How far is to far

DannyS · Jan 4, 2010

We live a solid 4 hours away from our marina but my wife is a teacher and I'm self employed so we spend weeks at a time on the boat. There was a couple of summers before I went out on my own where we were driving on Friday night and returning Sunday evening. Not terrible, but I wouldn't go any farther than that.

Ross · Jan 4, 2010

If I were running for cover I could leave my house and be underway in 30 minutes. Usually it takes us about 45 minutes.

catsailor · Jan 4, 2010

I bought my boat from a sailor who lived ~ 4.5 hours away.

It wore them out in a few years.

I would wait until I was closer. I fear you will be unhappy. Enjoy the flexibility a trailer-sailer gives you, while you have it. You will miss that too, just a little.

petersea · Jan 4, 2010

Keiffer,
I live about 65 miles (about and hour and one quarter time) from the boat and go Friday after work until Sunday evening "in season". We try to make as many three day long weekends as we can. We usually take a weeks vacation time on the boat exclusively. The hard part of this is spring and fall when you are getting the boat ready for the water or winter lay up. Sometimes the distance can make for long days.
There are lots of people who do this same thing. Maybe the worst thing is you can't really just go to the boat on a whim for the evening or for dinner after work on a nice summer night. Inevitability there are always family or other commitments (work) that will interfere with weekend time so you may not get to go as often as you would like or think you will, where with a boat closer to your home,you may be more likely to use it for a day. Plus with out knowing your personal situation...will you still need to cut the grass, paint the house ete etc and all those homeowner type chores ? If so you will need to budget time for all those things as well.
My suggestion to you is stick with your original plan and see how much you like the ocean sailing vs lake sailing with your one or two trips to the shore yearly. You may find you don't like it......You can always get the smaller boat first and leave it at the shore to see if you get to use it as much of the time as you think you will. If not you can always bring it to the lake.
Cost can be a another consideration based on travel expenses and car wear and tear. You will probably find you are also spending more money on food eating out etc etc having the boat that far away. Plus not sure how much of a cost difference there is for slip fee, insurance etc etc.
Sometimes bigger is not always better ! Most larger boats don't get used as much as the smaller boats (just my observation) Try you original plan and you can always modify it later. Good Luck !

henkmeuzelaar · Jan 4, 2010

Many lake sailors long to head for the ocean in order to season their salt glands from time to time.
However, the giant lake north of Salt Lake here in Utah, is one of the the few landlocked bodies of water too salty for most sailor's tastes. So, perhaps we are more willing to escape by traveling long distances.

With our beloved Rivendel II berthed in Santa Barbara from 1991-1994 Nelleke and I would travel about 13.5 hours (~ 800 miles) to sail her on the long weekends. After we stationed her in San Carlos (1995-1997) we would drive ~24 hrs back and forth at least twice each season. The following 12 seasons she would be berthed in Hawaii (1x), Australia (2x), Fiji (1x) and Vanuatu (8x) and travel times to and from would become expressed in days rather than hours.....

Compared to the tens of thousands of Americans, however, who find themselves in committed long distance relationships which require them to fly across the US continent once a week or so, we have always counted ourselves lucky to conduct our 18-year love affair with Rivendel II in spite of the intimidating travel distances involved.

How many hours would YOU be willing to drive or fly to your beloved ??

Have fun!

Flying Dutchman

Manny · Jan 4, 2010

When we bought our boat the closest place we could keep it was an hour away at the Delaware River. In search of better sailing and to make it more of a "destination" a couple of years ago we moved it further, down to the Chesapeake. The trip was an hour and forty minutes one way (and we would go almost every weekend). This past November we moved it even further, it's now two hours away. I have yet to see how this plays out but we are within a nice day sail to quite a few destinations (Rock Hall, Fairlee Creek, Baltimore, & Annapolis to name a few).
I guess the deciding factor is really your situation. If you can afford the time and feel the location & sailing is better, I think you'll be happier with the boat further away. I know a few sailors that can only get away for a few hours a week so keeping the boat closer is the only way they get out on it.
The downsides for me regarding the distance are that I can't sail during week and maintenance and projects require a lot of planning. There have been times that I've made the drive only to find out I couldn't do what I planned on for some unforeseen factor or something was left behind.

Manny

RTB · Jan 4, 2010

We bought our boat in March this year. The boat is in Kemah, 250 miles from where I live in San Antonio. It's a pretty easy drive, but takes 4 hours. I must say it is getting old already, but I have had alot of mechanical issues. It's hard to get much accomplished on weekend trips and has been frustrating at times. I think the driving would not be an issue if we were able to enjoy the boat more.

Bigger boats are more work, and I have thought many times that it would be nice to have my old 22 footer back...and just go sailing. But we still have the desire to head to the Bahamas soon, and the big boat will be our home for months. It's not an easy choice, unless you know for sure what you really want.

Patrick17430 · Jan 4, 2010

Mine's almost 2000 miles away. I enjoy sailing again, now that it's moved. I used to feel like a fish in a bowl. And half the fun is getting there. I cant wait to go again.

Steve Dion · Jan 4, 2010

170 miles, 3 hrs. Elev. change approx 9700 ft. each way. We probably average 40-45 weekends per year.

About the only thing that keeps us home is a social event or heavy snow.

I would probably still do it if the trip was up to 4 hrs. We leave on Friday evening and come home on Sunday afternoon.

Benny · Jan 4, 2010

Boating has many aspects, it depends on what you enjoy most. If you like daysailing then keeping the boat close maybe a good idea. If on the other hand you enjoy the prospects of having a 2nd home at quaint port town in the coast you may consider the second alternative. From a pure sailing point of view, sailing in the ICW is not good. The alternative is the Atlantic Ocean which can get pretty rough. The dominant factor usually is how long do you have to motor in the ICW to be able to get out to the Atlantic. If it were me I would stick with the idea of a trailerable boat that you could use in the lake and then a couple of times a year you could take extended trips to different venues or take the boat and leave at a location for a few weeks. The problem with a large boat and limited time, is range. If you only have a weekend available you may only count on taking trips of 30-35 miles up or down the ICW. After you have gone on each direction a couple of times then you will feel restrained. On the other hand if it will primarly become a 2nd home then the bigger the better.

higgs · Jan 5, 2010

I used to drive 1.5 hours and went up twice a week rain or shine. Going to the boat regardless of weather was a good idea for me. Not only did I sail a lot, but the boat became a cottage as well and a source of social life as well.

I am now 5 minutes away, so the situation has drastically changed for me.

Joe · Jan 5, 2010

I'm 100 miles away.. 1.5 hours if I go late at night with no traffic... I used to be there every weekend. Now I go down for the day, or go in the evening to spend the night and be at the boat the whole next day. In the summer, when the days are long I'll bail from work aroung 1pm and head to the boat for the afternoon. When gas was 5 bucks a gallon I quit doing that, though.

There are a few people on my dock that live in Arizona and commute here a couple times a month. The boat becomes a vacation cottage after time and you'll not feel compelled to sail every visit for many reasons: there are maintenance items, the weather sucks, you want to watch football on TV, etc... But... that's not a bad thing. I enjoy my time down there whether I sail or not.... it's being there and having the choice to work on projects or go sailing, or go to the Phil's BBQ, or watch the Chargers, or go sailing for the afternoon.

With less than 2 hours drive I can justify my whimsy. However, if I had to drive 7 hours round trip I couldn't justify it.

If you want to sail alot. Keep the boat at the lake. You'll use it so much more because it's convenient. You can always rent a slip for a few months in Savannah to see if it suits you... but if it doesn't you're not stuck with a boat you aren't using.

petersea · Jan 5, 2010

How comfortable are you with ??

Another concern about long distance commutes is how comfortable are you with not being able to check on the boat during a storm or after a storm. What about the times you leave the boat and a unpredicted storm comes thru and you will not be able to get back to the boat to prepare for it. I used to be five minutes from the marina and sometimes I would go daily just to go. But long distance commutes will certainly end that. Just another "con" but as others have said maybe the best "pro" is it becomes a get away from everything else, , a cottage or weekend/summer home. Then getting to go sailing is a bonus ! !

Jon6436 · Jan 5, 2010

How Far? It depends on the roads.

For 11-years I commuted 165 miles each way to my boat. Highways were basically 4-lane/Interstate all the way. One-way trip was 3-hrs. and the scenery was interesting. I never tired of it, but did think about the expense and mileage logged on my vehicles. Visits to the boat were almost always at least overnighters.

Nereussailor · Jan 5, 2010

I used to drive an hour and a half to get to my boat when I lived up in Wisconsin. The drive sucked, but I did it every week, sometimes twice a week. It was ok for a year or two, but it still sucked. I finally moved to Florida where it's (usually) warm all year round. I'm now 15 min from my boat, and sail all the time. I don't think that I could do the drive again. I think I'll keep things the way they are now.

Dave

Sailm8 · Jan 5, 2010

I think you have made a good decision. I skimmed the replies so someone may have made my comment. I travelled from Kansas City MO to St Louis MO every Friday afternoon, pick up my wife at home and drive 60 miles to the lake. We would spend the weekend and return home Sunday night. I would get up at 2AM Monday morning and drive to work in Kansas City. What I found was I needed to store a complete set of tools at home and at the boat. I also tended to neglect maintenance because time was short.

We also kept a C22 in the Keys to sail several times a year to get our saltwater fix. Now we live in FL with the boat in the backyard canal.

Pops · Jan 5, 2010

My boat is twenty minutes away on a canal behind my best friends house. It is twenty minutes to far away.

cephius (Dave) · Jan 5, 2010

When I lived in San Diego my slip was 5 min away. I went sailing almost every afternoon.

Here in the Mid-West my slip is 1 hour 15 min away. We set aside one day each weekend to go sailing. Weather is usually the deciding factor as to which day.

Sailing is my great passion, but as I get older naps sometimes win out over everything. I've been very tempted not to take the drive a couple of times. My wife always wins with the finical argument; If we are going to pay for the slip, we WILL use it. :naughty:

I do a lot of bare boat charters to get back on the ocean, and to escape the hard winters here. 14 days on a 60' sloop in the Caribbean or South Pacific really cures all.

I went home for Christmas and ended up walking through Long Beach Alamitos Bay marina (where I learned to sail as a boy). The thing that supprized me was how neglected and abandoned 80% of the boats looked compared to my marina in Pepin, WI. There is a good majority of boat owners who spend the full weekend in the Pepin marina, even though it is a small village many miles from the population centers.