Some Stats and Some Observations

Some final thoughts and words on our trip.

Our trip was 1,700 miles.  We left home on Thursday, June 25 after work.  We arrived back home at our marina on Wednesday, July 24 and went back to work the very next day.  We were one day short of being gone a month.  Our original plan called for us to be back home on July 19.

We lost three days in Jacksonville, Florida and four days in Oriental, North Carolina for breakdowns. We actually traveled a total of 17 days; making our average 100 miles a day. We had some shorter days of 50-60 miles and some long ones of close to 200 miles.

You would think just sitting on the boat for hours on end would be pretty restful. That definitely wasn't the case.  We both took turns doing some boat projects. Although we also took an occasional nap. I also worked on a crocheting project, and plotted courses.  Dan monitored systems and watched the weather.  We had some long days and still kept pretty busy. But at the end of day we didn't have any problems sleeping.

I'm sure that this is the thing everybody has been waiting for.  How much did we spend on fuel?  First let me say this, if we had done this trip two years ago we'd be pretty much broke and penniless.  Or, more likely, we never would have bought the boat and done the trip.

The best price we paid for fuel was just south of Norfolk @$2.30 a gallon, the worst price was St. Catharines Marina @$4.75 a gallon.  Yup, we got an exchange rate; but we also had to pay a foreign currency rate on our Visa.

So, in total for fuel; we paid $9,479.90.  We did come home with our tanks three quarters full.  When we bought the boat the tanks were at a quarter.  So we're up a half tank. So we are to the good 285 gallons or so.  At an average of 3.50 per gallon that comes out to about $997.  So, we probably spent about $8,500 in fuel.

That sounds terrible doesn't it?  What did you spend on your last vacation?  Did it last a month?  Seriously though; fuel wasn't our only expense. We did spend $1,322.88 on dockage. Add in food, restaurants and travel documents and the trip was a grand total of $13,566.42.  (Although I really don't think it's fair to add in food; we would have eaten at home.) 

How much?

That is a lot of money.  But it's a once in a lifetime expense.  When we bought the boat the broker told us that another Michigan couple had looked at the boat just before us. Their plan was to truck the boat home to South Haven. Our boat is so tall they would have had to take it apart. The bridge would have had to come off and be shipped on a separate truck.  It's also almost fifteen feet wide; so it's a WIDE load. Two trucks and front and rear spotters would have been needed.  They were given an estimate of $22,000 to ship this boat to Michigan. They did not buy the boat. Hey, we saved $9,000!

I am not going to detail the cost of repairs; we knew going in that this boat was a hell of a value and that it needed some work.  Let me just say that with all of the costs we are still way under the value of boat.  We have some serious equity in the boat and most of the costs from here on in will be our blood, sweat and tears.

We do still have a lot of boat projects.  They will probably take us a couple years to complete.  Dan is already waxing on the boat.  The finish is so bad that he is using a sandy like compound to bring the shine back and then cleaning that off and waxing.  It is looking a lot better but it will take a couple years for it to really look great.  

He did get our new horns installed and we have a date with a canvas maker in September. The portholes will be replaced once the boat is out of the water.  Dan will tackle those before the weather gets bad.  The rest of the list is mostly minor projects and will get done over time.

So, some observations.

Have I ever mentioned that "I HATE suncscreen"?  I am the red haired, freckled, paleface in my Native American family. Seriously, most of the rest of my family tans beautifully and doesn't burn after twenty minutes in the sun.  I pretty much had to wear sunscreen for thirty days in a row. Over the years I've tried just about every brand and version available.  It all SUCKS.  

When the weather is 97 degrees and the heat index is 110 degrees; sunscreen will always melt into your eyes, smear all over your clothes and make you feel like a walking slimeball. I am grateful that it works and allows me to be out in the sun; I am a boater after all.  But, I will never like it.

The trip was absolutely amazing when it came to scenery.  There are some parts of the East coast that were just incredible.  And we got to see some parts that  most people don't get to see if they aren't boaters.  The places you can go by water were incredible. If you have a boat and have money; you would be amazed by our East coast waterways.

We loved Bald Head Island. It was friendly and right on the ocean.  Charleston would be gorgeous to see in cooler weather. New York harbor was HUGE and there were so many boats.  I was there too many years ago to say and I never noticed all the boats in the harbor.

One of the things that really puzzled Dan was ocean depths.  We would be 8-10 miles out in the ocean along the southern East coast and the depth would only be 30-40 feet.  You get that far out in Lake Michigan and it's DEEP.  As we traveled north along the coast we would see some depths of 75-100 feet; but still relatively shallow.  Just north of West Point, the Hudson River was 175 feet deep!

We were very impressed by the Hudson River.  The gorges and mountains are stunning.  It starts in the Adirondacks, passes the Catskills, and the Appalachian Trail crosses it.  I would love to go back there some day by car.

One of the crazy things we noticed while running every day was our water system.  We have a dedicated clean water tank.  We fill it while at the dock and it usually lasts several days.  Some of the water from that tank is directed into our hot water tank for dishes and showers.  Well, when you are running diesel engines from 8-10 hours a day; the engine compartment gets really, really hot.  At the end of a day of running our cold water was almost as warm as the hot!

And speaking of water; we both had to adjust to drinking a LOT more water while we were in the south.  Dehydration creeps up on you and you don't even notice.  When the air is that warm and sticky; you don't even notice how much you are sweating.  After a few days in Jacksonville I became the water pusher.  We both worked at it to stay hydrated.

Dockage rates along the Atlantic were incredibly varied.  We paid as little as FREE for our dockage to $1.00-3.00 per foot.  At 45 feet; that can get pretty expensive, pretty fast. Many people will anchor out; to save the cost of dockage.  We just weren't comfortable enough with our new boat to do that. When we retire; I would like to try that.

One of the nicest things about docking in a marina along the Atlantic was fueling up your boat right at your dock.  Instead of having to go to a fuel dock on your way in or out of the harbor; they brought the fuel line right to you in your slip.  Most of the harbors also had high speed fueling with large diameter hoses for the big boys that take over a thousand gallons of fuel.

When we bought this boat and it had a washer and dryer; I thought, eh, so what.  Well, I am officially spoiled.  Having a washer and dryer on the boat while we traveled was awesome.  We were gone a month!  I was able to wash sheets, towels and clothing without having to drag anything to the laundry mat.  Even now that we are back home; I still use it on Sunday mornings to wash sheets and towels.  I don't have to drag them home to wash!

So, we're home.  How did the trip go?  Would we do it again?  Even with the breakdowns and the frustrations we had along the way; the trip went very well.  We met some incredible people and would love to see some of them again.  We met really nice people all along the way; dock hands, gas pump jockeys, fellow boaters, store clerks, lockmasters, waitstaff and business people.

We were so incredibly lucky to come across the wonderful mechanics and repair people that crossed our paths.  We were treated fairly and equitably by every one of them.  Our boat broker bent over backwards to be helpful.

We were so fortunate that our friends Sandi and Jerry were able to adjust and re-adjust their vacation plans to meet us in New York and traverse the locks with us.  They were great company and wonderful help along the way.  We spent eight days together and it seemed like the time just flew by.  They are great people and boaters and easy to be with. We would vacation again with them in a heartbeat.

We got to spend almost thirty wonderful days together in some pretty intense situations.  We had such a great time in each other's company.  We had a few miss-communications; but we were able to work it all out and still want to be together.

We look forward to retirement and some nice, really long boat trips.  We hope to spend a whole summer on the Great Lakes.  I'm not sure we would ever want to boat in salt water again; but I wouldn't mind heading part way down the Mississippi some day.  I would tell any boater; if you find yourself in a like situation; do it!