land transportation while cruising

[pande]

I have a basic question for which my searches have not been able to find an answer.

While cruising the Gulf Coast and the lower East Coast of the U.S. of A. (mostly in and around Florida), when I come into a new area and need land transportation on a temporary basis, how do most of you solve this problem?

Do some (any) marinas have loaner/rental cars? Do you just contact standard car rental agencies?

Thanks,
-Paul

[sailorboy1]

Haven't seen loaner cars very much, but then I dont stay in fancy marinas very much

We walk, bike (if at place long enough it is worth getting a couple), Uber, public transportation, car rental (Enterprise because they come get you and take you back)

[Enfant Du Vent]

Ahoy Pande:


When I was a live aboard on my 32' sailboat, I walked a LOT.

Then got a Dahon folding stainless steel bicycle.

(It was great until someone stole it...I'd left it ashore in the park I was anchored off.)

[roverhi]

Bike Friday (bikefriday.com) stows away in a suitcase for passages and rides like a real bike so you can cover 10 miles or more easily if there aren't too many hills. Can be outfitted with electric drive if you get lazy. Used my New Tourist Model to prep my boat for a TransPac and only had to resort to a rental car to hit Costco for provisioning.

[pande]

All,
I had been thinking of a bike, just a question of how to store....
I enjoy riding and put in +60 miles a week on my road bike......I have never tried the compact bikes but will look into it.
Thanks for the replies!
-Paul

[Jammer]

I have a Montague folding bike. Doesn't fold down as small as some, but rides like a real bike.

As with any bike other than a very inexpensive one, theft is an ever-present concern, and limits what you can do.


The more populated parts of Florida have good Uber coverage.

[BillKny]

We have been cruising for years without owning ground transport other than bikes. We do frequently rent cars when needed.

The key here is to manage the insurance issue. We have collision damage coverage through our credit cards when we use them to pay for the rental, so can avoid that expensive rental car up-charge, but we DO have to pay for liability coverage through the renting company. This typically adds $10 a day to the cost. Annoying, but still way cheaper than owning a car!

Renting cars this year has gotten a lot more expensive. Many of the companies sold off large parts of their fleets to keep cash flow coming during COVID travel restrictions. Now they are left short of cars in busy places. Sometimes there just are not any to be had.

For quick and dirty trips beyond what we consider bike range, UBER and LYFT have been our magic carpets in almost every place we have been in the US.

[Chotu]

In order:

Walking
Biking
Lyft
Car Rental (Hertz all the way, soooo much faster than Enterprise, who makes it feel like you’re lucky they rented you a car. Hertz also pics you up at the boat)

[valhalla360]

- Walking is most common. A collapsible canvas wagon is a great addition for groceries, laundry, etc.
- We ditched the bikes about a month into our Great Loop trip...everything is uphill from the water.
- On the river system and to a lesser extend the gulf ICW, loaner cars from the marina. On the east coast, we didn't find any.
- Occasional rental cars.
- On our second time around, we took the truck with us. We would travel 200-300miles by boat (couple weeks of travel by boat), use a rental car to go back and pick up the truck. This was slow cruising where we would travel for a bit then stay someplace for 2-4 weeks, so a day to pop up and grab the truck wasn't a big burden. We would always ask and the marinas never had an issue if we left the truck for a couple weeks (that might not apply in some of the built up south Florida locations).

[ChrisJHC]

Re folding bikes: try to stay away from ones that have proprietary components.

Once you get off the beaten path, you won’t be able to find spares readily or a bike mechanic who can repair them.

[Joh.Ghurt]

I'd like to add city-scooters. They stow away in less space than a bike and makes transport in town faster than walking. If you feel lazy, go for an electric one.

[markiobe]

Originally Posted by pande

All,
I had been thinking of a bike, just a question of how to store....
I enjoy riding and put in +60 miles a week on my road bike......I have never tried the compact bikes but will look into it.
Thanks for the replies!
-Paul

We are also big bike riders and plan to ride a lot including some bikepacking. For that reason foldables just don't cut it and we are having special space built in our boat for storage of full carbon gravel bikes.

[xxxxx]

My plan is to use an inexpensive electric scooter. I realize it's not an ideal option for everyone, but for me it seems to be the best option.

They're compact, fold down, weigh very little, and even the basic models have an impressive range of 15 miles. I have a 30ft boat, so weight and size are important factors.

The scooter load capacities are generous enough to fill a day pack with groceries or supplies, etc. Some models have wider/larger tires for use on various terrains.

For bigger loads or further trips, I'd probably just find a local driver or rent a car/motorcycle.

Shrug.

[Montanan]

Call us old school as to transport options. The captain of our yacht just calls our chauffeur driver and she brings the limousine around to give us a lift. Or we have our pilot take us from the yacht's helicopter landing deck to where ever we like to go.

[AlanT]

Originally Posted by markiobe

We are also big bike riders and plan to ride a lot including some bikepacking. For that reason foldables just don't cut it and we are having special space built in our boat for storage of full carbon gravel bikes.

Your Avatar doesn't give any info on your location etc. so this may be misdirected. We had bikes on board a sailboat for 4 years while cruising the Med (mainly). We found that any decent quality bike would get stolen despite locks/cables. We reverted to cheapo supermarket off road bikes for less than $100. They did not get stolen when locked up but they only lasted 6 months or so in salty air. They were not stowed below, but they were in bags on deck. The alum spokes would rot first at the join with the wheel rim.

I have no idea where you are cruising or the components of your expensive bikes and you may have considered these issues, but just in case.

~Alan