May 3, 2016
Today is our four year anniversary. We departed Avalon, CA four years ago today. The class of 2012 (that’s what those departing the Americas in 2012 to cross the pacific are called), of which we were a part, just completed their senior year of Cruising U. Four seasons in the tropics and four seasons of seeking refuge from cyclone season in southern waters!
Now that we’re in NZ again, covering some of the same ground we did our first season here, I see how I’ve changed and grown as a mariner. This came as somewhat of a surprise to me. I thought I was pretty cool before we started this cruise.
I bought my first boat when I was 22 years old – 36 years ago. I spent every free minute on it, boating and diving along the Southern California coast. I’ve had boats, power and sail, almost continually since then.
Twice, we’d sailed to Hawaii from Los Angeles and back, and throughout Mexico’s Sea of Cortez – 15,000 miles before we left Los Angeles for the Marquesas four years ago.
I thought I knew everything, after all, I’d passed my captain’s exam with 100%. What more could I learn?
A lot! I now see that.
Now I know I was kidding myself. From this new prospective as a cruising-high graduate, I know that if I were supreme ruler of the world, I wouldn’t allow a captain’s license to be issued until the applicant had at least this much experience, and maybe more. Only then do you know that they know what they don’t know. (Parse that, if you will!)
I remember talking to a cruiser who’d been out here for a long while. She found out it was our freshman year and said, oh, so you’re still nervous. It didn’t make too much sense to me at the time, but it stuck with me. I took it to mean that things would get easier and that our A to E ratio (Agony to Ecstasy) would improve.
She was right. I was still nervous. (And I’m still nervous, but not as much and appropriately so when I am.) Things that are now trivial for us where major events back then. Anchoring was stressful. Weather planning was frustrating. Passages were a trauma. Navigating amongst reefs was not fun. The A to E ratio was so high that we’d often talk about quitting this silly cruising stuff (probably me more than Cyndi).
Here’s an open letter to the me I was four years ago – when first setting out across the Pacific, from the me I am now…
“Oh, this is your first year? So you’re still nervous!.”
Don’t worry, it gets easier as you go. Freshman year is the worst. Sophomore year is much better but still kind of hard. Junior year was a big sigh of relief for us. We had a lot of fun and very little drama. And our Senior year felt like a victory lap. While I may not have made varsity or lettered at any of the cruising events, we did good.
First-year-Rich, know that this cruising life gets better and better!
Your friend,
Future Rich
Here’s an example of how we’ve changed. The track on the right shows our path around this point four years ago. The one much closer to the point is our most recent path. See? Less nervous.
Technology or Experience?
Both. The experience has made a huge difference but technology has helped a lot. Here are just a few examples:
When we started out, we didn’t have satellite images (KAP files) we could use to navigate. Now, I don’t know what I’d do without them.
I never knew how much I’d come to rely on our smart phone – anchor watch, satellite images when coming into an anchorage, impromptu route planning at the dinner table, internet via a WiFi hotspot, and easy access to grib files for our weather needs to name a few.
AIS has been such a great aid. Big ships often “see us coming” and change course without the previously required negotiation between two people who’s native languages differ, over a bad radio connection.
While we enjoy the technology and how much easier it makes cruising life, we feel we are well prepared, through experience, to take over for these luxuries should they break down.
So now we’re sitting in Nelson on New Zealand’s South Island, getting Legacy ready to go again and waiting for a weather window. Our first year of “graduate school” will include New Caledonia (again) and Vanuatu (for the first time). I’m not sure I love passages yet but I can’t imagine not living this cruising life. Those of you thinking about doing this… come on in, the water’s fine! Just remember, each year gets easier. -Rich
