Priceless memories acquired for little outlay
Issue 96 : May/Jun 2014
In all the books I read growing up, cruising sailors generally came across as an un-wealthy bunch. Tristan Jones, whether his tales were embellished or not, stands out as a low-income cruiser. So do Robin Lee Graham and Tanya Aebi who, though at least partially subsidized, did their sailing on boats whose modesty matched their budgets. The Pardeys, of course, wrote the book on shoestring sailing. And barely 10 years ago, my wife, Danielle, and I did a 10-month Caribbean sail, from Florida to Colombia and back, on exactly $3,200.
So I had no expectation of any better — nor did I really want it — when Danielle and I set out to cruise on Ganymede, our budget-built Cape George 31 cutter. If so many notable sailors before us could get by on very little, then we aimed to do so as well, even with three little girls to take care of. The careful husbanding of resources is just another spice in the flavor of cruising life, another factor to consider in all decisions, along with weather, seasons, and piracy or plague reports.
It’s hard sometimes. There’s no denying it. More often than not we eat on board, even though a cool restaurant ashore would be so much nicer than an already stifling cabin heated up with the stove. To walk or take an overcrowded bus are options A and B before a taxi is considered. To have some fans and batteries to run them would be a comfort during breathless tropical nights when rain keeps all the hatches shut. There are times when to reach into a freezer for a little ice would be sheer luxury.
But if we had waited while we saved up for those things, we might never have gone cruising. And if we did have them, their maintenance would be way out of the budget, again shortening our cruising range. So it’s all right with us this way . . . and better in some respects. Without refrigeration, we live like most of the people in the countries we visit, so we adapt to their habits, buying perhaps just enough for that day or finding the local foods that keep. We learn more about the cultures we’re among when we have to live like they do — eating the same street food, seeking the same coolness, traveling by bus and moto-cart.
The biggest reward for cruising now on a shoestring, rather than in a somewhat grander style in 10 or 15 years or “someday,” is that we are out there right now. Now the children are young, as they’ll never be again. Now we can watch them as they grow — not just on nights after school or work and on weekends but every single day. What they see in every new place, we see together. What they learn from books, we’re learning too. When they are all grown up and gone, maybe we’ll have cabin fans and freezers and a motor on the dinghy. Maybe we’ll make longer ocean passages with less careful concern, but nothing will compare with the delight of sailing as we do now, with our little vibrant, curious, growing clan.
Although we cruise on very modest means, we have discovered what all the other budget cruisers have as well: when you’re out there where you want to be, it doesn’t matter how little you own. Every rainbow that follows a tropical cloudburst, every sunset, every flock of scarlet parrots against a jungle-covered hill, every splashing waterfall that tumbles to a rocky beach — they all belong to us. Moments so rare and precious they can’t be bought with money are abundantly poured out and make us, regardless of monetary means, the richest folk on earth.
Ben Zartman and his wife, Danielle, live with their three young daughters aboard Ganymede, the 31-foot Cape George Cutter he built from a bare hull. After exploring the Canadian Maritimes last summer, they wintered again in Newport, Rhode Island, where Ben found budget-building work. Follow them at www.zartmancruising.com.
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