The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

Cutting The Ties That Bind

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For various reasons we spent most of the summer at our cabin in Nova Scotia, working way too much and sailing way too little. While preparing to get back out cruising, we were once again reminded of the difficulties and sheer work of leaving a land base: Get car ready for storage, store same, move all the stuff that had migrated from boat to cottage back to boat, winterise cottage, set up mail pick up, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Don’t get me wrong, we really like the feeling of security that having a land base confers: a place to retreat to if disaster should strike us or the boat. And our land base is near ideal for our needs:

  • Small, primitive and uncomfortable enough that we don’t get too attached to it. In fact we are generally more comfortable on the boat and consider Morgan’s Cloud our primary home.
  • A large and well equipped basement workshop for boat projects.
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  • A huge storm mooring off our own waterfront in a sheltered cove.
  • Cheap enough to maintain that we don’t have to rent it, so we know that it is always available if we need it.
  • Easy and relatively quick to winterise with no drywall to be damaged by freeze/thaw cycles.

Yes, on balance we like having “Base Camp”, as we call it. But there are times when we wonder if the cruisers that just sell everything and go light have not got it right. What’s your ideal solution? Leave a comment.

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Ken Walker

Don’t know if you are in Cape Breton, but it is a wonderful place. Tied up in St Peters a few weeks back and head south from there in early November and only wish I had the time to do some cruising in Bras d’Or in the meantime. That area looks to me to be the right place for a land base.

Robert in Norway

With prices for both homes and boats on the way down, now and for the foreseeable future, the consequences of leaving the bubble housing market are less dramatic. But still I would always keep a home on land somewhere. I just have too much stuff that I will not part with, and boats have too many ways to go by the bye. If a person asks me, I would say get a cheaper boat and keep the house. Useable boats are dirt cheap for the time being, so economy has less to say. And I know that after two or three years of continual cruising, I have had enough for a while and enjoy being at home.

Matt

It’s a truly handsome yacht you keep! I’ve been following your posts closely over the past few months and I think the shot you’ve included here is the best I’ve seen of her. She looks great – elegant, strong, and very seaworthy. She’s a yacht to be inspired by. And a yacht to aspire towards!

Cheers

Matt
(Australia)

Westbrook

Any time you are lonely for life ashore, Cindy and I will be happy to let you mow our lawn.

bernard douteau

we are buying a boat now. Our commitment is 2 years to the project hail or shine. So we are keeping our home, because we feel it is the better reasonable way (a family member will contractually live there). Hopefully 2 years out we will have defined how we will carry on. However I am not worried about that part because it will have matured on its very own. Who knows, maybe we will end up in a high place in the mountains…