Biggest argument while cruising

[ardoin]

Originally Posted by s/v Moondancer

We can always guarantee a place or a time but never a particular place at a particular time!

Agree 100%

[darylat8750]

We finished the Loop a couple of years ago. It took us 4 years. My wife is not a cruiser or tourer at heart so this took some serious compromises on both our parts. My wife has to have a plan or she is very uncomfortable. Macro plan was starting in FL and to follow spring north, spend most of the summer in Canada and Lake Huron/Lake MI and be off Lake Michigan by the end of October and back to the Gulf of Mexico by Christmas. Micro solution is to have three plans every day. Our perfect day when moving the boat is about 7 hours with the engines running. So we look for an anchorage 50 miles away. Then look for possibilities 40-80 miles away. Check tides/currents for times. I usually start the day with a cup of tea then get the boat moving and eat breakfast underway. Timing of the actual start of the day was often dictated by tides, bridge openings or lock timing. We like to be settled for the evening by 4pm but really tried to avoid anchoring after dark.

So that was the plan. The reality was that I was still working an average of 3 days a month for a University. Doesn't sound like much but it did get in the way several times. We have grand children and if some grandmothers don't see those babies every month or so they can get really twitchy. Of course some days we just stayed put. Maybe because of weather, maybe a little maintenance, maybe it was just so nice where we were that we just wanted to hang out a while. Maybe there was going to be a festival in a few days that we wanted to attend. One time we were in a beautiful spot where a house on the river had a "Welcome cruisers" hot spot (Bless Their Hearts! as my GrandMa would say) and we had good TV reception to watch the Olympics so we hung out for more than a week. Mechanical issues that would be fairly minor at your home marina can eat a schedule for lunch. So we got a late start from Isla Mujers waiting for a good weather window to cross the gulf. We had a very nice full fly bridge enclosure made in FL. More weather delay. Did some routine maintenance . Visited grandchildren, worked a couple of days..... By the time we got to North Carolina we were in a record setting hot spell that was just awful. I said "I'm miserable are you?" She said "Yes." This was supposed to be fun. So we left the boat in a marina and went to our mountain cabin until it cooled off a little and I got caught up on some work. Went back to the boat and continued. Spent lots of time (but not enough!) poking into small nooks and crannies along the way. Enjoyed many small town festivals and big town sights. Wonderful museums and "music on the bay/ canal/ river". The boat spent winters in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, Hays, VA., Racine WI, Columbus MS and we are back up to the Chesapeake with the boat spending this last winter in Hays, VA again. Hope to get "Down East" this summer and maybe eastern Caribbean next winter. But maybe not, we are "cruising".

Someone else has mentioned that you can meet some any place or any time. That you can't do both is fact.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by crawdaddy282

So my wife and I are planning to leave on a great loop cruise. BUT I think we may deviate from a one year cruise to a longer cruise. My wife wants a plan of when/where we wil be at times.
How do you plan a trip like this? Do I need to know I will be in the gulf by such and such date? I know we cannot go north by a certain date, but planning this far out seems to be tough for me to articulate.- because I kinda of want to maybe keep going. How do you do it and have you argued about destinations or dates? How far out should we plan? We will sell/rent the home and obviously have a live aboard boat...

I plan but always add the disclaimer" I could change my mind". Before I did this I would of got " but you said" . The thing is "things change along the way" you hear of some place you hadnt before or you get some place and want to stay longer. If someone wants a detailed definite plan well IMHO cruising is not for them, a stict plan is one of lifes prison bars.

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