The Essence of Yachting...

Good question and a great topic. I've moved this thread into the General Discussion forum because I think everyone has something to say on the subject.

What is the essence of yachting ?
Not a career for me, I like to build things.
It's a question that has cruised through my mind for the past two years when I actually started considering a yacht that I could live on for extended periods.
Being on the water, be it in a canoe on a frosty, misty fall morning enjoying that heightened awareness that comes from being in the quiet, sailing out in waters that could be construed as justification for one's committal to an institution, or lazing about on the deck of a 60 metre motor yacht out on the ocean out of sight of land, is either good for your particular soul or isn't. There seems to be a fairly defined divide between those that feel good moving over the water and those for whom it just has no appeal at all.
I’ve traveled a fair bit but there is always some place that I have not been to yet that beckons and getting there is a major part of the enjoyment. Never had a car or bike that hasn’t been redlined at least once, never had a sailboat that hasn’t been taken over the edge (centerboards are just levers that you put your weight on so that the boat can be righted and then carry on) never had an aircraft that didn’t see VNE. Yes, I need motion!
So, is yachting just being in motion on the water with a different place to go with the destination being only slightly less relevant that the voyage?

In my convoluted way I’m trying to figure out where those people fit that have yachts but don’t go anywhere with them.

As a charter boat captain I can say that I don't believe there is a good answer to that question. It seems that almost every guest on our boat gains pleasure from some different thing about yachting. I would say that the most common element of enjoyment is relaxation and escape from the "real world" of constant work. I have seen many guests put their PDA down and never pick it up until the end of the charter. I have even been known to "help" our internet server go down for a day or two...

As for me... I'll subscribe to Garry's quote from Wind in the Willows:
Says River Rat to Mole
"There is nothing...absolutely nothing half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats."

Oh, swell...

With descriptives like "escape", and "heightened awareness", and "relaxation", "passion", "pleasure', etc., pretty soon everybody will want to muscle in on this 'yachting' thing.

Then where will we be?

As it stands today, the only instances where folks wave at one another are bicyclists and yachtsfolk passing one another, precisely because they enjoy membership in a unique and comparatively small fraternity. That's what keeps it 'cool' and reinforces it's essence as something special.

Let's not divulge too much to the great unwashed, shall we?

Revision:
Yachting= seasick whining people chucking their cookies relentlessly everywhere. Rats! Big ones hiding within every pier on the planet. They laugh at the rat rings on the hawsers as they jump over them with ease. You'll always be clammy and damp, what'd you expect with all that water around? Hurricanes like yachts. Hurricanes and other foul weather are attracted to yachts more strongly than to Oklahoma trailer parks.

Nah, you really don't want to be anywhere near a yacht!

Could it be the illusion of mastery, not unlike the Lilliputians standing atop Gulliver’s chest after thoroughly securing him? Through our invention, ever-growing information and exhaustive planning, we enjoy moments of having our female giant under control. Then we see an awakening picture of where we once ventured , and the value of exploring her beauty at rest is magnified many fold.

The Essence of Yachting...

You're the skipper of a stylish 40m Italian-built motor yacht. It's early afternoon of a fine spring day on the Riviera. You've just completed manoeuvering into a tight berth, stern-to in the tiny port of Villefranche. The yacht doesn't have a bow-thruster - why would you ever need one you ask yourself whimsically, with 2 powerful Detroit Diesels purring away down there? Your old friend who runs the shipyard here welcomes you. You're looking forward to sharing a few beers and why not something a little stronger, before dinner at his home later. In the morning, you'll be setting off for 3 months away from home.

The owner's a Greek-Cypriot who simply loves cruising in "his home waters" - and when those waters are the Greek islands, who could blame him? In fact, apart from one summer when they decided to see a bit of Spain and the Balearics, you've spent every summer there for the past 7 years. But they're a great family and you've watched the children grow up. The oldest, a boy, already shows promising signs of following in his father's footsteps (who made his fortune from very modest beginnings) - mainly by trying to boss everyone around when dad isn't there but you're able to assuage his wilder tendencies by giving him lessons on how to drive the boat.

Since the end of last year's 3 months cruising season, you've been relatively busy. Apart from coming in every other morning to ensure the crew are keeping on top of things, you've also got the responsibility of managing the owner's investments in berths at your home port of Port Vauban in Antibes. Something you originally suggested to him and which has turned out to be most profitable over the years. You have the "owner's ear" and are one of his most favourite people, something "the bodies" at the owner's main company offices are intensely jealous of, and never really manage to conceal. They will eventually get their way one day, the accountants will somehow obtain responsibility for the yacht, will grill you constantly over any minor expense, ensure that funds are withheld until the very last moment and generally make life a misery.

But all that lies in the future, years from now. Presently, you're the skipper of one of the most significant yachts in Antibes. The IYCA doesn't exist yet. Your crew are amongst the best paid in the industry - they all have permanent living accomodations (and lives) ashore. They all share a flexible rota of overnight watches aboard, which practically-speaking only requires that someone sleeps aboard, but you've heard that sometimes they will pay a crew-member of an adjacent yacht to do their watches for them. You have full confidence in your crew and in their judgement - you've nonetheless ensured that this "relief watch-keeper" knows what he's doing. The crew are industrious when it's required - they repaint the yacht every year. Okay, it's only a single coat of satin finish paint, but the whole yacht gets sanded and painted, every year just before the season...!

Now, where were we...?

Oh yeah, so we're in Villefranche. The very short run from Antibes to Villefranche served as a sea-trial to confirm that all systems were "go". You were also trying to get away from the wife, but she decided to drive down and join you for drinks and dinner after all. In earlier years, she would also come along for the 4 day trip down to Greece, but not tomorrow...?! She'll probably still fly down for a week or 2 later on. The 3 months cruising season is actually just about 6-7 weeks with the owner or guests aboard, the rest is just sitting in port.

In the early hours of the following morning, a hint of dawn in the sky, with the promise of another balmy day (though in the confines of the bay of Villefranche with its surrounding cliffs, it's still really quite dark): The new chief steward that you recently took on brings up a tray of freshly-brewed coffee. He's not aware of it yet, but he's actually the winner of an unofficial competition between a very experienced Swiss maitre d' and a completely untried ex. computer salesman with some silver-service waiting experience on his CV that you had working together on a trial basis during the past few weeks. Who both thought they had jobs for the summer. You don't "do" silver service on this yacht, it's more of a family affair, so you took the chance of hiring this unknown quantity, a British citizen with Indian / Nepalese antecedents. Who already demonstrated a vivacity for argument. Never mind, you'll get your revenge in the straits of Messina when you'll send him out to the foredeck with the longest boathook aboard - to ensure that the power cable running across the straits doesn't get entangled with the aerials aboard...?! Anyway, he's the sort of guy who sort of reminds you of yourself - this season's steward is next year's yacht skipper.

So, you're on your own at the controls on the flying bridge, easing out of the port into the bay of Villefranche. The crew are busy stowing away the lines, getting breakfast underway, thinking about their families and loved ones they're leaving behind. There's a small swell as you approach the entrance of the bay, the breeze ruffles your hair as you head out into the Mediterranean sea proper and turn left.

And then it hits you: in that instant, you realise that you've got the best job in the world. You're a yacht skipper! And you want to shout it out at the top of your voice. And you do...

Good description, it is the good moments you remember best.

Last summer when I picked up my new motor-sailor for a 400 Nm trip to my homeport, I had the feeling that not before coming home I will start enjoying it. Weather was windy in the bow and the speed dropped until I realized it was better to hit a port until a wind change. Then there were rain and fog for a couple of days before I could continue, but when I finally got back out on the open sea it was cristal clear air with the sea as a mirror and I got the same feeling as you described. So I took the camera and hold it over the bow for a picture of a very happy boat owner...

In my humble opinion, it's the accountants that destroyed the essence of yachting.

Combined with yacht brokers (glorified used car salesmen ) who've managed to convince most newer yacht owners of the "virtues" of chartering out their yachts - another way of saying you can afford the running costs...

"Yachting" hardly exists anymore. A whole way of life has been swept away by penny-pinching managers - whose sole purpose has been to justify their own jobs in the easiest way they know how: by ostensibly managing costs and saving the owners' money (but in reality sublimely extracting from the pleasures of yacht ownership).

When was the last time (if ever) that a yacht manager recommended a new tender or whatever modification because the owner would probably appreciate it...?! Okay, if an owner explicitly expresses a wish for something, it usually gets done. But today, there are a whole swathe of yacht managers, brokers, agents and accountants who've interposed themselves (together with their often inflated fees) between the yacht owner and skipper. They drool at the prospect of being invited aboard to share a drink or meal with the owner, and an opportunity to "slap the skipper in the face" at the same time. They have little incentive to maximise an owner's pleasure, especially when it means disbursing funds on stuff they themselves, as mere money-managers could never begin to appreciate in a million years.

Have I made myself clear? Gulp...!

Let it be brokers, accountants, all sorts of managers and middle-men, but also owners and captains that can take away the desired essence of yachting. There are horror stories about all of these categories as well as there are a lot of fine people working hard to make yachting the best escape from a stressful citylife. What counts after all is our own contribution.

Sea 'trials' ?

All this time I though the 'essence' was about sight-seeing while docked in exotic ports-o-call, like Cannes. You know, it's about backing the thing up to the most prominent Hotel, flaunting a bathrobe and a magnum of Champaigne to beckon the best looking starlets aboard for a ride!

...Oh yeah, and if that doesn't work, (or somebody beats you to the best dock) how about mounting HF underwater horns, and getting a school of dolphins to hop along, as you cruise about the piers on either side?

Of course, I hadn't considered sea 'trials.' Maybe I should forego these romantic, pestiferous male illusions, and just buy a Camel instead.

i love this quote. i wish i could put it on the wall but better not.......

from the quays of greece though.....the crew of the private yachts are so bored. they watch a lot of tv. its no fun if the yacht is used only in august. maybe go to st. tropez or mykonos but no way if its more than 5bf. even they are mostly laughing at the owner because so many millions for expenses. it seems like a waste. they do love the yachts though. beautiful machines they are proud to be in charge of and show how things work.

but what to do anyway, they are finished going to sea on the commercial ships, their family cant take that anymore, so there is the inter island ferries or the yachts instead which pay 2x or more....

i like charter crews though especially if they are going round the world...so enthusiastic young people. it always rubs off i feel so enthusiastic and positive once i have been on board. i guess one of the reasons people pay so much to charter.

but yes although the owner is a rich man and everybody else is trying to line their pockets milking the big cow, there is no reason to do the same. if you dont have pride in your work and you are not doing a quality job and bettering yourself each time then what is the point to exist.....

sometimes though, buried under yacht paperwork i wonder where the essence of yachting went to.........still again on board on the beautiful sea you again realise...

The essence of yachting...
Well, to me it's the last bastion of the "final frontier" that's within reach. Not everyone has a yacht, not everyone can be a captain, etc. But boating, cruising, yachting, whatever you want to call it, allows us to slip away from the trials and tribulations of our land-based lives to scout out new adventures. And for those charter captains, this holds true at times but perhaps more rewarding, they do it for their charges who are looking for that break-from-the-normal.
And even though I do look forward to the destinations, it's more about the journey. The journey can offer new challenges, different situations day-to-day, and the ability to test our own limits at times (safely, I presume).

After quite a lot of sailing and motoring along the European coasts, from Greece to the Canaries and even the Azores, what I like most today is the Swedish archipelago with the thousands of islands. To anchor in a favorite bay before sunset, sitting on the warm rocks and just listen to the complete silence, yes it beats St Tropez ten times over!

New Year's Eve?

Years ago I stumbled on an odd link that got me interested in all of this. Perhaps I just need to search Google, for: 'annual yacht party.' But rather than waste time, I suppose I'd rather hear from y'all, (the actual participants) anyway.

Initially, all I was looking for was a better life in the Caribbean. Somehow I got off on the "World's prettiest beaches." Lo and behold, I found a harbor full of boats, moored so closely together they said you could walk from boat to boat in "one contiguous world-class party!"

...So, what's up with the secret handshake? Don't they give 'free admission' to all YF Seniors?

what essence of boating for me

Last Friday I was in Gocek-Turkey, which is nearly deserted during winter months. The weather was 24 degrees Celsius and this was like a nice summer day in Northern Europe. It was a very calm day and by the end of the day I felt very much relieved from all my daily concerns and thoughts. The reason of my visit was to introduce present "Nilo", Ferretti 68 to the French broker, who is going to act as my exclusive broker for marketing the boat. We were chatting by the water front for some time and during all this conversation about yachts and cruises I realized why boating is such a strong attraction, if not an addiction for me. Like many others who are reading this post, I have been working very hard for quite a while, to be more exact since 1978, since my graduation from the university. So, to be an owner of a boat does not come for free at least for some owners. Lots of responsibilities and difficult times to go through.

What I realized was that; during all this, I was striving to reach the nirvana, a completely safe plato, where there will be absolute freedom and peace of mind and this was boating for long periods of time. When I cruise for more than 10 days at a time, I tend to leave all the daily issues behind and move to a different state of well being. So, this is the "essence of yachting" for me. I can read in between the lines of many other participants that I am not alone in this journey.

Nilo

'yachting' -according to Ed McWilliams:

November 20, 2006
Belizian Bail Out

Four days at sea. ****ting in a bucket. Tore all the sails, lost the engine. Jack sliced his hand on the leatherman but saved the dinghy. Then dolphins showed up. The boat almost flipped that night. If we didn't steer towards a narrow window of coordinates, it would have. The cold rain pelted our faces and soaked our t-shirts and shorts.

We fought through a norther and two gales. Rescue Eagle 4, a helicopter with an Aussie voice, radioed, "are you taking on water?"

No (lying).

The Belizian Coast Guard, still in their infancy, towed us for 20 miles in exchange for a bottle of rum. "It will keep us warm on the ride back," they said. The rope snapped twice, hitting their driver once in the buttox and once in the back of the head. We were supposed to be in Mexico yesterday but today we are stranded on a desert island in Belize. I feel like a walking mosquito feeder. I exist for them. They have drawn blood, and it’s a good thing for you I have no camera. The internet is down and the outboard pull string is stuck, I think it might be thanksgiving.

Best life ever.