Our 12th Trip Down the U.S. East Coast - Preparation

Howdy y'all!  I've decided to start our sailing blog again with our 12th trip south down the US East Coast to Florida, Bahamas and other distant places.

10 of our other trips have been documented in our books available on Amazon HERE.  Last year, we did not keep a blog.  I enjoyed keeping the blog of our RV trip this summer so thought I'd start it up again for the boat.

The past several weeks have been a frenzy of getting us and the boat ready for the 1,500 mile trip south.  Laura had scheduled a trip to the Seattle area to visit her two daughters and their families for the middle weeks in September and I had committed to a Captain job on the 100 foot party boat Marika in Poughkeepsie for the last weekend in September.  That set our timeline for leaving.  We would bring our 43 foot ketch Second Wind to Poughkeepsie on Friday, September 27th, live there for the weekend while I was driving Marika, then head south on Monday.

Laura was gone for 11 days and didn't fly back until the 21st.  That only gave her 5 days to get all of her stuff ready which included stocking our pantry, fridge and (2) freezers for long range cruising.  She likes doing that part of our list since she the knows where everything is.  Plus, she's has gotten really good at finding homes for 40-50 bags of groceries.  She's good!

I worked boat projects while she was gone including

• installing snaps on the inside of the canvas cover we made for our dinghy (chaps)
• re-packing the propeller shaft
• fixing a leak in our exhaust anti-siphon loop
• replacing the raw water impeller (each Fall before we leave)
• replacing all the (4) belts on our main engine
• purchase and install an "EasyStart" for our air-conditioner / heat

All but the last one went fairly smoothly.  There's always one....

13 years ago we purchased a Honda 2000 gasoline generator to supply power to the boat when needed while anchored and for emergencies.  One problem we've had was it would never run our refrigeration or air-conditioner.  When I bought it, I thought it had enough power to run them (individually) but turns out it didn't have enough power to start the compressors.  We've since replaced our power-hungry refrigeration but still couldn't use our air-conditioning or heat at anchor.

Several weeks ago another boater told me about the Microair EasyStart system that lowered the starting current required for air-conditioners so they could be run by portable generators.  I researched it a bit but didn't go much further because it was expensive - $300.   I looked at it again while Laura was gone and decided to buy it.   I received the system a few days later and installed it the next day.  I had to take my air-conditioner apart and install the (4) wires from the EasyStart.  Not too complicated for someone who has worked in electronics for 40 years.  Anyway, when I turned it on, nothing happened.  The A/C didn't work and even the fan wouldn't turn on.  After checking 5 times that I wired everything correctly, I called Microair and had a technician on the phone in about 5 minutes.  Nice!  He talked me through taking a few measurements then had me remove the EasyStart to check the A/C.  It wasn't working.

I then called Webasto (my A/C manufacturer) and again had a tech on the phone quickly.  While I was taking a few measurements for him, my 14 year-old multi-meter stopped working.  Everything was falling apart!

I let him go and drove to Harbor Freight for a new multi-meter.  The next morning I decided to check the A/C circuit card over good and found a broken leg on a voltage regulator.  I had probably hit it while hooking up the EasyStart.  I called Webasto again and, after making a few measurements, they told me the circuit board was bad.  They don't sell direct so I called Defender where I purchased the A/C 8 years ago.  They called me back about 30 minutes later and said the new circuit card was $120 including overnight shipping.  Great!

The next day, I installed the new circuit card and the EasyStart.  Everything worked the first time and has been working since.  Also, the Honda 2000 will now run our air-condition and heat for the first time in 13 years.  A convoluted success story.

Here I am holding onto the new circuit board.  See the box with all the wires?  I had to take out the circuit board underneath the wires and put in the new board.  No problemo!

We made grocery runs in 3 sections.  First, all the consumables (soap, shampoo, tooth paste, paper towels, etc).  Then meats and cheeses.  Finally, fresh veggies and fruit the day before we left.  Total was right around $1,000 - our usual leaving expense.

Our last two evenings we spent with family and dropped our car off at Hop-O-Nose marina on Thursday night for winter storage.  We were free (almost)!

Early Friday morning (9/27) we said our goodbyes to our friends at the marina and motored down the Catskill Creek at 7:15am.  On our way about two weeks earlier than ever before and almost a month earlier than last year when I had cardiac ablation surgery in October and we didn't leave until October 29th.
  

RV Trip Overview and Comparision to Sailing / Cruising

Overview

Laura and I have been living on a 43 foot sailboat for the past 13 years.  We have almost always enjoyed the boating life with the exception of being out in bad weather which sometimes makes for uncomfortable travel.  After over 80,000 miles under the keel, we thought we might want to see other places we couldn’t visit from the water.  About a year ago, we talked about “what’s next” and decided we wanted to try RVing – driving the roads of America and visiting exciting and beautiful places.  Our thoughts were that RVing would be similar to boating because we would bring all our stuff with us.

I have been to every state in the U.S. except for Alaska.  Our original plan was to buy an RV and drive for 3 months from the east coast to Alaska – and back.  While discussing our plans during a visit with my sister Denise and her husband Tom, they offered their 23 foot travel trailer which they hadn’t used in a couple years.  We would trade our car for their pickup truck and could have the rig for as long as we wanted.  We accepted their gracious offer and started planning. 

During our Spring sail from Florida to New York, we talked about the coming RV trip this summer.  We both realized that a 3-month, 10,000+ mile trip might be a little much to bite off for our first trip.  Instead, we decided to try the Northeast U.S. and Canadian Maritimes for 3-5 weeks.  That was a more manageable trip and, if we didn’t like it, we would only be a few days from home.

Here is a map which shows our entire trip for 27 days.

Pros and Cons of RV Traveling (for us).  During our trip, we frequently discussed what we liked about RVing and what we didn’t like.  Here is a synopsis of the notes we took during these discussions.

A part of boating we love is being able to “get away”.  Sometimes when we leave Catskill for Florida, we won’t see another person or step off the boat for a week.  We knew this would be different traveling by RV but didn’t realize how much.  Many of the campgrounds park the RVs very close to maximize their inventory.  For example, in Hubbards Beach, our awning was only about 2 feet from the slide-out on the camper next to us.  Our last night there was Friday and the place was a zoo.  Lot of partying past 11pm and very noisy with playing children and barking dogs.  This was the worst experience of our trip but other campgrounds were close.  In Panmure Provincial Park we would have stayed longer if it wasn’t for the barking dog two sites away from us.  Keep in mind that this was August in the northeast and lots of people vacationing.  Maybe April, May or September would have been much different.

Refrigerator – No worries about the refrigeration in the RV (much less complicated than the boat).  It was smaller but we had much more access to grocery stores than when we are traveling by boat.

Repairs seem to be more reasonable on the RV than the boat.  When we had a problem with the truck brakes, we had them fixed the same day for about $450.  Of course, the boat doesn't have brakes but fixes on the boat are always more complicated and expensive.

The gray-water tank on the RV takes some management.  On the boat, sink and shower water is just pumped overboard.  Also, the water tank on our boat is 200 gallons and lasts over 2 weeks if we try to be good.  The RV tank was only 30 gallons and we didn't drive with it full because of the extra weight.

Our bed in the RV was thin foam and not comfortable.  This could be remedied with a new mattress

The trailer did not have a slide-out which made it somewhat confining.  Our boat is 43’ long and 14’ wide compared to the 23 X 8 foot trailer.  We saw a trailer only a foot longer than ours that had just a small slide-out and seemed like a different world.

Parking the rig was much less stressful and complicated than docking a boat. If you're not sure everything is lining up correctly, you just put the truck in PARK and get out to see.  Much different docking a boat.

RVing is much better for sightseeing.  When we are anchored or moored, we drop the dinghy and motor into a marina or city dock.  This makes for much more complicated traveling – plus, we don’t have a car.

Boating seems to be more closer to nature which surprised us.  An exception would be our hikes through the woods which I really enjoyed.

When on the boat, we “live and die” by the weather while traveling.  I check several times a day to make plans for the next night or two.  Traveling by RV the weather doesn’t matter so much unless you are trying to make miles in the rain.

We love grocery shopping with the RV.  You can bring your cart right to the door and unload directly into the refrigerator or pantry.  Traveling on the boat, we bring in the dinghy then usually walk to a grocery store.  Taxi or Uber back to the marina where we move the groceries for the third time into a dock cart.  Then into the dinghy, drive back to the boat, lift the groceries onto the deck, from the deck to the cockpit, cockpit down the stairs then pack away.  Each grocery bag has moved 7 times and we usually buy a lot so we don’t have to do it very often.

Eating out was much easier with the RV (your right next to the restaurants) and we did not eat as well as when we make our own food on the boat.  Part of the problem was we both love seafood and we were RVing in the lobster / clam / oyster capital of the world.  How could we turn it down?

Boaters are more friendly than RVers.  It seems that RVs travel in groups or tend to be more introverted.  Maybe this is a result of the campgrounds being so crowded.  You make your own little world around your RV and it’s yours…  Almost all the friends we made while RVing I initiated by walked next door (or across the road) and introducing myself. 

I don’t understand the concept of paying for showers in campgrounds.  Almost all of them charge – sometimes as little as $.25 / 5 minutes.  One was a dollar for 5 minutes.  This is after you’ve already paid $30 - $50 per night to stay here.  I have never seen a marina that charges for showers.  Nobody would stop there again.  Add to this our trailer shower was tiny and uncomfortable.  The shower on our boat is pretty much the same size as one in a house.

We like using our phones and computers to stay in touch with friends and keep up with the world a bit.  Campgrounds seem to be less connected than marinas.  Many places we stayed had limited wi-fi and no AT&T coverage. 

Expenses - As promised, here is a list of our expenses for the 27 days.  Note that we did not try to limit our spending or use a budget.  

Category	TOTAL
Dining	$   571.03
Excursions	$   239.47
Fuel	$   934.69
Groceries	$   419.89
Overnight	$   921.68
Repairs	$   561.93
Supplies	$   414.42
Tol	$     55.00
TOTAL EXPENSES	$4,118.11

 

Final Analysis

We enjoyed many aspects of RVing.  The sightseeing was different from boating and beautiful.  It was very relaxing (most of the time) and very easy compared to boating.  For us, the crowds were a turn-off and, if we were to try it again, we would go during a less busy month.  

Laura and I are planning our trip south to Florida this winter and will leave in 3-4 weeks.  We are both looking forward to the trip.  Since hurricane Dorian devistated the northern Bahamas, we might head to the southern Bahamas instead.