Many of us simply do not want to take off for weeks to go cruising but
we do want to go places in our boats. This is why I have decided to
try "Incremental Cruising" whereby I go for a few days and then come
home and then go more.
This is not working as well as I would like because I have had a few
problems. However, I think it could work, particularly if I had lower
expectations (a sure way to success, lower your expectations) for how
far I go each day. Part of my reason for going is to eventually go to
the bahamas so slow progress in getting to the Fl east coast seems
like failure. However, I should probably learn to like the trip for
itself and not be so goal oriented.
Leaving the boat in marinas is working far better than I expected. It
seems that some marinas have weekly rates that are almost reasonable.
Gulfport Municipal Marina was about $150/wk and Royal Palm Marina is
about $170/wk. This is not cheap but the benefits seem to outweight
the cost. For example, there is a lot less worry about leaving the
boat in a marina than simply leaving her on the hook and the marinas
do have facilities you can use. They are also easy for the Enterprise
Car rental people to find. I had considered leaving my boat at anchor
but I have seen many boats, many much more expensive than mine
anchored long term and I have decided I do not like it. I would worry
too much.
One big problem is transit time in getting to and from where I leave
the boat. It takes about 5-6 hours driving and then there is the
rental car pick-up and drop-off time as well. This means you kill a
day at the beginning and end of a leg although at the beginning of a
leg I am driving my own car so it is less. This will get less
significant if I can take longer legs (more days).
My next leg, I will try for more quality time sailing (motor sailing
to keep up a minimum of 5 kts) and less rush to get somewhere although
I will be sailing with a destination.