Combining Camping with Sailing ?

[troppo]

Does anyone combine camping, as in on dry land in a tent, with cruising?

I was reading the guide to the hundreds of islands in the Whitsundays region, Qld Australia and there are awesome sounding islands, National Parks, with good anchoring but swelly, and nice on-shore camping grounds. It occurred to me that if I was cruising through the area having a change from cruising by sleeping on a non-rolling mattress might not be such a bad idea. Is that kind of like sailing blasphemy or do sailing folk do it sometimes?

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by troppo

Does anyone combine camping, as in on dry land in a tent, with cruising?

If you have a boat comfortable enough to go cruising on, why would you want to leave the boat and go to the trouble of tenting?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

If you have a boat comfortable enough to go cruising on, why would you want to leave the boat and go to the trouble of tenting?

because you are not stuck to the coast?

everyone different of course, but for some venturing inalnd is all part of the adventure.

FWIW me father used to combine Boat and Campervan (and car / guesthouse). really extends the boat range

When (if?!) I finally leave the dock a tent likely to be in there. no great fan of tenting, but another option

[MarkJ]

Hi,

Just to give you an idea of the facilities, here are 2 photos (just make the people inside dissapear!) taken at Cid Harbour. The anchorage is right in front.

The fixed table is surrounded by a flat area, then another flattened area for tents, a toilet block (composting one so watch the CF folks steal it and shove it in their heads!).

We saw no people camping while we were there, but lots of people from tour boats walk through the area to go on one of the walking trails. It nice, shady and has good beach.

Because the National Parks are a Nazi organization the Brown Shirts will not allow a wood BBQ. the one in the photo is a gas bbq.

A tent doesnt take up much room on a boat and the rest of the kit is abord anyway (except for the gas BBQ) so why not take a land based holiday too!

PS theres no camping that I remember at Nara Inlet. Whitehaven is FULL of backpackers every night so you would need to check that one out before you set your heart on camping there.

Hamilton Island Marina IS NOT an option for groceries unless you won last weeks Lotto. Get your provisioning done at Arlie beach (supermarket at Canonvale).
Hamiliton island is not even fun for a pop into. The marina charges $12 per hour to tie up. Fuel is expensive too.

[boatman61]

I used to do the sail/camp thing when I had Kali, my Tiki 21.... she had a single in each hull (Coffin type) but our normal routine would be either anchor in the shallows or pull her on the beach... depending on tide times... only 9in draught...lol.. and pitch our tents.
It was great fun... got into places where sailboats are never seen....if we hit bottom... just jump of and trot behind as she floats off till it deeps a tad....

[capngeo]

Back when I was a pup, a bunch of us would sail off to camp on our Hobie Cats.. Fast forward many years, and a cabin with running water and a flush toilet, INSIDE the sailboat, seems to be more to my liking.

BUT I still run off with the "kit" on the motorcycle!

[gettinthere]

Beausoleil Island in the Georgian Bay provides wood platforms over rocky ground near small finger piers for campers to arrive by boat and set up a tent. They also supply firewood at the site. Very popular for small boat, tent camping.

Sleeping on the beach is always a great idea.

[nautical62]

I did a sea kayak trip with a friend from Airlie Beach up to Cooktown. Much of the trip was under sail. We obviously camped out every night for 35 nights. Doing this in a small pocket cruiser would not have been fundamentally different. I think camping can be a great way to add a different experience to cruising and expand the limitations of a small boat.

[SurferShane]

As a bushwalker and trekker I really could not call it a blasphemy. Regardless, I can still vividly remember the separation anxiety I had the first night I left my boat at one of those rollie anchorages and slept onshore. Not having a clear view of the boat was excruciating.

Nevertheless, on the same trip around the Whitsunday’s I found so many places where it would have been sensational to spend a night on the beach in clear view of the boat. Some of these "anchorages" (loosely applying the term) have hardly any roll at all. Once out of the bare-boat charter area, what I would be more concerned about are questionable charts and the odd angry coral head. Watch the tides too as what seems like a perfect sandy beach at high tide can have an extra 100 m of sharp dry coral on the neep.

Still, these secluded little bays had some of the most incredible beaches and wildlife. Once ashore, if anything I would just be pitching the mosquito net interior of the tent and spending the night looking up at the stars and dreaming away while listening to the birdcalls, other fauna and gently lapping waves. .

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

Beausoleil Island in the Georgian Bay .

Is that close to Canada? The OP is actually asking about an area in Australia. Slighty further south.
The clue was when you said they supply firewood. Oh... I love real fires. We have to have the tinned sort

[DaveOnCudjoe]

Camp cruising is very popular here in the US especially in natural areas of shallow water and reduced overhead clearance, or to areas only accessable to trailered boats. It is the reason I still own my Sea Pearl. Dave

[rebel heart]

A lot of the things that I get out of backpacking I can get out of sailing so I don't really desire to do both of them together. There's a lot of responsibility involved in sailing your boat around, especially if it's your home. I don't mind it; but it's a little much to wander away from it for a few days out of sight in some remote area. And any area that I'd feel comfortable leaving the boat usually doesn't have good backpacking/nature areas.

It's also a lot of gear. An internal frame pack with a sleeping bag and your associated gear (for two people, in my case) takes up the area of maybe two sails?

But if it's your thing by all means do it; just a personal preference.

[Butler]

I used to do the camping thing in an old Lightning a freind of mine had on Lake Oroville Ca in the northern Sierra foothills. Man-made resivoir so not a very pretty shoreline for the most part but it was still a lot of fun and a great way to poke around remote spots difficult for hikers to get to. Off season it was cooler and not too many party boaters around. This would be a fun idea for Tomales Bay or the Delta near S.F. in Ca as well
I was looking at one of the smaller Wharrams being built in Florida... the 8 meter particularly and thought that (without knowing these areas very well) would be an exciting way to see the Bahamas or places around Florida.
The Drascomes and Sea Pearls look like fun that way as well...

I wonder how this sort of thing would work for a trip down the Mississippi?

[s/v Beth]

Camping sites are all over the San Juans. Most islands have a picknic table and/or camp site. I guess here the big game is to do it on kayaks.
Mississippi? Google the Great Circle route: Down the Miss, over through Florida, up the coast to the Hudson and across the Great Lakes to Chicago....

[Butler]

Yeah, from the little I've seen in magazines I'd think the San Juans would be wonderful for that... don't folks do the open sailboat "Raider" style competitions up in there?

Uh hu, the Great Circle has not been crossed off our list of possible adventures...the sort with a capital A. We recently spoke of it to a very adventurous family we know (kayak around Catalina with the children!) and moms eyes lit up..."You can really do that??!!" All the way from the Great Lakes to the Gulf??!!" Our 32' has a fairly shallow draft of 4'9" so it seems possible. We all talked about Molly B as support vessel and their family in a Lightning... hmmm... who knows.