Could I be going off sailing?

30boat

30boat

N/A
Joined
26 Oct 2001
Messages
8,558
Location
Portugal
Visit site
There was a time when I'd get afloat on every weekend .I'd spend loads of money on the boat and just being afloat would make me happy.These days I just don't know anymore.I still love sailing but I feel more detached.It could be just a phase I guess and perhaps all I need to get that feeling back is a good day's sailing.But I worry that I've gone off it.I've been doing this all my life but this winter we've had such miserable weather (by the Algarve's standards)that I've neglected the boat a bit.I still check on her and everything but the old rush just isn't there.Maybe this is just a low and a high will follow.I certainly hope so because the market is terrible for selling...
 
Don't worry about it. I often feel the same about sailing. Yes you can get sailed out. A nice outing will fix your blues. On the other hand there is nothing wrong with moving on to another interest. We only sail because we want to. So you do what you want to do.
Just follow your nose and as the weather improves I think you will find the urge. good luck olewill
 
I found I went off actually sailing a bit a while back because I was doing the wrong kind of sailing. I'd ended up in high performance dinghies and other fast machines, when all I really wanted to do was potter around like I did when I was a kid. In the end I sold up and just sat back and thought about it until I was drawn back in.
 
Everything changes, but in retrospect we often mistake the nature of that change! On the plus side, I doubt that the Algarve has been as bad as the last twelve months in the UK. Sailing last year was mostly cold, wet and a rather rough ride - great for young macho types, but I'm getting on a bit now. The winter has been worse and it's been difficult to visit the boat, let alone get any work done.

In my case, my crew of many years standing has succumbed to his general state of health and with the arrival of his first grandchild, no longer wants to get away every weekend. Couple that with my own decline (anno domini) and once the weather improves I need to make a concerted effort to find new, strong, healthy crew who don't need a tea break every time they winch in the genoa. I don't now which way this will take me - cruising, racing or maybe find I must sell up and find a boat to crew on myself. I just know that I want to be involved still, just that the present situation isn't working.

Rob.
 
Probably a bit to do with the exceptional winter on the Algarve last year - about half a days rain between 1 Nov and 17 Mar, by my reckoning. We feel the same at the moment; a few sunny days will sort it out :)
 
chinita said:
Probably a bit to do with the exceptional winter on the Algarve last year - about half a days rain between 1 Nov and 17 Mar, by my reckoning. We feel the same at the moment; a few sunny days will sort it out :)
Click to expand...
I wish,we've got moss everywhere this year,can't wait for the sun.
 
30boat said:
There was a time when I'd get afloat on every weekend .I'd spend loads of money on the boat and just being afloat would make me happy.These days I just don't know anymore.I still love sailing but I feel more detached.It could be just a phase I guess and perhaps all I need to get that feeling back is a good day's sailing.But I worry that I've gone off it.I've been doing this all my life but this winter we've had such miserable weather (by the Algarve's standards)that I've neglected the boat a bit.I still check on her and everything but the old rush just isn't there.Maybe this is just a low and a high will follow.I certainly hope so because the market is terrible for selling...
Click to expand...

I once went off sailing when I had a bereavement. Have you had any life event that might have dented your enthusiasm for life? I recovered my enthusiasm in due course.
 
30boat said:
There was a time when I'd get afloat on every weekend .I'd spend loads of money on the boat and just being afloat would make me happy.These days I just don't know anymore.I still love sailing but I feel more detached.It could be just a phase I guess and perhaps all I need to get that feeling back is a good day's sailing.But I worry that I've gone off it.I've been doing this all my life but this winter we've had such miserable weather (by the Algarve's standards)that I've neglected the boat a bit.I still check on her and everything but the old rush just isn't there.Maybe this is just a low and a high will follow.I certainly hope so because the market is terrible for selling...
Click to expand...

Better just jack it in!!
Then you will know if you had gone off it or not
 
Enya said:
I once went off sailing when I had a bereavement. Have you had any life event that might have dented your enthusiasm for life? I recovered my enthusiasm in due course.
Click to expand...

Nothing really,apart from this crippling crisis.Things should improve soon in the money department,maybe that's it.
 
I think it's all a matter of setting yourself goals.

I started sailing again after my wife died, 9 years ago. I returned to the UK from France and bought a boat. I had an aim then, I wanted to sail to Falmouth, where I'd been sailing before on someone else's boat, and I did twice, singlehanded. Since then, maybe the challenge has now gone.

I've now married again, so maybe the boating isn't giving me enough challenge.

I've now got to find a new goal.

I've always wanted to sail round the UK, so maybe that's the goal the I need.
 
How about getting another hobby to compliment sailing e.g. something for the winter and poor weather days - I have always been into classic cars/bikes and lastly boats. You may already have another interest but i find you can get bogged down/bored with just one toy!

After a 9 month wait I've only just got my Crabber in the water but the weather has been so bad, with time on my hands I've been seriously looking into building a Caterham, the plan is to put the Crabber on the market in 4-5 months go back to creek crawling/local coastal sailing with the Drascombe (MUCH less hassle/work/cost than a bigger boat and probably more rewarding for me!) and get stuck into building a great little motor - can't wait :D
 
Last edited:
Malcb said:
I've now married again, so maybe the boating isn't giving me enough challenge.
Click to expand...

We are all different; I don't look for a challenge. I like to cruise in company with good convo and food, in the sun and even the gloom. Yes, this doesn't always go to plan, but it is what I want and indeed need. The freedom is very much a recharge. In Jan I went out in a snowstorm - very pretty but not very nice - but it was exhilarating and did recharge. Boat is currently ashore - I hate that - my bolthole and escape is denied to me. Nothing better than a cup of boat tea, even in a marina, feeling the gentle bob.

For me, it is the only way to get peace and tranquility. To misquote Dr. Johnson, if you are tired of sailing or boats....

And yes, the cost! Best ignored. I've gone hungry for sake of boat and it has been worth it even if for those few perfect days of the year.

So... Get on board with some mates (not partner) and set sail and set the world right with happy conversation and comradeship and be happy that you get somewhere else with nothing more than a breeze behind you.
 
I go through phases of hating sailing sometimes. It usually corresponds to spending too much time fixing the damn boat and not enough time actually sailing ! a friend of mine had a T-shirt with a slogan on the back. Allthough about golf it could be changed slightly and applied to sailing. The shirt read:
I hate this game
I hate this game
I hate this game
'Good shot'
I love this game.

Chris
 
30boat said:
There was a time when I'd get afloat on every weekend .I'd spend loads of money on the boat and just being afloat would make me happy.These days I just don't know anymore.I still love sailing but I feel more detached.It could be just a phase I guess and perhaps all I need to get that feeling back is a good day's sailing.But I worry that I've gone off it.I've been doing this all my life but this winter we've had such miserable weather (by the Algarve's standards)that I've neglected the boat a bit.I still check on her and everything but the old rush just isn't there.Maybe this is just a low and a high will follow.I certainly hope so because the market is terrible for selling...
Click to expand...

Worrying about no longer being keen non something is bordering on the neurotic! Do what interests you. Dont do what no longer interests you. Simples.
 
In my experience, if you do something too much, you eventually lose enthusiasm. I have a number of hobbies, tinkering with motorbikes, flying RC helicopters, photography, tinkering with boats, outboards etc and of course sailing.
I tend to find that they all have equal importance but the 'cycle' is usually 3 months for each.
It's funny though that sailing is always the constant, usually from December through to Spring I'm chomping at the bit waiting for the weather to turn so I can get out on the water again!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top