CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

Dear Readers,

Here’s hoping that you are all having a joyous and wondrous holiday season.

Thank you so much for emailing me during these last several months and asking whether I was okay, since you had not seen any new essays from me.

I am fine! My Health is excellent and my Happiness is abundant.

I simply felt that after TEN YEARS of writing my Blog, I needed … and perhaps deserved … a break. So I took a voluntary sabbatical. I did not develop “writers’ block” and certainly I did not suddenly doubt the worldview that I had expressed in 167 essays. My sense was that when it was time to begin creating again, I would know. And such is the case.

My new essay will post on New Year’s Day 2024. The working title is: ONE MAN’S QUEST. I look forward to sharing it with you.

All the best,

Ray

THE SEA GYPSY TRIBE ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

by Ray Jason

 

PART TWO

 

The first essay in this series, which you can find here, was re-posted at many websites. The “comments” sections at those blogs generated some very lively discussions. So much so, that it makes sense for me to clarify my mission.

I am NOT trying to convince large numbers of people to abandon their lives ashore and adopt the full-time cruising lifestyle. Instead, my goal is to inspire those who are already living aboard their sailboats. My hope is that I can encourage them to band together with other like-minded sailors who believe that society-wrecking catastrophes might lie just below tomorrow’s horizon.

Groups of 5 to 8 boats, when properly prepared and equipped, have an excellent chance of surviving - and even flourishing - despite any emergency. There are 100s of anchorages scattered all around the world filled with self-reliant sea gypsies.

THE SEA GYPSY TRIBE ENCYCLOPEDIA

 by Ray Jason

 

For more than a decade I have been promoting a concept that I call The Sea Gypsy Tribe. The idea is that Humanity is living in an increasingly chaotic world with the possibility of extreme catastrophes looming just beyond the stormy horizon.

I firmly believe that the best way to escape from any type of emergency, is in a well-prepared, ocean-capable sailboat, along with a small group of like-minded sailors in their boats. During the last 10 years at my blog, in about a dozen essays, I have carefully described various disasters and then explained how sailing vessels can effectively respond to them.

My sincere hope is that none of us ever have to deal with such extreme situations. It would be terrific if none of us ever had to react to a currency collapse or a cyber attack or a balloon armed with an EMP! But a wise, old mariner once advised me to “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst!”

Since I receive inquiries from cruisers all around the world, I decided to collate together the many reasons that I believe the sea gypsy life is ideal in shielding one from natural or human-caused disasters.

Therefore, I am creating this Sea Gypsy Tribe Encyclopedia. It will be spread out across a few essays. Initially, I will randomly choose the topics for discussion, but eventually, they will all be alphabetized like an encyclopedia. But don’t be alarmed – it will not be some massive tome. Instead, it will be a longish essay divided into a few segments. Let’s begin!

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