Small boat-long distance...even if a power boat....worth sharing

[Frank]

RAMBLING

-----We were born with wayward souls. Unavoidable - we suppose it's from the immigrant genes of our ancestors. Our wandering spirits seek uncertainty. Driven by insatiable curiosity, we become restless after a few days or weeks in one place. There's an infinity of new places and experiences to savor. There are new people to meet, new foods to taste, new rivers to explore, and yes, another mountain to cross. Life is brimming with unending variety to discover and investigate. Thus, we are wanderers. A westward wind tugs at our souls, and we can't resist. A map is a siren call. One phrase has never crossed our lips - "I'm bored."

-----For us, a house and material things are anchors. We have cut those lines. We follow the lure and it has been a marvelous life.

-----Since we are land animals, lacking gills or feathers, most of our lives we had to live ashore. Those years we rambled mostly on land - by foot, car, plane, or on rails. We did, however, make excursions afloat. Vacation trips included river runs by canoe or raft on all the inhabited continents, or boat trips within or along all the continents.

-----We have roamed by water for extended times, sometimes years - afloat by kayak, canoe, raft, or boat. For two years we lived aboard a 20' sailboat and cruised her 13,000 nm along the waterways of America. During those years, we were ashore for only brief times to visit family or friends.

-----For us nomads, we are sometimes questioned -- Which lifestyle is preferable - afloat or ashore? The answer is simple - neither! We find we need both, since both offer what we are fundamentally seeking - change. And each offers unique opportunities to experience change.

-----Life afloat is filled with variety. Weather is always changing, the wildlife around us is seasonal and sporadic, and every anchorage and mile of water is unique and different. A lake is different from a river, and they both differ markedly from the ocean. Bays can be freshwater or salt, rocky or mud - and the wildlife and experience varies accordingly. On salt water, we rise and fall with the tide and we are offered different views as our 'home' swings on the tidal flow. The surrounding land may be beach, deep forest, or urban. On fresh water, current or winds swing us on anchor and the view from the cockpit is ever-shifting. Nomadic life afloat is continuous change.

-----There's also ample change living ashore. The perennial discussion of vacation at the mountains or the shore reflects the range of possibilities for a land-based nomad. But there's also prairie, tundra, the glories of spring above timberline, a dawn through the giant saguaros, the somber desolation of lava fields - an almost infinite variety of landscapes and views. Weather usually has less influence on land dwellers. Although the air may occasionally be violent, the land usually remains solid and stable. Aboard, weather affects both what lies above and below - air and water - and our floating home responds.>

-----There are overlapping experiences for dwellers on water and those on land. But the perspective is sharply distinct, whether one is looking to the shore or from the shore. It is this perspective that is unique to the edges of either environment.

-----Now we have the best of both worlds - land and water. Ashore, we live in an Alaska Camper, mounted in the bed of a Ford pickup truck. The camper lifts hydraulically, has all the amenities, and is insulated and lined with wood - living in our camper home is 'boaty' and we love the spacious windows and comfort. When we have lived ashore in the past nine years, it has been in our camper. It has been from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Gulf to the Arctic Ocean. It has been our home in every state and province, and in all three countries in North America.



Consider the advantages of this home:

......Views of mountains, ocean, lakes, saguaro, tundra, or whatever scene we wish.

......If the neighbors are noisy, or not noisy enough, we move our home.

...... We are self-sufficient. We generate our own power and properly dispose of wastes.

......We can 'rent' a campsite in the most beautiful parks on the continent, or 'freedom' camp on public lands.

......There are no property or state taxes.

-----Afloat, we live in our other home - our C-Dory, Halcyon. This small power boat is easy to maintain, is economical and simple to operate. It is trailerable - easy to load, transport, and launch. Therefore, it can go virtually anywhere as long as the water is two feet deep and navigable. This home can also have views of ocean, lakes, rivers, mountains and any scene possible on the waterways of America. Hey, and did you know? There are over 13,000 miles of interconnected navigable waterways in the eastern half of the US. We can still move to or from noisy neighbors, anchor in lonely coves or tie up at marinas and resorts in some of the most beautiful waterfront sites on the continent. And, we are still marvelously self-sufficient.

-----With these two peripatetic homes, we have the perfect mode for nomads. We can comfortably sleep in either of our own beds and live in either home virtually anywhere on the continent or wherever there is navigable water.

-----Sure, we could have a 42'-foot motor home or a Grand Banks Trawler and have more amenities, but for us nomads, think what that would sacrifice - our most precious asset - mobility. We can find a parking spot at the grocery store or downtown, and we can travel 4-wheel-drive into the Beartooth Mountains. Or, we can trailer the boat into Voyageur National Park or a thousand miles north in a few days if it gets too hot on the Gulf or a hurricane is approaching. We can park in lonely, lovely spots on the Mogollon Rim or anchor in the upper reaches of the Rappahannock, where the 'big ones' will never travel. And all we've sacrificed is some living space.

-----Our first year with Halcyon, we traveled almost 7,000 nautical miles and have been in the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic and many lakes and rivers between. Yet, we also were 186 days ashore living in our camper from coastal Texas to the Tetons in Wyoming, from the Cascades to the Appalachians. For wandering souls who love nature, we have had the best of both worlds - afloat and ashore.

-----Most importantly, we have been adrift.

[AdriftAtSea]

Cool... a land yacht and a sailboat... can't really have a sail-powered land yacht... :)

[CharlieJ]

Sounds exactly like our friends Jim and Joan Bathhurst. They also have a C-Dory and have trailered it all over this country, living aboard, both afloat and ashore. They have no camper though- just the boat.

They do have  a home base way down in the tropical tip of Texas- Port Isabel, but find they spend most of the year either on the road, or afloat somewhere.

[captain cajun]

Frank, thanks, I needed those words...I can see from here!

[Frank]

again..from their site..."Nomads. This word brings different images to mind in different folks. Some see hobos. Others feel the romance of being footloose. Wanderlust or just bums? We have received queries from folks, some with C-Dorys, about our nomadic lifestyle. These are two replies to the same question you might have: Should we do it?

The Open Road

-----Steinbeck wrote "God made hobos to make other men yearn." Some years ago, a Texas C-Dory owner took his boat easterly along the Gulf, around Florida and up the Atlantic coast to Chesapeake. There, overcome by homesickness, he turned southerly for home. We met him as we cruised the Texas coast - a charming gentleman. Now he is grounded by his wife's health problems. He loaned us his charts and more importantly, took the time to write out ideas and cautions for cruising "his" coast. He asked us to keep writing him about our experiences, and we have. He wrote back, "When I was on my trip, folks often said - 'I wish I could do that.' Today, when I read your letters, I say to myself those same words."

-----For some this lifestyle is impossible - physical, age, family, or financial constraints prevent it. We write our tale of Halcyon Days for them - for our friend Leon, in Texas - so we might vicariously enjoy this voyage together. He "can do that" with us. His warm smile and infectious generosity we carry in our hearts - he is surely with us.

-----For some few of you, however, this life seems a possibility. "Maybe some day I can do that," you think. Swinging on our hook in Cooper Hollow, we decided to write these thoughts for you.

-----Work life seems to present a conflict not easily resolved in 21st century America: time vs. money. Our first five years of marriage, we had jobs that paid well and promised security, but they didn't allow much time for fun. So, we quit them and took teaching jobs that paid half as much but gave long holidays. It didn't seem possible we could ever have both time and money together, nor was it. We lived in Nevada -- we knew casino odds. We could either play the red or the black.

-----Then we had a flash of insight - it isn't how much you earn that's important, but how much you spend. If we could resist the temptation for material things, we could reduce our expenses. Friends told us that was "positively un-American," and we certainly weren't the norm. We learned to live simply. We love the outdoors. Backpacking and bird watching can be inexpensive hobbies.

-----When Dad was approaching retirement, he and Mom were planning what they would do in their new lifestyle. They had opted for security in their lives, and now, with retirement, they would have time and enough money. They could do all those things they had put off during their years of work and raising kids. We talked late into the nights about his plans. At sixty-three, he died on a business trip.

-----When we reached fifty, our last kid went off to college. We had no family responsibilities to tie us to a home. We were blessed with good health. We were physically strong and young enough to backpack and still, puffing, climb a mountain. We continued to live a frugal lifestyle.

-----The trap, however, was set. The "earning years" were ahead of us. In fifteen years, we could vest our retirement and draw the maximum return. We would finally have a bundle and time. We could "take those trips." Then, it struck us - those were Dad's words.

-----We quit our jobs - professions we loved. We sold our house, gave away everything (but the photo albums) to the kids who were starting homes or to Salvation Army. We bought a little used motor home and hit the road. We quickly found our expenses were halved without a house and things. More importantly, we discovered we never owned those things - they owned us. They were anchors in life. Anchors hold you in a storm, but they keep you rooted in place. We pulled the anchor.

-----We have since traveled to every continent. We have kicked around in youth hostels, driven around in used cars, and followed our dreams - crazy dreams. We lived in a cabin on the shore of Hudson Bay in February to experience the north in winter. We paddled 1,300 miles and two months down the Missouri River in a two-person kayak - the first three weeks we didn't see a soul. We put on our backpacks and for six months everything we needed was on our backs - we hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Trail-toughened, we headed for six months exploring and hiking New Zealand (yes - we did the Milford Track) and then another six months banging around the "back blocks" of Australia. We weren't 'on a tour.' We lived in cabins, youth hostels, and the back of our used station wagon.

-----We watched Leopard Seals from an inflatable off the Antarctic Peninsula, and then, afterwards, spent another few months kicking around Patagonia and the Chilean fiords in rental cars, buses, boats, and youth hostels. We spent a Christmas in Oaxaca to see the Radish Festival (yep, there is such a thing, and it is marvelous). We trekked in Nepal and then crossed the Himalayas on foot, bus, and Chinese Army trucks to see the Portala in Lhasa.

-----Two years ago, we boated up part of the Amazon with a local Indian fellow. That same summer we paddled canoes down the most remote river in North America - the Thelon - with our son, wolves, and musk oxen. Foor the past two years, we decided to ferret out five hundred species of North American birds - you wouldn't believe the places we had to go and what a feathered treasure hunt it was. We got #500 in Texas on our first Gulf coast C-Dory cruise. Have we seen it all? Lordy, no! Thoreau mused that the whole world was in his back yard and he was right. Many lifetimes could be spent out there without exhausting the possibilities.

-----What it requires is what we had in our youth, and can still muster in our older years - imagination, energy, and good health. SSo, was it a good choice to quit? For us, unequivocally, yes. It is a choice with risk. We have been lucky - especially, for good health.

-----What about our family? They, like most, have scattered from their home state. We see them more often, being footloose, than would have been possible if we were still in Nevada. We have been to the birth of each grandkid, helped families during illness or moving days, shared a week each year all together, and remained close.

-----And, for us - like Mehitabel, "oh, the things we've seen."

The Flip Side

-----For every yang, there is a ying. The reason few people are hobos is simple - it's a life of uncertainty, insecurity, and sometimes, simple discomfort.

-----Along with the litany of romantic-sounding travels, we can as easily relate the tales of the black flies, on that arctic canoe trip, so thick the horizon danced. Or the piranha in the Amazon, the ice storm in Antarctica, and the lumpy, hard beds in a Japanese monastery. Then, there were the screaming muscles exhausted from toting a 35-pound backpack up yet another mountain - or the harshness of a Texas norther when all that keeps you from shipwreck is a small anchor line - and you're sleepless much of the night knowing that fact.

-----Yep, there's a flip side. We find the challenge, closeness to nature, time for people and adventure compensates for that down side, - most would not. And lest you think this is a guy-thing, El is the one who wanted the small-scale, simple, boating life. Nothing gets El more quickly to her flash point than some macho dude on a Sportfish saying to Bill, "How did you get The Wife on the boat?"

-----We were tandem cruising on the Connecticut River with friends on their boat. NOAA radio said four days of wind and rain. We were holed up in a beautiful cove, weather protected, off the river. We saw four days on the hook as a delightful time to read and write and watch the beauties of storm from the intimate view of the water - they saw four days of prison - and headded to town for a house. Of course, we were the only ones swinging on a hook in that cove. It ain't for most - the smart ones bolt - for good reason.

-----Recently, we were tied off in a marina. A gal, strolling the marina, wanted to see inside our boat. On peering inside, she asked, with raised eyebrows, "You live on this boat?"

-----El replied, "Yes, for the past year."

-----She slowly shook her head, saying, "If I lived on this boat, I'd kill my husband."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

[Volksdraggin]

Cliff notes?


LOL jk good read  ;D

[captain cajun]

Frank, time does get away, as  a child I worked 6 man ambush team (infantry) in Nam,
and spend a year attacj to a army hospital.  From that point on, I followed my dreams,  and still dreaming, thank for the life stories.

[Pappy Jack]

Frank, this is just a wonderful read. Just one thing. Who's site is it from...who is Bill and El ???? Whom ever they are, I'm going to tuck this little gem away for a rainy day ;).

Warm winds,

Pappy Jack

[maxiSwede]

Frank - Great reading!

That saved my day, the mess here in the house is incredible as we are packing everything to leave in a little more than a week.

The thoughts from your post made me regain my focus.

From Jan 16 we'll be full time liveaboards!  Yeeeeehhhaaaaa!! ;D

[Frank]

I found their site about 4 years ago. After the NW Desolation Sound cruise I was on in november, I got poking around  it again as they have been through that erea...and most any other.Lots of great info with much wisdom thrown in...wonderful sight.  http://www.geocities.com/bill_fiero/   seem like real nice folks. El is a sailor as well. This could be a partial cruise guide for nearly anywhere in America as well as a source of theory and financing the dream as well.Great stuff.

[Frank]

Frank - Great reading!

That saved my day, the mess here in the house is incredible as we are packing everything to leave in a little more than a week.

The thoughts from your post made me regain my focus.

From Jan 16 we'll be full time liveaboards!  Yeeeeehhhaaaaa!! ;D

Good for you's.Enjoy the adventure.Have fun.

[Frank]

Frank, this is just a wonderful read. Just one thing. Who's site is it from...who is Bill and El ???? Whom ever they are, I'm going to tuck this little gem away for a rainy day ;).

Warm winds,

Pappy Jack

It truly is a site worth saving.Enjoy.

[Frank]

Cliff notes?


LOL jk good read  ;D

This site is full of "cliff notes"...if the cliff you're jumping off of is society's 'norm' and you want to head out on adventure  ;)

[Frank]

Sounds exactly like our friends Jim and Joan Bathhurst. They also have a C-Dory and have trailered it all over this country, living aboard, both afloat and ashore. They have no camper though- just the boat.

They do have  a home base way down in the tropical tip of Texas- Port Isabel, but find they spend most of the year either on the road, or afloat somewhere.

CJ...do you know the name of their boat?

[CharlieJ]

Wild Blue