Home again

We've been home from our Florida trip for a couple of weeks now, and I wanted to put down a few words summarizing some of the more important lessons learned as well as highlights and lowlights of the trip.

1. Winter is still winter, even in Florida. Although I had been warned by Jim and Bob that January and February were sometimes cold and windy, even in Florida, I was not prepared for what the natives said was an "unusual" winter (why is it that everywhere I go the winters are unusual?) As a result we spent far too much time tied up in marinas and not enough time out on the water.

2. The dog put more of a crimp in our plans than I anticipated. I'm still intimidated by the logistics of using the dinghy, and the thought of having to accommodate two canine potty breaks a day kept us from anchoring out. And the expense of slips, particularly in south Florida, helped make an expensive trip even more expensive.

3. 3500 miles each way is too far. The GMC Duramax is a far better tow vehicle than my previous Dodge Cummins, and the crew cab configuration helped Lori take naps on the back seat (with a foam mattress) when she needed to. RV-ing with the boat should be renamed KOA-ing with the boat, because the KOAs were the only RV parks that would accept our rig. We occasionally dry-camped roadside, but for the most part stayed in motels while in the cold belt and in KOAs once we were in the south.

4. Three months was too long. Although it was nice to have sunshine most every day, and even though the Tom Cat is a fabulous trailer/cruising boat, eventually we tired of the limitations imposed by the size of the boat -- it was simultaneously too small and too large: Too small to really make a home away from home, and too large to get on and off the water without significant planning (is the ramp long/deep enough, etc., etc.) As a result our future plans have diverged in two very different directions. Short term, we want to travel in an RV behind which we will pull a smaller boat (hence the purchase of the used C-Dory 22), and long-term, if and when circumstances permit, we may sell the house and move aboard a 40+ foot trawler for a 3-to-4 year Mexico/Panama/east coast trip. We are still keeping the Tom Cat for Canadian cruising, a trip next summer to Minnesota and the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, and -- if and when the situation in Mexico improves -- the Sea of Cortez.

5. Despite my grousing about the distance, expense and weather, we are still glad we made the trip. We got to see Florida up close and personal in a way we never would have otherwise. We now know that in general, we'll probably not return to south Florida -- too expensive and the natives are too rude, particularly on the road. We did enjoy the two bays on the west coast (the Naples and Tampa areas). But we really, really liked the panhandle, particularly the Apalachicola-Pensacola area and absolutely plan to return -- but by air, and probably to stay at the Water Street Hotel in Apalachicola and to rent or charter from Marc's fleet.

6. As always, the interactions with the C-Brats we met on this trip were the high spots. In the end, it's the people that make a trip memorable, and the hospitality of the Florida Brats ensured that we will never forget this trip. Thank you, and I hope we will have the opportunity to reciprocate.