David&Joan wrote:
....

So, it can be done, but it is a lot of work. I suspect most club cruises are
like the Maine one: most people want to stay on moorings and not on the
hook. But they don't want to stay at marinas either.

Last summer when we were in Booth Bay the New York Yacht Club showed up
on their annual cruise. All available moorings were of course taken so
we were lucky to have gotten there a few days before. They were headed
to Linekin so we went in the opposite direction, to Robinhood.

Here's a picture from the cruise in 1999, when they stopped in Hadley's
opposite Wood's Hole. We were tucked in a cove, double anchored in the
only spot that had more than 2 feet, so we had relative peace:

http://www.sv-loki.com/Along_the_Way/Hadley.jpg

All of these boats are transients; on a normal weekend there are 5 or 6
boats here in the outer harbor.

wrote:

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

Depends on how many boats and also what kind of boats. We've never
cruised in a group, except occasionally when we've been in the ICW and
have paralleled someone else traveling at the same speed.

But I've seen people who have cruised in the Chesapeake in groups and
they often make reservations at the marinas for the group, and the
people who don't want to go into the marina will anchor out I guess.
For instance groups will come to our marina, and there's space
opposite for people to anchor out if they want to.

In January, you will find that there are races in Key West and every
available slip will be taken and I've seen race boats just sitting in
the fairway between the slips, not really tied down at all.

As far as the rest of the Keys, it will depend a bit on the draft of
the boats whether they go down Hawk Channel or on the bay side.

"Don White" wrote:


"Wilbur Hubbard" wrote in message
tanews.com...

If you can't enjoy sailing by yourself and must have other boats cruising
in company then you're no sailor. Give it up, man! Trying to sail in a
group puts you at the mercy of the least competent of the bunch. Do you
really want that? Do you really wish to be ruled by the lowest common
denominator? Held back by stupid inept people like Skippy and his
breakdown-prone, system-laden pig of a Morgan? That's not sailing.

Wilbur Hubbard


Translation: No one wants to sail with Capt Neal on the chance they might
end up downwind of his mustard/mauve barge.

That's not the translation. The translation is that Wilbur (or
whoever) can't read because the OP hasn't sailed in company and is
asking for advice on how it works. Which is the opposite situation to
the response.