How to set sail without giving up on life: advice from a couple who has already done so. Patrick and Sheila Dickson explain how to make "hybrid cruise" work
Seven years ago, as a pair of empty nesters living in London, Sheila and I embarked on an impulsive sailing adventure. I work at a crazy speed and fly around the world to advise global companies on future trends. At the same time, Sheila manages our company, serves as a magistrate, and integrates everything else.
We want to slow down and at the same time develop new skills, reshape our future, and give ourselves a new look. But we are worried about disrupting our business, ignoring our families, destroying our bank balances, and risking many other things. Can we make it work by spending a third of our time each year as "mixed sailors"?
Buying our own yacht after renting it a few times is a huge improvement. "At first I thought Patrick was crazy," Sheila admitted, "but in the end I was most interested in the whole idea. My father owned a yacht, but by the age of 70, he was shaking at sea and lost his courage."
Sheila's mother lost her memory when she was 69, and my father died of cancer at the same age. My early years as a hospice doctor also proved to both of us that life is too short to waste a day doing things you don’t believe in—or things you don’t actually need to do. We all believe in seizing this day: when life is uncertain, "eat dessert first"!
Even the remote anchorage—in this case Sandy Spit in the British Virgin Islands—can provide enough connections to work effectively. Photo: Christian Whitley/Getty
When we decided to buy Moxie (which was parked in Lagos, Portugal at the time), we initially thought we would bring her back to the UK. But the temptation of the sun, the warm ocean and the charm of many countries along the Mediterranean coast convinced us to sail east.
In the three months before departure, we flew to Lagos many times. This is a very busy time, equipping Moxie and preparing her, but the "normal life" continues: our company’s daily operations, customer calls, lecture reservations, relentless response to emails, and to myself Say, go to a speech event, no matter where in the world they may be.
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Our own time is valuable to the business, so we find it best to focus on our customers and let the yacht experts do most of the yacht preparation work.
We bought Moxie for the price of a large RV, it is a 10-year-old 47-foot yacht, specially equipped for sea navigation. Five million people in the UK own a second home-but you can use a small portion of it to buy a boat, and there are bank loans or financing options. If you choose a well-structured old model and keep it in good condition, the depreciation rate is very low.
In order to pay for daily living expenses, we transferred vacation expenses to our adventures and saved domestic expenses such as energy and gasoline. Anchorage usually does not require any fees, and many ports in Greece and other places offer very low prices for off-season yacht owners-although if you fly home in the summer, mixed sailing may incur a lot of terminal costs.
We also moved out of London, bought a hotel on the waterfront of Weymouth, and now we rent it out to a large group of people on AirBnB-but only when we are floating, so AirBnB now pays most of the boat fare.
Moxie eventually paid for herself several times. Living on the boat quickly refreshed our ideas and prompted us to try new initiatives. Although 16 books have been published before, I have experienced a decade of writer's block. But within three months of starting our new lifestyle, I signed a contract with the future of almost everything, followed by the salt in the blood.
Along the way, we encountered a variety of liveaboards, some of which used creative ways to fund their sea adventures. We met an Australian couple in their 80s. They often fly to Europe to buy a 20-year-old ship and then sail to Australia.
When they arrive, they sell for £20,000 more than the purchase price (because there is a high demand for quality yachts), which provides the funds for all this.
However, few liveaboard cruisers are truly hybrid. Most people are retired and live permanently on the ship except to visit their families. Some people are much younger during professional breaks. Others take years to travel around the world, sailing and go to school at home.
Few people are still fully integrated into the "normal life" of their hometown. In our case, we set off at a time window that we think may close soon-our adult children have just gotten married, and we know that our parents may need us more in the future, and we have become accustomed to virtual work in the enterprise .
Our "rule of thirds" model is good for us, even though we don't distribute them evenly every year. "When we are in the Mediterranean, we often fly out for a week or two at any time of the year, usually in short notice and uncertain about our return date-and we can quickly switch between sea or land mode ," Sheila explained. "But in places like the Caribbean, it makes sense to stay at least one month at a time."
Ready for your own maintenance
"We can float continuously for more than 6-8 weeks, which is very unusual. When we are there, it feels amazing, but it may take a while to adjust to the busyness on land."
When we crossed the Atlantic Ocean in December 2019, we were completely isolated from the world for 16 days and changed our lives. We did not know that the mutant virus was spreading from China.
As a futurist and doctor, I have repeatedly warned about the possibility of new epidemics — and there may be more — but if you are looking for a safe refuge, tropical anchorages must be the first choice.
We recently returned to Antigua and lived on anchor for three months during the blockade. We make our own water and electricity, and have a one-month food supply as a backup. I gave a keynote speech in our cabin, and Sheila delivered justice as a magistrate, almost presided over the court hearings in Poole and Bournemouth.
We were surprised to find that in remote anchorages, we usually have faster bandwidth than in the UK.
Over the years, as unlimited high-speed data packets are now available across Europe, roaming costs have dropped significantly. In the Caribbean, our roaming contract provides some services, but it is not enough, so we bought a local SIM card and a wifi device to provide 150GB at a price of 80 pounds.
In some ways, due to Covid, our liveaboard life has become easier, as long as you can overcome travel restrictions. When your colleagues or team are doing virtual work in any way, who cares if you are on a ship or on land?
However, Covid has also made our mixed lifestyle more difficult. Customers used to be happy to use email and telephone as the point of contact between face-to-face meetings. But now they look forward to video, which will greatly increase the usage of anchor data and require reliable bandwidth.
Before Covid, we might use 35GB every month, but now we might need 200GB. Zoom can use 1GB per hour. Therefore, if we make three calls every day, this alone means 30GB per week.
Union Island in the Grenadines. To combine work and sailing in the Caribbean, you need to be away for at least one month. Photo: Rick Tomlinson
Many people made crazy predictions during the lockdown that very few employees would return to physical offices. I warned that this was nonsense at the time. When we are physically dispersed, face-to-face meetings are more important. This is why Apple is one of the companies that recently announced that all employees must stay in the office for at least three days a week-they managed during the lock-in period, but realized they couldn't innovate.
Therefore, for most people who want to keep busy work, one voyage for many years is still an illusion. But it is usually possible to realize the dream in one-third of the year while maintaining a successful career. This requires planning and flexibility.
We choose a wider range of destinations based on airport connections. Once started, we will anchor on working days when there may be a good mobile signal. The weekend is more suitable for off-grid.
"The greatest joy of sailing adventure is where there is wind," Sheila recalled.
"But we have also had moments of anxiety, rushing to the anchorage or port for important video calls. We have learned to allow enough time to arrive, organize ourselves, get rid of sailing equipment and surf the Internet.
"Sometimes Patrick answered customer calls at sea and had to announce that we were offshore in a strong wind. I called him urgently on deck! Customers always understood him better."
People often ask me, as a futurist, what I think is the future of sailing beyond Covid. The pandemic has shaken millions of long-term career plans, and the next year or two will be the "payback period"-I predict that there will be large expenditures on unforgettable experiences and holidays. Under the constant shadow of the new crown virus, a large number of people will make major changes in their careers to pursue their dreams.
Some people will sell and sail, cutting off their land connection, but after realizing the importance of the family in the blockade, many others will be more reluctant to do so. So I expect the rapid growth of mixed sailing. This will force changes in yacht design-such as more power outlets, larger batteries and better desk areas.
As for the trade-offs? The time spent at home is one of them. We compress things on the earth into days or weeks. With family and friends to see, customers to see, and events to attend, we find that we are "at home" busier than ever.
But for us, the gains of this new lifestyle are huge, especially the excitement and release we experience when we sail from one place to another. We feel healthier while floating, ten years younger.
If you want to participate in a video conference, and comfort on board, you need to avoid rolling anchorages. Choose your location carefully, and try to hide under the cliff to stay away from swelling. Use the second anchor line to fix the bow in a wave, and fix a diagonal sail to keep the bow facing the wind. You can also try to use devices such as "rocker plugs".
Spending some offline time to enjoy yourself is an important part of hybrid cruising
...And stick to it. Be sure to observe the discipline of simultaneous offline, otherwise you will miss the real reason for boarding. This is why remote anchorages with no signal are our favorite places to go on weekends.
Keep plans flexible to cut costs
Mixed sailing means arranging important face-to-face work meetings in short and tight periods to reduce the frequency of flights. At the same time, give yourself enough leeway in terms of what flight to take and where to take off-you will find huge differences in the prices of low-cost airlines.
Data, data and more data
In addition to the roaming smart phone contract, you can also get a local wifi SIM card. Networks are different-even if they are 100m apart in the same anchorage, so please experiment. We always run three contracts: one for each mobile phone and one for the wifi dongle. Internet in cafes is usually unreliable, too noisy for video calls-and may be turned off when needed most. You may receive intermittent signals 25 miles offshore, but beyond that, you can also enjoy peace. Forget satellite communications: these systems cost thousands of pounds a month to be used in large quantities and cannot handle video streaming.
When time is limited, do your best to reduce annual maintenance. For example, Coppercoat means the end of the annual anti-fouling promotion. The mini scuba kit allows the anode to be replaced and the propeller cleaned under water for 15 minutes. Our most useful contacts are friendly taxi drivers who will take us to places to fix things and do useful errands.
Compared with traditional homes or offices, cabin lighting is usually weaker to save electricity. When you work, it is a false economy. We upgraded all cabin lights with the largest LED and added more. We also created ambient lighting with LED strips.
You can make your own green screen to improve the call background
Make your own green screen
Some colleagues or clients may be interested in seeing you on the yacht, but others may be distracted or even resentful. We purchased a green sheet as a background, allowing us to easily switch to other images-office, bookcase or court signs can appear behind us during the call. This is more effective than relying on apps or software features to cover up your cabin.
Life off-grid relies on a lot of electricity without running a noisy generator during a call. This means a huge battery and a lot of charging options. We upgraded to 800Ah battery storage, plus a fast smart charger. We use shore power for charging; engines; generators, wind; the propeller is in the water while sailing, and solar energy is being considered.
We rely entirely on power sources to charge computers. We have two rectifiers (always spare) and I reinstalled them so that all electrical outlets provide main power.
Having a well-insulated refrigerator means better storage of "fresh" food
Our boat is already equipped with a huge refrigerator and freezer, but they all quickly drained our batteries-so I sprayed more than 200 liters of closed-cell foam into the cavities around them to insulate them, and the effect was obvious. NS. Closed-cell foam means no condensation, but it needs to be mixed on-site and it is troublesome to apply.
When living on a boat, there is nothing more luxurious than a hot shower. This means a large water tank, preferably a water maker. Two people can easily use 70 liters a day (25% of our usual consumption when we go home), so we are grateful for the 600 liter tank. When we are driving in clear water, our water maker will run, producing 105 liters of water per hour, which means that a full water tank can last for several weeks.
We have (noisy) air conditioners, but this requires generators to run. It is more effective to set up a tent on the boat. We made one ourselves out of a large canvas and cut it into shapes. Pull it over the boom, around the mast, and fasten it to the guardrail and bow-it provides instant shading, a wind tunnel to drive the air below, and reduces the cabin temperature by about 10°.
Floating things can and do go wrong-salt corrosion, phone dropped into the sea, coffee spilled on the keyboard. In an unfamiliar country, it takes a long time to change a mobile phone. Therefore, we have prepared backups for all important things-enough for us to work at the same time, even if two devices are broken. Don't forget the printer and paper. You will need it for official documents, as well as other reasons in remote places. Many times, we still need to print out or actually sign the contract.
The use of boats for business and leisure, serious sea voyages and berthing requires a lot of stowage. When there are no guests on board, our two spare cabins are used for spare sails, folding bicycles, etc.
Maintain a biological clock during office hours
There is a four-hour time difference between the Caribbean Sea and the United Kingdom, so our usual goal is to work before 0600, finish by 1600 at the latest, and enjoy swimming before dinner.
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