What Makes A Great Anchorage?

A beautiful anchorage at Great Barrier Island, New Zealand, as seen from the top of Mt. Hobson (photo by The Cynical Sailor and His Salty Sidekick)

One of the best parts of cruising is dropping the hook and enjoying some time in a fabulous anchorage. It seems like everyone has their favorite anchorages. Places you dream about returning to one day. Places that you excitedly tell others about when you hear they’ll be cruising there. Places whose pictures make you smile each time you see them.

It doesn’t seem like there is a simple rule which defines what makes an anchorage great. It might be the rich, vibrant colors of the sunset or the silhouette of the hills against the water as the sun comes up in the morning that you can’t forget. Or it might be the incredible wildlife you had the privilege of seeing. For some, it might be the interesting characters you met at a cruiser’s potluck on the beach. For others, it might be the opportunity to enjoy the solitude of an anchorage all by yourselves. Or maybe you just had so much fun that every time you reflect back on that particular anchorage, you can’t help but laugh to yourself about the craziness you got up to.

Topic Coordinator:  Ellen from The Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick

End of Cruising

(Sign available for purchase here, just in case you need to sell your boat)

The cynical joke is that the two happiest days in a boat-owner's life are the day s/he buys the boat, and the day s/he sells it.  Cruises end for many reasons.  A cruise can end as a kind of "mission accomplished" or completed -- a circumnavigation ends when the boat crosses their outbound track, or a trip that was planned as a one-year sabbatical ends on Day 365.  Or a trip can end in horrific unplanned crisis -- the boat breaks or sinks, health fails or funding runs out.  Or there can be not so much a point or event that ends cruising, as a realization that this isn't the right path anymore.

A group of bloggers honestly tell how their story ends.