10 Signs That It's Time to Move On

 

We once heard that the two happiest days of a sailor's life were when he bought that shiny new boat, ready to begin the dream of sailing off to far away, exotic places, and the day he sold that same old hulk, which required piles of money and a full time commitment just to keep it afloat. In our book, the former is true, but we doubt the latter will ever be true. It will truly break our hearts if and when the day comes that we have to part with Nine of Cups.

Now that we have our boat, for us, the two happiest days are when we arrive at a new port after a long passage, when we are eager and excited to explore it, sample the new culture and food, and meet the local people, and then the day we leave that port, heading for some new, exotic port of call. No matter how wonderful each place is, there comes a point when we know it is time to leave. Here are our top ten indicators that it is time to move on:

1.  The “A-List” chores are completed, and we are starting work on the “B-List” items. Some ports are so wonderful, we are actually beginning to do a few “C-List” items.

2.  The local green grocer and chandlery owner not only recognize us, but know us by our first names.

3.  That crisp new map we got from the local tourist info kiosk is now dog-eared and almost unreadable.

4.  We know where the locals eat and all the shortcuts to get there.

5.  We've figured out the local names for all the weird fruits and vegetables, we know how much the locals pay for them, and even how to prepare them.

6.  Those clean sheets we put on the bed when we arrived are now in the dirty laundry bin, but the rest of the laundry is clean.

7.  Our route to the next port is plotted and we've started looking at passage weather forecasts.

8.  The propane tanks are full. The fuel tanks are full. The water tanks are full. The lockers are restocked with provisions.

9.  Marcie has started researching and making up a list of the sights to see at our next port, while David has started a new to-do list.

10.  We are getting antsy, really antsy, to move on.

Mauritius has been a wonderful port to visit... but now it is time to move on.

FAQ: Do you two ever get tired of traveling?

 

We're asked quite regularly if we're tired of traveling after all these years aboard. Let's think about that for a nanosecond … NO! I guess I could end it there, but would make for a very short blog. I guess I should elaborate because there are some caveats to that unequivocal “no”.

I'd say we don't tire of traveling, but we do tire of some trips, some locations and some situations. It's more like getting antzy to move on or conversely, looking forward to staying somewhere for awhile. When we're in an anchorage and the weather prevents us from going ashore, for instance, we don't like that aspect of things much. When we sailed for 30 days from Easter Island to Ecuador having to hand-steer because the autopilot was broken (and so was the back-up!), the starter motor crapped out so no engine, the head wasn't working and the list goes on … I'd say we were pretty tired of that trip by the time we reached Ecuador. But tired of traveling in general? No way.

I require some nesting time every few months … a chance to collect myself, put down some temporary roots and get cleaned up and organized after a long passage or even lots of day trips between ports of call. This “nesting time”, as we call it, usually figures well into the schedule because by the time I need to stop for a bit, David has a long list of things to fix on the boat, needs parts and a place to make repairs. It doesn't have to be long … a couple of weeks, maybe, and then I'm good to go. In fact, usually anxious to go.

We figured that the travel bug would have run its course after 14 years, but it really hasn't. Every time we arrive at a place, we're anxious to explore, but at the same time, we have the travel guides out figuring what's next, what's down the road, where to now? The lure of the next place.

I'm thinking that sitting in our rocking chairs at home knitting mittens or whittling little wooden animals is never going to be enough for us. For now, at least, wanderlust is still strong. If you want a look at where we've traveled thus far, check out the Passages link above, and for more photos and insight into our travels check out our website.