Reflections of first two months long term cruising

[Pavalijo]

From the blogs I read for 5 years before setting off I am expecting the Rias to be a real highlight - with a few bloggers regretting having made a commitment to meet someone off the plane in the Algarve 6 weeks after setting off.
I wanted to miss out southern Brittany as we have holidayed there, but SWMBO insisted - and here we are having a great summer. We will go home for winter but current thinking for next year is 2 months France and 3 months Rias - and then maybe another year in the Rias.
We learned the strategy of no schedule from friends who set off from Plymouth in June expecting to winter in the Med - but who took 3 years to get there.
Other friends set off last October intending to be in the Caribbean for Christmas. I suggested they should think about Algarve for the winter - good climate and live aboard community. So after 8 days at sea they popped in to Lagos, booked in for the winter - currently still in the Algarve and booked to winter again in Lagos this year.
The lesson I learned from blogs and these friends is simply have a vague idea of the direction of travel but no firm plans!
Fair winds
Paul

 

[capnsensible]

I spent many years sailing the Straits and was really looking forward to the Tanger Marina opening. Missed it! Would enjoy hearing about your experiences there.

:encouragement:

 

[stranded]

I spent many years sailing the Straits and was really looking forward to the Tanger Marina opening. Missed it! Would enjoy hearing about your experiences there.

:encouragement:

Yes - I suspect there might be a few funny stories to tell...

 

[tcm]

Thanks for the great write-up, Nooka. Do we get a bit more info about the crew? Are you early escapees (under 50) or earlier retirees (low fifties) gnarly older bunch (72+) or usual suspects (55-71?) ? I’d sign up for theARC or the Odyssey for transat adventure earlier rather than later, and return to med later but that’s just me. I think it a great idea to have plans that are off-boat too, but i suppose that means it’s more expensive really...