The Routine – weather, touring & traveling

We have been asked about what we do all day, while every day is different, we have settled into a certain rhythm.

Each day starts with a plan, made the night before.. If we are going to spend the day touring a town, we (Kathy) gathers the local tourist information. This usually starts with a chat with the dock master or marina staff and often includes recommendations for dinner ashore. On these days, like days delayed by weather, we will sleep in and get a relaxed start the next day.

On the nights before a travel day, we make a float plan. This includes our anticipated destination, a bailout destination (if things don’t go according to plan), an estimated transit time and notes about potential problem areas. We’ve learned to go over the route carefully and note the bridges and intersecting rivers. Better to anticipate these, than be surprised. Our goal is to be safely secured to a dock, when we watch the sun set, over the rims of our cocktails.

On travel days, we set an alarm and get going as soon as there is enough light to see the channel markers. Early starts, tend to be in lower wind (which makes exiting cramped marinas easier) and the extra time gives us some flexibility to deal with unexpected delays. After warming up the engine (which is taking less time as we move into warmer weather) we run our departure checklist (from last night’s float plan) and have a discussion about exactly how we are going to get off the dock (lines, cords, fenders, current & wind). Also, do we need to make lunch? and do we have or need to make or confirm reservations for that night.

Once we have woken our neighbors with our engine, and bow thrust our way through the marina, we settle in for the day. Kathy assumes the task of organizing or confirming tonight’s dockage, while I start out driving. After awhile, Kathy drives while I space out and watch the boats go by. Sometimes I space out all the way to napping (a testimony to Kathy’s command of navigation, operation and ICW logistics).

Sometimes, it takes both of us to sort things out. This is particularly true at the end of the day, when we are getting directions, over the radio (with some amount of static), on how best to enter or tie up at marinas. Deciphering dock masters with heavy southern accents can be a two person challenge. Sometimes we have to ask for clarification, sometimes the clarification is as confusing as the original transmission, sometimes we don’t agree on what was said, sometimes we just go for it and hope for the best. 

When planning this trip, the math seemed simple; if we motored for 5 hours, for 3 out of 4 days, we could go from Rhode Island to St. Augustine in 30 days…20 days if we motored for 6 hours a day. One of my favorite t-shirts reads “Confidence is the feeling you get before you fully understand the situation”. Well, after 4 weeks afloat, we understand a lot more.

The weather and spacing of marinas blew up my tidy travel formulas. As do non-functioning bridges and long no wake zones. We have also discovered that taking our time to explore towns, is well worth the delay, as is frequently reassessing our plans. Fortunately, marinas are understanding about delays and somewhat responsive to boats showing up early. However, everything is fluid, and nothing is certain until we are actually tied up for the night.

We have surprisingly little downtime. When we are not traveling, touring or sleeping, we are planning the navigation and shore excursions, taking care of provisioning, filling fuel & water tanks, cooking, cleaning the boat or doing laundry. Kathy is doing more reading and yoga than me (which is normal) and occasionally knitting, while I am entertained by the general “boat stuff”.  There seems to be plenty to keep us busy.

There is also a surprising amount of physical activity involved, even when living on a power boat. While we are not hoisting sails or cranking winches, the constant motion, during travel days, requires continuous physical adjustments and the cumulative effect leads us towards early nights, as does the mental gymnastics of navigating the terrain and negotiating the traffic. And so…we have modified our schedule to fit in a tourist day after 2 consecutive “long” travel days, of 6 or 7 hours each. Although the locations of marinas and predicted weather tend to determine exactly when and how far we will travel. We have also learned that trying to schedule more than 3 days out, really isn’t possible and so we limit our planning and take our chances. So far, so good!