Tent for Coastal Marsh Sleeper
Small Craft Advisor|May - June 2020
Karen wants us to sail Clam Girl from Cedar Key up or down coast, lodging to lodging. Roger Barnes suggested in his thorough 2014 book, The Dinghy Cruising Companion, “A civilized solution is to sail between small harbour towns and check into a local hotel each night.”
Hugh Horton
Tent for Coastal Marsh Sleeper

Our shores are worth savoring. We don’t need a passport to find a vast food chain of bugs and vertebrates crawling, swimming, flying or slithering. No fruit bats here, but no manatees there. And, to keep one focused, we have five snake species that can kill you and an alien constrictor, a big one of which could embrace you to oblivion.

John Glass pool wrote in his excellent little book from 1973, Open Boat Cruising, “One thing which no cruising dinghy, however small, can do without is comfortable sleeping arrangements.”

From Cedar Key, lodging is a long day’s sail for Clam Girl’s ten foot waterline. At our dawdlers’ pace, to make it in one day means perfect timing and conditions, particularly in winter with shorter days and awkward tides. But, staying out a night or two would ease the distances. Although our coast is lovely beyond words, as the tide falls accessible camping sites dwindle because of muck, oysters, and marsh. Mixed semi-diurnal tides further complicate camping. The exquisite answer is anchoring and sleeping aboard.

Anchoring avoids trespassing, too, compared with pitching a tent landward of the beach cusp, which can require early striking and re-stowing. We won’t be racing and might need to wait for the tide, anyway, or linger for coffee, or watch clouds or a bird watching us.

This story is from the May - June 2020 edition of Small Craft Advisor.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May - June 2020 edition of Small Craft Advisor.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM SMALL CRAFT ADVISORView All
A HEAD FOR RUBATO
Small Craft Advisor

A HEAD FOR RUBATO

I dislike port-a-potties. I'm not too fond of poop in any form, really, being non-scatological by nature.

time-read
5 mins  |
September - October 2022
THE ARTFUL SAILOR
Small Craft Advisor

THE ARTFUL SAILOR

Ain' nothin' new about using sails as nautical billboards. The ancients painted all sorts of signs and symbols on their sails.

time-read
3 mins  |
September - October 2022
Twin Keels
Small Craft Advisor

Twin Keels

OUT WIHUEIRIJE with Howard Rice

time-read
4 mins  |
September - October 2022
Cedar Key 2022 Windy Boat Meet
Small Craft Advisor

Cedar Key 2022 Windy Boat Meet

Cartop Cruising

time-read
3 mins  |
September - October 2022
A New Trailer
Small Craft Advisor

A New Trailer

THE BIGHTS

time-read
9 mins  |
September - October 2022
PLAN STUDY: Fancy Free
Small Craft Advisor

PLAN STUDY: Fancy Free

If you're looking for a simple and inexpensive cruising sailboat with traditional character, our FANCY FREE should fill the bill. The sharpie-dory hull with flat-bottom, hard-chine form is ideal for the amateur.

time-read
3 mins  |
September - October 2022
BOAT REVIEW: Rhodes 22 Revisited)
Small Craft Advisor

BOAT REVIEW: Rhodes 22 Revisited)

Overlooked by the masses, admired by owners—there are good reasons the Rhodes 22 has been in production for over a quarter century.

time-read
10+ mins  |
September - October 2022
Another Favorite Mod
Small Craft Advisor

Another Favorite Mod

The always creative Tom Luque sent us details on one of his favorite modifications

time-read
1 min  |
September - October 2022
BLOODY TUESDAY
Small Craft Advisor

BLOODY TUESDAY

“Although the author if indeed he even used his real name) calls this story fiction, we arent so sure. You be the judge. Eds

time-read
5 mins  |
September - October 2022
CRUISING ISLE ROYALE
Small Craft Advisor

CRUISING ISLE ROYALE

I sle“ Royale on Lake Superior is one of my favorite places to cruise. Established as a National Park in 1931, Isle Royale is located about 20 miles off the North Shore of Lake Superior near the Minnesota/Canadian border.

time-read
10+ mins  |
September - October 2022