Yin and Yang

I'm a full-time RVer. I'm a sailor without a boat. I was thinking about how the two compare.

Mt Shasta, August 2017 

Yin. For me anyway RVing is destination-based. We decide where we're going and make plans to get there. Don't get me wrong we pass through some pretty country, but we're doing it at highway speeds.  If we want to stop and look along the way, traveling with fifty feet of bus and trailer as well as a dog and two cats makes visiting roadside attractions a little problematic. With the bus we arrive, set up base camp and go exploring in the car or on the motorcycles. If we want to visit something the pets are perfectly content to lay around the bus while we go see the world's largest sneaker. Rolling down the road is stressful for me sometimes. Heavy traffic, road construction, confusing signage, shit roads (I'm talking to you Pennsylvania!), and abundant wildlife/road interactions make travelling a chore at times. When you arrive all of that goes away; grocery shopping at ten thirty with the retirees, a National Park on a Tuesday, Happy Hour on Thursday, go where they aren't is my motto.

Fat guy driving a boat, 2016

Yang. Sailing for me is journey-based. Sailing is the beautiful part, preparing the sails, checking the mechanicals, and provisioning the boat not so much. With a beam reach in a good wind all you can hear is the gurgle of water from behind the transom. Snacks in the cockpit, maybe a little music, heave to for a swim in shark infested waters (If I'm going to go, being eaten by a shark is in my top ten) (as a side note: being partially eaten by a shark is in my bottom ten). Nothing happens very fast, I can scan the horizon for hours without seeing anything that requires my attention. Try that on a freeway. When we moved to LA in 2004 I had very little experience with commute traffic except for a brief commute from Napa to San Jose. Fast forward a few years and the only thing that kept me from losing my shit some days was knowing we could untie the dock lines and sail to Two Harbors on Catalina for the weekend.

Heading for the notch at Two Harbors, 2016

Welcome to the Sunshine state, January 2018

Is one better than the other?  I don't think so, to me they are complimentary. It sure is nice to be able to ride the motorcycles all day on fire roads, come home to the RV which is right where we left it, take a nice warm shower and sleep in a queen size bed. It's also nice to sail into a quiet anchorage out of the wind and swell, drink sundowners and watch the sunset from the cockpit. Does it suck to be stuck in traffic for hours, yes, but so is trying to sleep on a mooring when you are taking the swell on the beam.  

Yin and Yang

Dolphins off the starboard bow, 2016