The Final Count
The Final Count: The End of the 2012 Cruising Season
Tuesday, November 20, 2012TheCambrians
Sailing across the Strait of Georgia at the beginning of the season.
When we lived in New Zealand, we would watch boats return from the islands – Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia or some other exotic location in the South Pacific – every October only to tie up for the summer, completely ignoring the beauty of the Bay of Islands in favour of a concrete jungle. I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why. Now I understand.
It’s exhaustion. Pure and simple. And we’re experiencing it for ourselves after what was an incredible, but somewhat stressful, season. For the first time ever, we’re happy to be tied up and don’t feel like prisoners of a marina berth. Quite the opposite. Our new locale allows us to come and go without bailing gallons of rain water from the dinghy. The endless supply of electricity permits us to run the heater day and night, keeping the boat and ourselves dry and warm. Having the truck back means we can run to the store for anything we want or need. And for once, this makes us happy. I hope it’s not a permanent affliction but, for now, it’s just what the doctor ordered.
It’s been a difficult season for us all. David’s shoulder is a real issue and could possibly keep us from sailing next year if it doesn’t start to improve – at the very least, he’s not going to be able to attack the two-page to-do list that he just authored. And Cambria, well, the old girl is tired and in need of some major TLC. But that will have to wait. This year we’re packing it in early, saying goodbye to the boat and the rain, and making our way to Kansas for the holidays. But before we do, here are the numbers from this year’s season:
The Final Count
Days on the Water: 186
Miles Travelled: 1626 nm
Days Underway: 82
Anchorages: 70 (some more than once)
Diesel Consumed: 418 gallons
Engine Hours: 324 (43 to charge batteries, 15 to make water)
Generator Hours: 176
Heater Hours: 194
Petrol Consumed: 42 gallons (158 generator hours and outboard motor)
Solar Panels: 11,986 amp hours (162kwh) saving approximately 300 hours on the engine and 300 gallons of diesel ($1300 – $1500)
