We've been hanging out in Vero Beach Florida for a couple days. Trying to get a few administrative details concluded. We were stoked to see the beach and ocean yesterday, we have reached the latitude of endless summer now which is pretty sweet.

There was a copy of cruising world sitting in the can today, and I thought I'd have a read. Two birds with one stone. The was an article from the prestigious Lin and Larry Pardey, about tips for first time cruisers. It included items like cruise now rather than later, and get the best dinghy you can afford. I thought I'd try my hand at a list of sorts.

Dave's Tips of the Week:

You learn the important stuff when you are on your own boat. Things like what to do when everything goes wrong, and how to deal with the stress. You are responsible for the outcome, and everyone looks to you for guidance on the boat. You won't really learn what it means to cruise until you are the one who is in charge and responsible. This may sound gloomy, but life's a journey and when you reach the goal, the rewards will be that much better.

If you want to cruise, do it. Even other cruisers will knock you down. Those ones aren't the ones to be listening to.

Things will break at dock and while cruising. At least while you're cruising the scenery is better.

Cooking isn't so hard on a boat. People seem to make a big deal about it, but maybe it's because the food network isn't on in front of them.

Boats are smaller than the living spaces you are use to. However, the view is better.

Learn how to learn: reading manuals, applying lessons read, asking for advice, judging the advice based on multiple channels.

Go outside your comfort zone, not by a lot, but frequently. It's called growth.

Lastly on my list I would say battle through the boring stuff. There is a lot of slugging it out with societal norms, take what you can with your goal in mind. People will say everything from words of encouragement to fear mongering, they are saying more about themselves than you.

In addition addition, I took some pics of our mooring field this morning, and I have a little story of how young cruisers, though mostly admired by our silver haired (if lucky) peers, are sometimes treated interestingly.

I was pulling into the dinghy dock to get water, and was talking to a couple about our cruising plans. They were planning to cross to the Bahamas in a couple years, us in a couple days. This old guy came up giving us all this advice on where to go and what route to take. I told him we we're pretty open on plans, but we're probably going to take a more southern route. He just brushed me off, and started walking along discussing cruising to the Bahamas and strategy with the couple who weren't going. He also has an immaculate and giant boat in the Harbour that should be skilled around the world, but it sits on a mooring ball all year. People are odd sometimes.