Piles of Charts

I'm still recovering from whatever it is that has laid me low. Respiratory infections knock me right off my feet. While recovery has been slow, it's been in the right direction. I'm hoping to feel good enough to get a few little projects around the house taken care of.

My lovely wife and I dug out our marine charts, guidebooks, map books, logged into Active Captain, and other resources. I am still sticking to the plan of leaving from Virginia in our little sailboat around the middle of October. I'll find a good place to leave the boat in Florida and fly home for Christmas. After the holidays we'll take the car south. Once down south we'll do a mix of sailing and tenting.

Sailboat travel is heavily dependent on the weather. It's said the most dangerous thing you can have while sailing is a schedule. So how do we figure out where we are going to be? How do we figure out where we'll be camping? Many campgrounds require reservations if you are going to have any hope of getting into them.

We plan to have reservations set up months in advance, but with the idea we'll cancel them if we have to. Sometimes there's a small fee, especially if the cancellation is too close to the reservation date. That can't be helped.

As a rule of thumb, the further south in Florida you go, the harder it is to find a campsite at the last minute. It's not impossible, as we've done it many times. However, you have to take what you can get at that point. Last winter we found times it just wasn't possible to get in at all. With that in mind, we plan on staying on the boat, especially when in the Florida Keys. I know of good places to anchor our small boat where larger boats can't get into.

It's easier to get a campsite in the Ocala National Forest, especially if you check in during the middle of the week. Weekends can get crowded. I've got some good ideas on where to leave the boat while we go tenting.

Do I worry about leaving the boat unattended? There are some concerns, but good preparation reduces the risk. The boat would be double anchored. The motor gets removed and locked inside a compartment. Nothing is left on deck. The cabin and compartments all have locks. Valuable items, like electronics, will come off the boat with me.

The boat will have liability insurance. While that won't help me if the boat is damaged, it will protect me from things like my boat breaking free and damaging someone's million dollar yacht.

All our sailing and camping information gives us options. We can pretty much make a go of it wherever we end up.

-SixbearsPiles of Charts

I'm still recovering from whatever it is that has laid me low. Respiratory infections knock me right off my feet. While recovery has been slow, it's been in the right direction. I'm hoping to feel good enough to get a few little projects around the house taken care of.

My lovely wife and I dug out our marine charts, guidebooks, map books, logged into Active Captain, and other resources. I am still sticking to the plan of leaving from Virginia in our little sailboat around the middle of October. I'll find a good place to leave the boat in Florida and fly home for Christmas. After the holidays we'll take the car south. Once down south we'll do a mix of sailing and tenting.

Sailboat travel is heavily dependent on the weather. It's said the most dangerous thing you can have while sailing is a schedule. So how do we figure out where we are going to be? How do we figure out where we'll be camping? Many campgrounds require reservations if you are going to have any hope of getting into them.

We plan to have reservations set up months in advance, but with the idea we'll cancel them if we have to. Sometimes there's a small fee, especially if the cancellation is too close to the reservation date. That can't be helped.

As a rule of thumb, the further south in Florida you go, the harder it is to find a campsite at the last minute. It's not impossible, as we've done it many times. However, you have to take what you can get at that point. Last winter we found times it just wasn't possible to get in at all. With that in mind, we plan on staying on the boat, especially when in the Florida Keys. I know of good places to anchor our small boat where larger boats can't get into.

It's easier to get a campsite in the Ocala National Forest, especially if you check in during the middle of the week. Weekends can get crowded. I've got some good ideas on where to leave the boat while we go tenting.

Do I worry about leaving the boat unattended? There are some concerns, but good preparation reduces the risk. The boat would be double anchored. The motor gets removed and locked inside a compartment. Nothing is left on deck. The cabin and compartments all have locks. Valuable items, like electronics, will come off the boat with me.

The boat will have liability insurance. While that won't help me if the boat is damaged, it will protect me from things like my boat breaking free and damaging someone's million dollar yacht.

All our sailing and camping information gives us options. We can pretty much make a go of it wherever we end up.

-Sixbears