years! By comparison, I am still just a newbie.

And yet, I have been doing this long enough now to see clearly so many changes in boats, gear and technology that have in the past and will continue in the future to change the cruising life. Any full listing of these changes would be ridiculously long – far too long and involved for the short essays which make up this blog. And, a complete listing is not my interest in composing this.

Let me start this way: I chose to buy a boat and move aboard at my retirement for three basic reasons. First, I love the water. Second, I love boats. And third, after 35 years of (mostly) living in and loving the mountains of Colorado while enjoying an occasional ocean fix, I chose to reverse this in retirement. In retirement I would (literally) immerse myself in the ocean and enjoy more occasional mountain time.

The guiding stars that I have used in navigating this 11-year process have been those which would lead to an at times adventurous but always more deliberate/less anxious life and would allow a higher level of connection to the cruising community that we share or the local communities that we visit.

My guess is that while the individual interests and passions of cruisers vary widely – most could agree with the above mission statement.

And yet, we as cruisers continue to make choices on boats, gear and technologies which, while not intentionally causing us to abandon these goals, though the law of “unintended consequences”, have had just that affect.

I remember my musician friends, Stan and Cora on Ambler, (first met a few years ago in Honduras) bemoaning the fact that cruisers no longer were going out for cocktail hours or for the evening. This fact had a dramatic effect on their livelihood as their live performances at cruiser’s bar/restaurants drew fewer paying customers. They were finding it increasingly difficult to support their cruising life with their music.

They felt that this trend was initially driven by the increasing size and comfort of cruising boats.

Kelly Rae’s 34’ length was considered large in her day – 30 years ago. Now, any boat less than 40’ is considered to be “roughing it”. When I meet others with boats similar in size to KR we jokingly refer to ourselves as “dinghy sailors”. And, with the availability of furling sails, power winches, electric windlasses and other labor minimizing gear, 45, 50 or even 55’ foot boats are becoming the norm. Catamarans of this length but with two hulls connected by a full size condominium style salon are becoming even more ubiquitous.

Why ever leave such commodious spaces?

Along with the larger size of boats, technology has brought an ever-increasing variety of onboard entertainment. Cruisers at first stayed home just to watch one of the hundreds of movies that they had on board (I admit to being guilty of this) but slowly, as onboard internet became more common, the attraction of web surfing/Facebook/YouTube/etc took over. Now, all the comforts and internet distractions of home are onboard.

I see the benefits -but bemoan the change in our cruising lifestyle. One need never leave one’s boat for entertainment again!

I remember very fondly my first visit to Staniel Cay over 10 years ago. The Staniel Cay Yacht Club was THE cruiser’s social hub in the central Bahamas. Cruisers would gather there every day and many evenings to use the wifi connection, enjoy a few Kalik’s (that’s Bahamian for Beer, Mon), dinner and/or lunch and enjoy some pleasant camaraderie. And, SCYC had a rule that I always respected: “No computers at the bar!” Wifi had to be used at the back tables – the bar was for live people communicating with live people. If only rules of that type were possible in the screen-infested world of today!

Two years ago when I arrived at Staniel, I was told by the bartender that the “Wifi had not worked for the last two weeks” (or “last two months” depending on which bartender you talked to). Interestingly, two years later they are still making the same claim. Needless to say this reflects a business decision – not a terminally dysfunctional router. SCYC came to the completely understandable realization that the people arriving on large power boats and the guests at their waterfront cabins were far more profitable customers than cruisers. In point of fact, even a gaggle of cruisers hanging about drinking beers can’t come close to generating the revenue stream of one large fuel-guzzling power boat and its hungry/thirsty crew – and the cruisers would get in the way of these better customers. So – no Wifi!

I respect SCYC’s business decision (Believing fully in capitalism) but clearly voted my dollars against it. They received not a dime of business from me two years ago and not a dime this year. Instead I had lunch at the little restaurant down the beach and used their wifi.

It is true, however, that the choices of cruisers have made such business decisions more common. Many boats today have installed wifi booster antennas which can pick up a shore based wifi network and allow connection up to 2-3 miles away. Therefore, once the code is known to any cruiser (and soon thereafter to every cruiser in the harbor) we yachties can simply sit on our boats using the service but never buying a beer – and too many do just that. This will eventually mean fewer and fewer wifi hotspots available – a loss certainly. More importantly – it is the loss of the camaraderie (the physical connection with other cruisers) that I mourn.

The advent of ubiquitous and relatively reliable cell data connections here (as everywhere) has exacerbated this trend towards more isolation. It is now possible to be almost as well connected electronically and just as poorly connected personally as if you had never left home!

I read a great deal and have found great value in using my iPad to download and enjoy periodicals such as National Geographic, Cruising World and Practical Sailor. I admit that a good Sunday for me is one when I can download the Sunday New York Times and therefore have its diverse and interesting cross section of articles to look forward to reading over the course of the coming week. I have also read and enjoyed digital books – despite preferring the paper kind.

All of these uses of our screens (and so many other uses) have added great value and entertainment to the cruising life.

But there are “unintended consequences”. Book exchanges, once ubiquitous in all cruisers’ hangouts and once filled with a rich and diverse crop of books to be browsed and harvested, have become fewer, less well stocked and, to be honest, a bit dusty. A Kindle is a great reading device but the only connection created is that with Amazon’s servers. A good book exchange creates a connection with other readers and cruisers.

Further, is there a gift more happily given or received than a book recently read, enjoyed, recommended and passed along person to person? This still exists but is diminished by today’s technology.

My cruising friends with inflatable dinghies and outboards are very used to my derisive comments about “deflatables” (since these “boats” are all too often in the process of doing just that). And, I will go to my grave expounding the gospel truth that outboards are evil and clearly the invention of the Devil himself.

Having said that, I absolutely recognize that the decision to embrace the dark side of dinghies can be a very reasonable choice. Even I will admit, when pressed, that rowing would be far more difficult if there were two or more people on KR routinely needing transport. And, fishing or snorkeling expeditions with 3-4 people are more likely and far more enjoyable when the boat used for the purpose will do 20 knots on plane.

So, while I may make jokes, I am not actually speaking against what is clearly the most common, and often the most reasonable, choice for many cruisers.

I have, however, noticed what I consider to be a disturbing trend. I state my theorem as follows: “The larger the RIB Inflatable and the larger and more powerful the outboard motor, the less likely it is that it will come down off plane long enough to actually meet the people anchored nearby”. I do not profess to be able to propose a clear causal relationship between these facts but I stand by my observation.

Does this sound like a general indictment? I don’t intend it to be. My friends Mike and Dee on Rita Marie present a clear counter argument. I have always respected the fact that a common cocktail hour choice for them is to take their drinks along for an extended, slow speed, quiet putt-putt around the harbor in their large, high-powered dinghy. They prove that these craft can operate at a wide range of speeds. I think that this is a great idea – one which I would partake of as well if only I could figure out how to row in a straight line while simultaneously drinking!

We all make our own choices on the cruising lifestyle that will best suit who we are and what we want from our lives. While constantly evolving, I have, for the moment at least, made mine.

I will row or sail my lovely little Fatty Knees dink (or paddle the kayak) around the harbor meeting and talking with those on interesting boats, or those with interesting hailing ports or those who are (conveniently) just sitting in their cockpits wanting to talk.

I will resist the temptation to move towards being constantly “connected” electronically and depend instead on the Winlink emails possible to send and receive through my SSB radio or on the occasionally available wifi hotspot where I can enjoy a cold beer or cup of coffee and, at the same time, a bit of social time with my fellow cruisers.

And, I will do my best to both sow and harvest good books in any book exchange that I stumble across in my travels while sharing the best ones with those people that I meet.

Best to all.

PS. The pic shows an anchored KR framed by the remaining pilings of a long since storm-destroyed dock in Rock Sound, Eleuthera.