Gaining sailing experience isn’t difficult. Getting the right kind of sailing experience is! If your intention is to become a sailing cruiser it’s not just about learning how to sail, buying a boat, and sailing into the sunset.
It’s about gaining the experience and confidence that will enable you to sail and live on a boat as a lifestyle.
Very rarely will you find an opportunity to sail on a bluewater cruising boat and fully immerse yourself into the true lifestyle. But why would you want to try out the lifestyle first anyway?
Many of our guests that have come aboard Britican have wanted to take the plunge and become cruisers however they had various reservations. Some guests were afraid they couldn’t handle doing a long passage, others were unsure if they had the right skill set to make it work. Many of our guests didn’t know what they didn’t know and the fear of the unknown was slowing them down. Some have been concerned about how much it really costs. We’ve also had quite a few guests where one partner was sold on the idea and the other was not sure.
Heck – it’s also a huge heap of money to fork out.
A lifestyle transition like this isn’t cheap. And what if it goes wrong? What if it isn’t what you expected? What if you’re partner hates it?
Laid out below are some of the guests we’ve had on board. Each person had different reasons for gaining sailing experience.
Check out each story to determine if any of our guests are like you. You’ll find out what they wanted to achieve by trying the lifestyle; a true try-before-you-buy situation. And what they gained by having the Britican Experience.
A Long Passage – Can We Handle It?
Jon and Jennifer (pictured above), coming up to retirement, wanted to gain more offshore experience and understand how cruisers really lived. They did several years of bareboat yacht charting but knew that chartering is very different from living a life on a boat. Their interest was gaining sailing experience – cruiser style!
The couple realized that pulling the trigger on a purchase of a boat is not something they wanted to do without ample knowledge of the total experience. Living in Kansas did not provide them with accessibility to the lifestyle so the Britican Experience was a great match for their needs.
Jon and Jennifer had the following passage making goals: How watch schedules work, what do you do while on watch during a long passage, can you sleep between watches, if you get seasick can you function afterward, will you acclimate to the motion after a few days and what’s it like to observe someone with experience dealing with whatever happens.
Check out their other goals, discover what they gained from the experience, and watch a quick 2-minute video about their awesome long passage from Grenada to Antigua.
More here ===> A Long Passage
Gaining Sailing Experience – And then buying a boat!
Find out what it was like for the Baker family to join us for a week of sailing experience – cruiser style. One of the family members was sold on the idea and the other wasn’t too sure. One family member had never been outside of the USA. And up until their trip on Britican they had never been on a vacation other than to go camping.
What makes the Baker Family so amazing is that within three months of join us, and experiencing the liveaboard lifestyle, they managed to buy their own boat and now you’ll often find them anchored next to us!
Find out what it was like for the Baker family to join us on Britican here ===> How To Get Real Sailing Experience
Caribbean Sailing Experience
Our lovely guest, Paul, only had one main objective. He wanted to get a real taste for the cruising lifestyle – warts and all. Gaining sailing experience, the experience you only get by totally immersing yourself into a true liveaboard boat, was his goal.
Well…that’s what he got! We had a great week of sailing, some heavy weather (45 mph winds), fast speeds (hit over 9.5 knots) in addition to seeing some incredible sights – white beaches, friendly turtles, deep orange sunsets, speedy pelicans and deep blue waters. Oh yeah…we also had water flowing into the bilge during a squall so some adrenaline was added in too. Watch the video to find out what Paul thought of his Britican cruising experience and what he got up to while he was with us.
More here ===> Caribbean Sailing Experience
First Time Sailing – How Will I Cope on a Sailboat For A Week?
For most of our guests, gain sailing experience sailing is usually the overriding goal. But this guest actually came out for her first time sailing! She was gaining not only sailing experience but a whole load of other experiences.
Julia and her two beautiful children flew to the southern Caribbean from the States to see what the sailing life was all about. Julia had no objectives other than to gain an experience. Watch the video to determine if she enjoyed the lifestyle or not?!
More here ===> First Time Sailing
| THE BRITICAN EXPERIENCE - A WEEK-LONG BLUEWATER CRUISING EXPERIENCE | |
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| "We have been following Kim and Simon on YouTube for a while now. So when they introduced the Britican Experience program, we were excited for the opportunity to experience time with them as part of our research before we make the leap into this different lifestyle that we're considering. From the outside looking in, the Britican Experience might seem like any other charter vacation where you get to see the environment of living in a small space and the freedom of being able to pull up anchor and move to the next lovely tropical paradise. The Britican Experience is about immersing yourself in the life and culture of a boat community and the daily practices of having a floating home that moves constantly, the trade-offs you make for this life, and the peace and serenity of a much simpler existence. You are enveloped in the experience as soon as you meet them! When we met the Britican family it was as though we had known them all our life. For us, the Britican Experience was really about a change in mindset. We became comfortable calling the boat our home, and it became routine to consider how to keep it safe, clean, and comfortable. We dined with great people, ate delicious food, planned and prepared for passages, fished, stargazed, chased rays and turtles while snorkeling, raced hermit crabs, trimmed the sails, steered into harbors, and made decisions every day due to the changing conditions and environment. After not too long we were in the swing of things, embracing the need to be flexible, not making decisions based on a schedule, and realizing that a crimson horizon and a cool sundowner are perfect introductions to a lifelong excursion of blue-water bliss. The Britican Experience is an affirmation, a reality check, a confirmation that this is the lifestyle and life that we indeed are going to pursue. It gave us the confidence that we could reach for and grasp what the Britican crew is experiencing every day. With heartfelt thanks to Kim, Simon, and Sienna for their hospitality, patience, wisdom, and, friendship- we look forward to sharing an anchorage together!" The Lander's Family. Check out our availability here: Click here for more information. | |