The emails have started to come in, “How come no posts?” Well, as I said before, it’s a lot harder to get motivated to sit down and write when cruising with a wonderful companion. Part of the purpose of this blog is to describe my experiences so that my readers can learn from them. I kept waiting for something to happen which would motivate me to start up the computer.
There is a quote I have always liked which I heard during my flying days as well as in reference to cruising.
How about the important part? Yes, I don’t think I have ever enjoyed being on a boat more. Coming close after what was, in many ways, the ultimate Downeast cruise, this last month has made me much less of a Maine chauvinist. The ICW seemed as beautiful and interesting as any place I have ever cruised. Treated as a cruising ground, with time for side trips and exploring, instead of as a speed bump on the way to umbrella drinks in Florida and the Bahamas, it is as magical the third time around as when I first explored it.
The improbable weather luck we had in Maine continued for all of this trip. We had expected to find anchorages crowded and meet lots of other cruisers since we were transiting much earlier than I have before. However, the Snowbird events in the Chesapeake and the partial closure at Camp Lejeune, which we slid through a day ahead of, kept the waterway nearly as empty as on my late fall and winter transits.
We were planning to end this cruise in Saint Marys after spending some time exploring Cumberland Island. However, we ran up to the excellent marina in Brunswick, GA to continue checking out places off the beaten path and fell in love with the interesting town. The marina turned out to be a much more convenient and economical place to leave the boat than hauling out in Saint Marys. We decided, pretty much on the spur of the moment, to leave the rest of Georgia until our return after the new year. A day later, we were in a one way car rental headed back to Albany.
It was the best road trip I have ever taken. We wound our way on back roads and the Blue Ridge Parkway up through the Smokey Mountains and other places I have never seen. It was a good opportunity to ponder the difference between land and sea cruising. I’d much rather be on a boat than driving but I found myself thinking, I didn’t seen anything this beautiful and spectacular on the water. There is no method of travel I enjoy more than by boat. You are always home, it’s healthy to keep the body moving and the mind exercised with navigation and piloting. However, you can’t take a boat to a lot of the places I want to see now.
So, we are back in Albany for the holidays, parties, and families. We plan to return to Strider sometime early in the year to explore Cumberland Island and southernmost Georgia before starting north. These posts will resume then. We’ll be making up some Facebook albums for friends in the next few days so I’ll post links to those when they are done.
Happy holidays to all. Strider should be underway again in February or March.
There is a quote I have always liked which I heard during my flying days as well as in reference to cruising.
Obviously, the quote doesn’t mean to not have fun but the adventure should come from the journey and not mistakes or system failures. I was pleased that there was so little to report of the final 600 nm of the 3775 that Strider ran under her keel in 2014.
How about the important part? Yes, I don’t think I have ever enjoyed being on a boat more. Coming close after what was, in many ways, the ultimate Downeast cruise, this last month has made me much less of a Maine chauvinist. The ICW seemed as beautiful and interesting as any place I have ever cruised. Treated as a cruising ground, with time for side trips and exploring, instead of as a speed bump on the way to umbrella drinks in Florida and the Bahamas, it is as magical the third time around as when I first explored it.
The improbable weather luck we had in Maine continued for all of this trip. We had expected to find anchorages crowded and meet lots of other cruisers since we were transiting much earlier than I have before. However, the Snowbird events in the Chesapeake and the partial closure at Camp Lejeune, which we slid through a day ahead of, kept the waterway nearly as empty as on my late fall and winter transits.
We were planning to end this cruise in Saint Marys after spending some time exploring Cumberland Island. However, we ran up to the excellent marina in Brunswick, GA to continue checking out places off the beaten path and fell in love with the interesting town. The marina turned out to be a much more convenient and economical place to leave the boat than hauling out in Saint Marys. We decided, pretty much on the spur of the moment, to leave the rest of Georgia until our return after the new year. A day later, we were in a one way car rental headed back to Albany.
It was the best road trip I have ever taken. We wound our way on back roads and the Blue Ridge Parkway up through the Smokey Mountains and other places I have never seen. It was a good opportunity to ponder the difference between land and sea cruising. I’d much rather be on a boat than driving but I found myself thinking, I didn’t seen anything this beautiful and spectacular on the water. There is no method of travel I enjoy more than by boat. You are always home, it’s healthy to keep the body moving and the mind exercised with navigation and piloting. However, you can’t take a boat to a lot of the places I want to see now.
So, we are back in Albany for the holidays, parties, and families. We plan to return to Strider sometime early in the year to explore Cumberland Island and southernmost Georgia before starting north. These posts will resume then. We’ll be making up some Facebook albums for friends in the next few days so I’ll post links to those when they are done.
Happy holidays to all. Strider should be underway again in February or March.
