What is cruising??

So often we see people who want to go to some distant place asking for information on how to best get there. IMO that is not cruising that is a delivery trip.

Cruising to me is trying out new places while bringing your residence ( boat) to each place. Our schedule is usually not more than six hours underway then two nights at the new location to explore what's there.

It seems we bring our interstate highway mentality to our boats when we speed past nearer places to get to someplace farther away.

Kind of weird that folks talk about how little fuel they use per mile but set their sights on distant destinations when closer locations may be just as interesting.

bayview, I can see your point about choosing closer destinations, but I also understand that "take me to the next horizon" line of thought.

Most of our cruising is done within 50 miles of home port but my bucket list includes a trip down the Columbia, up the WA coast, through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and a summer spent in BC and Puget Sound waters.

I've done the "delivery trip" taking a boat from Seattle to Stockton, CA, and that was fun in some ways, not so fun in others. On a trip like that there's no time to stop and smell the seaweed so it was more like work than a pleasure cruise. (If you can say that 9 days on a boat is "work".)

I think one's definition of cruising depends on their location, what areas/ports are within range and how much time they actually have to spend doing it.

There are deliveries and there is cruising and they are different. Neither is dependent on the distance traveled. The key is whether or not there is a schedule, which like an open flame is a dangerous thing to have on a boat.

Kind of weird that folks talk about how little fuel they use per mile but set their sights on distant destinations when closer locations may be just as interesting.

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But thinking you must cruise to close places first doesn't make any more sense.
We have been crusing our local areas for over 20 years. We have NOT been to every close location, yet we have been to many places many times.
We have also cruised some distances, we bypass many locations but also stop at many. Some we don't care to go back to. Some we like a lot and go back to.
I guess I don't see the "weirdness" you see.

jleonard said:

But thinking you must cruise to close places first doesn't make any more sense.
We have been crusing our local areas for over 20 years. We have NOT been to every close location, yet we have been to many places many times.
We have also cruised some distances, we bypass many locations but also stop at many. Some we don't care to go back to. Some we like a lot and go back to.
I guess I don't see the "weirdness" you see.

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....like so many things...people have different ideas...

bayview said:

So often we see people who want to go to some distant place asking for information on how to best get there. IMO that is not cruising that is a delivery trip.

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But if that's how a particular person enjoys "cruising" what's the difference. Some like the journey and some like to visit ashore.

Our schedule is usually not more than six hours underway then two nights at the new location to explore what's there.

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Personally this seems very rigid to me. We like to travel and stay as long or short as we like and in a few cases less is more!

Dave

Cruising to me is doing exactly what I wish to do regardless of distance from the slip. I seldom venture more than 5-8 miles from my slip but where I boat you can feel a thousand miles from civilization 200 yards from the marina. We go on longer trips but those are more destination trips or meet ups. Cruising to me does not involve a schedule, not easy to do on weekends when you still slave for wages.

Cruising to me..... (reformed Bayliner and Sailboat owner)

Not Cruising





This is cruising

Great pictures!

We cruise like this . . . . .

To get to where we can cruise like this . . . . .

Cruising with friends:

You are not cruising if you know where you will be a week later.

MYTraveler said:

You are not cruising if you know where you will be a week later.

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Sudden obscene affluence or waiting until retirement are the two options which will allow us to cruise BC's coast in the manner to which we wish to become accustomed.

I believe in the very appropriate age old definition of cruising:

"Fixing your boat in exotic places".

This is cruising!!

Our idea of "cruising" is our annual trip to Catalina Island. We harbor hop up the coast, stopping at Oceanside and then Newport Beach before we head over to the island. No more than four hours to a leg.

refugio said:

View attachment 31002

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Is your dink front end attached to the swim step some how? Or just drawn in with a rope? Nice picture.

Adelaide said:

Is your dink front end attached to the swim step some how? Or just drawn in with a rope? Nice picture.

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No swim step - horseshoe stern makes that problematic anyway.

I generally tow it off the stb quarter on a spectra line with snubber that's about 12' from the hawsehole to the bow eye. Even with floating line I'm still cognizant of not letting enough line out to let it get near the prop (which is tucked well under).

And then I can Christmas Tree tow another tender (or assistance tow!) off the port quarter.

Fixing your boat in exotic places".

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Truer words never spoken.

...villages, towns, cities! Here to-day, up and off to somewhere else to-morrow! Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you, and a horizon that's always changing!

Toad in "The Wind in the Willows"

bayview said:

So often we see people who want to go to some distant place asking for information on how to best get there. IMO that is not cruising that is a delivery trip.

Cruising to me is trying out new places while bringing your residence ( boat) to each place. Our schedule is usually not more than six hours underway then two nights at the new location to explore what's there.

It seems we bring our interstate highway mentality to our boats when we speed past nearer places to get to someplace farther away.

Kind of weird that folks talk about how little fuel they use per mile but set their sights on distant destinations when closer locations may be just as interesting.

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Everyone gets to define their own "cruising". It matters little what others think.
Whatever floats your boat.

Greetings,
I'm cruising whenever I'm under way. Destination, speed, fuel usage...it's all moot. I'm cruising!

Cruisin' by:



It's mostly the scenery. (As in up the lazy river/slough, here on the Petaluma, at Lakeville, CA.)

I think of 'cruising' as going to far off places that I have never been to before.
I have trouble defining "far off". That's a relative term and not always measured in miles.

I have 2 main terms I use for my boat time. One is "cruising" and the other is "just out playing on my boat". It's akin to automobile travel. Most people use the expression "we are taking a trip this weekend" (cruising) or "just gonna watch the fireworks down at the boardwalk' (playing).
I think if you don't know the difference you never will.

I think of the Jimmy Buffet song "One Particular Harbor".

"Where the children play on the shore each day, and all is safe within"

There is nothing like the feeling and the challenge of pulling into a harbor or anchorage for the first time. It is all new and fresh. I am always looking for that one particular harbor.

Moonstruck said:

... I am always looking for that one particular harbor.

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Moonstruck said:

I think of the Jimmy Buffet song "One Particular Harbor".

"Where the children play on the shore each day, and all is safe within"

There is nothing like the feeling and the challenge of pulling into a harbor or anchorage for the first time. It is all new and fresh. I am always looking for that one particular harbor.

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This is what I thought of with that quote. It's such a special, historical, family place in the San Juan Islands. I wish every boater could spend some time there. If they have kids, 4th of July is the most amazing time. Great quote Moonstruck!

Roche Harbor, San Juan Island

Probably every cruiser here has a "special" place that thinks every other cruiser should try and go there...

Hopefully not all at once....

And car guys cruise up and down boulevards and stop at drive ins with car hops.

Cruising means many different things to different people.

When you can do this, it's cruising!!!