Is cruising worth the effort? You bettcha.

It's a question I've asked myself over the eight years we've lived on our boat, Rough Draft. When I tell people I live on a boat and that my wife and I are taking the boat to the Caribbean this year they often get starry-eyed. Usually I get one of two responses: I could never do that, or I'd love to do that.

Those that say they'd love to do it talk about relaxing on the boat, sipping cocktails and fishing for their food. "It sounds wonderful," they say. And it does, but that's such a small part of the picture. The truth is, cruising is work.

I was talking to a fellow boater the other day about all the work I have to do before we can take off and he laughed. "You know," he said, "Most of the time the only thing that works on a boat is the owner." Now that statement is a stretch, but there's more than a grain of truth in it.  Here are a couple of examples. Two months ago the water to our boat was cut off when a pipe broke to the apartment building where we dock Rough Draft. That shouldn't be a problem because we keep our water tanks full. Unfortunately our water pump chose that day to stop working. Add one job to the to do list.

Last month we went up to Wisconsin and Minnesota to see family. When we returned our refrigerator wasn't working. Add one more job for the to do list.

Last Monday we put up our headsail. We had taken it down for the hurricane season and since we hope to be out of here before this year's season begins it seemed like a logical thing to do. Unfortunately, the roller furling jammed. Add one more job to the list.

We're going so that we can enjoy the times when things go right, and they can go oh so right. Here's an example.

Sailing in the Florida Keys (Hawk Channel) Easter, 2006.

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