How far is too far?

[David Grimm]

I will have had my Ericson 38 for 5 years this August. The whole time I've always keept it 20 minutes away from the house on the Hudson River. This month I sailed down the river and out the Long Island Sound to Montauk and Block Island. Great times! I stopped in New Haven CT at the Pequannock Yacht Club for an overnight rest and found myself not wanting to leave, so I decided to stay!

The Pequannock Yacht club is very nice and so is sailing the Long Island Sound. However the club is about an hour and a half from my house without traffic. The past two times it took me 2 hours to get there!

I see the boat less frequently now but when I do go out it's usually planned out and mostly for an overnight stay. The club requires 10 work hours wich isn't a big deal.

How far do you travel to your boat?

Dave

 

[driftless]

An hour and fifteen to the marina if there's no traffic. Hour forty five to the yard.
We try hard to avoid rush hour and Brewers games.

 

[Tin Kicker]

Closest water for us is an hour and fortunately we love the little marina we found at that distance.

Hammock Island Marina | Bodkin Creek | Maryland

Welcome to Hammock Island Marina. We think Hammock Island is both uniquely beautiful and especially well located for sailboats. Hammock Island is for sailboats only. We're about midway between Annapolis and Baltimore, away from heavy boating traffic, only 10 minutes from the Bay at 6 kts.

www.hammockisland.com

I had the previous boat where it took 1:25 each way on a good day and found that it was too far. Chesapeake Bay Bridge traffic could take that beyond two hours and it just got to be impractical to spend 3 to 4+ hours on the road round trip to be able to do anything on the boat.

 

[Christian Williams]

My family kept a boat at City Island YC for a couple of years, it was at least an hour from the house (if you survived the 1950s Cross Bronx Expressway}.

My father engaged a local guy, a club member I think, to check on the boat several times a week at its mooring. It eased his concern and he had somebody to call up to "check on" stuff. Worked well for him.

 

[Frank Langer]

My family kept a boat at City Island YC for a couple of years, it was at least an hour from the house (if you survived the 1950s Cross Bronx Expressway}.

My father engaged a local guy, a club member I think, to check on the boat several times a week at its mooring. It eased his concern and he had somebody to call up to "check on" stuff. Worked well for him.

I'm lucky to be a member of our local yacht club which has low fees, lots of knowledgeable sailors and is only a 15 minute drive from my home. As a result, I'm at the boat either sailing or doing maintenance, or just relaxing a bit, 5 days out of 7, my home away from home.
Our local chandlery is a 5 minute drive from the yacht club, convenient when I need a part for maintenance.
In the past I had an hour drive each way, and would only get to the boat once or twice a week, but I was working then too. I think an hour each way is the most I would ever want.
Frank

 

[Andy]

We surely are spoiled with our 5 minute commute to the boat. Can't say I'd want to go much further on account of how often I forget that one extra thingamajig from the store for whatever project it is I'm working on at the time. Perhaps a longer drive would inspire more preparation and thoughtfulness. Hopefully the club and sailing conditions will make up for the distance in your case!
Does the old adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" apply here?

 

[David Vaughn]

We’re currently living on our boat, so that doesn’t count.
But before we left, our marina was less than 30 minutes away and that was great. Our previous boat was at a marina just over an hour away and that was almost too far to just go and do a project or go for a day sail. Not quite, but almost.
Many years ago we lived about two hours away from the boat at the time and that was just too far for anything other than two or three days aboard.

 

[Loren Beach]

We live about 15 miles away from the YC, but normal city traffic causes about a 25 minute commute, and when the traffic is heavy it's over an hour. After about 4 in the afternoon we sometimes decide to stay on the boat until 7 pm and/or have dinner near the club.
Just too many cars and too many people...

 

[kiwisailor]

Takes me 1hr 15 to get to the yacht club. But you’re now in a better location to explore this end of the sound. Sail up to Plum Gut into Gardners Bay for a long weekend.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Loren's experience is quite similar to my own at present--though best case for me is more like 35 minutes. But as for him, traffic can bump it up to an hour, and so I also sometimes stay aboard and wait it out.

However, this conversation is interesting to me as my wife and I consider a *possible* move in the future. Our youngest lives in the Memphis area (Cordova), has been married a little over a year, and they are starting to make noises about having kids. They went from "We don't know if we ever want kids" to "We know we want them, but maybe in 3 to 5 years," to "We're still planning to wait a bit, but we have picked out the names." Hmmmmm... Well, once they start popping out kids (aka grandkids), you know what that might mean....

I don't want to hijack the thread by getting into the plusses and minuses of sailing in Tennessee, other than to say that although it's a beautiful state it's pretty much a sailing wasteland from what I can see--especially in the western part of the state. However, Kentucky Lake is a rather different story. (Again, a discussion for another thread, maybe.) BUT...in terms of THIS thread: It's about a 3+ hour drive from the Memphis area! So I've been mulling this whole commute thing over and trying to figure out what I could endure in order to keep sailing if we were to move. Obviously, I'd only do multi-day trips up there rather than round trips during the same day. I'm trying to convince myself that it might not be terrible if I were there for 4 or 5 days (or more) at a shot between commutes. Leave at 6 am, get there at say 9:30, and have several days to relax before making the trek back. Perhaps I'm fooling myself here. My wife and I were there in May to visit our son and did a side trip to Kentucky Lake, stayed there a week, and sailed with a couple I've gotten to know online on their Beneteau 343. Had a great time. And it also gave us an idea of what the drive from Cordova, TN to Grand Rivers, KY is like. Not a bad drive, but again, over 3 hours.

Once they start having kids there will probably be quite a pull for us to consider a move. There are some beautiful areas close to where they live, and the sailing really is quite good on Kentucky Lake. But oh, that commute....

 

[Loren Beach]

Commuting to go sailing might depend on age and health too. Back in the spring of '83, we bought our Niagara 26 in BC, and kept it all summer at Port Angeles, WA. (We sailed it home to Portland down the WA coast that September.)

That was about a 5 hour drive, after getting off work at 5 pm on a Friday. On board and asleep by about 1 am. Sail or work on little projects Saturday and Sunday. Drive home Sunday evening... another 5 hours.
Kind of "fun" when you are in your 30's... !
Now: not so much.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Commuting to go sailing might depend on age and health too. Back in the spring of '83, we bought our Niagara 26 in BC, and kept it all summer at Port Angeles, WA. (We sailed it home to Portland down the WA coast that September.)

That was about a 5 hour drive, after getting off work at 5 pm on a Friday. On board and asleep by about 1 am. Sail or work on little projects Saturday and Sunday. Drive home Sunday evening... another 5 hours.
Kind of "fun" when you are in your 30's... !
Now: not so much.

I hear ya, Loren. Things that seemed perfectly rational to do when I was in my teens (e.g., cruise with my high school buddies in a Cal 20 with only a Sterno "stove" and essentially a bucket for a head ) now strike me as completely insane. Hence, I'm trying to be open-minded and realistic about this in my present stage of life. But it's hard.

One other thing: The drive from Cordova to KY Lake was not bad. But this was in May, with fine weather. What might that drive be like when the weather was less than cooperative? I'm a So. California native so I'm not used to this "weather" stuff that other parts of the country experience. "Sailing season"? What's that?

I wonder how I could adapt to all that? I could, I suppose, keep my boat in Southern California. But then, talk about a commute!

I dunno. I hate to contemplate swallowing the anchor, but that commute business does give me pause.

 

[klb67pgh]

We bought our E25 in August 2020 and decided to stay at our inland lake about 40 minutes away rather than shift to Erie, PA, about an hour and 45 minutes. It's been a good decision and we have sailed and stayed over on anchor or in the marina much more than I even hoped we would because we stayed closer. Maybe someday we'll buy a 32-3 for Erie, probably when the kids are out of the house. Another club member bought a boat this spring to keep in Sandusky, OH, about 2.5. hours away from them, and they sound like they wish they made that jump sooner. So, I guess it depends on what you want and what will make you happy.

 

[Bolo]

It takes me just over two hours (if the traffic gods are with me) to travel from the Hershey, PA area to our marina in Annapolis. Mostly inter-state but requires that I drive 3/4 of the way around Baltimore via the beltway which is sometimes an harrowing experience. After all these years it’s been tolerable but we did look into moving closer a few times. The usual reasons not to cropped up…being close to family and friends, enjoying aspects of life in south-central PA (although you NYC and New Jersey people keep moving here) and living in an area with some of the best medical facilities around an important consideration when you reach my age although I’m in very good health.

The distance to the boat does make it our “special place” and now that my first mate and I are both retired we can almost go when ever we please and stay for as long as we want. It’s become a sort of second home to us and at that second home we’ve cultivated a group of sailing friends who speak our own language and understand the boating lifestyle.

 

[bsangs]

I will have had my Ericson 38 for 5 years this August. The whole time I've always keept it 20 minutes away from the house on the Hudson River. This month I sailed down the river and out the Long Island Sound to Montauk and Block Island. Great times! I stopped in New Haven CT at the Pequannock Yacht Club for an overnight rest and found myself not wanting to leave, so I decided to stay!

The Pequannock Yacht club is very nice and so is sailing the Long Island Sound. However the club is about an hour and a half from my house without traffic. The past two times it took me 2 hours to get there!

I see the boat less frequently now but when I do go out it's usually planned out and mostly for an overnight stay. The club requires 10 work hours wich isn't a big deal.

How far do you travel to your boat?

Dave

If you're still at Pequannock on Aug. 18, maybe we can grab a beer. That's where we'll be docking for the night on our trip back from Block. (Even made a reservation at Shell and Bones.)

Our commute to Liberty Landing Marina can be as quick as 25 minutes, or as long as an hour. Generally it takes me a half hour. As with everything in the NY/NJ area, all depends on the traffic, construction work, and time of day. We chose that marina because it was close. Other marinas we looked at were further south in NJ, and the last thing I EVER want to do on a weekend is travel south on the Garden State Parkway. Might as well be called the Garden State Parking Lot on summer weekends.

 

[David Grimm]

Wow, I never would have imagined that this topic about distance would bring us all closer together. I thank you all for sharing your comforting stories. Age, life situations, and health all play a huge part. Some of which I hadn't even considered.

@ Bolo ; Ironically, I started this topic while waiting in the emergency room with my 78 year old father who was suffering severe abdominal pain. After 8 hours in the ER Lobby they finally got him some medical attention. As of 11 o'clock last night all figers were pointed at his Gal Bladder.

Living near good medical facilities is a must. I Googled the surrounding hospitals and found that the reviews near me are horrific. The ER we are currently at gets a 1.7 star review! You should check yours.

All seriousness asside, my father and I were watching the Weather Channel loop on the ER lobby TV when I noticed a marina kept popping up with some nice sailboats on moorings. After the third or fourth time it hit me. Hey! That's my marina... That's my boat! Maybe not so far away after all.

After some research I found the restaurant under the club has a web cam.

Live @ Shell & Bones — Shell & Bones Oyster Bar and Grill

www.shellandbones.com

I have been considering trading the truck in for a self driving Tesla to ease the commute. However, It may make the drive longer, whereas the Tesla probably obeys a strict speed limit.

Good to.know I'm not alone. I think this commute may be doable!

Dave

 

[bsangs]

Hope your father is OK @David Grimm.

 

[Bolo]

@ Bolo ; Ironically, I started this topic while waiting in the emergency room with my 78 year old father who was suffering severe abdominal pain. After 8 hours in the ER Lobby they finally got him some medical attention. As of 11 o'clock last night all figers were pointed at his Gal Bladder.

At 72 (my bday was 7/17) I can relate to your dad’s situation although I’ve been blessed with a good Polish gal bladder. Hope he recovers soon. My mom, who passed back during our COVID days (but not from that), had her bladder pulled out and it was full of what looks like parking lot gravel. That all said, medical services are important to not just seasoned citizens like me but also to you younger sailors especially those with children because we all know what kind of troubles children can get into. But seeking out adventures, especially on a sailboat, if you’re not near medical facilities should not stop you if you’re in decent health. Living life is more important than worrying about it.

A side story. When you get to be older people, especially doctors, nurses, our government….ask you on a regular basis, by way of ”Wellness Checks”, questions about your health. I had one come to my house check my BP, heart, etc. One of the questions was something like, “Do you have any tripping hazards around the house or some situation that may cause you to loose your balance?” My response was, “I own a sailboat for Pete’s sake!”

 

[jpginsu]

I have to say that I'm very lucky to live where I do. My commute to my boat is 15 minutes by car, 25 minutes by bike (which we do 2-3 times a week). I'm at one of Chicago's 10 public marinas. A great city with great access to sailing no matter what others who don't live here say!!

 

[Tin Kicker]

I have to say that I'm very lucky to live where I do. My commute to my boat is 15 minutes by car, 25 minutes by bike (which we do 2-3 times a week). I'm at one of Chicago's 10 public marinas. A great city with great access to sailing no matter what others who don't live here say!!

Maybe but Chicago is one of my least favorite cities. There are only two seasons, Winter and Construction.