The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

There Be Adventurers


I recently wrote a post on spreading happiness, inspired by Tassio and Claudia’s website. Well, their website inspired me in another way, as well.

So much of what I read/hear/see in the media lately seems to suggest that young people are screwed and can only look forward to dead-end jobs and a lifelong economic struggle. Though I believe this holds true in many ways and for many young people, it’s not the whole story. Tassio and Claudia link to a number of websites created by young people like themselves who are traveling the world (not necessarily by boat), creating art, trying to live sustainably, spreading optimism, and having adventures. So if you think that young people aren’t getting out there anymore, look closer.

Do you know of any other young people out there doing cool things? Please share their stories with us. I believe that these young people are doing us all a big favour by making the world a more exciting, adventurous, positive, and dynamic place and we need to support them in whatever way we can.

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Dick Stevenson

Phyllis, If anything fuels our wanderings, it is enthusiasm. And we find that the more you go down the age scale, generally, the more the untainted enthusiasm grows. Children add another lovely boost to the enthusiasm level. Enthusiasm is contagious. For those of us who feed off enthusiasm, it is a joy when we share anchorages with these young singles, couples, and families. Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

John Peltier

Unfortunately, the majority of what young people are exposed to tells them that they should focus on obtaining money and toys. That is what drives their entire lives. In doing so, they miss out on everything else.
Even though I was fortunate enough to land a well-paying & stable career, I chose to give it up after ten years so that I could have my own adventures, live free & simple, and learn about the world in ways that are otherwise impossible. I’m still trying to figure out my contribution, but I know it will come to me and I look forward to joining the likes of you cruisers who value your stories and memories more than your clothing & cars. We still need young people to work 60-hour weeks, and some of them enjoy it, but it’s not for me!

Matt Marsh

Oh, there are young folks out there doing adventurous stuff, all right. In the last few years, I’ve had university-age friends head out for teaching projects in sub-Saharan Africa, biological research in the Canadian Arctic, mountaineering in the western USA, development projects in Central America, teaching English in China, and a solar car race across Australia. And that’s just one group of friends from one school.

None of us are particularly thrilled about employment prospects at the moment, but we’re all getting by, and quite a lot of us have plans (some pragmatic, some idealistic) to try to fix “the system”, once we’re on sufficiently stable footing, so that the current mess won’t happen again. But that’s another story.

Jon T

Oh yes there are!

I have one person in mind who is an incredible adventurer, sailor and all out wonderful person who is so incredibly humble and modest that no one has ever heard of her. Apart from bicycling from Europe to South Africa at a young age, she sails incredible voyages and walks amazing walks too (even after physical injuries that would make most of us stop in our tracks). She writes beautifully and I hope one day she shares her stories with the world. But at under thirty, she doesn’t see a need for any such sedentary activity for a long time to come…

Long may the world have such adventurous risk takers!

Gary Schwarzman

Besides taking our own children cruising from a young age, we have had great experiences with other kids. After our daughters had grown and gone off to start their own lives and careers, Beth and I found opportunities to invite our nieces and nephews, or the children of friends, to join us on cruises.

The best experiences were those when we had a couple of kids for six weeks or so in a summer. With various younger relatives we have sailed Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, the Caribbean and the Baltic. But shorter cruises also work. Sometimes children of friends came aboard for a few days that included an overnight passage from Cape Cod to Maine (with the kids helping to stand night watches, of course!) after which their parents drove up to join us and let the kids show off what they had learned.

We try to have the trip start with a day or two of sailing to get oriented, then a new challenge, such as a night passage. By that time the kids are an integral part of the crew. Of course it’s not just about the sailing; there’s the experience of new places and possibly foreign cultures, the self-sufficiency and shared responsibility of boat life, long hikes, water play and all the rest.

One non-obvious lesson we’ve learned is that it is much easier to have two kids than one, and more fun for everyone.

As the years pass these children grow and we have less contact with them, but we often have been pleasantly surprised to learn how memorable these times were for the kids, and how important their brief cruising careers were in their growing up. And we loved the experience.