Getting into cruise life style ideas

A lot of it is personal choice. Best is certainly a matter of individual preference. Cheapest is don't get a boat and stay at home.

As to #1. There are beautiful waters around Victoria and it's a very nice city. However, cruising south from there and anchorages don't go well together. Along the west coast the passages are generally long and the good anchorages rather scarce. You can anchor in the Columbia River and then in the San Francisco Bay Area. But most of the rest of the trip, finding protected anchorages is difficult. What is your boating experience and where?

As to #2, how often would you be flying down and how long would you be staying? If you're still working I'm afraid you'd find your time on your boat far less than intended. Many of the boats with owners who have designed plans such as that become dock queens and suffer from under utilization. Now also you've gone from Victoria to Toronto, nearly across the country. Where do you live now? Are you retired and free to go anywhere? If you're going to spend six months at a time on the boat that's different. But then if retired, why not move where the boat is? Again, have you experienced something such as you're proposing to even know if you'll enjoy it?

As to #3, you mention in #2 flying cheap. That's less likely to Mexico. The cost of flying may push that overall cost up considerably. Plus, while many have found themselves loving living on their boat in Mexico, it's not the ideal choice for an infrequently used boat. Maintaining the boat's legal status and right to be there plus seeing that is done when you're not there for long stretches could be more complex. Historically it's been rather simple but with a crack down on rules there was a major episode months ago. Now, since that I haven't heard of problems being repeated.

My recommendation would be charter until you figure out through experience, through trial and error, what plan best fits you. It could be one of these or it could be keep the boat on the Chesapeake or in the Bahamas or in the San Francisco Bay area or just enjoy the Pacific Northwest.

Let me just give you negatives for balance.
1) Good careers can be had in B.C., and it's a beautiful place to cruise in summer, but the cost of living is high. Ports and especially anchorages are rather spaced out along the west coast, and some of the inlets in the PNW are deadly. The north Pacific gets pretty rough in winter. So I hope your plan is to be in Mexico (or at least so. Cal) well before winter hits. You may have seen news of the storms that have been ravaging the pacific coast lately, including the one that wrecked a bunch of boats and took lives in Catalina last week. Personally I have serious security concerns about Mexico, but we all read the same headlines. I have no personal experience there.

2) 26' seems a bit small, but that's a matter of taste. If you decide on this though, I strongly suggest you figure in the cost of having a diver go under your boat on a regular basis or it won't move anywhere when you go to it. Best area: South of Palm Beach. I'd suggest flying down there, then driving the coast south to determine the flavor you like best. Palm Beach/Boca has one flavor, Ft. Lauderdale another, Miami yet another, and the Keys are a world of their own.

3) Security would be my biggest concern, with melanoma a close second.

Bottom line, of your 3 choices, I'd be most inclined towards # 2.

Nice boat. You may find more choices up north. So look all along the U.S. coast. The trip south could be one of your vacations. You'd also get a really good opportunity to find where feels like home, rather than making that decision before you even have the boat. You might even find that one place is good for this year, and another for next. That's the real pleasure of a boat. Lots of good places between Maine and Key West.

One good thing about the east coast is that traveling the coast isn't a matter of ocean or nothing. You can do a little to a lot of it on the inside if conditions dictate.

Davethewave, I hate to tell you this, but there's nothing cheap about the Keys any more. Having lived in Islamorada, and Duck Key for a total nine years, I can tell you first hand. Also you might want to check about anchoring for any length of time. They have changed the laws concerning that in Monroe County.

Dave, the Winn Dixie's went the way of the Do-do bird, Publix is the only big grocery store. I contacted the Florida Marine patrol to find out about the new laws, but have yet to get a call back. I was told that (at least in the middle Keys) the "Keys Rats" case your boat, and learn your habits. I read where a couple went ashore to grocery shop and when they got back to the boat, their computers, cash, and electronics were gone. I want to say that they've restricted the time you can stay at anchor. I'll update you when I get a call back.

I finally got a call back, the rules I saw were proposed, none of them have become law. There are however, "mooring fields" as part of the new program. I was hoping to get a link emailed to me, but she's on Keys time, so maybe sometime this week, I'll post it here. So yes, you can anchor anywhere on the Gulf side (assuming your out of the channel) for as long as you like.

I would take a look at a 31' Pacific Seacraft "Flicka" that are very large and very comfortable little sailboats for liveaboard. Galley with 2 burner stove and sink, large v-berth, headroom, and even a head and small other berth....I was quite impressed by the size of one I ran.

Here you go Dave:

Thank you for calling our office yesterday to discuss anchoring regulations. Below is a link to our website where you can find more info on the Managed & No Anchoring Zones I was referring to. Click on the brochure image to see the areas covered under these regulations. These zones are under the FWC’s Pilot Program and are set to expire in 2017 unless the Legislature extends or permanently puts them into law.



Please feel free to call me again if you have any more questions.



http://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/index.aspx?nid=428

LOL, I wouldn't keep a canoe down in Mexico on a bet! There's nothing wrong with the Keys, as long as you haul the boat every time you head back north.

Why would 4' of draft be too much? I run yachts with a lot more draft than that all over the keys. With 4' you could do either the east side or west side of the keys all of the way down to Key West with no worries.

Easy to go aground with 3'6". Easy with 3'. You just have to be very careful in that area.

As to comments about crime in the keys and comments regarding Mexico being better, if you honestly believe that, then go to Mexico. I've got no reason to believe that is the case and I've been to the keys many times in the past two years.

No, I'm saying that if you're testing your luck with a 3' draft by going into what you think is 4' of water or doing that with a 3'6" draft you're going to get into trouble and run aground frequently as you self assess doing regularly years ago. I'm afraid that speaks to you consistently testing your luck. Those who try to cut it close and for whom 6" is a huge difference are going to gamble and lose frequently. If I'm in a boat with a 4' draft I am not going to try to get through water I believe is 4 1/2 feet. Now will 6" occasionally make a difference as you think there is 6' and turns out to be 3'9", perhaps. But the far greater factor is simply trying to go in places that lack the depth needed or cutting off corners and across shoals. Think of all the people you've seen over the years aground on shoals? The vast majority still would have run aground had there been 6" or a foot more draft. It just would have occurred a little later.

Personally I try to give myself a good safety factor. Take questionable areas slowly and carefully. And I hope I never have to say something like "going aground was regular occurrence". So far, I've never run aground but I'm sure it will happen one day.