What is cruising????

In another area of this forum that is likely not as popular as this area, Wifey B made these two posts. I think they are awesome and deserve the exposure to as many people as possible that are considering cruising. I thought it was some excellent wisdom and it needed to be shared!!!

Here ya go:

However, you need to jointly work out what makes sense for the two of you. Perhaps it's breaks to fly home for a bit and then back to the boat. Perhaps it's more dinners in nice restaurants. Perhaps it's going to some art galleries in the towns you visit, or museums other than strictly maritime. Maybe just satellite television. Maybe it's determining what is a good length of time for cruising. For some it is something like flying to Nassau and meeting you there.

Talk talk talk and jointly find the solution.

I can't tell you what for you, but here's what we found makes us happy. For us, happiness means we spend about six weeks on the boat, then fly home for three, then back for six more, etc. You get the pattern... We also do tons of stuff everywhere we go. We really explore the towns. That includes the quaint little stores, the art galleries, the old houses, the lighthouses (omg my hubby can't miss a lighthouse), the zoos, everything special about that place. We're never "stuck on a boat" for weeks. We have a day of boating and then a couple exploring an entirely new area. Then it on to the next.

We research each town before we get there to decide what are our must see's and must do's. We love boating but we don't want to spend 24 hours a day on one for weeks or even 20 hours. Our typical pattern is cruise one day, then spend one or two where we land. All the day time exploring and seeing. Then a day of cruising and the next town. A very few we might arrive in the morning and see the town that afternoon and move on the next day.

Make it all fun. You have to define fun for you. But fun to me is doing lots of different things while sleeping on the boat and cruising place to place.

I decided just to give you one random stop we have planned on the Loop. Utica, NY. I've never been there. We'll arrive there after 32 nm and 4 locks from St. Johnsville. Probably about noon or early afternoon. We'll stay there all afternoon and the next day and night. What is there to do? Well, here's a few.


-Art institute-Munson Williams Proctor
-Children's museum-
-Local Historical Society-Oneida County
-Brewery tours. Beer and Whiskey. Matt Brewing. Adirondack Distilling.
-Rail tours. Adirondack Scenic Railroad.
-Shopping. Just see the downtown area but also Specialty stores at the Finish Line. It's in the Brewery district and has a pub too. On Thursdays they even sit out on the deck and have a band.

Restaurants.

-Aqua Vino. Italian/American. Beef and veggies from their own farm.
There are many more but it's convenient to the water and highly rated. We'll probably eat on the boat one night and there the other.

I don't think of Utica, NY as the tourist attraction of all the world. But I know we'll have fun. We'll explore. We'll get a feel of the town. We'll leave with good memories and excitement about the next stop.

We've looked at every place we're heading in advance and made lists of more than we can possibly see and do.

Typical stop. We arrive noon or 1 pm. Rinse the boat. Eat lunch. Head to town. See one of the things on our list. Just walk the downtown area. Dinner at Aqua Vino. Back to the boat. Day 2, breakfast on boat then head out. Railroad tour thingy. Maybe distillery (no brewery for us). The art institute. To the Finish Line for lunch and the little shops. The local historical museum. We love these. They're generally small but you learn about the area. Probably the Children's Museum. I'm a child. Many of them are very cool. The one in Boston is omg beyond fantastic. Plus fun to watch the kids doing fun things and trying them as well. Back to the boat. Relax and then grill something for dinner. Relax and ready to head out early tomorrow.

There is something to enjoy everywhere.

And adjust. Be flexible. Learn. Don't force it but let it come to you. It will if you're open. There's a method of madness out there for each couple. Make your own kind of music. Oh and that's one too. Find local events or places with music or entertainment you'll like. Sometimes you're just freaking lucky. It was luck we hit Panama City, Panama for Carnival. But then maybe one of the most mind blowing times ever was Easter in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Now wow they know how to do Easter. We had no idea how great that was going to be.

Make every day special.

And her follow up post:

Now I know some just go without a plan. We plan. My hubby's a planner and corrupted me. Now, plan always subject to change. But we spend time looking at each destination, fun things to do, checking our the restaurant reviews, looking at events when we'll be there. It's not the anchorage or marina that excites us over and over and over, but what lies beyond. The coastal community. I think Coastal communities are so special. I had no freaking idea there were sooooooooooooooo many maritime museums. But you see the old boats and things of the area. Then some days we just explore in the RIB. Every place has something special to find. Plus in doing so you meet the people. If the only thing you're doing at a town is hauling laundry around and shopping for groceries, then I'm out too.

Some of you are happy just communing with nature. I find nature more beautiful interspersed with other. Nature's calming and relaxing so I have to do something exciting to calm down from. Contrast in life is great.

Older friends, more the ages of many of you, who are also captains and have cruised many many times more than us, said once we were trying to walk them to death. But they also said, "we've seen more in one trip with you than years with others" So much of their time as Captains over the years never got them beyond the marina.

Make your own memories. I know not for most of you, but I remember Naples, FL in special ways. It's nice in general. But one Saturday night....we went to the Opera. We dressed up. All the way. Me in heels, evening dress...I'd describe but might have adverse effects on the health of some of you like elevated pulse or something...him in suit but no tie. I've agreed never again a tie for him unless required for admission. Went to fancy restaurant. Went to opera. Had dessert and champagne after. Then back to the boat. The next day back to normal beach wear and exploring.

We had no idea when we started how long we'd like being on the boat without seeing home. For some it's decades. For us it turned out to be six weeks mostly, a max of two months (we did for Alaska). Hubby believes in the theory of pain. When you start longing for home. But then we have the same on the other side, when we start longing to be back on the boat. That's three weeks. i think in the case of both of you posting, something's being learned, but then how to address it. We park the boat...hehe....ok, I know dock instead of park...and fly home and fly back. No luggage.

It's like Mikey. "Try it, you'll like it." Don't make it like Alka Seltzer, "I tried it. I thought I would die". I like "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" but it doesn't fit what I was saying.

I agree Baker. Great post and solid ideas from Wifey B.

Her posts are always great. Putting up with her husband's post is only a small price to pay for the privilege.

dhays said:

I agree Baker. Great post and solid ideas from Wifey B.

Her posts are always great. Putting up with her husbands post is only a small price to pay for the privilege.

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My favorite definition of cruising is "Fixing your boat in exotic places".

We were pretty much the opposite of the epistle above. Our #1 goal was/is to go places only accessible by boat, the more undeveloped the better. #2 was to have no plan, and stick to it. We didn't need any psycho-synching exercises, that had all been done decades ago, and boating-wise worked out further as we chartered.
It's interesting, we have since gone back by car and explored many of the various towns and urban areas we went by while cruising. I tried to keep down the number of places we stayed that could be done by car and save as much diesel fuel as possible for the places that couldn't.

The wonders of cruising are enhanced because you don't have a car and mostly are on foot near the center of an old waterfront town. Most waterfront towns have a lot of attractions near the water. If you were zipping along at 70 MPH on the freeway you would probably not stop but when on the boat and mostly on foot you discover interesting thinks that you would not see if driving

Great post, Wifey B. Thanks for bringing it up, Baker.

Talk it out & make it work for everyone aboard. I'd be happy almost anywhere on a boat, even doing a non-stop circumnavigation, but I know my wife prefers to be within a day's cruising of land.
She prefers anchorages in an isolated bay on our own rather than a marina in a city, and enjoys visiting sleepy little villages with nearby wineries. My son (and our dog) likes an uncrowded surf beach; my daughter likes snorkelling a good reef; I like to get in a bit of fishing each cruise.

Same with cruising with friends. Some people are a bit too polite to request certain likes/dislike as a guest on the boat, and need a bit of coaxing, especially with someone new to boating. It's important to find out how prone they are to seasickness, which often takes a bit of talking. Then we can stick to sheltered water rather than to turn back because the guest is violently ill.

bayview said:

The wonders of cruising are enhanced because you don't have a car and mostly are on foot near the center of an old waterfront town. Most waterfront towns have a lot of attractions near the water. If you were zipping along at 70 MPH on the freeway you would probably not stop but when on the boat and mostly on foot you discover interesting thinks that you would not see if driving

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So stop and go look, a destination is a destination.

Cruising = BPH (beers per hour) the slower you go the more beers you can consume in a given distance .

Cruising?

My wife and I are 180 out on this topic. She likes the destinations and I like the journey.

High Wire said:

My wife and I are 180 out on this topic. She likes the destinations and I like the journey.

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That's no surprise.

Cruising? I thought we were discussing trawlering....

Cruising could be simplified to "running a boat at a steady speed to a vacation-like place."

"What speed do you cruise at?" ... Is often said on TF. Always talking about a steady speed to go.

A steady and stable cruise speed is of paramount importance, just as it is, when you go faster or slower