Last month we returned from a week long sailing trip with my brother-in-law and wife.  It was further down the Mexican West coast than I’ve been before.  To my delight the terrain was green with bushes and trees.  The water was glorious.  And the sea life was plentiful.  We had ourselves a great time.

We returned home and we had our typical response to our sailing vacations.  How much longer can we wait before we get our plan going?  Can we go earlier?  How much money do we “really” need to sustain our cruising? …  and more questions like that.  It happens each time we return from sailing.

This time, we sat down with the short term and long term budget and goals.   So much to factor in and still the unknown to factor in.  We do know the value of our house has exceeded our 2019 goal already.  That is certainly a plus that will come in handy now or later. The second half of that equation is how much more and would it cover the difference of leaving two years earlier?

It doesn’t matter how you look at cruising, it will come down to the money at some point.  Your money + your style of cruising = how much you need.  We are currently reading The Voyager’s Handbook – The Essential Guide to Bluewater Cruising by Beth A. Leonard.  Beth describes three types of cruisers, the Simplicity, the Moderation, and the Highlife.  According to her description our plans fall under the Moderations.  And now I wonder, can we cruise for less than the Moderation and much more than Simplicity and still enjoy ourselves?

Current numbers vs numbers in 2 years vs numbers in 4 years.  Can the house equity cover the 2 yr?  Stay tuned and we will let know when we find out.

~Fair Winds

You know how with any new sport or activity you typically need to outfit yourself with correct gear. Whether it is running shoes if you plan to run that 10Ks, a paddle if you want to join that dragon boat team, a backpack and essential gear because you prefer to hike away from it all, a road bike if you decided to participate in cycling events, a swimsuit if you race in triathlons (note I already have the shoes and bike at this point), a cross bike for Cyclocross Races, and now boating gear!  There is always some kind of gear you need for most activities.  If you are like me, you like gear and may have collected a bunch over the past years.

For a couple of reasons I have slowly purged some of the above items over many year.  Reason #1: I’m not using them anymore.  Reason #2: and more importantly, I will not have room for said items on our boat.

But that didn’t stop me from purchasing more gear for my newest enjoyment; Sailing!  There is so much one can purchase to increase your enjoyment.  And then there is the minimum if you are willing to deal with a little discomfort.  I run kind of in the middle of these two measures.  However, I will purchase the necessities to stay safe on any boat.  My first was a PFD (personal floating device).  The purchase was in the mid-range of choices and I’m been happy with it’s performance.  We purchased it over 5 years ago.

I purchased a West Marine Off-Shore PFD and it has the harness so you can be lifted out of the water if necessary.  However, if you are looking for something for the in-shore, try this PFD may be what you are looking for.

My next post will share why I received my next sailing gear.

Happy Sails,

~DharmaGirl