Dream and fantasy

Photo offered with permission from Michael Ahart. His article is worth reading.

Social media rumor has it that one of our favorite anchorages in FL has been rendered off limits to cruisers. Not directly. The anti-cruising anchoring law failed to pass…this time. Instead, they outlawed tying up a dinghy to get to shore, particularly where there was access to stores and services. The vast majority of the people affected by this new law will be American cruisers. But, because we live on boats, we have become just another group to be disenfranchised.  Somehow, we are not considered "true Americans" any more.

The excuse is getting rid of the derelict boats, but even those who wrote the law know it is just that, an excuse. Derelict boats are already against the law, just like letting a yard turn into jungle is against the law in most of the cities and townships where I have lived. The “fix” for those who ignore their lawn isn't tearing down every house in the neighborhood. But in Florida the “fix” for having poor people living on decrepit old boats is to chase every cruising boat away.

Clearly Floridians, at least some of them who have access to power, simply don't like people who don't live on land.

Ah well, so much for the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

There are 45 million Americans living below the poverty level. It is inevitable that some of them have found living on a decrepit old boat is one way they can keep even a marginal roof over their heads.

Many of those unsightly old boats are, as I have mentioned before, inhabited by veterans, many with a variety of mental and bodily health issues. That any are homeless at all should an embarrassment to the richest nation the planet has ever known.  That some of those homeless are war-damaged veterans should be a source of utter shame for every American, everywhere. Instead, laws are passed to simply chase them away, make them hide somewhere so the shame isn't right out front for everyone to see.

That has become the typical American “fix” for nearly every problem. Hide it, and then insist over and over that the problem simply doesn't exist until people think that is the truth. This will be the main story line of the just-started Presidential Campaign. It isn't a particularly elegant or intelligent way to deal with the world, but it appears to work in the short run. In the long run it leads to the downfall of nations and the end of civilizations.

One of the reasons I like living on a boat is that hiding from the world just isn't an option. There is no ignoring tides, currents, thunderstorms, high winds and big waves when one lives “out here”. Realistic assessments of the boat's conditions, the crews abilities, and the environment are daily responsibilities in a cruiser's life. There is a huge difference between living the dream and living a fantasy void of reality. The Dream can fill a life with purpose, adventure, learning, experience, and wisdom. Trying to live a fantasy devoid of reality will get one killed.

America is living in a fantasy void of reality. It will be the other main story line of the just-started Presidential Campaign.

We will be heading to Florida soon, along with a few thousand other cruisers. Part of my reality is that the welcome will be less than it was.  There is nothing I can do about that. We will be forced to skip what was a nice spot for a break and a provisioning run, even though we should have as much claim to American waters as any American who lives on land.  We may still stop there for a night or two.  Right in the middle of a major metropolis, it has a different kind of beauty than an isolated Cay in the Abacos. There is no provisioning in one of those Cays either, but we still enjoy spending time in them.

There are few people in those isolated places. Sometimes we are the only ones around for miles.  And yet they will be more welcoming than a city full of Americans.  The small Islands that do have residents will be more welcoming still.  Kind of a sad commentary given what kinds of things America likes to boast about...Land of Free, Home of the Brave, Lovers of Liberty, Touchstone of Human Rights, Land of Opportunity, yadda, yadda, yadda...

A fantasy void of reality.

Marina Musings

Magothy River Anchorage, MD

Deciding to go cruising is a long process. Most people who decide to go cruising don't know anyone else doing it personally and have never been out cruising with friends, so the picture of what cruising actually is is pretty indistinct. This was certainly true for us as was evidenced by the fact that we never even thought about the ICW in our planning. We thought about long ocean passages, we thought about weather, we thought about equipment as related to passages and weather, but the idea that we would motor down the ICW some 1000 miles just never even entered our minds.

One of the biggest things we've learned about cruising in general this past year is that it's important to think about what kind of cruiser you want to be, and to be honest with yourself about whether you have the abilities and characteristics to be that kind of cruiser. It will impact the way you prepare to cruise, the things you purchase, the things you bring from your land life, and your expectations. We've said often on this blog in recent months that we always pictured ourselves as blue water cruisers, taking long passages and rarely sitting for long periods of time. This reasoning came as a result of our long passages around New England and with John Kretschmer in the Bahamas, passages where there was adequate crew to ease the load of passage making. The reality of it was that we suffered more from sea sickness than we thought we would, and sail changes at night in bad weather were more stressful than we were comfortable with. We simply didn't enjoy it when we were short handed.

Broad Creek Anchorage, NC

I never really began to think about what kind of cruiser I wanted to be until our friend Kacey came to visit for two weeks. He wanted to spend a prolonged time out “doing it” and toward the end when we had some long, ranging talks about his experiences he said he had decided he was more a liveaboard than a cruiser. It really got me on this train of thought and with every passing month, and with every additional experience, our “kind of cruiser” is being better defined.


So what does this have to do with the title of this blog post? Because for the last month we've been parked at a dock in a marina. It's a nice marina with great reviews on Active Captain, beautiful landscaping, a view of some incredible yachts, good dock mates, and all the conveniences of home. So why do I hate it? Because Kintala can't swing into the wind and the sun doesn't do its ripple reflection thing on the ceiling in the morning, the water is disgusting, there's no dolphins and I've gotten hurt not once, but twice getting on and off the boat at high tide. One kind of cruiser I definitely don't want to be is a marina rat.

Pungo River Anchorage NC

This is not to say that being a marina rat isn't a good thing. For some people. There are a half dozen people here who live full time in the marina, most of them on trawlers of some sort, although a few are on sailboats. If being a liveaboard is your thing then a marina is the place to be. A continuing flow of ice and clean clothes and long showers is not to be taken lightly, and we've been in a few really exceptional ones like Oak Harbor and Barefoot. But would I trade it for a mooring? In a heartbeat.


We've spent a good bit of time on the Vero Beach mooring field, and it's called Velcro Beach for a good reason. Great protection, excellent dinghy dock and lounge/shower/laundry facilities, free bus service, and a beautiful beach. The best beach, though was at Treasure Cay, Abacos. The moorings there are reasonable at $20 a day, and the facilities are great. St. Augustine was one of those places where the mooring field sucked because it's so exposed and the dinghy ride to the dock is long and wet, but the town made up for it with rich history everywhere. More recently we spent quite a bit of time in Coconut Grove at the Dinner Key Mooring Facility. As far as moorings go, the actual mooring field sucks like St. Augustine because it's so exposed. The exposure does give you a fantastic skyline view of downtown Miami and oncoming thunderstorms, fresh air and a nearly constant breeze abound, and the mosquitoes are few if you're out far enough. The reason we would go back there, though, is the staff. Patrick and his staff are without any doubt the most talented customer service division we've seen on a mooring field anywhere. They are helpful, polite, prompt, knowledgeable, and make you feel like you're the only reason they're there. And yet...

From the dock at Oriental, NC

We would still rather anchor out when given the choice. We are almost always happier when we are cozied up in a cove somewhere either by ourselves or with a couple other boats. It's best if the water is clear, the bottom sandy, and the weather warm, but we've equally enjoyed some cold, gray, stormy anchorages with cups of coffee and warm sweatshirts. We've anchored up rivers in Maryland, in inlets in South Carolina, in bays in North Carolina, along long stretches of beach in the Abacos, in a tiny cove in Egg Island, Eleuthra, in Middle River, FL, and right smack dab in the middle of Nassau. Each one has had its own flavor, each one serves to meet a mood.

Camp LeJeune Anchorage

After a year of thinking about this all, here's my Pros and Cons list for each. What kind of cruiser are you?

Marinas

Pros	Cons
Air conditioning in hot climates, heat in cold.	Noise: other boats, road and city traffic, neighbors
Easy access to groceries, trash, water, electricity, laundry, and sometimes (if you're very lucky) wifi	Wifi rarely works
You get to meet more people	You have to put up with people that you may not care for
Easier to work on the boat	Harder to go sailing since you're established in one place
Ice Cream Access: 10	Wakes from passing power boaters
	You spend WAY more money because everything is so accessible
No need for a dinghy dock	Hard to get on and off the boat when docks are not floating. Easy to get hurt.
No running the generator.	Power at the dock is low quality and we've had two shore power cords burn in 7 years.
	Services vary wildy for the same money. The best marina we ever stayed in cost 1/3 of our current dock.

Charleston, SC anchorage

Moorings

Pros	Cons
More stable ride since the boat always swings into the wind	Sometimes exposed
Good ventilation since the boat swings into the wind	Sometimes relatively expensive. Quality is inconsistent
Less worry about dragging in high winds	You need to know the quality of the mooring
Relatively accessible to services like groceries, banks, laundry, etc., depending on the mooring	You spend more money than anchoring
You can run the generator but...	Some people don't want to hear it
Most mooring fields have cruiser nets to facilitate getting to meet people	For some reason jet skis feel it is their personal duty to run high speed through mooring fields. Honestly. Every one we've been in.
Dinghy dock available
Ice Cream Access: 8

South Beach Miami Anchorage

Anchorages

Pros	Cons
Freedom. You rarely have anyone telling you what to do, anchoring well is a challenge and builds skill	You're totally responsible for your safety
You pick the view	Services vary depending on where you pick
Free	Sometimes harder to meet people
Ventilation is good since the boat always swings into the wind	Sometimes people can anchor too close or be obnoxious
Did I mention free?	Ice Cream Access: Dependent on location, but usually around a 4
4G cell internet available in most populated areas, even in the Bahamas. We were rarely without it	Wifi is rarely available without an extender, and even with one most wifi is password protected now
Privacy is excellent	Dinghy docks are hard to come by and usually cost
You can run the generator whenever you feel like it

No-Name Harbor, FL

Hatchet Bay, Eleuthra Anchorage

Dinner Key Mooring Facility, FL

Happy Dance

It is a rainy day in Miami, foggy too, but not cold. It isn't even cool by Kintala standards, though the people of Miami might disagree. We are still in the Belle Island anchorage. It still gets wake rolled pretty often, limiting the time spent below to keep the inner ear happy. This is a reality to living on a boat neither Deb or I expected. Bigger water on the hook or mooring has the boat moving around a lot more than our years on the lake suggested. It means we spend even more time outside, not a bad thing.

Yesterday we went with friends on a bus ride adventure. The goal was a free concert advertised at the marina / upscale shopping / tourist trap area in town. We try to avoid marinas whenever possible, and the Miami Marina (at $2.75 / foot + electric) fell into the "avoid at all costs" category. We don't care for upscale stores or tourist traps, so hope was the concert would be worthy. Alas, "the concert" turned out to be a solo performer strumming basic cords on a guitar and singing to canned music tracks; enhanced karaoke. He also displayed some modest skill on a steel drum, but any street performer in New Orleans would have put him to shame.

The day would have been a bust but our friends included a three year old, her younger sister, and Mom; a cruising family we met several weeks and hundreds of miles ago. Even karaoke is fun when a three year old takes to the stage to dance and twirl and shake her booty. Suddenly the concert was the highlight of day and smiles broke out in all directions. There was the expected twinge as pictures of my own little ones far away came to mind, but a happy child belongs to anyone with a heart.

Sooner or later Kintala will set sail again, still looking for warm, clear water and daily swimming.