A Cruiser’s Plans Are Written In Sand At Low Tide

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A Cruiser’s Plans

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“Plans are written in sand at low tide” is a well-known expression about remaining flexible as your plans will likely change. We consider ourselves fairly easygoing and flexible with our sailing plans, but the past few months is taking it to a new level.

It seems most cruisers develop their own style and preferences as far as how long to spend on projects, what amount of distance to cover, whether to live at anchor or a marina, and in what weather conditions they’ll head out for a sail.

Sailing Trips Come In Many Forms

If we had to summarize our “normal” style for a sailing trip, it would typically be to spend 1-2 weeks in the boatyard, not months. We prefer to live on the hook and rarely stay at a marina. We like to explore new places and often sail long days to put miles under our keel in a short time span to get to a different destination.

Our past 3 months on Terrapin have been a comedy show of contrasts to our “normal” style of cruising. We lived in the boatyard for months, spent weeks at the dock, and our sailing track hasn’t extended past Charlotte Harbor. We’re putting the well-known saying “A cruiser’s plans are written in sand at low tide” into good practice!

While it’s helpful to have a plan, it’s equally important to be open-minded and ready to change tacks as needed. A change of direction might be by choice or due to something out of our control. But one thing we can control is our attitude. When we look for the positives in the change of plan, we usually can find plenty of them!

After all, the cruising life is often more about the journey, the people, and the experiences along the way than the destination. By being flexible with our plans, we get to enjoy different aspects of living aboard that we otherwise wouldn’t have experienced.

Plans vs. Reality

Here are some of the contrasts from our initial plan vs. what really happened:

Plan for the boatyard

• Install our water maker and compost toilet, along with completing a shortlist of smaller items, and be on the water in a couple of weeks. Spend Thanksgiving at anchor.

Reality in the boatyard

• Thanksgiving

Although we weren’t launched by Thanksgiving, we had plenty to be thankful for, with boating friendships definitely on the list! Our friends Chris and Laura had us over for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. Their sailboat Blue Sky is stored kiddy corner to us in the boatyard. They also were preparing for their winter sailing season.

Some of our closest friendships have their beginnings from a passing “hi, how are you?” while working in the boatyard. Taking time to stop and talk with others in the boatyard often leads to an interesting conversation or some form of encouragement (to us or to them) or learning something new.

• Bottom paint

The bottom of Terrapin was full of barnacles from our spring trip so we added scraping and painting to our project list. We both worked hard at the tedious project of scraping the barnacle “feet” off with a putty knife. The barnacles are sharp and even though we were wearing gloves, Tony got a cut. His finger became infected, he went to the Dr and got antibiotics. (never a dull moment!) After much scraping, we called it “good enough” for paint. The bottom looks much better now and hopefully, our effort will mean not so many barnacles attach themselves to our hull on this trip.

• Life up and down a ladder

We spent a couple of months on the hard climbing up and down the ladder to work on and live on Terrapin.

Another couple doing the same referred to it as “living in a treehouse”. I’ll take that phrase as it has a more romantic and adventurous ring to it than living in a boatyard. It also proved to be a good fitness program!

• Water maker

Installing water maker components in small spaces on a small boat with hard-to-reach access points and awkward angles was going along fairly smoothly until it didn’t. Near the end of the installation, Tony’s back gave out and he spent a few days mostly lying in the V-berth. As our son Tyler said, “Dad, you’re falling apart!” I called around to see about finding a hot tub or sauna that might help his back muscles relax. One hotel mentioned their hot tub is accessible from the parking lot and we were free to come and go if we didn’t make a big deal about it, how kind! We took advantage of that offer and the soak helped. Our son Luke sent a video of exercises for back pain and those also sped up Tony’s recovery. After about a week of low activity, a hot tub, and back exercises (and no more contortionist moves to install things on Terrapin), his back felt fine.

• Rigging

Tony noticed a hairline crack which led to scheduling a rigger to stop by. He confirmed what we suspected, it was time to get it replaced. Only one small problem. He was booked out for quite a while and was experiencing delays with getting supplies. We asked around the boatyard and found another rigging company that was available sooner.

We were extremely pleased with MAD Rigging. Their knowledge and work ethic is top-notch. And we learned more about rigging in the process.

With sailing, there are endless opportunities to learn new things!

Plan for Sailing Trip

• Spend a few days at anchor in Punta Gorda to get our sea legs and then head south to the FL Keys and Bahamas. By Christmas, be in either the Keys or the Bahamas.

Reality for Sailing Trip

• Relax and Friends Meetup

We spent a couple of nights at anchor outside the locks relaxing and happy to be afloat and on our way. I saw on social media that Jill and James, boating friends from Lake Michigan, were doing the Great Loop and were anchored at Cayo Costa for a few nights. A detour to Cayo Costa was no problem for us to have a meet-up on the water. It was special to enjoy a visit in our cockpit and catch up a little!

• Punta Gorda Storm

Then we headed to Punta Gorda which is one of our favorite spots while coming and going to Safe Cove. Only this time, we were in for a bit of a surprise! There were high winds forecasted for the next day. We weren’t concerned as we’ve held fine at anchor here during higher winds and bad weather. But, an unexpected tornado and hurricane-force winds visited us in that anchorage, yikes! We lost some vital equipment, but thankfully we were safe and not hurt during it. You can read about it in the blog post Stormy Adventure. We headed back to Safe Cove to regroup and re-equip.

• Back at the boatyard

We had a lot of concern and support from family and friends, near and far. One of our boating friends up north even surprised us with a West Marine egift card to help with our “emergency disaster relief fund” to get us back on the water, thank you! Another boating friend sent us an ad for a used dinghy and motor which ended up being the perfect size and price range for us. We rented a truck from Home Depot to transport it. Although re-equipping went slow with the holidays mixed in, stock shortages, and shipping delays, we were able to get all the items we needed.

Since we had our car at Safe Cove, we were able to do a few things besides visit West Marine. For Christmas eve, we attended an outdoor church in Punta Gorda overlooking the water. For Christmas Day, we ate pancakes and berries onboard for breakfast then headed to the beach in the afternoon. We learned that a beach is a popular place on Christmas day in FL. Finding a parking spot reminded us of attending the state fair.

Plan For Sailing Trip After Re-Equipping

• Pick up where we left off. Spend a few nights at Punta Gorda (we still like the anchorage and town!). Then head south to the Keys and Bahamas.

Reality Of Sailing Trip After Re-Equipping

• Patience for tide

After waiting for a decent tide to get out the locks, we ended up powering thru some pretty shallow, muddy water in the channel. We learned that after a north wind, the channel depths are shallower than charted.

• “Gotta get back on the horse”

Being anchored back at Punta Gorda was harder than we anticipated. We heard the wind in the rigging, felt the motion of the boat, and got up to check our position more than once…of course, we were fine. The next night we slept better.

• Cold front after cold front

The temps for FL have been colder than we prepared for. We don’t have a heater onboard Terrapin (not yet! It’s on the list).

• Comforter From Friends

Somewhat like going to your neighbor’s house to get a cup of sugar, we sailed to an anchorage near Cayo Costa to meet SV Magic who offered us their spare comforter. Once our anchor was down, we hopped in our dinghy to visit Dennis and Doris on their boat. When we stepped into their cockpit enclosure, it felt like we entered a greenhouse, it was so warm! And with the added comforter on our V-berth, I was cozy and comfortable at night and sleep much better!

• Watermaker Test

Once away from the brackish water of Peace River, it was a good time to test our watermaker. In order to get to the various components, there’s a lot of moving of cushions, bedding, and gear that happens to be on the locker we’re accessing. We call it “tearing apart” and “putting back together” our boat. Once, then twice, we did this process so Tony could check all connections, routing, and test the steps to use the watermaker. The pump and fan were not turning on and he couldn’t find the reason, hmmm. During the second troubleshooting session, Tony happened to glance at two little boxes on the pump indicating 12V or 24V. The 24V was checked and we need 12V. We contacted the company we had purchased it from last May and they arranged to have a 12V pump sent to us. One problem, we live on the hook so don’t have a mailing address. Boating friends to the rescue! Chris & Laura have a seasonal slip at Burnt Store and agreed to have it mailed to them. Although this situation meant another delay, Tony was happy it wasn’t an installation error.

• Punta Gorda

We sailed back to Punta Gorda for a few days. While at Punta Gorda, the cold temps and strong winds continued. Every time we dinghied to shore, we geared up in our rain pants, jacket, and boots to stay warm and dry. Once ashore, we put our rain pants and jackets into a backpack for our walkabout. One errand was a hike to Beall’s to get some more cold-weather clothing. The line at the checkout reminded us of Christmas shopping crowds. Blankets, jackets, sweatshirts, flannels were the hot items of the day. Tony got the last men’s flannel shirt on the rack and I found a flannel, sweatshirt, and slippers.

• Burnt Store Marina

We were fortunate to get a slip for a week at Burnt Store, it’s a busy and popular marina. Although it’s not our norm to spend time at the dock, we enjoyed the time to visit with our friends there, meet new friends, and take many long walks around the beautifully manicured grounds (and take notice of interesting golf carts in the complex). On Fridays, there’s a farmer’s market in the parking lot so we enjoyed some fresh FL grapefruit, yum! And from our cockpit, we watched the progress of the seawall construction.

Another perk of staying at Burnt Store was the evening music. The transient docks are at the base of the restaurant. We enjoyed a variety of music genres from the comfort of our cabin.

Being in a slip in a protected harbor also provided a stable platform for another tearing apart, testing, and putting together for our watermaker once the correct pump arrived. It worked! We made 1 cup of water as a test and will start using it in earnest once we’re offshore. (At least that’s the plan)

So, now what? What’s the plan?

What’s our plan for the next few months? We still have a very loosely held plan to head to the Keys and Bahamas knowing full well our plans may change.

“One of the lovely things about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use”

The Quotable Sailor, Dom Degnon

Therefore, our big picture plan is to continue to enjoy the sailing lifestyle in all its varieties. That might mean sailing short distances or long, staying at anchor or at dock, working on projects, or exploring new places.

Regardless of the particulars, we love living aboard Terrapin and the cruising lifestyle.

Sailing Lifestyle

“Sailing is far more a state of mind and heart than it is a method of getting from Point A to Point B. For many sailors, the simple act of hoisting the sails puts them in a mellow mood, and a destination is far down the list of importance….Nothing seems really to matter, that’s the charm of it. Whether you get away or whether you don’t, whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you’re always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you’re done there’s always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you’d much better not.”

– Kenneth Grahame, Introduction to The Quotable sailor

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