Do you live near a lake, a river, or an ocean? CHOOSE YOUR CRUISING AREA

CHOOSE YOUR CRUISING AREA

The style, size of the boat, and type of ride you prefer are linked to the cruising area you choose. Most boaters select a waterway within reasonable driving distance of their homes, so first, consider your local waters. Do you live near a lake, a river, or an ocean? If that lake down the road is too limiting for the kind of boating you have in mind, are you willing to drive an hour or more to reach a more expansive waterway or the ocean? Boaters from other states store their boats at our marina in Mystic, Connecticut for easy access to Long Island Sound, Cape Cod, Maine, and the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) toward Florida.

While you are thinking about the kind of cruising you want to do and where you'd like to do it, stop by the area and check out how people are launching and storing their boats when they are not using them. Most boats used on a small lake need to be trailerable, so they can be towed, launched, and hauled for each use. Large lakes, rivers, and coastal areas are peppered with marinas offering slips and moorings, where you have the convenience of leaving your boat in the water for an entire season or launching it each time.

RIVERS AND LAKES

A lake is a controlled environment that is typically surrounded by foliage and residences. Check with local authorities for any laws regulating the use of the lake, as well as regulations regarding boat size and horsepower. Noisy jet skis, for example, maybe taboo in certain harbors. Printed charts detailing depth, configuration, and preferred traveling routes of larger lakes and those with channels extending into other waterways are often available through marine stores.
Heavy rains and winds can flood the waters with debris, so when cruising near the shore it's important to keep a sharp eye out for a floating branch that could do a nasty number on your propeller. With any lake or treed waterway, expect shoaling. Shoaling is the reduction of depth due to a sandbank. It is caused by the silt that has drifted from the shoreline. With sailboats having fixed keels, going aground due to low water is a concern. A small lake may not have an official chart detailing the layout of its bottom, so you may have to rely on local knowledge.
The larger the lake, the more its waters will be affected by weather conditions. While there may not be tidal concerns, you could be fighting choppy waters—short, bouncy waves resulting from boat traffic or heavy winds.
Lakes smaller than 5 miles across are best suited to small runabouts or daysailers. An example of this is Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton, Connecticut. If you're thinking sleep-aboard, look for a larger lake, perhaps one with inlets to other waterways, where you can travel a bit and see the sights. One such lake is Lake Mendoza in Madison, Wisconsin. My husband and I sailed its waters with close friends. We dropped anchor in front of the University of Wisconsin and prowled the town before heading back to the boat. We might have overnighted in that hopping spot had we not needed to return to shore that day.

OCEANS AND THE GREAT LAKES

The larger a body of water is, the larger the boat needs to be to næägate and manage it. The Great Lakes have the same attributes as an ocean, with tidal concerns and fluctuations in sea states caused by weather changes. Choose a protected boat 28 feet or longer for heavy-duty coastal cruising. Should you plan to head out into the open ocean, which is offshore in big-boat lingo, you would be better served by a sturdy boat at least 35 feet in length that is built to weather all conditions comfortably and safely.

Comments

What boat should you use? KAYAKS, CANOES, AND PADDLEBOARDS

KAYAKS, CANOES, AND PADDLEBOARDS what boat should you use? I cannot answer that. People often ask me exactly that question. Why not ask me who you should marry? Things to consider when looking for a vessel include your physical size, your fishing style, where you intend to use the vessel, whether you'd prefer to paddle or pedal, how well it paddles, whether you enjoy fishing alone, its cost, its weight, how you intend to cany it, its storage capacity, how comfortable it is, the aesthetics of its use and more. Everyone has different needs. My fishing style when paddle fishing includes a lot of wading. I want a sit-on-top (SOT) kayak because I can easily get off of and on to the kayak. One of my kayaks is an Ocean Kayak Drifter (no longer made) purchased in 2003. Designs have improved a lot since then. I still like that old boat for two reasons, though. First, my boats are carried atop my car. That one weighs fifty-five pounds, and I can lift it. Second, the boat is fairly vid...

Top 3 golden rules to use Kayak for Fishing

Benefits of Kayak Fishing For most people, the decision to use a kayak for fishing comes after being a successful angler. In other words, the skill for fishing has been developed but the way to get to the fish is being changed. There are several basic reasons that people switch to or add kayaks to their fishing routine. • First, kayaks are much easier to transport and store than other boats. • That leads to the next advantage which is cost. A kayak is much less expensive than any type of motorboat, to begin with, and it does not require much maintenance or expensive gasoline to propel it. Registration fees and permits may also be much cheaper. • For the avid fisherman, however, the greatest advantage of a kayak is stealth. There is less of a shadow, no noisy motor and the ability to move into very shallow water. While those three points are all valid, there is also the likelihood that you truly want to experience the peace and quiet that fishing from a k...

GO RACING OR GO FISHING

ADD A SPORT TO YOUR CRUISE If you want to do more than cruise, add racing or fishing to your cruising plans. Each has a challenging learning curve that will get you and yours out on the water to test your collective skills. GO RACING When we think of racing, we think speed, so it may seem odd that the plurality of boat racing occurs in the sail-boat category. Because sailing is expertise, competition takes the form of matching tactics with other boats of the same type. Sail-boats utilized specifically for racing—think America's Cup—are mere hulls with few things comforts and a specialized sail plan. Powerboat racing is offered by the American Power Boat Association (APBA). It requires specific kinds of boats and is regulated, much like NASCAR racing is for autos. For more information, log on to www.alpha-racing.com. Any sailboat is eligible for yacht races, also called regattas. Yacht racing involves not only sailing the boat but also choosing a class consisting of ...

Dive between yesterday and today - My experience

As THE SAYING GOES, there are old divers and there are bold divers, but there are no old, bold divers. I have no idea where the saying came from. It could have originated from a wise old diver who wanted to make a point about the foolishness of youth, but I think it was more likely first proclaimed by a young person as a way of thumping the chest and announcing to the world, "Look at me, I'm young and bold." I think this because the corollary, "Look at me, I'm old and cowardly," just doesn't sound right. Whatever the case, now that I'm what must be considered an old diver, the saying doesn't seem quite as pithy to me as it once did. Of course, being old does not necessarily mean being smart, but it does give me a perspective on the evolution of the sport of scuba diving that younger divers might not have. People ask What it feels like to scuba dive? Is it worth getting scuba certified? Why do you like diving? What do scuba divers do? ...

Boating Geek

Search This Blog