The start of the Fall boating season

GFC, That looks good to me too!
But I didn't know you could get from Washington to Arizona by boat:)
We are considering buying a "winter Boat" next year for down south or a condo. We will decide after we return in the spring and weigh the storage costs vs fuel costs and how we feel about the travel up and down the coast. The first time around we were constantly excited about visiting new and different places and were having the time of our lives. We are going to try hard to keep that same feeling this time, but will be interesting to see if we feel more like we are moving a boat rather than enjoying and exploring. It would help if we lived on the coast, we have to leave so early because the Erie Canal closes October 10th, gone 8 months with a few trips home for the holidays and such, longer than we think we will like because summer and fall are so nice here. Should be fun figuring it out.
We are fortunate to have dilemmas like this.
 
sbw1 said:
View attachment 59787
Normal West Michigan winter.
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Yep, liked it when the kids were home, even didn't mind it when I was working, and that involved being outside and dealing with equipment that always seemed to hate the cold more than I did. But now Jan Feb and March seem to last 3 years instead of 3 months, and my aches and pains like warm water better than cold Carharts
 
Jaybeaux said:
We start heading south in about 3 weeks, really looking forward to Fall in the Chesapeake.
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If you make it up the Potomac towards DC, give a holler![/QUOTE]

Don't know if we will go up the river, but I want to go to Arlington Cemetery. We couldn't fit it in last time. We most likely will come to Annapolis after the show is over and hang on a ball for a few days and take the express bus to DC.
 
Anchored out last night, then a movie, breakfast in the morning
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sbw1 said:
How deep is your anchorage. Looks deep and not too protected. Do you overnight in that location?
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It’s 45 ft where we are and yes we frequently overnight here. It’s very protected to the north, west, and east ..but somewhat exposed to the south. Get a bit of ferry wash here and southerly inflow at times, but forecast is good tonight and tomorrow. This is a provincial marine park and is usually packed with boats as it’s only 15NM from Vancouver, but weather is keeping most other boats away this weekend. There are a few to the left out of frame.
 
I should add where we dropped the hook is 49ft at high tide, 31 at low. Currently sitting at 46 but was 33 when we woke up this morning.
 
You must have great ground tackle. The surroundings are beautiful. Our pic was taken deep into a cove with about 10 feet of water under our keel. We have slept there during strong thunderstorms and it is so protected we don't get up to check the anchor. It is hard to retrieve the anchor following a storm as it digs in deeply.
 
sbw1 said:
You must have great ground tackle. The surroundings are beautiful. Our pic was taken deep into a cove with about 10 feet of water under our keel. We have slept there during strong thunderstorms and it is so protected we don't get up to check the anchor. It is hard to retrieve the anchor following a storm as it digs in deeply.
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I thought it said 10ft on your screen there. So far as ground tackle it’s a pretty standard (for these parts) CQR plow style (40lb) with 200ft of chain rode. We’ve got 150ft out right now, and it holds well to the mud bottom here. We’ve never had an issue with the anchor not holding (knock on wood) We would never dare of dropping in 10ft as the tides here are so extreme. Probably would wake up on the beach. Looks like a great spot you’ve got there btw. :)
 
Please stop with the snow pics. I'm begging you!
 
Well wouldn’t you know it ..rain, wind, and waves picked up so we moved to a more protected spot:

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my3sons said:
GFC, That looks good to me too!
But I didn't know you could get from Washington to Arizona by boat:)
We are considering buying a "winter Boat" next year for down south or a condo. We will decide after we return in the spring and weigh the storage costs vs fuel costs and how we feel about the travel up and down the coast. The first time around we were constantly excited about visiting new and different places and were having the time of our lives.
We are fortunate to have dilemmas like this.
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If I had to choose between a winter boat or a condo I'd choose the condo. That's easy to say because my MIL gave us her condo in Sun City West, AZ when she turned 100 because she didn't want to go down there any more. (talk about being fortunate to have dilemmas like that!!) She's now 102 and will be 103 in December and still going strong. Ya gotta love strong genes.

I think if we had to make a decision between boat or condo we'd pick the condo. It's nice to have a place to stay when we do our "snowbird" thing. When we go down there we do a LOT of traveling around the state because there's so much to see and do, and that doesn't include the boating.

Here's our AZ boat, a 1981 Whaler 13' Sport with a 40hp Merc 2 stroke. We really lucked out with storage. There is a storage yard that is only for residents of our town and a couple of others. It's $100 a year for storage that is very secure. Fuel costs? About $8-$10 per day.
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and our WA boat, a 2010 Whaler 13' 130 Super Sport with a 40hp Merc. We keep it in our garage so there's no storage cost. Fuel, about $10/day.
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Actually turned on the heater in the boat last night, was 52*F outside last night before bed. Hoping to not haul her until mid October...wanting to make another weekend run to Long Island in a week or two ...before season ends!
 
A few shots taken in mid September of the south shore of Lake Superior.
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Can't believe how clear that water is!
 
Brent Nutting said:
Is that the Picture Rocks area, near Munising? Love that area, did a lot of backpacking around the area when I was in college up in Marquette. Would love to get our boat up there one day, but I need to have a decent amount of time off of work to have enough time for that trip.
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Yes. Pictured Rock area. You don't really need a lot of time to see this in the fall. The south shore of Lake Superior is interesting but challenging in our small boats. We drove up from West Michigan in 6 hours and explored the area around Munising with the top down on our car. The colors are starting to show and it will only become more beautiful with each passing day. On Thursday we got on a 66 foot tour boat in fog and rain, and sat back for a 2 1/2 hour boat ride. Took these pix in pretty bad weather but we were warm and dry. Most of the 35 mile ride was in 15-20 feet of pale blue, crystal clear water. We could have gone another 40 miles, but the view would have been somewhat similar. We did drive along the shore line and found that to be just as interesting. Came home on Friday after seeing a lot of the eastern half of the UP. Great short trip and a Big Bang for the buck. Hate to think of what it would have cost in time and money to run the Tiara to Munising from Grand Haven. Safety wise it is a no brainer. There are 50 mph winds today on Lakes Superior and Michigan.
 
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