If you haven’t spent any time over at Women and Cruising, I suggest you do. If their endless resources and unique perspective on the cruising life weren’t enough, here’s one more reason:

They asked yours truly to write a guest column/post about the top 6 mistakes men make when trying to GHOB with The Cruising Dream. It was hard to limit the list to just 6. You can read the full article here. Be sure to check out their other articles and blog posts from some of the most experienced and knowledgeable women to set sail.

Just back from a nice long trip down to Mexico, my second favorite country on the planet.  I made a point to turn off the iPhone roaming though it wouldn’t have cost much to make or receive calls.  I wanted to unplug.   It felt good.

So I get back to our house in Sausalito, and I turn on the phone.  Over almost two weeks, what did I miss?  Not much.

I start returning calls on the iPhone the next day from my living room.  Call dropped.  Redial.  Call dropped.  I send an email instead of dialing again and annoying further.  Next call lasts 2 minutes.  Call drops.  And the next.  And the next.  Maybe I need a land line after all.

Or maybe I don’t need to pay over $100 per month for a phone that won’t make calls.   Time to cancel the iPhone.  45 minutes of AT&T customer service (amazing how this call remains connected) playing concerned friend and I am out a month’s worth of service to sever the contract a month “early.”

Sure, I could have waited six weeks and skipped the disconnect fee, but I couldn’t in good conscience pay a company for service they aren’t providing.  It’s the principle of it.

Now I own an expensive iPod Touch, and I’m not missing a thing.

Before we took off sailing, we thought that facing a storm alone on the ocean would be the low point. We were caught in a storm, and yes it was bad, but like a lot of other cruisers, we found that the lowest of the low points had nothing to do with storms at sea. As always, the full HD version of this video is available at Youtube.com More information on the “Dream vs. Reality” video series can be found at www.getheronboard.com

Does the South Pacific really deliver everything you’ve dreamed about for so long? Yes, but there is a catch…

Hundreds of miles from land, far from help, on your own. Storms? Breakdowns? Pirates? Rationing food and water? We uncover the truth about the challenges of the longest passages. You’ll find more info at www.getheronboard.com

Roles within your relationship will change when you head off cruising.

Cruising will make or break any relationship, but for those who survive, the rewards are immeasurable. Find more info at www.getheronboard.com

After all the preparations, it might be best to leave the expectations at the dock.

Buying the boat is a small part of getting ready to sail away.

You can of course find more information on the project at www.getheronboard.com