It's not that we are being tooo introspective, just that we now have the time to analyze our 'Loop', and think some on all the parts as well as the whole.
Someone on one of the online forums I frequent thought our Loop was rather quick. 7 1/2 months wasn't quick in our minds, but their comment did give us pause to actually take a deeper look at what we did, why we made the decisions we did and what were the outcomes.
So, call it what you will, here are some of our thoughts. I am sure they will sound like justifications, but in our defense, you don't know what you don't know, and you cant do everything. Crystal Ball gazing is for Fortune Tellers!
While we spent 50% of our nights (109) tied to a Marina dock, that doesn't begin to tell the whole story.
Some Marina we chose to spend 3-7 nights, sightseeing during the day, recuperating after a long stint at anchor, or needing to find food, spare parts etc.
Some places en route, there just were no places to anchor. We were holed up in Grafton, Illinois, for 11 days (along with 22 other Looper boats) waiting for the flooded Mississippi River to recede. During our time there we rented a vehicle and toured places that were important to us.
We would normally choose to anchor out rather than marina. In doing so, we would miss out on the experiences we have in a Marina. This isn't just for food gathering purposes etc, but also for the camaraderie and gaining local knowledge (priceless). For us, this has also meant meeting the locals, being taken in by them, and forming lasting relationships with other boaters and those earthbound.
When at anchor for more than one night, we take the dinghy off and explore, take photos and usually turn the dinghy engine off and just revel in the locale, birdlife and serenity of the moment; just floating in paradise:)
I have to mention Budget here, because it factors large in everything we do. No kidding!!!
Being on a fixed income means we have to choose our experiences wisely; rental vehicles and meals out take a big bite out of any budget. We are experts at finding good meals (often where the locals eat), for very little. Not owning any other vehicle in the USA (therefore no insurance of our own), while on the Loop, meant we had to purchase added 3rd party insurance when we rented. This meant that the cost of the rental doubled. What might have been a cheap weekend rate through Enterprise, at $50 for the three days ($14.99 for mid-sized car, per day) became almost $100 (incl. tax). This limited the number of days we felt we could afford to go touring, while on land. Bike rides were the extent of some of our travel, therefore.
Choosing how far to go beyond the prescribed route, because of the fuel cost, is also a major consideration. We would liked to have gone to Knoxville, on the Tennessee River, a 400 mile return trip, but cost was a factor, again. In the instances where we just HAD to see something beyond the scope of the boat, we chose to spend what might have been diesel fuel, on renting a vehicle instead. It is our choice to decide which 'attractions' to visit, and which not to. We aren't Disneyland kind of people, put it that way!
I also want to mention stress: Stress on both the vessel, and the operators.
It might seem incredible to some that we had never considered the physical toll on the boat that heavy wave action, narrow channels and shallow waters (among other things) takes. Why? Because when you purchase a boat, you do so, hopefully, with the journey yet to be made, in mind. However, never having 'done' that journey before, you cannot anticipate what that might entail. Am I going around in circles here?
Before you leave, you think you are doing most of your cruising within the ICW, and how hard can that be? We had no idea, before leaving the dock in Texas, what actually lay ahead for us. You can read all the charts you like, and study all the books you want, beforehand, but the real life experience is always going to be something else.
If you had told us beforehand that we would spend most of our cruising time in shallow coastal waters (this includes the ICW), we wouldn't have believed you. I know what the charts say, but again, the practical experience shows you something else. How many times we have looked at our charts and then the depth sounder, and they just don't match!
What also doesn't match, and this is why vigilance is all important, is the markers. So many times we have followed markers in the water that are shown to be somewhere completely different on the chart! This also depends on how 'current' the charts are, which makes the case for buying the most up-to-date navigational equipment possible.
The stress of negotiating so much of our way, on the entire trip, with one pair of eyes glued to the chart plotter and depth finder, and the other following steering to port/starb'd directions as a result, was never considered. How would you know this in advance? Friends had told us of their own experiences, but until we do these things for ourselves, we cannot possibly KNOW what lies ahead.
Stress also comes from anchoring out. One never sleeps soundly while at anchor because wind/tide/water conditions change in a flash. We know this from being caught in a thunderstorm in Solomons Island. Luck was on our side, in that case, but the outcome could have been quite different. Thank goodness that episode took place early in our travels, so that we were the more vigilant in the future. It also showed us the power of Mother Nature to change situations in a FLASH!
Stress also happens from just simply being in charge of a large vessel, another life (or more) in previously un-cruised waters. Knowing ones limits in all ways, being cautious without limiting ones experiences, and good decision making (you don't know it is good until you have done it!!) combine, hopefully, to create a great over-all experience.
We also learned to read situations by watching local fishermen too. How do you learn these things, other than by experiencing them?
We have discussed much of this with other Loopers and boaters, and most concur with these findings.
Nearly all of us found some places more stressful/exhausting than others. Rivers in flood, for example, are not only stressful, but dangerous to both the vessel and the occupants. We didn't find anyone who enjoyed their time on the swollen Mississippi, when we navigated that section of the ICW.
Many of our choices, going up the east coast, were made with the knowledge that we would return to this area in the summer of 2015, all going well. We felt more inclined, therefore, to concentrate our budget and our time in other places that we felt we would not return to.
We aren't big city kind of folks, so we didn't feel an overwhelming need to go to many of them, despite the attractions to be found there. We tend to favor natural places more, and enjoy solitude rather than crowds in large places.
As the saying goes....the worst thing you can have, on a boat, is an agenda. It just doesn't work. Go with the flow/weather/gut/whatever works now.
Some days, to get ahead of approaching bad weather, we would motor 80 - 120 miles. Other times we had to go that far because there wasn't a safe anchorage available, let alone a marina.
Well, I don't feel the need to justify anything else. I guess we are pretty happy with the way things have turned out for us, overall. Anyhoo...it is DONE and DUSTED, and we have the Gold Burgee to prove it! yay!
Ciao for now.
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