Boats and Camping

[smokyroo]

We grew up in Florida and when my youngest sister was born she would get really sick being in the sun. So my dad sold the boat and bought a new 1971 Jayco PUP. Boy did that camper make my childhood and teen years as we traveled across the US and Canada with that pup.

We were on track to repeat a great childhood doing the same thing. Then my second child came along and he camge down with group b strep meningitis shortly after being born and my life turned into a new direction. My kids love being outside and enjoy the woods, but my disbaled son in particular loves the water. We have kayaks and it was always an issue with him. He was fussy and so forth. One day while renting a boat at John Pennekamp SP in the Fla Keys, Kyle discovered a joy and we did too. He was 4 years old and was a high maintenance kid in terms of being  needy. I dont blame him as he is cortically blind among other issues. But, when we rented a boat, the boy sat up, smiled and laughed. A month later we bought our first used Grady.

Now we camp, but instead of always hitting the woods, we hit the woods with water or coastal islands. It takes two to tow vehicles, one for the camper and one for the boat. The yaks come along too.

Are there a few camper boaters out there that target the coasts, lakes and rivers too?

What kind of places do you like to go with the boat and camper?

Our favorites are the Florida Keys, nearby big lakes and the panhandle of Florida. When the economy improves we want to tow the boat to Acadia National Park in Maine and explore the coast of Maine by sea and land...

[ngatel]

We enjoy camping with out boat. Our set-up only requires one tow vehicle.

Boat

[ghacker]

Thx. for sharing that Nick. Never thought of boating while camping. I'll have to give that some more thought to see if it would work for us.

Just one thing. I thought you've always espoused packing light? 

[BirdLand]

We have a kayak; we love Delaware's Cape Henlopen State Park and Delaware Seashore State Park.  The launch into Cape Henlopen's bay area at the fishing pier is extremely calm ; water gets rougher/tides stronger as you approach the bay lighthouse/junction between the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic.  You can also launch a kayak off the surf beach areas right into the Atlantic (you need a permit ($$) to drive onto the beach, but not for being a 'walk-in' (also applies to Delaware Seashore State Park), which doesn't have large waves but rip currents can be strong.  I'm not sure about launching powered boats at this park; destateparks.com should have the info somewhere; plenty of people bring them but I don't know where they launch.   Camping is water hookups only; all campers must be parked parallel on the street.  Some sites are much nicer than others; send me a message if you need more info as we go there quite often.

Delaware Seashore State Park has a few places to launch a powered boat into the bay, though I've never researched if these points actually connect with inlets leading to the ocean.  There are several bay kayak launch points as well; one is within sight of the campground (depending on which site you have) though it's only practical at high tide (unless you're extremely light/willing to get out and carry/push at times).  Again, destateparks.com will have more info.  The campsites are very crowded together with no vegetation/barriers in between but they do have water, electric, and sewer.  If you want more info, send me a message!

Assateague National Seashore has a bay launch for kayaks, though I'm not sure about powered boats.  Some sites (such as B-35, beautiful  ) have access right from your campsite.  You could also launch from the 'non-swimming' beach area (over the dune from the Oceanside Loops), but in our experience it's always scary rough here when we go (mid-July).  The bay is wonderfully calm for kayaking.

Good luck!

[CampingFamily1]

We rent a boat, own an electric motor

Here are photos

[Packman]

Nick,

That's pretty neat.  What's something like that cost?  Can you run on a road for a short distance?  For example, 10-20 miles at 30 mph?  How much does your motor weigh?

Scott

[ngatel]

Just one thing. I thought you've always espoused packing light? 

I have two hobbies; backpacking and camping. Backpacking is a solo pursuit and yes light is paramount. Camping with the PU is for my wife and me. Making the wife happy is the paramount goal with the PU. 

[ngatel]

Nick,

That's pretty neat.  What's something like that cost?  Can you run on a road for a short distance?  For example, 10-20 miles at 30 mph?  How much does your motor weigh?

Scott

The trailer dolly is really meant for moving the boat by hand. Top speed is 5mph, because the wheels have plastic bearing cages. When we use it we are close to the water. At June Lake in the high Sierra's we do not have to go to the boat launch. We just drive close to the shore, unhook and pull it to the shore of the lake. We bought the boat dolly around 6 years ago. I think it was around $700 including shipping. The motor weighs 98 lbs. It is a 4-stroke because 2-strokes are illegal in California. Before that we had a Honda 2.5 hp 4-stroke, but it did not have enough power to go upstream on the Colorado River without my newly acquired serpentine navigation technique and raft surfing the wakes of passing speedboats. My wife wanted a 15hp engine, but at 150lbs was just too heavy for me to handle.
The boat is a Mercury Quick Silver and weights 150lbs assembled. It is 10 ½ feet long. We can easily get it up on a plane, and I have clocked it at 22 mph with a GPS. Also, many lakes in California do not allow any motor over 10hp, so that is another advantage of the 9.8hp.

[disp44]

I pull the Pup with my explorer.  Pup (bought used) has a roof rack for DW and my canoe.  Explorer has a roof rack for my kayak.  Life jackets paddles and fishing tackle goes inside the explorer.  Life is good. 

 

[smokyroo]

We do a fair amount backpacking here in the NC mountains..going light is a must. I am very fortunate as the Admiral enjoys backpacking to car camping to boat camping. Our boat has a decent size cabin, a bit bigger than 6 person tent and we take it on weekend cruises or camp out on the lakes or rivers with her and bring along our backpacking sleeping bags, stove and so forth. 

We have kayak camped on many of Florida's rivers and down in the Everglades..that is also a great adventure there. Your RIB is a cool setup Nick. For us taking two tow vehicles is worth the effort of bringing our boat along...

[fowlmen-too]

every chance i get i try to bring the boat i have a 14ft  with a 50# thrust trolling motor.just tiy it down on top of thr pup and off we go.....love it