{"id":777,"date":"2004-07-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-07-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=777"},"modified":"2009-04-15T09:00:20","modified_gmt":"2009-04-15T14:00:20","slug":"s_logs-dashew-dashew223","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/s_logs-dashew-dashew223\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
We asked all our cruising contributors to write about the five most common mistakes they see when people first start out cruising.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

When we started cruising-in the olden days-we were experienced racers, but did not have a clue about cruising (especially in the tropics). We went through the usual learning experience that everyone did (and to some extent still does). However, we had two big advantages compared to cruisers setting off today. There was very little specialized gear available for cruising boats, and we were on a super tight micro budget.<\/p>\n

Fast forward almost 30 years and things have changed a lot. There is a huge array of safety, performance, and ambiance-influencing gear from which to chose. Taking time to acquire this extra “stuff” requires that the cruising kitty be built up, and time spent deciding on what to get, and then installing it. <\/p>\n

Which brings us to mistake #1-spending too much time deciding what to buy, where and how to install it, and\/or waiting around trying to save when you could be going sooner with a simpler, less costly vessel. <\/p>\n

The second mistake we see neophytes making is not making personal seamanship skills a priority. If you look at all the things which make for successful cruising and those which make for unhappy cruises, in the end these are often related to seamanship (or a lack thereof). But there is never enough time for it all. If you concentrate on getting your land bound life in order and the boat loaded with gear, it is rare to have the time to get up to speed on the basics of seamanship and weather forecasting. Our suggestion is to make this the number one priority, and then with whatever time is left over, deal with the rest of the process.<\/p>\n

The most costly mistake we see being made is trying to make decisions on boat or equipment without real world cruising experience. If you haven’t lived with a boat for two or three months straight, and haven’t done an ocean passage or two, there is no way to make the correct decisions on the right boat or equipment. Starting in on the process without experience guarantees that you will waste a chunk of your cruising budget on wrong decisions. We think it is much better to get a simple, inexpensive boat as a learning tool and then get your feet wet. If this is not practical, then at a minimum check out one of the offshore passaging schools and make at least one ocean passage. It will save you a bunch of time and money! <\/p>\n

The hardest thing to know is what you don’t need. There is so much compelling looking gear available today. Most of the people we see cruising start out with not only too much boat related systems, but also too much personal stuff and spares aboard. This relates back to experience. Generally speaking, the more experience you have, the less stuff you will carry on board. <\/p>\n

The final common mistake we see is trying to force too many systems into too small a space. This applies to builders as well as those getting ready to cruise. In order for the crew to be able to practice preventative maintenance-in other words stay ahead of problems-there needs to be good access to the equipment in question. Take water makers, for example. If we cannot install one where it can be watched and checked for leaks and other problems, then we would not fit it. The same applies to fridge compressors, gensets, inverters, air conditioning, and heating systems. Bottom line is that a majority of boats under 50 feet (15M) have to make choices. There is simply not enough room for all of this gear plus personal belongings, and still have space for maintenance. Decide what is most important, and leave the rest home. You will spend less in front, less on maintenance, while eliminating lots of potential frustration!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We asked all our cruising contributors to write about the five most common mistakes they see when people first start …Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dashew-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}