Boating To Florida?

 A question came to me the other day about whether we have ever considered taking our current boat - or any boat for that matter - south to Florida for the winters. Given the fact that live aboard our boat for the summer months, it seemed logical to this person that we just fired up the engines when it got cold and pointed it south towards the palm trees and sandy beaches. . . Here is my reply.


Yes, we currently call 'Boogaboo IV' home from May to October and love the lifestyle. It's a bit of effort to make happen, as I still work full time in my own contracting business and have to commute daily to and from the boat. The good part of that is I get to travel mostly through country roads, so it's quite scenic. As for taking her to Florida, we have discussed that possibility, but not any time soon. Again, I have a business to run for now and being away toooooooo long, or having to commute back and forth to Ontario throughout the process is not something I would entertain at this point.

That said, we are unsure as to which way the fickle winds of fate may send us as we travel through this plane of existence. Ultimately, we would love to be able to step off the boat at the end of the season and head south for the ensuing six months until the boating season resumes the following spring and that is something I am working towards. To that end, I have just released my first, feature length travel video 'Cruising The Trent Severn Waterway'.

 One other option we toyed with was to buy a second boat to keep in Florida, but the overall costs currently make that prohibitive, but something we may revisit down the road. Despite the life of Riley that many folks may perceive from my endless postings, we are like most of the rest of the working world; car payments, a mortgage and all the rest that comes with every day living. The one major difference is that we have made a solid decision to live more on our own terms and take advantage of the good days as much as we can. With my MS diagnosis a few years ago, we learned quickly that good health is precious and not to be taken for granted. We have worked contentiously to reverse my condition and a huge part of that has been stress reduction and, like I said, living life on our terms - even if it does mean maxing out the old credit card once in awhile ;-)

 Laughing at ones' self is also paramount to a healthy life, so thanks you for recognizing that. I stopped taking myself too seriously awhile back and that helps to lighten the load, so to speak. As for the lovely deck hands you mentioned you've spotted some of in my videos, I'm not sure on their availability, apart from my own Anchor Girl. She's got her hands full with taking care of me and the MAJOR reason I am working at making our lives more fun. And that, is the funnest part for me . . .

:-)

Mooring Ball in Ontario's Massasauga Provincial Park

 I was recently asked by a viewer of the following video as to how one pays for the use of a mooring ball in the Massasauga Provincial Park.

When tied up to a mooring ball in this area (the Massasauga Provincial Park), payment is made to the Ontario Provincial Park's guys who come by in a small boat to collect the fees, as well as take away your garbage for you.

 Sometimes, such as in this instance, nobody showed up when we were there, so we didn't have to pay. Not that that's an issue, because it's very reasonable, but sometimes they don't have enough time in the day to drop by every boat at every location. They will also collect a $10/night fee if your boat is tied to shore anywhere in the park. And that goes for all the boats who may be tied to shore together.

What I mean is that we have been there with four boats tied together (us and three friends) with a line running back to shore for stability. When the Park's guys came by, we all had to pay the $10/night. Again, we are good with that, because they will take the garbage away and best of all, tell you where the nicest anchorages are :-)
 
Have a look at this video I did from a trip there back in 2009. You'll see what I mean about the boats all tied to shore;

:-)

Red Right Return - Navigation Buoys, Day Markers and More

 I'm often asked some interesting questions through my YouTube videos and, more often than not, I take a simple query and reply with half of a book. So, rather than simply leaving those interactions on YouTube, I figured I could share it with you all, here on the Blog. . .

 Here was today's question; ". . for a subscriber/boating newbie here; I noticed in your lake travels, there are these red and green buoys, to which you always pass between them .. why is this and what is their purpose?"

 The long and short of the Red & Green markers is to indicate where safe water is. As one cannot 'see' how deep a given area of a lake, river or canal might be, the buoys (floating) or day beacons (land based) indicate the edge of a safe way for navigation. Used in conjunction with marine charts (paper or digital), mariners can safely pass through an area where the water is shallower than what is otherwise encountered in a given area.

 That said, different boats need different depths to pass through a waterway without risking running aground and that's where the charts come in. The captain of even the smallest boat must be aware of how much draft their vessel draws - how deep in the water it sits - as well as other factors that might determine what a safe depth might be for navigating.

 For example, our current boat 'Boogaboo IV' draws approximately 40" of water, with an average load. Load refers to all the weight on the boat, including the boat itself, plus other considerations such as fuel, water, passengers, gear, food and yes, even beer ;-) As well, that draft (the depth of the boat in the water, not the beer on tap) will be greatly affected by sea conditions. If we were travelling though rough water, our boat could begin to pitch up and down, making the average depth of water we were travelling through vary considerably, depending if we were on the crest or bottom of each wave. So, if we were travelling through water with only 4 feet of depth and it was wavy, we could bounce up and down enough to touch bottom. And that's not a good thing! Also, if a passing boat were to throw off a large wake (it happens all the time), we could (and do) get bounced around.

 For all of the above reasons, it is imperative one knows where they are and can relate to their proximity to danger, as well as changing sea conditions. And that's where those red and green markers come in.

 So, why red and green, you ask? I'll tell you. In North America, as well as other parts of the world, we follow the Red-Right-Return system of telling us which is the safe side of a given marker. In MOST cases, heading upstream (against the current), the red marker is kept to the starboard, or right, side of the boat. When heading in the opposite direction, the opposite is true and one would then keep the green markers on their starboard side.

 Confused? Don't worry, it gets better. When going through areas such as Georgian Bay, that all goes out the window. Throw in other 'Aids To Navigation' such as yellow Cardinal Buoys, black (or red) and white Fairway Markers, Red/Green/Red OR Green/Red/Green Bifurcation Markers and (sometimes) land based Range Markers and you will soon realize that there's lots to learn about boating for the serious cruiser!

 Unfortunately, many boaters are blissfully unaware of what many of these things mean - or the meaning behind them

 I should really start a video series on how to learn these things and how they are put in to practice to help folks out. There is also something called 'The Rules Of The Road', which plainly lays out who has the right-of-way when on the water. Sadly and frustratingly, there are many, many boaters who don't have a clue what that means, or how to employ the rules to maintain safety. Here is a quick video I posted last summer after I got ticked off by someone who was in the aforementioned column of not knowing;

 I hope my long winded overview on this helps you better understand what goes on. If not, at least it may inspire to you learn a bit more. . . And now you also know why I put this off until I had a bit more free time ;-)