How How Do You Economically and Comfortably Go 100 Miles Inland?

[Chotu]

Well, I gave all these some thought last night and maybe it’s like having a quiver of arrows of different types.

All could be useful at different times.

Motorcycle to far hotel.
Uber to train to far hotel.
Uber to airport to far hotel.
Uber to local destination then back to boat.
Electric bicycle to local destination.
Electric bicycle or motorcycle to provisioning and other errands semi-near the boat.

If induction, no more propane tanks to fill.

The only thing these can’t do is provide a place to stay when traveling inland like an RV does. I still have lots of in person meetings to do at least for the next couple years.

So all of these solutions are about $200 per meeting due to the hotel needed.

Remember: this is being at anchor or on moorings occasionally, traveling. Not living in one spot too long. The goal is to see if a boost or RV is more doable for this stage of life.

[bauer965]

Get a girlfriend that has a car...

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Jammer

If your mast can clear a 55' bridge you can in theory sail inland as far as Minneapolis most of the year and I do see boats from Florida occasionally.

When I attended the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, this year, I was musing about taking my boat up to it. It's at most a 1/2 mile walk through the woods from the river bank to the entrance.

Of course my boat is down on Lake Pepin, so it'd be a bit of a trip (70-80 miles?) But the masts are on tabernacles, so it'd be doable.

[sengland]

No electric scooter will give you the range,
rental car would be expensive as would an uber/taxi.
You'd idealy want it stored on deck somewhere.

If it were me, I'd go for one of these.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...16c85e61idtqgs

150cc so 50mph,
Very economical 50-60gph
$500 max (actually that's if you buy a few, they're probably more around $1000ea) so if it lasts 2-3 years, doesn't matter.
You'd need to find a dock to load-unload and a gangplank or something. Has a top-box for your to put a change of clothes or whatever.
You could go more expensive but nobody makes a marine grade one so am guess its longevity might not be much better.

A good question though.

[dougweibel]

Something about the original question I just don't understand. If you will be "actively cruising the USA" how is it that the meetings will be 100-200 miles away? Are they actually 100-200 miles away from some fixed location or are they 100-200 miles away from where you plan to be at the time which would range around (the east coast?)

If the former, the answer seems to be buy a cheap car or motorcycle and commute to the meetings. Hotel optional. You can certainly make it back to the boat from 100 miles, even 200 miles if you want, to sleep in your own bed.

If the latter I think you will have to answer the question on a case by case basis from the Uber/rental car/public transportation type options.

[Clivevon]

Dont you have buses / coaches in the USA?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Clivevon

Dont you have buses / coaches in the USA?

We definitely do, but they are not often located at the anchorage or go in the direction you need to go at the time you need to go.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by dougweibel

Something about the original question I just don't understand. If you will be "actively cruising the USA" how is it that the meetings will be 100-200 miles away? Are they actually 100-200 miles away from some fixed location or are they 100-200 miles away from where you plan to be at the time which would range around (the east coast?)

If the former, the answer seems to be buy a cheap car or motorcycle and commute to the meetings. Hotel optional. You can certainly make it back to the boat from 100 miles, even 200 miles if you want, to sleep in your own bed.

If the latter I think you will have to answer the question on a case by case basis from the Uber/rental car/public transportation type options.

Sorry for the confusion.

It’s the latter. Meetings can be up to 100-200 miles away from shore wherever I go. Ideally, it would be nice if they were all right at the shore, but that’s not realistic. I deal with small and medium size businesses and go to them.

I just do these meetings wherever I am and it’s worked out well over time.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sengland

No electric scooter will give you the range,
rental car would be expensive as would an uber/taxi.
You'd idealy want it stored on deck somewhere.

If it were me, I'd go for one of these.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...16c85e61idtqgs

150cc so 50mph,
Very economical 50-60gph
$500 max (actually that's if you buy a few, they're probably more around $1000ea) so if it lasts 2-3 years, doesn't matter.
You'd need to find a dock to load-unload and a gangplank or something. Has a top-box for your to put a change of clothes or whatever.
You could go more expensive but nobody makes a marine grade one so am guess its longevity might not be much better.

A good question though.

So I have a 287lbs version of this already that goes 60mph. That’s what I’m taking about when I say “motorcycle “ above. It’s just that it gets hot, cold, wet outside. Was looking for a blend of comfort and economy.

[captmikem]

Originally Posted by Chotu

No answers. I was afraid of this. There is nothing I haven’t thought of is there?

Well, let's see:
maxi-scooter
cheap car
camper van
rental car
RV
limo service
Zoom
electric bicycle
train
canoe
Get a girlfriend that has a car
bus

I think the canoe answer sounds best, don't forget your foulies..

M

[LoudMusic]

My wife and I have traveled the US east coast the past three years on our sailing catamaran, and for significant portions of it we also had our Jeep Wrangler or later our Tesla Model Y available. We made fairly large hops, and when we were at marinas with parking we kept it there (and often had a plug to charge with as well!)

To move the car we would Uber, rental car, train, or plane, depending on the size of the hop. For example, our last move with the car was Boston to Portland and I took the train back to Boston to get the car.

A couple hops we knew we wouldn't have anywhere to keep the car, or need to have it while we were there and a friend allowed us to keep it at his house for several weeks.

I honestly think with short enough boat moves you could probably also move the car by bicycling to it. Boat, dinghy, bicycle, car ... it's a comedy way of life but it will expose you to parts of the world you wouldn't see otherwise. And obviously occasionally mix in bigger transit.

The tricky part is finding places to keep it that aren't expensive and don't make you worry about it while you're away. This is a bigger problem around large populations, and almost no problem at all in smaller populations.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by captmikem

Well, let's see:
maxi-scooter
cheap car
camper van
rental car
RV
limo service
Zoom
electric bicycle
train
canoe
Get a girlfriend that has a car
bus

I think the canoe answer sounds best, don't forget your foulies..

M

The point of the thread is to decide if I should make a boat my primary residence or an RV my primary residence.

Boats are awful for seeing things and doing things that aren’t in the water or at the water’s edge geographically. Why? Because the land transportation is sorely lacking when you live in a boat that travels from anchorage to anchorage.

I’d prefer the boat if the problem can be reasonably solved (comfortably and economically), but the RV isn’t out of the race just yet since it’s easy, dry, climate controlled and costs nothing to go to my meetings, even if I have to stay overnight.

[wingssail]

When I was working I stayed in marinas. I didn't feel that living on the hook would be suitable or a number of reasons, one which was the inconvenience of getting dressed for work then going to shore in a dingy in the rain or hot climate, not to mention relying full time on the boat's power generation capabilities and water making capability. It's one thing to rely on these while cruising and quite another when working 40-60 hours per week. I found that air conditioning was essential to maintain a professional appearance, and this meant shore power. I rarely worked from home (the boat). I virtually always worked in the office.

Though I usually commuted via public transportation (usually high speed commuter rail) I almost always had a car or access to a convenient rental car. For long distance business I flew, usually as a business expense.

My jobs paid enough that I could afford the marina bills (and my wife worked as well). We did this in five countries in addition to 10 years while living in the USA.

I found that maintaining a professional working life while living on a boat is a high maintenance project (cost and effort and logistics), and doing it cheaply with a low paying job just wasn't going to work for me.

It did pay off however. It enabled me to take off from the USA at age 50, sail around the world visiting 35 fantastically interesting countries, working in five of them, and racing our boat in almost everywhere we went. It gave us the experiences of a lifetime, and is totally unforgettable.

What a life!

Edit: On two occasions we moved off the boat during the week and lived ashore to be closer to the office

Photo: Going to meet a client in Bangkok

[Mike OReilly]

If the stumbling block is to avoid $200 hotel costs, how about a motorcycle pulling a small trailer camper? Or even just pack a tent and find a local campground or out-of-the-way spot to spend the night.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by wingssail

When I was working I stayed in marinas. I didn't feel that living on the hook would be suitable or a number of reasons, one which was the inconveneince of getting dressed for work then going to shore in a dingy in the rain or hot climate, not to mention relying full time on the boat's power generation capabilities and water making capability. It's one thing to rely on these while cruising and quite another when working 40-60 hours per week. I found that air conditioning was essential to maintain a professional appearance, and this meant shore power. I rarely worked from home (the boat). i virtually allways worked in the office.

Though I usually commuted via public transportation (usually high speed rail) I almost always had a car or access to a convenient rental car. For long distance business I flew, usually as a business expense.

My jobs paid enough that I could afford the marina bills (and my wife worked as well). We did this in five countries in addition to 10 years while living in the USA.

I found that maintaining a professional working life while living on a boat is a high maintenance project (cost and effort and logistics), and doing it cheaply with a low paying job just wasn't going to work for me.

It did pay off however. It enabled me to take off from the USA at age 50, sail around the world visiting 35 fantastically interesting countries, working in five of them, and racing our boat in almost everywhere we went. The experiences of a lifetime, and totally unforgettable.

What a life!

I agree completely with this approach. However, there are a some differences:

1). My boat is currently under construction and needs an inexpensive dock so I can afford all the construction related expenses. There is another thread going on that. I suppose that means I’m definitely in a marina short term. So it’s not a decision between anchoring and marinas in the short term.

2) The point of the thread is to choose my ultimate path - boat or RV. The thing I don’t like about boats is this. Being stuck in the water and at the shore, unable to really do anything new. I’m in my 3rd decade of boat life. There are about 3 more decades left of life overall for me. Boat life can be pretty boring because you aren’t exposed to anything but harbors and islands. I love the atmosphere, but it’s like having your favorite meal every day for 30 years. I want to keep doing it, but it’s soooooo boring and isolating sometimes. It’s just an everyday thing when you have already been doing it 30 years. Nothing is exiting about it. It’s just hum drum sailing. I’m sure n00bs don’t understand this. Still, I like the atmosphere and relaxing nature of it.

So it’s not really about “do I sit in a marina or at anchor “ so much as it’s about trying to find a way to eliminate the one thing I like least about boats. Being stuck on them or right at shore.