I have not moved from flying to sailing. I do both, but was sailing before I started flying. Not living by the sea, I get to sail only a couple of times every year. On those occasions I fill up a boat with friends and spend a week in various places. Croatia, Sicily, Naples, Corsica, Channel Islands, French Mediterranean… That’s the upside of renting.
I enjoy the elements and being propelled by the wind. No noisy engine or the smell of exhaust going downwind. Very social indeed. Teamwork. Requires planning ahead, anticipating. Sailing in the channel requires careful planning of tides and currents.
Aviathor wrote:
I have not moved from flying to sailing. I do both, but was sailing before I started flying. Not living by the sea, I get to sail only a couple of times every year. On those occasions I fill up a boat with friends and spend a week in various places. Croatia, Sicily, Naples, Corsica, Channel Islands, French Mediterranean… That’s the upside of renting.
Plus 1 !
With exception to Channel Islands (too cold for me !) but add in Caribbean and French Polynesia !
with “interesting” bathroom facilities which mean you get to know everybody on board quite well
It is true that the heads on small sailing yachts do not work quite the way they do at home (although I suppose that depends on where you live), and you have take great care about what you put in there in order to avoid spending the best part of your vacation trying to unclog it. I usually say that nothing goes in that has not been through your bowels. And I stress that with the female gender that has a tendency to use half a roll of toilet paper every time.
whereas the “proper” sailing activities around here seem to all involve all-weekend hanging around and if you don’t do that you aren’t “in”.
I don’t know about that. I suppose there are some yachtclubs that do demand a certain participation from their members, and you have to be a member in order to get a slip. But I have never run into that. I rent, so it is purely a matter of signing the lease, paying and showing up at the agreed place at the agreed time and returning the boat in one piece on time at the right marina.
There is sailing and there is sailing.
Keelboat sailing. You can generally bring a bunch of friends, spend a week or more sailing from one place to another, weighing anchor in a bay far away from the bustling marinas, or at a slip in a marina if you prefer so. Dive, swim, enjoy a meal… relax. Cross the Atlantic… Explore far away places slowly.
Then you have these light crafts you can see at the beach, Optimists, Laser, 420… or cats like the Hobiecats.
A few years ago I had anchored in a bay in Corsica and saw a number of sail boats come in, each manned by 4-6 youngsters. Some of the crews were very successful in mooring at a buoy, while others were totally uncoordinated, didn’t give a damn and some of them fell overboard in the process, started quarreling. One boat even hit a rock wall because they did not manage to tack in time. I realized how good an education sailing was for these teenagers, helping eachother, working as a team, learning to respect and depend on eachother to get the job done.
Another time I was at a the Orikum in Albania, watching a 40-something foot Grand Soleil flying a Dutch flag dock. There were two adults and 3 children aboard. The kids knew exactly what was expected of them and did it in silence. Afterwards the parents went on shore to the marina office. During the time they were gone the children tidied up the boat and we’re done by the time the parents came back.
I firmly believe in the virtue of sailing for education. Living in close quarters requires some social skills, and as Peter pointed out, if it wasn’t the case prior, one get to know eachother pretty well. On a sailboat there is always something that needs to be done. Coiling up cordage, setting sails, steering, reefing, jibing, tacking, cooking, preparing for docking or anchoring, docking, anchoring, securing all belongings before leaving marina or anchorage, cleaning, buying supplies… For everybody to enjoy themselves, it requires participation of everyone onboard. It also requires that noone selfishly spends all the boat’s water supply in the shower or to do dishes because they have an endless supply of sweet water at home, seem to think it is the same onboard and do not understand why they cannot keep the water running to rinse off the dishes.
One challenge when gathering 10-12 people on a boat for a week or more is managing expectations and coming up with a plan that meets everyone’s expectations so nobody gets disappointed about not having done this or disgruntled because someone else was always getting his/her way.
I agree, there is sailing and sailing.
One day I will give up flying for a few years and cruise the world.
Just as with flying you can make the expedition more or less comfortable, but unlike with flying the degree of comfort can be extraordinarily different between cruisers.
I am lucky, with 50 foot, I have a washing machine, tumble dryer, can make as much water as I could wish for, flushing vac loos, fridge, freezer, satellite comms, radar, a/c throughout, Sky TV, 8 Kw Genset and so on, so living aboard is pretty comfortable. For me its just like flying in so many ways, but I cant afford an aircraft that will take me around the world (well not at least in the way I would hope to do it or would want to do it).
What is common to all people who going cruising is the terrific commarandre in the community, the ability to visit some amazing places, and stay as long as you wish, but yet the mental stimulation of knowing that its up to you to make all the systems play together, to keep you and yours safe, negotiate your way up channels, between sand banks and across oceans and hopefully visit a place or two you almost certainly would never do any other way.
Grew up on the water my folks had a motor cruiser on which the family would vacation. It was great for the whole family lots of great memories. But it was a wooden boat but to think back on all the work that was required to keep it in yacht like condition which my father expected took all spring and all fall with every weekend working on it.
I promised myself I would not own a boat. So into aviation I went. Took the family to some out of the way places for vacations.We still had fun. But the plane was like a fast car.
Nowadays if I get the urge, for the price of 2 round trips to Munich from BP I can sail across the Atlantic with music, 1st class dining, entertainment and no stress. I leave the driving to the Capitan.
Unfortunately if Im not stressed I feel like Im missing something. Like today I took some friends for a quick flight 40 mins. Tried to sightsee BP . Unfortunately with all the restricted areas and prohibited areas I had to really be on my toes to avoid them. Flying in valleys over and around the Buda hills. My passengers loved it. Nobody threw up so the turns must have been coordinated.
I know two people who used to do a lot of sailing together, one of which moved from gliding.
He stopped gliding because it was too much hassle, with the drive to get there, waiting for a free glider, waiting for a launch, and spending a whole day to only fly an hour (or minutes in the winter).
Back when they were sailing regularly, they couldn’t believe everything involved for flying to France or the Channel Islands (flightplan, GAR, security, PPR, handling, radio…).
They had great fun for quite a few years, sailing from Lymington down the coast to Devon and Cornwall, around the Isle of Wight, or going to France or the Channel Islands. It might be slow, but the boat sails all the time. I was invited a few times, and I really regret not going, because they made it sound such a peaceful pastime and technical challenge, without the hassle normally found flying longer distances. Maybe when I’m retired…
Essentially they stopped because what’s fun at 30 isn’t fun at 50. Lots of anecdotes, but can be summarised by: sleep deprivation; getting wet; being cold. They once helped another vessel in distress but were seconds too late to save one of the crew, which affected them badly. The turning point was the third sailor (who spent the most money on the boat) increasingly taking charge of everything and treating the other two as crew rather than co-owners
They both have campervans, and mostly go for weekends away with their wives now.
Capitaine wrote:
The turning point was the third sailor (who spent the most money on the boat) increasingly taking charge of everything and treating the other two as crew rather than co-owners
Always the same when you sell a share, or get involved in some financial offset with others. Rarely runs true. I sold a share once in a plane I had. He started mumping that I was flying it more than he…..said that we had to fly equal hours which the 50/50 cost sharing was about. I started to feel guilty about flying my own plane. Eventually we parted company, badly of course because it was all my fault 
It takes all the joy out of it. I bet these people dreaded eventually going to the boat. What a shame.
I bought a beautiful yacht. She is all mine. And yes I have migrated more to sailing than flying. Time again is the buggeration factor though….I need to try and retire.
sleep deprivation; getting wet; being cold
Even less fun at 60
Then there are “more interesting” stories about when you go for a poo and the stuff ends up floating next to the boat, right where the rest of the people are having a swim
I used to know one pilot who moved to sailing who really enjoyed sailing as a total getaway from the grotesquely over-regulated world of aviation. He was German too, so had plenty of choice of places to fly to, compared with most countries in Europe. And the “female scene” was hugely better with a boat; it was almost as good as it is for a man who can cook (which this guy could do also)
Time again is the buggeration factor though
That’s the bit I find harder to understand. One has to get one’s head around the fact that one is not going to actually “go somewhere”. So it may be a sport which really does need company, whereas flying is doable alone (though far from ideal).
I can’t sail in +20kts winds but I can fly in +30kts winds
