I’m fairly certain I’ve heard every reason in the book to NOT sail away on a tall ship. Not only heard them, but stated them myself. That’s my deep, dark secret – my own personal shame: Even though I work for this ship on shore I’ve never sailed a tall ship. Despite never having sailed in one, I’m drawn to them and am insanely jealous of everyone signing up for this world voyage coming up soon. I want to go too. I wish I could go back in time and sail when I was younger and more adventuresome and minus the three kids who seem to think that as their mother I should be looking after them – that’s my list of reasons not to go right there.
One thing I have come to learn is that all the reasons not to sail aren’t reasons at all: they’re just excuses. Little roadblocks that I (and other people like me) put up to make the choice not-to-go an easier choice to make.
I’m too old: Rubbish. I’m not too old. At 46 I’m about mid-way through the age range of people coming to sail. We have people in their 70s coming along on the World Voyage.
I’ve got too many people relying on me: Right. Because I’m so great at life, the entire Town of Lunenburg can’t bear to have me go away for a few months. I might be good, but I’m not that good. Nobody is.
It’s expensive: Yeah, okay. That’s real. It costs a pretty penny. But it’s basically the same price as many other major adventures you can experience, and a lot less than others. Price out a two-month trip to the top of Everest. You can sail around the world in Picton Castle twice for that ticket. And if you’re talking value for money, it won’t get much better. Cost is real, but if you can scrape it together, it’s just another excuse.
Rough weather: The one reason I was sure was a valid reason not to sail was extreme weather. It’s pretty simple: I don’t want to be in a ship in the middle of the ocean during a hurricane. Who in their right mind would?
I’ve always been in awe of the ships that sail across vast oceans – not just the ships but their crew as well. It seemed to me that to sail out into the endless ocean on a relatively tiny ship and be tossed about at the whim of King Neptune and Mother Nature was .. well crazy, but also brave beyond words. Braver than I could ever hope to be. For me the idea was as intoxicating as it was scary. Going to sea was a ‘when’ something goes wrong and not an ‘if’ something goes wrong. Seems like a valid reason not to sail to me.
As we roll through the month of September, the Atlantic Ocean appears to be doing a stellar job of demonstrating why a person should not ever go to sea at all. Ever. I can’t imagine there is a single person reading this that hasn’t heard about the crazy and terrifying string of hurricanes pummeling the Caribbean. Until I came to work here in this office, weather seemed a very random and scary thing. What I never seemed to notice was this: there aren’t any big ships (cruise ships, tall ships, cargo or otherwise) near those hurricanes. It’s because as wild and random as the weather seemed to me to be as a layman, it actually follows fairly reliable worldwide patterns that take us through the 12 months of the year. Captain Moreland – in fact, any experienced mariner who knows what he’s doing – can readily tell you where you DON’T want to be at fairly specific times of the year, and voyages are planned accordingly. For instance, you don’t want to be in the mid-Western Atlantic right about now during what is called ‘hurricane season’. This is between June and December with June and November not really counting much. Why? Well, hurricanes need certain things to be created: very warm water, warm air, earth’s rotation, appropriate ocean currents and lots of open space. Right now – August, September and into October – all things align to make the formation of hurricanes far more likely in the mid-Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and the currents are going to pull those storms westerly across the Atlantic toward the Caribbean and the Americas. And it’s the same every year. There aren’t devastating hurricanes every year, but every year at the same time (right now) it becomes far more likely that they’ll form. So smart ships avoid those areas this time of year. Sailing around the world and avoiding catastrophic weather isn’t actually magic at all. Or luck. It’s logic. And the World Voyage is following a very logical and well-timed route – to take in all of the incredible and amazing ports Captain Moreland has fallen in love with over his many years at the helm, and to avoid all of the reliably severe weather patterns. One world voyage the ship did not even have one gale.
So cross that off your list of reasons NOT to sail. It’s not a reason, it’s just another excuse that is stopping you from taking part in what will be the most amazing adventure of your life.