wrote in message
ups.com...
My sailing club is planning a Christmas 2008 cruise to the Keys but
the more I think about it the more I wonder if this sort of thing can
work well. How do you decide whether to anchor out most of the time
or to use marinas half the time. What marinas do you use when people
have radically diff budgets (yes, I am cheap)?
I'll admit, having another boat to comisserate with on long boring
passages or for company on scary ones would be nice but a whole pack
of boats can cause problems. Many anchorages are just too small for
more than a couple of boats. Marinas are not likely to have slip space
for more than a couple of transients too.
How do you deal with these issues?

Frogwatch


Hi Frogwatch.

Long boring passages...scary ones...what part of the world are you coming
from to the Keys?

Not sure of traveling with a group of boats, I've never done it. Cruising
certainly doesn't need to be a solitary activity. I meet and make friends
with cruisers (and others) everywhere we go.

There are a zillion places to anchor in the Keys. It would probably be a
challenge to be traveling together & have some wanting to anchor & others
wanting to be in a marina at the same time. Might be a good idea to go at
the same general time & arrange to meet a couple three places in the Key &
keep in touch via a vhf net or cell-phones.

The Keys can be done with a gold-plated marina tour (I've heard) or on the
cheap, anchoring 100% and dinging ashore in strategic places with free/cheap
docks etc (our way). Enjoy the Keys...great place.

Glenn.
s/v Seawing.