Boating

[earcutter]

So you have half a year off, $20K for food & gas, oh and a boat... and are looking for something to do:

America's Great Loop

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Any boaters out there in SRP land? I would love to do this! Time and money aside, my only real concern would be my 2 & 3 year old - even if they would be older once I got off my duff .

[BobH]

A retired friend of mine did it a few years back departing and returning to Thunder Bay. He and his wife enjoyed very much. That route has been pretty popular with boaters here over the years with a lot extending out to the Caribbean too.

Bob

[Sailor]

I've lived and worked by/at the sea for whole of my life. Nowadays i live about 100 meters away from the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Used to have a small boat with 30 hp engine when my kids where little, i used to go fishing with them. As they grew older, they lost their interest on fishing so i sold the boat.
Howevers, we have a very beautiful archipelago here on sw parts of the country.
I got my share of it. I nowadays work at the ship so no wild horses could force me to go out there at sea when off work.
Of course it might change if the kids would want me to go there again with them.
Fishing is still great.do it with my son every now and then. But nowadays we can do it from the shore.

[earcutter]

I've lived and worked by/at the sea for whole of my life. Nowadays i live about 100 meters away from the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Used to have a small boat with 30 hp engine when my kids where little, i used to go fishing with them. As they grew older, they lost their interest on fishing so i sold the boat.
Howevers, we have a very beautiful archipelago here on sw parts of the country.
I got my share of it. I nowadays work at the ship so no wild horses could force me to go out there at sea when off work.
Of course it might change if the kids would want me to go there again with them.
Fishing is still great.do it with my son every now and then. But nowadays we can do it from the shore.

That's almost heart breaking Sailor - but I see your point. I was in sales for a long time. I lived out of my car for years! It was all I could do to just drive to work there once my position changed lol. Now my poor wife gets a fight whenever she wants to travel anywhere over 5 miles with me lol.

I just bought myself a tiny little subcompact in stick - knowing how much I hate driving, I couldn't justify a "nicer" car. Oddly enough, it's such a blast to drive, I am begrudgingly changing my ways . Maybe you need a fun little boat to bounce around in on the old Baltic lol!! Though I have been on those waters in a boat and well - you NEED a cabin lol. Boy those waters are cold .

[cpcohen1945]

I've done the ICW three times -- twice in a 24' sailboat, solo, and once in a 36' sailboat (with new wife -- what a way to break-in a marriage!). And we've been down the Pacific coast from Vancouver BC to Costa Rica.

The "Great Loop" is one of the best things you could do as a family cruise. It's essentially safe, if you take reasonable care. Whether it's _comfortable_ depends on you, and your boat. Whether your family relationships survive, depends on how much everyone wants to do the trip.

But some questions first:

. . . Do you have any boating experience?

. . . Have you taken any courses?

. . . Do you have enough money to get the boat you think you need?

One couple we met, in North Carolina, had come down the coast from Maine _in a St Pierre dory_. They had a small SABB diesel, and the boat had canvas covering, without a proper wooden superstructure.

. . . "It was free -- that was what we could afford".

There are lots of ways to do the trip. You don't _need_ a 36' trawler.

I could talk about this forever -- send me a PM.

. Charles

[gssixgun]

We boat on Lake Pend Oreille during the summer

Lake Pend Oreille - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We finally took the "Plunge" and bought a boat this past summer, didn't get too crazy and just got a very loved 20' Bayliner Cuddy Cabin, it has a 270 Volvo Penta I/O that sips gas, the wife figured if we used it enough we could go bigger in a few years..
It has plenty of room for the two of us for a day trip, or even an overnighter, the first day out we did almost the entire lake shoreline.. The trip took 12 hours and is just over 100 miles

[Johnus]

Great reading gents. May be next time around!∞

[Waterdog247]

We bought this 30' beauty two years ago so we could travel, fish and dive around the Pacific Northwest. Our goal is to float the inside passage to Alaska after I retire.

[earcutter]

Man you weren't kidding - that is a beautiful boat!