Squidd's post of "How often, how far" brought back a topic I have been thinking about for a while. In one of our trips we met a couple at a transit marina and they expressed they had recently moved from a sailboat to a trawler. This couple had young kids and did not fit the mold of the aging sailor not wanting to give up boating. I asked him for his reasons and he indicated that their time was limited mostly to weekends and that they had already covered twice or more all the points in their sailing area. The trawler had practically doubled that area and they were exited to be able to go to new places. Remember the old formula of Distance = Speed X Time. The reality is that if your time is limited and the average speed of sailboat seems to be a constant then the boundaries of your sailing area are practically written in stone. We find that on a two day weekend outing our sailing area can be defined by the navigable water on a 20 nm radius. Twenty out and twenty back. On a three day trip we may push that radius out to 30 nm with a leisure day in between. We are content with our area and we look forward to longer trips a couple of times a year. We have undertaken to expand our area and we have done it by a couple of means; 1) We keep a trailerable to take to distant venues 2) We pre-position the boat outside our sailing area to reach a farther destination 3) We trade the use of boats with close friends and family at different locations 4) we have chartered a couple of times and it is a way of sailing to offshore locations without the passages. I guess when it comes down to it the real enjoyment comes from the act of sailing and sitting on the boat; the location or destination is secondary. It's perhaps not how far but how often.
How big is your sailing area?
- Thread starter Benny17441
- Start date
- Status
Very, very well put. I try to use the boat once a week, for mental health, and often go to the same anchorage. I've pretty much given up on doing daysails and like to go out overnight: 2 days one night without Anne Heche!
But, like every sail, every overnight in even the same place, is always different.
Thanks for that insight, Benny.
I was a sailor, got married and became a power boater, and and am now a power sailor. They all offer different experiences. My older high school kids put it well when we got the Hunter 41..."I never thought doing 7 knots could be so exciting!"
Before we bought the Hunter, we were shopping for a trawler. After doing a bit of research we figured out that a sail boat with a big motor is a trawler. We sail when we can, and motor when we have a schedule to keep. This summer on one trip we put on 250 miles in 3 days. Half was sailing and half was motoring. We had a great time and still were able to keep our business running.
Before we bought the Hunter, we were shopping for a trawler. After doing a bit of research we figured out that a sail boat with a big motor is a trawler. We sail when we can, and motor when we have a schedule to keep. This summer on one trip we put on 250 miles in 3 days. Half was sailing and half was motoring. We had a great time and still were able to keep our business running.
It's the journey to me and the destination to her. We try to sail every weekend when family functions and weather permit. Even though my boat is an hour away from home I couldn't ask for a better location. Buzzards Bay offers dozens of places within 30 nm and usually plenty of wind. I've venture a little further (50nm) to Nantucket and hope to soon make it to Block Island and Narragansett Bay (Newport RI) to explore. Unfortunately one week is my wife's limit were as I could go forever .
.
Our sailing "area" is limited to whatever is behind Hoover Dam. We can trailer anywhere but basically are desert rats. Lake Mead is way down due to drought. Because of irregular shoreling there is almost as much shoreline as California has coastline. Still love the ocean best and miss getting out of sight of land. Fair Winds and Full Sails....
139,500,000 square miles.
Actually, being coastal we are only limited by the capabilities of our boat and the fact we have to work to pay for it! Generally we have coastal NJ, Delaware bay as reasonable sailing areas. Any further would take an extended period of time to get to either via ICW or a coastal run to somewhere more sailing friendly.
Our bays are relatively small and there are very few areas suitable for inland sailing in NJ so we are sort of stuck on the coast. NJ is not very boating friendly and definitely not sailing friendly at all. I only have to put up with it for 9 more years though!
Actually, being coastal we are only limited by the capabilities of our boat and the fact we have to work to pay for it! Generally we have coastal NJ, Delaware bay as reasonable sailing areas. Any further would take an extended period of time to get to either via ICW or a coastal run to somewhere more sailing friendly.
Our bays are relatively small and there are very few areas suitable for inland sailing in NJ so we are sort of stuck on the coast. NJ is not very boating friendly and definitely not sailing friendly at all. I only have to put up with it for 9 more years though!
If I have the time and weather, I've got one of the best sailing areas one could hope for: The Chesapeake Bay. Over the years, I've gunkholed from one end to the other and love every inch of it. But my "normal" sailing range is about the same as yours: 20nm out and 20 nm back in over 2 days. Sometimes 30nm. I never get tired of it....
Some years ago we chartered a smallish trawler (35') which was great for two couples. This boat cruised at a stately 8 kts or so, had A/C, TV, microwave, and a great sound system. We covered a lot of ground in this boat over a 10 day period and we had a great time. We will probably charter another one in the future. But I would not want to own one as sailing really is much more satisfying.
Some years ago we chartered a smallish trawler (35') which was great for two couples. This boat cruised at a stately 8 kts or so, had A/C, TV, microwave, and a great sound system. We covered a lot of ground in this boat over a 10 day period and we had a great time. We will probably charter another one in the future. But I would not want to own one as sailing really is much more satisfying.
My wife and I are both Teachers. We keep our boat in Carrabelle and it depends on how long of a break we have. We have 5 days off this weekend, so it will be Carrabelle to Panama City and back. We have a 9 days off for Thanksgiving so it will be Carabelle to Destin and back. During the summer it may be Carabelle to New Orleans and back.... who knows. For time rich Teachers, sailboats are the bomb!
Charlotte Harbor
I love sailing in Charlotte Harbor with no heavy commercial vessels like tankers or any large commercial fishing boats or cruise ships and it's deepest part is about 25 feet,easy to go out into the gulf or up the ICW or down to Ft Myers or to the keys or up north to tampa,so many places to sail to or just stay in the nicely protected harbor with room to sail all day.
I still can't believe how under used this harbor is for boating and still has nice anchorages like pelican bay is the most popular and so much more saily places to go to.
But lets keep it a secret and not tell too many boaters for sure and tell everyone to go to tampa it's better or Ft Myers.
Nick
I love sailing in Charlotte Harbor with no heavy commercial vessels like tankers or any large commercial fishing boats or cruise ships and it's deepest part is about 25 feet,easy to go out into the gulf or up the ICW or down to Ft Myers or to the keys or up north to tampa,so many places to sail to or just stay in the nicely protected harbor with room to sail all day.
I still can't believe how under used this harbor is for boating and still has nice anchorages like pelican bay is the most popular and so much more saily places to go to.
But lets keep it a secret and not tell too many boaters for sure and tell everyone to go to tampa it's better or Ft Myers.
Nick
No limits
I have virtually no limits. The entire gulf is at my back door. In the last five years, I have done pretty much everything on the east and gulf coast, from Long Island Sound to the Texas/Mexico border. One of my favorite trips is to just sorta drift along over to and down the west coast of Fla., and over to the Tortugas.
I have virtually no limits. The entire gulf is at my back door. In the last five years, I have done pretty much everything on the east and gulf coast, from Long Island Sound to the Texas/Mexico border. One of my favorite trips is to just sorta drift along over to and down the west coast of Fla., and over to the Tortugas.
Wow! You guys have a lot of area to sail in. My lake (Pyramid Lake) is at best 2 miles by 2 miles with a island in the middle. In 5 hours I will sail 20 km and make 3-4 trips around the island. I tack 4 or 5 times up to the dam and sail down wind wing on wing back to the other end. I pretend that I am sailing to Catalina or some other place. Bottom line, "I'm sailing and loving every minute of it"!
Come on down
Put that 26 on the trailer and come down to SW Florida and do some sailing on the west coast and you will never go back for sure.
Nick
Put that 26 on the trailer and come down to SW Florida and do some sailing on the west coast and you will never go back for sure.
Nick
Many sailors that I know only untie when there is someplace to go. Never understood that. For the years I was on Lake Erie I sailed once or twice a week or about forty times a summer. Maybe three or four of those was to a destination. Heck, I work my tail off to get the Highlander off the dock and then covered. To do what? Tack down the lake two or three miles so I can wing and wing back. Love it.
I think our area, Penobscot Bay Maine, is bigger than most.
I'm not boasting so much as describing it's geography. We've kept boats in many different harbors on the east coast, both long and short term. Many sailing areas are defined by a straight coast or involve other limitations that shrink the area available to sail in a day, or several days. You can "use up" an area after not too much time, we've found.
Penobscot Bay, especially from our mooring area, benefits from prevailing southerlies that put and east/west direction often available.
That and the fact the bay is a general triangle with each side approximately 30nm, sailing directions and destinations are constantly varied. We've yet to visit many spots as well as enjoy employing these sailing conditions to sail us more often than was possible in most previous mooring areas we've sailed.
It's an area where many engine less sailboats make a business out of these conditions, sailing charterers, day and weekly, a viable enterprise. They have auxiliary engines and yawlboats to help out, sure, but amazingly, they sail a lot on the circuitous conditions that can take them out, and bring them home, often all under sail.
I'm not boasting so much as describing it's geography. We've kept boats in many different harbors on the east coast, both long and short term. Many sailing areas are defined by a straight coast or involve other limitations that shrink the area available to sail in a day, or several days. You can "use up" an area after not too much time, we've found.
Penobscot Bay, especially from our mooring area, benefits from prevailing southerlies that put and east/west direction often available.
That and the fact the bay is a general triangle with each side approximately 30nm, sailing directions and destinations are constantly varied. We've yet to visit many spots as well as enjoy employing these sailing conditions to sail us more often than was possible in most previous mooring areas we've sailed.
It's an area where many engine less sailboats make a business out of these conditions, sailing charterers, day and weekly, a viable enterprise. They have auxiliary engines and yawlboats to help out, sure, but amazingly, they sail a lot on the circuitous conditions that can take them out, and bring them home, often all under sail.
Last edited:
What's possible is several thousand miles of protected coastline (South Puget Sound to Alaska via the inside passage) but from actual trips about 100 miles each way.
We hope for more because I just retired. The problem is all the volunteer work seems to get in the way.
Having said that the majority of our sailing has been day sails (15 miles out or less most days.) and we rarely go out in winter (48 degrees north latitude.)
We hope for more because I just retired. The problem is all the volunteer work seems to get in the way.
Having said that the majority of our sailing has been day sails (15 miles out or less most days.) and we rarely go out in winter (48 degrees north latitude.)
After sailing Lake Michigan for 30 years, I am really happy with the the west end of Lake Ontario. As I said in another thread, I have almost 25 destination within 45 miles with the many being around 30 and some 25 and under. We run the 25 miles to Port Delhousie for overnighters numerous times each year. 3 destination on the Niagara Rive are 18 muiles away and Wilson is only 6.
How big your sailing area is probably depends a lot on how much time you have to devote to sailing. When we lived in Englewood, Fl., we enjoyed sailing on Charlotte Harbor and anchoring at Don Pedro State Park or Stump Pass on our days off. Fortunatelly, we are somewhat retired, and we were able to cruise to places like the Everglades and Marathon. One summer, we even took the boat up the coast to Massachusetts, where we had summer jobs waiting. Thank goodness, my wife likes cruising as much as I do! This summer, we lived on the boat in the Boston area, and didn't venture very far, but we loved it. Just hanging out on the river and going swimming whenever we felt like it can be its own paradise.
I think sometimes just seeing the horizon out there and knowing it is available as a destination is satisfying in itself. Hopefully, we'll all have the time to head out there!
I think sometimes just seeing the horizon out there and knowing it is available as a destination is satisfying in itself. Hopefully, we'll all have the time to head out there!
Most years 12,000 sq acres . . . roughly 3 x 7 miles, about 2/3 of which is deep enough through the summer that I'll sail there without fear of stumps. We trailered to the San Juans last summer and will probably go somewhere for a week next summer.
- Status