End games and new horizons...

Something that made me smile, news from the hardly surprising files, and this will drive you seriously nuts...

Over at the SSCA forum there was a thread entitled Cruising internationally: are we in the end game? and it's sorta/kinda worth a read...

I say sorta/kinda because it's more about opinion, knee jerk reaction and no small amount of snark factor, than actually answering the question. That said, it does clarify a couple of trends that is part and parcel of current cruising thought/culture.

From where I sit there are a lot of problematic issues that folks on boats need to deal with these days if you want to cruise. Worse, it is something of a changing game as those problems tend to mutate and morph faster than a lot of folks can keep up with. So cruising just may not be the right path for those who like a same-old-same-everything-is-logical-and-civilized sort of road trip tourism thing...

For those who like schedules and the same old same, may I suggest the wonders of train travel.

On the other hand, at least for us, cruising has never been simple or normal. There have always been places you could not go because of crime or war, countries that had less than logical visa requirements or catch 22 rules that made no sense, places too expensive to visit, and while these days it might not be hip to admit you're on a budget, I should point out that we have yet to meet a real cruiser that was not obsessed with the cost of stuff. Just a note, those not obsessed with budget are called tourists...

Go back and read some of the early Pardey books like "Serrafyns Oriental Adventure" or "Cruising in Seraffyn" for a taste of how it's all changed but not really changed at all.

Of course, a lot of those places Lin and Larry spent time in are now less than pristine cruising grounds, ruined by over development, commercialization, and hordes of bareboat bozos... But, you know, somewhere else out there is not so popular and just waiting for you to discover it. While it may be out of the way off the various milk runs, unserviced by a "cruisers rally", no bareboat-oriented cruisers guide for the area, or a full service marina/spa, but it's waiting for you and all you have to do is point the boat in a new direction...

For those slow on the uptake, new is the operative word.

Nomadic cultures stop being nomadic when they quit varying their wandering. The first sign of nomadic culture breakdown is when routes tend to become rigid... Just something you might want to keep in mind.

Listening to a David Bowie concert I attended way back when.

So it goes...