a polite society...

Those who make up the cruising industry like to paint a pretty picture of happy people in various exotic locales and entice you with the carrot that you too can be one of these beautiful happy people, all you have to do is buy stuff...

Not that the reality does not have its good points, but in the real world there are bits best left swept under the carpets if you want to sell someone a dream.

For instance, I don't ever recall an article in any of the sailing mags relating to the number of cruisers who die every year from alcohol-related accidents or the effects of alcohol-related disease, do you?

The fact both happen on a much too regular basis is a fact of life that most of us cruising and living on boats pretend does not... After all, a cruising society is a polite society and it is considered rude to point out that there are drunks amongst us.

There is also the fact that if you have personal problems or issues back in Poducky Ohio and you happen to buy a boat and point it toward the Caribbean or South Seas, more than likely, your problems there will be part and parcel of the baggage you bring with you. Wife beaters remain what they are, racists continue to hate, and jerks tend to remain jerks no matter what their current latitude...

As long as I'm on a roll, I might as well add that a lot of the places we choose to cruise are poor and the people who actually live there could use a little help of one sort or another. While some cruisers do bring school supplies, volunteer on projects, or get together to raise funds for projects like schools and clinics, far more simply take advantage. Come to think of it, the cruising community, the cruising press (and that most certainly includes the blogosphere) could do a whole lot better... I know I could.

The thing is, however far you sail it is still going to be the real world. Margaritaville is simply a song, and people are people...

Just saying...

Listening to John Stewart

So it goes...