Plukky eighth commandments originated from his previous boat Long Reef and continue through to Freedom
1. Thou shalt learn to adapt to your surroundings and not change your surroundings to suit yourself. What this means is simplify the boat to the extreme. That is, chuck out everything you don’t need which to me was most of the stuff on the boat. You of course will have your own version of extreme. Do you need air conditioners when you simply can adapt to the heat? I didn’t so out they went. Did I need a huge generator for power needs? No I have reduced my power needs to the bare minimum and I put in solar panels to give me all the power that I need anyway.
Well that went overboard as well as the hot water heater and so much other crap that I didn’t need. It was very liberating.
2.Thou shalt not stay at marinas. They are foul places smelling terrible of god knows what and diesel. Learn to be creative with your anchor work when near a town and you will also save a packet.
3.Thou shalt do all the work on the boat yourself .
If you don´t do this you will either get very poor very quickly or you have a large bank account.
4.Thou shalt not get the boat perfect before you set sail.
Safety, rigging, constructionetc have to be up to scratch though but don’t get scared and invent new things to get it ready otherwise you will never leave. GO. GO NOW!
5.Thou shalt put a picture of your dream boat behind your toilet door. This is for your inspiration if you haven’t got a boat. Thou shalt also put a picture on shower screens, front door, back door, shed door, cupboard doors, fridges both inside and out and also above the bed head for those intimate times. If she hasn’t left after this then she is a keeper.
6.Thou shalt always give it a go. Have a crack at it in my lingo. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, you can lose your first boat like I did but maybe you shouldn’t think about that, but have a go anyway. This applies to everything. As soon as you stop trying you die.
7.Thou shalt not sail to a schedule. Never take people on board that have deadlines and exact dates to get back by. This is a recipe for disaster.
8.Thou shalt engage in an activity that scares the $#%# out of you
The frequency should be as often as possible. I call this therapy. I am not talking about a heart attack situation here although the closer you get to this I believe the better the therapy becomes. Sadly some of the younger generation don´t get to experience this and turn to alternatives.
