Is a tent worth owning?

[AndyEss]

I camped a lot through my late twenties. Backcountry hiking and car travel. As pleasant as some nights were, I’ve never been rocked to sleep in a tent.
A tent in the car - definitely.
A tent on my boat - why would you want to?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by AndyEss

I camped a lot through my late twenties. Backcountry hiking and car travel. As pleasant as some nights were, I’ve never been rocked to sleep in a tent.

I remember camping by Thunder House Falls on the Missinaibi River. I wasn't exactly rocking, but I could sure feel the rumble and vibration all night long .

[markpierce]

A tent can be handy if staying overnight at Angel Island (state park, San Francisco) if desiring to sleep on the island. There must be similar possibilities elsewhere.

[AndyEss]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I remember camping by Thunder House Falls on the Missinaibi River. I wasn't exactly rocking, but I could sure feel the rumble and vibration all night long .

That’s so cool.

I’ve actually experienced several small earthquakes in my life.

The kind of sinusoidal motion on my boat (deep long keel, heavy so I’m kinda damped, is so much better experienced on a boat. And I spent a portion of my youth working on drillships all over the world,

I don’t sleep anywhere better than on a boat.
Typhoons and hurricanes excepted.

[Captain Puget]

I carry one when I have a full boat of guests (Grandkids, etc). for allowing some to sleep on shore.

To avoid sleeping on the ground and both roughness and "critters", the hammock tent approach is best. This especially true in rainy/ damp environments and with rough/ rocky islands with little flat space.

See triangle hammock tent- https://www.tentsile.com/collections/tree-tents. for a nice stable solution.

[larsfforsberg]

I've considered bringing one on to sleep on the deck when its hot and buggy....one of those all-mesh ones. Would that make sense?

[roland stockham]

It depends on you. I like backpacking so have done inland trips from the boat to explore. If you like backpacking you probably already have the kit and expertise and would still want to do it. If your idea of camping is driving to a site with a large tent, camp beds table and chairs and sitting round the barbi on a camp site I doubt that world work because of all the reasons given above.

[Scorpius]

In 35 years of cruising on the BC coast and offshore, I've never had call for a tent. If we go inland or whatever we just stay in a hotel. Maybe it's just that we're too old to be lying on the ground anymore. It's no longer my idea of fun.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Naus

Hi everyone, I am building experience and plan on buying a coastal cruiser this spring. In the spirit of Black Friday and Christmas I am getting a head start on some wishlist items.

Should a camping tent be on that list? I plan on cruising the Gulf of Mexico and eventually the Caribbean. I'm curious how often you find yourself near a State Park or want to go inland a bit and stay a night or two?

For space and ease of use considerations, I would recommend a bivy sack - sort of a one man mini tent that folds up small enough to stuff in a big pocket.

[ohdrinkboy]

I've thought about a hiking hammock that has bug netting and fly as part of the rig. easy to string up on boat or ashore.
https://www.cleverhiker.com/best-backpacking-hammocks

[old pirate]

We did years charter work. I recall one couple on a family re-union bringing a tent "just in case mother in law became too much to handle !
AS I remember it was'nt used.

[wrwakefield]

We keep a two person, four season tent, a two person Hennessy Hammock [think tent slung between trees- with a flat bottom... because the land and/or tide is not always conducive to pitching a tent...], compressible synthetic sleeping bags, etc. in a 2nd Watershed ditch bag.

This is because we live and cruise full time in the mostly remote Alexander Archipelago [SE Alaska]. Being veteran touring kayakers, we have the gear at the ready if we ever had to abandon ship for any reason [meteor strike, leaking blackwater tank, etc.]

It is also available if we [not likely...] or a guest wanted [or was urged...] to go camping... since we will always be somewhat close to shore...

Just another use case...

Cheers! Bill

[mowerandy]

I agree with letting others camp ashore when the circumstances permit, but the one time I tried it I got almost no sleep - kept dreaming that the wind had shifted and left the boat unattended on a lee shore. The part where the shore-break was smashing the dinghy as I tried to get back to the boat woke me up!

Seems I might be alone in my paranoia tho

[Fore and Aft]

Larsfforsberg I had a client with an old flush deck timber yacht and he ended up pitching a pup tent on the deck. It was cooler and drier than living below in a leaky timber yacht during a Queensland summer.
Cheers

[SalingSue]

I have got a bit of use out of my tent and hammock. I’m sure I don’t need to say don’t forget the pad.

Just depends on if you’re the camping/outdoors type or not.

Sometimes it’s fun to anchor, explore some sparse place, bagged a couple rabbits once with my bow, cooked over a fire, enjoyed with some good scotch, feels good