50 Things Cruising Taught Me
By Dennis Mullen •
Posted: Jan 23, 2013
After spending a year cruising around the world, Dennis Mullen
learned a thing or two. He shared his top 10 list in our April '12 issue, but
we couldn't help sharing the top 50 things cruising taught him aboard Different Drummer.
1. “Port’s left, starboard’s right, and there are no ropes on a
boat!” This was my friend Roudy Roudebush’s only response when I told him
Marlene and I bought a catamaran to sail the world.
2. Your dinghy is your lifeline to civilization. Groceries,
exploring, transporting guests and garbage, whatever, your dinghy is your
friend.
3. Two-stroke engines suck.
4. Do not sail over the wreck of Blackbeard the Pirate’s
flagship Queen Anne’s
Revenge, sunken in the Beaufort, North Carolina inlet. Sailing over his
sunken ship is said to be bad juju. We did it shortly before our first engine
blew up.
5. The captain of the vessel should know every inch, every wire
and every plug of the boat and be prepared to fix it when it fails.
6. When in question whether or not to stay put, and you are in a
safe harbor, and things “look iffy out there,” stay put.
7. Read. A lot.
8. Big anchor, lots of chain = successful anchorage.
Usually.
9. Piracy is alive and well. The only person selling diesel fuel
to cruisers on the entire length of the Pamlico River, a pirate I won’t name,
was able to pump thirty-four gallons of diesel fuel into my thirty gallon aft
tank. At $4.48 a gallon.
10. “Red Right Returning." Though not always true, this
adage refers to buoys that mark the channels where the deep water is, which is
where you want to be. Green buoys are on the left, reds are on the right
when you are returning from the sea. Theoretically, this keeps you from running
aground.
11.
Most of the news we miss has an insignificant effect on our lives, anyway. We
have no television and radio reception is sketchy at best. Freedom from
information.
12. Be suspicious of NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Association) weather forecasts. We left a beautiful, safe anchorage in
sailing for Ocracoke Island. Using NOAA’s weather forecast of “light and
variable winds, building late afternoon from the east,” we should have had an
easy sail to the Ocracoke Inlet. Reality was 25 knot winds on our nose all day
long, causing us to arrive just before dark.
13. Never enter an unfamiliar anchorage or unfamiliar inlet
after dark.
14. “Sea” buoy, and “C” buoy sound the same over radio and
telephone. When entering the Ocracoke Inlet from the Atlantic Ocean, going
around the “sea” buoy will get you safely inside the inlet. Going around the
“C” buoy can sink your boat.
15. “Charts” are navigational aids that tell you what you just
ran into.
16. Meltdowns happen.
17. Cruising is 90 percent sheer boredom and 10 percent sheer
terror and you never know when the 10 percent is going to hit.
18. Everything tastes better on the boat.
19. When you buy a powerboat, throw away your watch. When you
buy a sailboat, throw away your calendar.
20. Annapolis, to a history buff, is about as cool as it gets.
You can walk the same streets and drink in the same taverns that George
Washington, Tom Jefferson and Ben Franklin did.
21. A boat can be self-sustaining for two weeks. We create our
own electricity with four solar panels and a wind generator from Trinidad. Our
150 gallons of fresh water is used sparingly, but we try not to smell bad. The
freezer freezes and the fridge keeps the beer cold.
22. Boats leak.
23. A fouled anchor can ruin your day in paradise.
24.
Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure. It’s all up to
you.
25. The sound of krill eating the growth on the outside of your
hulls is very unsettling until you learn what it is. Once you learn, it becomes
a comfort knowing that your hulls are being cleaned.
26. Anchoring alone can be terrifying. Dragging anchor at 0300
in unexpected gale-force winds when everything is pitch-black will leave you
wanting for your mommy.
27. Parts for boats make parts for Harley-Davidsons seem
reasonably priced.
28. Always have a spare everything.
29. Sitting in the cockpit with a fresh cup of hot coffee as the
sun comes up over the Atlantic Ocean is the best morning buzz that I know.
30. Clothing becomes optional and unnecessary.
31. If you don’t have what you need, make something else work.
32. Never drink before the boat is secure on anchor, mooring or
dock. Period.
33. You can always try one more thing.
34. Living with someone for six months on a sailboat is a study
in interpersonal relationships in confined spaces. Work it out. You can’t go
for a walk.
35. When you enter a town by car, you remain a visitor. When you
enter a town by boat, you immediately become part of the community.
36. Most boats handle storms better than most people handle
storms.
37. Pelicans are cool. Seeing a dozen or more brown pelicans
flying in straight-line formation 6 inches above the Pamlico Sound will stop
you in your tracks.
38. Always try to have the anchor set by 1620.
39. Grocery stores are never close to the waterfront and carts
don’t cut it. We have been amazed by the generosity of complete strangers who
offer us rides.
40. Fouling your propeller will bring the engine to an immediate
stop.
41. Backing up your boat is an adventure in itself. Every time.
42. Diesel oil is like black paint that won’t dry.
43. Hurricanes, even category-one hurricanes, mess things up for
a very long time.
44. There are turtles the size of Volkswagens in Cape Lookout
Bight, which is perfectly protected and virtually unchanged since Blackbeard
anchored there.
45. My wife is much better at the helm than I, but our autopilot
steers a straighter course than either of us.
46. For $25, you can rent a mooring ball on the York River at
Yorktown, Virginia, and see the monument where British Gen. Cornwallis
surrendered to George Washington, ending the Revolutionary War.
47. For $35, you can rent a mooring ball in the Annapolis Harbor
and walk up to the Capitol Building where you can stand on the exact spot
where, in 1793, George Washington said, “I quit.”
48. We
have logged over 4,000 miles on our boat from Key Largo to the top of the
Chesapeake Bay at an average speed of 6 mph. But what a way to see the U.S.
49. Never turn around to retrieve hats that have blown off
people’s heads. My percentage rate is 100 percent. I have never turned around
for any of them.
50. Weather is scary. A beautiful, clear day suddenly became a
tornado warning with demonic winds, torrential rain falling sideways, and
lightning exploding around the boat. Then the sun came out and everything was
fine. “They come on ya fast, and they leave ya fast!”
