Frogwatch wrote:
I think the reason many people do not cruise is because it takes so
dang long they run outa time. They need to leave their boats
somewhere for a month till they can get back to sail on further. This
is very difficult because almost all marinas are geared toward long
term slip agreements.
What I envision is a series of mooring buoys spaced roughly 50 miles
apart on the Gulf coast to be used for no more than a month. Marina
operators may not like this but they mostly have enough business
anyway. These might have to be on state property (most bottoms are
state property). Fees would be by the night, by the week or by one
month max. payable at a drop box ashore or by CC online. The operator
of the system would pay fees to the state and community. Any boat
that exceeded the 1 month limit would be towed by commercial service
to a local marina.
Cruisers who would use such buoys, do not mind spending money at local
restaurants and stores so it would help local businesses.
Thoughts?

Moorings fields are common in New England, and are the norm outside of
larger towns. We've spent almost every summer for 20 years cruising
cruising Massachusetts and Maine, and have hardly ever rented a slip.
By contrast, when we traveled south we found ourselves marina hopping,
even though we would have preferred moorings.

Some mooring fields have a robust launch service (Scituate and Salem
come to mind), most others you're on your own. However, we've managed
to hold out and get by with a rowing dinghy, rather than deal with an
outboard. Some places have week/month rates, others have "shoulder
season" rates that apply before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. The
best time to cruise Martha's Vineyard is September, as long as you don't
mind being on hurricane watch.

One interesting thing in the last few years is a "semi-profit" group
that rents moorings around Boston Harbor, so that day sailors and
overnighters can have a secure place to hang out. We've used them
frequently, either for a few hours, or for the first or last night of a
trip. However, they are not available for longer storage.

This year we're getting by without a "home marina" so we're committed to
living off the transient system. We'll need to leave the boat briefly a
few times, so we're looking forward to finding out how that will work
out. Our big problem is that we travel with a dog and cats, and
normally have a full fridge and freezer, so the solution may involve
have a car "pre-positioned" at some strategic point so we can unload and
haul everything home for a few days. Or, as we've done in the past, I
can stay on the boat while my wife rents a car to deal with real life.

One more thought: I've considered Roger's idea of cruising
Newfoundland, and I have friends who loved it so much they even wintered
over there. I've toyed with the idea of sailing up to Nova Scotia one
summer and leaving the boat there. Then over to Newfoundland the next
summer, and on the third summer up the St Lawrence and down through Lake
Champlain. (The admiral, however, is not not enthusiastic - she likes
beaches!)

Dave wrote:
On Sat, 04 Apr 2009 07:51:40 -0400, jeff said:

Some mooring fields have a robust launch service (Scituate and Salem
come to mind), most others you're on your own. However, we've managed
to hold out and get by with a rowing dinghy, rather than deal with an
outboard.

What do you do at Menemsha, leave the dinghy on the beach outside the harbor
entrance?

We haven't gone ashore at Menemsha in a while but you can tie up at the
marina there, assuming you can handle the current. Outside, you could
leave the dink NE of the jetty, but probably not on the public beach
right there. They run two moorings inside, and about a dozen outside,
first come, first serve. I was inside several time years ago, but only
used an outside mooring for a easy layover in recent years. Outside is
not highly recomended - its rather rolly for most boats.

We normally stay in Vineyard Haven, which has become our "home away from
home" and take a bus to Menemsha.

Dave wrote:
On Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:35:42 -0400, jeff said:

What do you do at Menemsha, leave the dinghy on the beach outside the harbor
entrance?
We haven't gone ashore at Menemsha in a while but you can tie up at the
marina there, assuming you can handle the current.

That is, of course, the issue. I like to spend a night at each of the main
ports on the Vineyard when we go there, but there's no way anyone could row
in from the outside moorings when that current is in the wrong direction.
You either motor, or leave the dinghy outside. (Or plan on spending enough
time ashore for the current to have turned). A stopover there was enough to
persuade me to get a motor. We had previously stayed inside, and it didn't
occur to me that that big pond at the back of the harbor could create quite
an obstacle at the entrance with the tide rising or falling.

So your desire to go inside at Menemsha is worth the price of a engine
(plus the associated hassles like registration and maintenance)?
Mooring at VH and renting a car would have been about 90% cheaper!
Sounds to me like there's just a little rationalization here.