How to get around when cruising?

AS I consider fulltime cruising (living aboard with no "dirt" address, moving every few months or seasons or whenever I desire to a new marina or anchorage); I consider the actual need for a owning a car.

I am planning on living from the Gulf of Mexico to the inland waterways of TN/KY. I shall be on a 35ish foot trawler

How do others get around while cruising?

Moped?
Uber type service?
Ferrying a car to their new location?

I was thinking (and just in the planning stages) of having a moped or scooter, lightweight to get onboard, able to move me around the new area, and not use too much money.

Just wondering what others might do?

Thanks.

We leave for 6 to 7 months.....and live aboard in one place for most of the rest.

All the above are ways to get around...getting rid of my truck as I drive it less than 2000 miles a year.

Buying a small RV for visiting friends and family, plus a backup place to stay when on the hard.

Plan your stops and anchorages carefully and most necessities are within walking distance...or a dingy ride plus walking.

Have thought moped or scooter also...bike good enough for now.

There are scads of new electric bikes now on the market. Compact, folding and light. Many with +20 mile range. Price range $600-1400

Heron said:

There are scads of new electric bikes now on the market. Compact, folding and light. Many with +20 mile range. Price range $600-1400

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X2, there are lots of ebikes about that are very reasonable, but do your homework on reviews as some are just junk. A folding wagon or card is also very handy. These along with a dink and planning your stops as mentioned above, should be all you really need.

We just walk.
In Ketchikan we rode the bus a lot.
We have bikes at the house and I'm thinking of using them on the boat. Wonder how long they'd last?
Not using them around the house much.

As I dream of one day taking off on the boat for months at a time, I had the same question. I figured I'd buy a small scooter that I could lift with my dingy crane and carry on the aft deck roof. Having been to several of the marinas on the TN river, I would think you would want some type of motorized transportation.

clynn said:

As I dream of one day taking off on the boat for months at a time, I had the same question. I figured I'd buy a small scooter that I could lift with my dingy crane and carry on the aft deck roof. Having been to several of the marinas on the TN river, I would think you would want some type of motorized transportation.

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Depending where you cruise....not as necessary as you think....

Many aren't even taking bikes to the Bahamas anymore as the towns are just so small.

From Jersey to the Keys...there's enough stores you might need pretty close to anchorages, marinas, dingy docks, free docks, etc...

You should be Google maps literate and pretty good at scanning satellite view before the trip though....

We kept full size bikes on our previous sundeck trawler. We'd cover them with a motorcycle cover when we we'd leave them out for any length of time. We used them a lot! Yes, mine got a little rust on it from the saltwater, but a little regular maintenance keeps that at bay. (still have those bikes in the garage) Now we have folding bikes that Santa brought this year that will easily store inside the Navigator.

Remember that any coastal town that you arrive at (on the east and gulf coasts) is fairly flat. While a motorized bicycle might be nice, it's not really necessary along the ICW.

With some planning you can get around everywhere on the east coast by walking. But some form of transportation helps:

Folding bike: This was an aluminum frame Dahon. Not perfect, but better than a large, steel frame bike. Increased my range to the grocery from 1/2 mile walking while carrying groceries to 2-3 miles. Fairly easy off and on the dinghy.

Electric Scooter: About the same as the bike, but much harder to get on/off the boat. Best with a dock alongside.

Car: Eterprise and others have cheap weekend rentals for less than $50 for three days. Lets you really load up on provisions or search out parts.

Leap frog car moving is a PITA. I might do it a couple of times each year, but no more. And only if I had a secure place to leave it.

Segway, hover boards- Just gimmicks.

djmarchand said:

...Enterprise and others have cheap weekend rentals for less than $50 for three days. Lets you really load up on provisions or search out parts...

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We've done that twice since we left JAX in January. Friday till Monday, noon till noon and they come pick you up. Throw Uber into the mix and it is pretty cheap and easy.

Thanks for the replies.

Gives me things to ponder and consider.

So, are fulltime cruisers getting rid of their vehicles and saving the expense and using these alternatives?

I think of the annual expense of a car: taxes, insurance, storage, maintenance, worry of having another item loose somewhere out there when I am in my boat somewhere else...

Seems like a big step (similar to moving onto a boat) to rid oneself of a vehicle.

I've seen cruising people with folding bicycles, mopeds and actual motorcycles, pretty much depending on the size of their boats. Owning a car doesn't do you much good if it's not where you can use it.


We don't cruise full time and our boat is relatively small so we depend on walking and a folding grocery cart. Many marinas have courtesy cars. We stayed at one that pays for a cab to and from the closest grocery store. They don't pay for the tip though.


We figure that occasional cab rides would be cheaper than bicycles but so far have avoided that except for the free ride paid for by the marina.


Several times, other people staying at marinas have offered to drive us to stores.

kokopelliTim said:

Thanks for the replies.

Gives me things to ponder and consider.

So, are fulltime cruisers getting rid of their vehicles and saving the expense and using these alternatives?

I think of the annual expense of a car: taxes, insurance, storage, maintenance, worry of having another item loose somewhere out there when I am in my boat somewhere else...

Seems like a big step (similar to moving onto a boat) to rid oneself of a vehicle.

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So just do some math! Insurance @ $750/yr, maintenance, fuel, registration- YMMV, but total could easily go to $2,000. Figure an average Uber ride at $15, and a 2-day Enterprise at $100. You can do 10 Enterprise rentals and 65 Uber rides a year. We've been cruising since 2008, we might do 5 Enterprise rentals/yr, a handful of Uber rides. Aaannnd.... that's not including that big ticket item your car could hand you because it's upset you left it sitting.

Ditch the car! Get over that feeling that you're not independent without owning a car, it's an old wive's tale.

Lou_tribal said:

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Lou, Do these things blow up? Lots of bad press recently on them.

Ken E. said:

Lou, Do these things blow up? Lots of bad press recently on them.

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If you roll on a mine yes !
To be serious I do not know I don't have one but I find it interesting. I have seen some of different model on the street and it looked really fun. I guess that like everything with a battery it can have issue... like our boat.

L.

All of the advice above is spot on. We walk a lot. We have bikes aboard that have been handy. Have used UBER a few times. Many marinas have a "Marina Car" available to be signed out and used for errands.

AND - we have a car we have left with my parents when we left Florida last spring. When we returned in the fall, we have retrieved it. We will probably move it north for the summer.

Like most things about the lifestyle - it depends on what works for you.

One thing to consider with scooters/mopeds/ebikes: Different states have different requirements for licensing, registration and insurance.

The hoverboards are fun, but not real transportation. They take practice and are so balance sensitive that trying to carry anything on them would be dangerous. My kids have them.

I would debate the statement that "many" marinas have courtesy cars....

In my own personal experience, it might be one in 15 or 20 might have one, so the word "many" might be misleading.

Lou_tribal said:

If you roll on a mine yes !

To be serious I do not know I don't have one but I find it interesting. I have seen some of different model on the street and it looked really fun. I guess that like everything with a battery it can have issue... like our boat.



L.

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I own and ride a Solowheel. Nice way to get around. The learning curve can be a bit painful.

Cruising there is more to see and visit than just the shore.

A cheap car with basic liability is inexpensive , although the cheapest is an older motor home, about $100 a year with progressive. The MH also doubles as a storage locker.

For a constantly moving vessel a car is not a delight , but stop for a month (cheapest dockage) and the vehicle will be very useful.

Driving 100 miles to visit or stay at a site or event is a delight, chasing parts less so but frequently needed..

We have a couple folding bikes on board. If we were more serious about biking, we'd probably bag the "folding" idea and use "real" bikes, since we (at least almost) have space to do that.

And then we can do marina cars (if/when available), taxis, rides with friends or family who happen to visit where we happen to be, etc. Haven't ever done an Uber yet, but seems viable.

FWIW, there are some bike features we find useful, mostly about corrosion resistance, weight, comfort, and ability to haul stuff. Enthusiasts might care about gears. Mostly not difficult to solve, although the corrosion part usually wants a bit of attention.

-Chris

We walk, taxi, or rental car, depending on the distance.

Steve said:

We walk, taxi, or rental car, depending on the distance.

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We do as well, and sometimes public transportation. Uber lacks presence in most of the areas we need transportation. They don't really cover many small towns.

We walk, ride folding bikes, bus, Uber , cabs and rental cars. Nice to always drive a brand new car when you need one. We usually only have a car about 10 days a year.

Have seen boats (OK, small self-propelled barges) in Europe carrying their own automobiles

We don't live permanently on our boat but we usually cruise for two to three months at a time.

Many marinas are close enough to stores that walking is practical. Our doctor says we are the healthiest when we've been cruising. We have a folding cart for carrying food and supplies.

Many marinas have a "loaner vehicle" available for an hour or two. The last marina we used one at told us that if we signed it out at closing time (5:00 PM) we could keep it until they opened the next day. They usually expect you to replace the gas you use.

One marina we stayed at paid for a taxi to and from the nearest grocery store. They expected us to carpool with other boaters and they didn't cover tips (and neither did the other boaters).

I've seen boaters with bicycles and one with a small motorcycle (on a very large boat).

Then of course there are busses and taxis. And rental cars.

Although the thought of bein able to travel independently is nice, it would take a lot of taxi trips to pay for the cost of a pair of decent bicycles or motor bikes. And a taxi is far better in the rain. And the bicycles or motor bikes have a limited lifespan on a boat unless you have room to keep them inside.

Wifey B: Ok, read books by several doing the canals in Europe who had vans they moved along with themselves. Every time they'd move the boat, they'd move the van, using a bicycle to get to and from. Seemed silly. I now apologize to them all.

See, we had 7 of us returning to the boat and did so in the van. Then along the way talk spread to someone running the van each day as the rest of us were on the boat so at the end of the day we'd have the van wherever we went. Also van person could grocery shop and such along the way. In the areas we were traveling getting transportation for 7 was just not easy. Meant rental and two trips or three taxi runs or some other combo. It worked well. It was fun. We liked it. Maybe those doing the canals were on to something. This summer we're heading up the coast and will have 8-11 on board. Will we shadow the boat with the van or not (it seats up to 12)? To be decided.