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Old 07-05-2008, 22:58   #1
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cruising pace

in 4 weeks we set of for our first summer crusing.
we live abourd and our long term plan is to cruse full time. but for now its 3 months per year till the kitty is fat and perring.
what i am asking is what sort of pace do you all travel at, do you find in genral that you only need 2-3 days in a port to explore and then move on, or is it that you find somewere comfy and sit back and chill not doing any thing.
we have made no big pasage plan only were we want to head and see how far we get.
we are not going far only the east coast uk so no long pasage only day sailing.
what sort of average distance do you all do when crusing.
were you suprised at how far you got the first time,
weather it be slow progres or fast?
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Old 08-05-2008, 03:53   #2
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It's a fast pace at first, but later once you have been on the boat for a while, you adjust to "reality" and stop rushing around.

You stay in a place "for as long as it tickles your fancy." Most importantly, you don't plan anything if you can help it (passages excluded).

Time loses the meaning you are currently think about, which is exactly your goal going cruising for the summer.

Don't feel you have to see everything, make it a certain distance, or have a time frame to stick to. DO NOT PLAN. JUST GO.

Get on boat time. Get off land time.


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Originally Posted by philip van praag View Post
in 4 weeks we set of for our first summer crusing.
we live abourd and our long term plan is to cruse full time. but for now its 3 months per year till the kitty is fat and perring.
what i am asking is what sort of pace do you all travel at, do you find in genral that you only need 2-3 days in a port to explore and then move on, or is it that you find somewere comfy and sit back and chill not doing any thing.
we have made no big pasage plan only were we want to head and see how far we get.
we are not going far only the east coast uk so no long pasage only day sailing.
what sort of average distance do you all do when crusing.
were you suprised at how far you got the first time,
weather it be slow progres or fast?
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Old 08-05-2008, 04:07   #3
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The worst thing you can do is have a plan. Stay in places you like as long as you want, move on if you don't like a spot. Everyone's pace is different. I love sitting in a sheltered anchorage and doing nothing.
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Old 08-05-2008, 04:14   #4
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Philip,

I think the answers to your questions will be as diverse as the population of cruisers is here on the Forum.

Most of our cruising has been in the eastern Caribbean. After making the passage from the Chesapeake Bay to Tortola, we decided to island hop all the way to the end of the chain (Grenada) at a comfortably fast pace, in order to sample the island and decide which ones we liked best. We spent anywhere from a couple of days to a week on any individual island, but we never felt rushed. This turned out to be a good decision for us. We ultimately found that our favorite area was the Grenadines, and we spent a month there during our first Caribbean cruise, and went back for another three weeks the next year.

Other cruisers we know took a very different approach. Once they got to the Virgin Islands, there they stayed, for the most part, straying no further than St. Martin. We found that we enjoyed spending time getting to know the island that we visited, but that we needed to sail, too. After a while on the hook, we got restless, and needed to feel the wind in the sails, so to speak.

The sailing distances were dictated by the distances between the islands. 30-40 nm was a nice, easy day's sail; our longest was 100 nm overnight, and we did 70+ nm a few times. Those were not our favorites, but they were necessary to get where we were going.

So, we did have a "Plan", but it was a decidedly flexible one, and it resulted in our being able to spend "quality" time in the cruising areas we most enjoyed.
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Old 08-05-2008, 04:36   #5
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... After making the passage from the Chesapeake Bay to Tortola, we decided to island hop all the way to the end of the chain (Grenada) at a comfortably fast pace, in order to sample the island and decide which ones we liked best. We spent anywhere from a couple of days to a week on any individual island, but we never felt rushed. This turned out to be a good decision for us. We ultimately found that our favorite area was the Grenadines, and we spent a month there during our first Caribbean cruise, and went back for another three weeks the next year...
How did you come to settle on Nevis, instead of SVG?
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Old 08-05-2008, 04:41   #6
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Gord,

We thought long and hard about Bequia. There's a lot to recommend it. But Nevis won us over for a number of reasons: the friendliest people in the Caribbean, beautiful, lush landscapes, and the services (medical, transportation, groceries, etc.) are a step above Bequia.

The Grenadines are still our favorite cruising area.
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Old 08-05-2008, 04:45   #7
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We are slower than most. We wait patiently for our weather windows and go like hell for a couple of days then we'll sit for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. We've not been off board for 2 days now sitting in Charleston, SC...just found ourselves content poking around on projects or making bread or the like.
Never make plans/set dates to be somewhere
Never go with the crowd...get your own forecast, do your own thing on the road less travelled
Always do what you want...don't let anyone else tell you you should be further along. We have friends that seem more like they are delivering their boats up and down the coast instead of cruising...they go like bats out of hell and complain about being worn down.
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Old 08-05-2008, 05:46   #8
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I make plans to get somewhere, and I will give you an example. I am planning a 2 day trip, but I am giving myself 7 days to do it. Just in case the weather doesn't cooporate with my agenda. That's about the extent to my planning.....
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Old 08-05-2008, 07:09   #9
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I like to have a plan. I am also a part time (wanna be cruiser) So when I had six weeks to sail the area from the San Juan Islands to Desolation sound I studied the charts and the tides and put together a plan. Well the first thing wrong with the plan was the weather. It didn't cooperate. The second thing wrong with the plan was breakdowns. There were a few of those. The third thing wrong with the plan was I tried to put ten gallons of water in a five galon bucket. This time I plan on doing things slower and with less of a plan. And even that plan will be subject to change if we like the place where we are at we'll stay. If we don't. We'll leave. It is amazing how a day at anchor without even getting off the boat can be very pleasant.
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Old 08-05-2008, 07:27   #10
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Plans? We don't have no stinking plans!


If you go to our web page and click on “Our Current Plan”. You can then scroll down as we have NOT removed our original plans. BOY did they change!


We now say, “Our plans are carved in smoke”


Once you head out, slow down and ENJOY!


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Old 08-05-2008, 07:49   #11
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Charlie,

Those are the exact reasons I am giving myself 7 days for a 2 day trip. I have experienced your experience more than once. Just in case it does take longer my brother knows to get a room, and be patient.
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Old 08-05-2008, 10:16   #12
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Phillip,

You mentioned three months sailing a year at present. Is this trip of that duration? In which case you have the leisure to vary each stay/passage to your changing whim. Personally I would have chosen the west coast, but the East coast offers interesting possibilities. Its inevitable that you will spend more time exploring the North and South Thames estuary and the Wash more than Grimsby/Cleethorpes. The Firths of Forth, Tay, Moray etc., more than Tyne.

In any event you are about to have an excellent adventure, gunkholing around the UK's nautical hertitage please keep us up to date with your progress and photos when possible.

Fair winds and good adventures

Regards

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Old 08-05-2008, 23:47   #13
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Phillip,

You mentioned three months sailing a year at present. Is this trip of that duration? In which case you have the leisure to vary each stay/passage to your changing whim. Personally I would have chosen the west coast, but the East coast offers interesting possibilities. Its inevitable that you will spend more time exploring the North and South Thames estuary and the Wash more than Grimsby/Cleethorpes. The Firths of Forth, Tay, Moray etc., more than Tyne
In any event you are about to have an excellent adventure, gunkholing around the UK's nautical hertitage please keep us up to date with your progress and photos when possible.

Fair winds and good adventures

Regards

Alan

yes we are going for 3 months and i will post some pics to my gallery.
we have been to the west country a fair bit so want to do somewere diferent.

i think my main drive with this post is to find out how peoples pace differd from what they expected, be it faster or slower?
what has been your experance?
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Old 10-05-2008, 07:47   #14
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We've been on the water full time for the past 4+ years. we work some, travel some, and generally just goof off, and have found that after 3 to 4 months in one place, we've seen what we wanted to and its time to move on.
We started in the North West US and worked our way down the coast to Mexico.
The weather was bad that year so we turned around and headed back north, as far as it was comfortable, weather wise, and then back down again. We're now banging around the California Delta between Stockton and San Francisco.. Almost a 100 miles by water with around 1500 miles of waterways we can explore.
I think we'll be leaving here in the Fall and heading south again but who knows. The weather is good here, the water is deep, fishing is ok, and its time for a nap. Gosh, I do love this life.............
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Old 10-05-2008, 09:17   #15
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When we crossed from Florida, we had a list of 5 or 6 places we wanted to see in the Bahamas before heading off to the Caribbean. We wound up spending 5 months in the Bahamas and seriously considered staying for a year. After that the only time we sort of sped up was in the Windwards because it was already summer by the time we got there and we wanted to get further south for hurricane season.

There is an infinite variety of cruising styles. But, in the Bahamas/Caribbean among more or less full time cruisers, the prevailing pace is slow and leisurely. There is also a phenomenon called "island time" - it makes you slow down and enjoy every minute of it.
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