There are a few sayings about the cruising life that I’m not particularly fond of. One of these is “cruising is boat work in exotic locations.”

The implication that boats require work all the time, and that doing boat work with changes of scenery is all you get to do while cruising, just rubs me the wrong way. If that’s truly all you ever got to do while cruising, who the heck would choose this lifestyle?

Boats do require maintenance. So do cars. So do houses. If you had a car or a house that needed to be worked on all the time, would you keep it for long? And maybe more to the point, do you talk about all the little things you do to the car or the house and call it “car work” or “house work”?

Maybe part of my disdain for the expression comes from the lump nature of the term “boat work.” Boat work can mean anything from cleaning out the shower spigot (a 5 minute job if 3 of those minutes means finding the screwdriver on our boat) to scrubbing the waterline (an hour for our 26’ waterline) to changing the oil on the engine or cleaning out the fridge or fixing a sail or or or. It can be hauling out to deal with zincs or a new bottom job. Some of these are routine and done without thinking, wherever you happen to be. Some are planned and you choose your spot based on reputation, hurricane season, and price.

I’d guess though that most people outside of the boating world hear “boat work” and think “big massive monster projects.”

Okay, okay. You use boats in a more demanding way than you do cars. The constant movement, the constant exposure to salt air and water, the constant wear and stress. Keeping the boat from needing catastrophic attention in less-than-ideal places means being aware and somewhat vigilant, especially with regards to major systems like engine, electrical, anchoring, and rigging. It means listening for strange sounds and smells and investigating as soon as you hear one. You can’t generally ignore issues on a boat and hope they go away; they almost never do. 

There’s a lot of preventative maintenance you can (and should) do on boats, to minimize the chances of needing unexpected repairs.

Things do happen. Nobody plans to run over a fishing net and get it caught in the prop. Nobody plans to get caught in unexpected weather and shred sails. Boat work, even big stuff, sometimes has to happen in less-than-ideal locations. 

Most of the time, though, you can choose where you’re doing your maintenance. Like opting for a good mechanic if your car needs its regular tune-up instead of waiting for the car to break down in a place where there are no mechanics.

Most of the time, though, cruising life is about living daily life in new places. It includes food shopping and cooking and cleaning. Snorkeling and hiking and socializing. Occasionally it involves boat work, like living in a house involves mowing the lawn. Since that boat work happens where you happen to be, it is in different locations. Is that the main focus of cruising? Not to me.

Cruising is about life. Wherever you happen to be.