Community, life satisfaction and motivation in ocean cruising: comparative findings

Abstract

This quantitative study aims to build upon previous qualitative research on ocean cruisers. Ocean cruisers have made a conscious decision to lead a more self-determined life on the ocean, often cutting all ties with the life they left back on land. “Cruisers” were defined by the following criteria: they owned their own boats, lived aboard and were on the move. Using quantitative methods, 243 cruisers completed an online survey focusing on motivations for cruising, satisfaction with life and sense of community. Results showed cruisers were genuinely happy with their lives, scoring higher than the average for happiness in industrialised nations. Descriptive statistics revealed cruisers experienced a great sense of community. Further tests showed life satisfaction was significantly related to sense of community, living aboard, centrality of cruising to lifestyle and level of development. Sense of community was significantly related to satisfaction with life, boat racing and boater courses. Motivations for going cruising, as well as implications, are also discussed.

Keywords:

• ocean cruising
• community
• life satisfaction
• travel
• motivations

Notes

1. Things which attract visitors to the destination, such as experiencing and learning from a new culture.

2. The international cruising (boating) association from which respondents were recruited does not have any statistical data on its members that would allow the authors to make any claims about the representativeness of the sample.