Long-Term Cruising Quiz
Are you cut out to be a long term cruiser?? Take the following quiz to find out:
a. Complain loudly to anyone who will listen
b. Ask if they have a ‘half-price’ table
c. Check out the dumpster out back to see what ‘good stuff’ got thrown away.
a.
Take it to the President of the
b. Take it to the head of the United Nations
c. Take it apart try and figure out how it works
a. Buy each other gifts of clothing and/or jewelry
b. Buy each other an anchor windlass and an anchor.
c. Find an old anchor windlass and anchor in the local marine flea market and get that for each other. Hey, it looks like it should work!
a. Ask him what a Racor is
b. Tell him – in a very load voice – that he is a complete idiot if he doesn’t use 10 micron filters
c. Invite him over for a beer and have a long discussion on the pros and cons of different filter sizes.
5) You are traveling along in your boat when all of the sudden a hose lets go on your engine. You:
a. Get on the radio and issue a May Day
b. Grab your cell phone and call Sea Tow immediately
c. Grab your handy roll of Duct Tape and ‘patch er up’ good enough to get back into port.
6) You're on your boat at the dock, when a sport fishing boat pulls in and starts to unload lots of fish that they caught that day. They offer you some of their catch, which you delightfully accept. They then pull out one of the fish they caught and lay it thoughtfully alongside your boat at the dock. You
a. Look at it as if it were a space alien, trying to figure out how it possibly gets from that into those convenient packages of filets you buy in the market.
b. Tell them that you appreciate it, but your knife is ‘in the shop’ right now. You ask if they could possibly filet it for you?
c. Say thanks, pull out your knife and proceed to expertly filet the fish
7) You discover that the marina in which you just arrived does not have book exchange. You
a. Don’t care, you don’t read much anyway
b. Ask if it’s OK for you to start one with all of the books you’ve recently finished reading on your boat.
c. Ask if you can also add a table nearby as a ‘free’ exchange for some of the other good junk you’ve got on board that you now realize you don’t really need.
8) You committed to meeting Aunt Millie in Chicago on August 15. It is now August 10 and the wind is forecast to blow for at least the next two weeks making it impossible for you to safely get the boat to Chicago in time to meet her. You
a. Go anyway – how bad can it be?
b. Call Aunt Millie and tell her you ‘might be a little late’ getting in.
c. Call Aunt Millie, explain that there is no way you can get there – but not to worry, there is always Enterprise and either you or she can rent a car so that you can still meet up.
9) You come into a town and, while wandering around in the afternoon you realize that there are several places that have a ‘happy hour’ which seems to include free food. You
a. Decide that you’d much prefer a good dinner in an expensive restaurant
b. Stop in at the first place you come to and settle in for a few drinks and some free food.
c. Scout around until you find the one that has the best looking food. After all, this will be dinner tonight. And tomorrow night, since you always carry zip-lock baggies with you for just such occasions.
10) You just bought a boat and you are moving on board. You have a beautiful set of china that you got when you got married. You
a. Lovingly pack it away and put it into storage with all of the other hundreds of things you can’t bear part with.
b. Give it to a friend or family member who has admired it in the past.
c. Find a way to bring it along. After all, you really do love it, plan to use it, and if some pieces happen to get broken along the way, you realize it’s better to enjoy it and risk losing some of the pieces rather than not.
Score: Give yourself 1 point each time you answered (a), 2 points for each (b) and 3 points for each (c).
Less than 10 points – Go home, looks like you can’t even add!
10 – 14 points – You may want to consider a different lifestyle.
15 - 19 points – You may find the rest of us a little strange out there.
20 - 24 points – You’re definitely on the right path.
25 - 30 points – Welcome Aboard!! You’re clearly cut out for the cruising lifestyle!
Janet Crane
M/V "Tardis"
(*) Credit for question #2 goes to Dave Barry who used this to determine whether or not you are a real man. I 'borrowed' it, since it's also a pretty good indication as to whether or not you're a real boater!