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

[Chotu]

Say you’re living on a boat. You live at anchor mostly and in moorings. You are actively cruising the USA only for now and you are an American citizen.

Every few days to once a week, you have meetings to get to that are 100 and even 200 miles away from the anchorage.

What is the most economical and comfortable way to get inland to these meetings?

Total cost counts. Comfort counts. Outside the box ideas welcome since I seem to be stuck on this.

Disclaimer: this is part of my decision to liveaboard and make the boat my primary residence or to just RV around and go sailing sometimes. The RV can go to these meetings and not need a hotel. Huge plus. Trying to see if I can find a way to do something similar from the boat to do meetings. I had thought I was going to use a motorcycle, but today realized that wasn’t a great idea. If meetings are late, you get to hang out outside or in some restaurant waiting. Or you need a hotel. That’s about $120 a week extra, unless hotel prices skyrocket due to sporting events, tourist season, etc.

[Chotu]

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

[Breaking Waves]

Originally Posted by Chotu

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

an inexpensive rental car would be my first thought.

thats what we did when we wanted to explore inland a bit.

If we needed it for several months it sometimes was better to buy a beater and then sell it - usually did that in cyclone season in nz

[Mike OReilly]

So... if a motorcycle is out (I was going to suggest a maxi-scooter), then you either get a small, highly economical car (cheap to own and operate), or perhaps a camper van if you want to avoid restaurant and hotel bills.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by Chotu

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

I use zoom, teams, webex and the like

You may not be able to completely eliminate in-person, but unless these meetings are some sort of construction site visit or something where you need to physically observe something at the location, I bet you can eliminate a lot.

Owning a POS car is ok if you're more or less in one place, but if you're actively moving up and down the coast it will be a pain to do the shuffle. Did that first half this year, was a pain.

Uber et all might be ok if you can get the # of in-person down otherwise it will rack up.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

an inexpensive rental car would be my first thought.
...

With the pandemic and the shortage of vehicles I don't think there are inexpensive car rentals in the US. Maybe things have changed, but I was seeing reports a month or so ago, of astronomical car rental prices.

One really needs to check the rental prices and make a guess for the future since the OP is looking for a longer term solution compared to just renting for a short time. Given the rate of inflation, which in the US has hit 5.3% from the previous year, and that rate is low compared to what I am seeing in food, fuel, rents, home prices, taxes, etc., I can't see how car rental prices are going to down until the chip shortage is over, in a few years, and new cars start returning to the market.

If the OP needs to buy an RV, I have read prices for RVs, like boats and vehicles has gone up dramatically. I read that used car prices in Ireland ar up 50%. I would not be surprised if US prices are that much higher.

I really, Really, REALLY hope we do not have to buy a vehicle, new or used, in the next few years.

Later,
Dan

[psk125]

Camper-van sounds like the best option. Not as pricey as an RV but still provides the transportation and accommodations needed, without having to be too spartan. Hot market for them at the moment, but probably easier to come by than an RV. Boats and RV's, along with rental cars and camper-vans are in short supply these days.

[sailorboy1]

If the only need to travel is every 3 weeks and you have other reason to have a car I would, and do, just get a rental. Even thorough prices are way up the year, a day rental with gas is about the same as just a month of car liability insure here in florida.

Combine the car rental to also do other supply runs etc

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Every few days to once a week, you have meetings to get to that are 100 and even 200 miles away from the anchorage.

If on the average you have a 150 mile each-way drive every 5 days that works out to 22,000 miles a year which is a lot. With a car, when you move up and down the coast, take public transportation back and get the car, or pay someone to drive it for you. Park it at the marina. If you're thinking of staying at anchor then parking is going to be problematic.


When figuring this out it is important to internalize that it costs $0.50 a mile to keep a car on the road and you're not going to beat that. So every 150 mile each-way trip costs you $150 in a car you own. Use that as a comparison point to other options.



You can rent cars just on the days you need them but one-day rentals at off-airport locations are expensive particularly if you can't plan your travel well in advance. If you can figure out two weeks ahead what your travel days are it will work. That will save you from paying for parking and will eliminate the need to move your car up and down the coast. Typically you'll pay, say, $75 for a one-day rental, plus gasoline. So in reality that would probably cost less than owning a car for that use pattern.


You would have to take uber or something from the marina to the car rental counter.



There aren't any out-of-the-box solutions that work 100% with the main problem being the distances involved. Shorter trips in good weather you could use a scooter and haul the scooter on your boat. Shorter still you could use an electric bicycle. Public transit in the USA isn't usually feasible for trips that long.


Depending on where in the USA you are you may be able to hire a sedan or limo service. These are like taxis but cheaper for long trips. Uber may be an option in some cases too. Where available Uber is going to be between $1 and $2 per mile usually, with longer trips at the lower end of the scale.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by flightlead404

I use zoom, teams, webex and the like
...

THIS ^^^ hopefully could minimize in person meetings, at a minimum.

Later,
Dan

[seandepagnier]

I use electric bicycle.

bicycle is 1984 given to me, but it cost me $100 for the motor, $50 for the battery and $60 for the controller.

I also am building a larger battery (80 mile range) that cost $300 but you can get much better deals. This would give you some idea of the cost per mile $5-$6, however this recharges at least a few hundred times, but I also spent $50 a year on maintaining the bicycle.

It ends up around 4-5 cents per mile this way, but if you also pedal the cost is lower.

I also did some trips few hundred miles before getting the motor, using only pedaling 90-110 miles each day for 3-4 days to reach somewhere. This way is 1-2 cents per mile.

[JPA Cate]

Park up a river with train access?

Ann

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Park up a river with train access?

Ann

With a canoe and a willingness to portage you can get 200 miles inland pretty much anywhere in the United States. No train required. Maybe not practical though...


As an aside, I think that the history of river transportation (including the extent of commercial barge traffic to the present day) is absolutely fascinating. I live in rural Minnesota. There is a river within a mile of my house that offers (by canoe) access to the Gulf of Mexico. Never has seen commercial traffic -- from the mid 1800s there's been a road from here to the Mississippi that runs near the river and that's been used instead.


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. Or you can sail to Stillwater.


If you can clear a 52' bridge you can sail to every state in the USA except North Dakota and a few states in the mountain west: Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Arizona.

[Wood]

When I travelled I had a monthly rental car.

My brother is doing this currently in West Virginia and is paying a little over $300 a month

[tennis4789]

Camp/sleep Prius v. Use it to drive uber/door dash to pay for it.