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darstar · 03-21-2014, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailsam

But while at anchor (parked) in the motorhome I can take a long walk without going around in circles

. If I want to visit the other boats in the anchorage I either swim or rig the sailing dinghy. Other motorhomes in the park are just a walk away. And when really boondocking (parking where there's no one else) I have the great out doors in which to wander (or sail the dinghy).

For every pro of one over the other there's another pro of the other over the one. Both are fun. Both can be expensive. Both are enjoyable. Both are preferable to staying within 25 miles of your birth - like many do.

If you add it all up , the MH will go more places on the roads in North America with less problems than on a boat where you are restricted to marine highways. Won't do you much good if you want to go to Tuscon and other inland places. All this comes from those of us who have done both, I am not a lone by far. Also it should not be looked at as one is better than the other, they are just different modes of travel. If money were no object I would do both. Living on a 70 ketch and cruising the islands is a wonderful experience, but I, like so many wanted to see ALL America , the blue highways and the Interstates, Which I have done the last 20 years, and will continue, slowing down as Snowbirds, but still checking off the things I missed the first several times around this part of the planet.

sailsam · 03-21-2014, 11:37 PM

darstar - And my motorhome will not take me to Hawaii, which my boat did. As a sailor, and probably a skipper, you will appreciated my feelings of uforia at having 19 days of sailing and everything was done just the way I wanted (maybe not right, but as I wanted). And 19 days of not having to raise my voice to anybody. But coming back I had company.

darstar · 03-23-2014, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailsam

darstar - And my motorhome will not take me to Hawaii, which my boat did. As a sailor, and probably a skipper, you will appreciated my feelings of uforia at having 19 days of sailing and everything was done just the way I wanted (maybe not right, but as I wanted). And 19 days of not having to raise my voice to anybody. But coming back I had company.

Correct , nothing will ever replace that solitude, that freedom , that independence .......the experience of sailing offshore beyond the curve of the Earth.
What's over the next hill can be it's own experience too . These things take time , for the most part dancing in the slow lane.......

Kiwi · 03-23-2014, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darstar

Correct , nothing will ever replace that solitude, that freedom , that independence .......the experience of sailing offshore beyond the curve of the Earth.
What's over the next hill can be it's own experience too . These things take time , for the most part dancing in the slow lane.......

One thing to note. My sailboat got much better fuel mileage than my motorhome. 12 knot wind on a beam reach with my big genny set was sweet sailing.. Never experienced anything close in the motorhome.

sailsam · 03-23-2014, 10:48 PM

darstar and kiwi - I had similar solitude when I was backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas above 10,000 feet as a teenager and 20 something. But that was a loooong time ago when one could hike those mountains and not see another for a week at a time, drink out of any creek. Those days are gone, but I was young enough and free enough to get a chance to enjoy those days 60 years ago.
As for mileage, when I have to motor I get about 3/4 gallons an hour at 6 knots of diesel on the boat. That equals about 8 miles per gallon. About the same as my motorhome - in miles per gallon. But with the boat, even when motoring, I get more time. 3/4 gallons per hour with the boat. About 6 gallons per hour with the motorhome (3/4 gallons per 7.5 minutes). And at my present age I have learned that time is more important than distance.

darstar · 03-24-2014, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwi

One thing to note. My sailboat got much better fuel mileage than my motorhome. 12 knot wind on a beam reach with my big genny set was sweet sailing.. Never experienced anything close in the motorhome.

I HAVE had that experience with my motor home, several times , like when I was eastbound across North Dakota and had a 30 mph tail wind ! I know it was not so , but it seemed to me that my Cummins was "making" fuel , the needle never moved for several hundred miles !