How to Recognize a Fellow Cruiser

#2 Random Post

How to Recognize a Fellow Cruiser

Early on in our sailing trip we have learned how to pick out the sailors among the crowd. It’s not very difficult. It is especially easy in towns near popular anchorages, marinas or mooring fields (such as Vero Beach, Marathon, Stuart, etc). Now that we have been cruising for a while we have acquired some insight into why cruisers look the way they do.

Let me give you a little rundown…

The typical cruiser will present as a man and women together usually between the ages of 50 to 65+. Their footwear will consist of either deck shoes, Crocks or some other sort of sensible sandal. Firstly, proper footwear on the boat is essential for safety. Slipping or tripping is dangerous and we have learned from experience that there are numerous items on the deck that you WILL stub your toe on if not wearing the right shoes. Secondly when ashore the cruiser may have to walk many miles to get where they need to go. The cruising man will wear a ball cap and most likely be sporting a good amount of facial hair. Shaving is hard on a boat where you don’t have running hot water or sometimes you don’t even have a good-sized mirror. I think it’s also the ‘salty look’ that men like to embrace. Sal had quite the beard before he (thankfully) shaved it as a Christmas present for myself.

The cruiser will be wearing comfortable clothing usually Kaki pants or shorts and a t-shirt (sometimes with a nautical logo or souvenir shirt with the name of a coastal town that they have visited along the way). Their clothes may have a ‘well worn’ look. This is because storage space is limited, especially since the boat stuff, safety items, spare parts, food and water storage take priority. Also it is sometimes weeks before a cruiser will get ashore to a laundry facility so it’s important to get a few extra days of wear out of your clothing. I brought a festive sundress – it’s untouched at the bottom of my clothes bag. Sal brought some nice collared shirts – they’ve gone untouched and taking up space in the hanging locker: Fancy clothes just don’t get used.

The cruiser will walk, sometimes many, many miles to get where they need to go, usually that’s a grocery store, marine store, hardware store or the Laundromat. They will have a backpack and at least one sturdy reusable grocery bag per hand to carry all their purchases.

The cruiser will be friendly and to other recognizable cruisers are always willing to share information and their knowledge of the area. Being notoriously frugal the cruiser will be able to tell you the location of a nearby dollar or thrift store, where you can get a cheap meal and places with good happy hour specials….in fact, they usually know any good deals to be made.

I often wonder if Sal and I get picked out of the crowd as cruisers…