Reflections On A Delivery

Reflections on the delivery from Spain to Greece

What we learned...

Well, 1553 nautical miles later - we were thrilled that we made it and learned so much! We've taken a little time to reflect and map out the topics that were most important to us on the Spain~Greece delivery.

Of course, with cruising there's always tons more to learn. That's the great thing about it - lifelong learning. Always something new to master or finetune.

A few areas in particular, however, really stood out for us. Here they are:


Cruising Skills 

1.  Dealing with customs and borders when entering a new country on a boat

3. Weather watching and getting info in new countries and foreign languages

4. Planning the route - pace, waypoints, planning refuges 

5. Some engine skills

6. Provisioning and on the water cooking skills - cooking for varied tastes and crew preferences

7. Choosing a good team 

8. Teamwork - clear roles 


Why we still really want our own boat

This delivery was a fantastic experience and it was a great team to be on. So many people in a small space for 3 weeks and everyone got along for the whole trip. Surreal-y well actually.

But to keep good crew harmony requires compromises - compromises that were duly made and with good cheer. 

But long term, we realised there are some key reasons we still want our own boat rather than just continuing to sign to crew on other peoples' yachts. Our long term cruising plan remains unchanged...


So here's why we still want our own boat:

1. Choosing food - when, where, what 

2. Choosing safety equipment and maintenance 

3. Choosing where, when, how we go

If you're reading The Cruising Kitty, you probably are thinking about cruising at sometime in the future - if you are not there already.  

What are the key reasons for you for getting/having your own boat?

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)