2800Mile ICW Cruise Completed

Wonderful reading, a great story and all the good advice has been noted. Thanks much.
 
Charlie, Sally -

Elaine stashes her yarn in the starboard "bathtub", as the grandkids call the side lockers under the v-berth. She knits mostly baby stuff, so there's not a lot of big bulky yarn to store. She stores all her finished items in big zip-lock bags. We only have 2 grandkids, twin 9-year old boys. Only two of the sweaters were for them - Christmas sweaters which they got when we spent the holidays with them in Tampa. But Elaine has some personal knitting clients and also sells her items at a wool and fiber shop in Chesapeake City, MD.

We'll get down your way one of these days and give you a toot.

Sparky - I know John and Marilyn on Snug Tug plan to head down the ICW next fall - one more Ranger in the conga line!

Ed
 
Hi Ed and Elaine,

We have really enjoyed traveling along with you on this cruise. Thank you for taking the time to document and post your travels for those of us who hope to follow in your wake someday.
 
Ed:Thanks for your posts, and like the others who have replied, I will look forward to reading the next installments of your trip. I am contemplating a trip down the ICW in a couple years and have had some nagging concerns about doing it on my 36 sailboat. The fact that you done the trip by sail and power and compared the two was of particular interest to me. I was also interested that you managed 6 months on the R25. My R21 is too small for this type of long-term trip but maybe I don't need as big a tug as I thought. Interesting. Thanks. Eric
 
WOW! Thanks. We've been to many of the places you mention, but not by boat. So we've missed a lot.

I think one person on a R-21 EC can make long trips. Two people would be pushing it. My wife and I felt crowded in an Albin 27 Aft Cabin. I used it a lot single handed and it worked great for me. Depends on the crew.

Gene
 
Gill & Barry, Herb -

Thanks for your comments. My pleasure!

Eric -

I'd say we saw more sailboats than powerboats on long ICW treks. I'd say most of them are in the 36' range. The guide books list a number of all-weather inlets along the way to hop "outside" and avoid some of the shallower spots. But, with some careful navigating and an eye on the tides in a few locations, you should be okay. With a couple of exceptions, most of the ICW is mud or sand bottom, so an occasional grounding usually damages the pride of the skipper more than anything else!

Sounds like maybe you looked at only the first page of my postings. The rest of the cruise is
posted on pages 2 and 3. I writ a little about how the space worked out for us toward the end of page 3.

Eric, Gene -

As for the size of boat, it's all about requirements and expectations. We traveled in VW pop-top campers for 25 years, mostly in Europe, so we were used to the small spaces and we like to keep things simple. We also led 30-day motorhome tours in 22-24' motorhomes which were laid out much the same as the R-25. Agter that, our sailboat on the first ICW cruise, an Island Packet 29 was more than comfortable for us.

Ed
 
I forgot to mention this interesting aside. Marc Grove (Wefings Marine) told me yesterday about this couple, two young women, who have stopped at his place to get their boat serviced.

I believe they left from Chicago and are in Apalachicola, FL. They're cruising in a 16' OB with a pup tent. Their blog: http://www.boatinglife.com/article/Trav ... eir-Dreams .
 
Ed,

I spent serveral years in Europe. We camped with mountain tents, most of the time. One trip to Norway, made on motorcycles with an Army friend, we used shelter halves to make a tent. Great trip, met a lot of interesting people.

Before going to Europe, we had an 18' European made Sprite trailer, spent a couple of weeks on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico in FL, early 70s; before that we used pop-up campers.

Small has advantages and drawbacks. 😀

Gene
 
Neat!

While docked at the North Carolina Visitors Center, we actually saw sea kayakers that were doing the ICW from New York to Florida, camping along the way! Now, we're talking small!

I think the closer (literally) to the land or water you are, the more intense the experience.

Maybe it all means that size doesn't matter if you really want to cruise our waterways!
 
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