Some of the things covered in the American Sailing Association’s 104 certification course (“Bareboat Cruising Standard”) probably won’t seem surprising after you hear about them, but really aren’t things people think about when they think of how amazing a sailing vacation might be.
I’m talking of course about the planning stages: there’s a lot to do. I could run down a pretty extensive list and most of the items on the list would clearly be common sense. Things like planning flights, provisioning for the trip, and getting all the money put together between the people going on the trip aren’t all that different from other vacations.
But then you really get into the planning and realize just how much there is to do, and how far ahead you need to do it.