Road Trip
It has been approximately a month since I have gone a day without posting on this Blog. This particular posting lapse was due to another road trip to Toronto, both to visit and train jiu-jitsu with one of our friends, and on the boating front, to visit the Nautical Mind bookstore. Let’s just say that the jiu-jitsu training was much less expensive, costing me only some muscle soreness and a bit of a scratched eye. On the other hand, we dropped so much money at the bookstore, primarily on charts, Mastercard thought it prudent to do a security call, just to make sure that someone hadn’t stolen our card!
Our bookstore booty included:
- Maptech Chartkit reg. 4 for the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays area
- Explorer Charts for Far Bahamas
- Explorer Charts for Near Bahamas
- Explorer Charts for the Exumas and Ragged Islands
- Waterway Guide – Southern Edition 2010
- Spanish for Cruisers book
- The Adlard Coles book of Outboard Motors
Everyone says that the Explorer charts are THE ONES TO HAVE for that area. Who are we to argue? The Maptech charts are the same ones that I mentioned trying to buy on eBay. Apparently that guy doesn’t really want to sell them because even though I contacted him and told him that I would send him the money via Paypal, he never followed through. Oh well dude. The Waterway Guide covers Florida, and continues off from where the ICW version that we previously purchased, ends.
I think this should (hopefully!) pretty much do us for charts and cruising guides, at least for the next year or so, unless we decide to head to Cuba instead of the Bahamas for 2011. We’ll see.
Sounds like a great shopping trip. It’s amazing how much money you can spend on charts and cruising guides. I just got my GPS chip for FL/Bahamas,and couldn’t pass up a good deal on an Edgestar FP430 fridge/freezer over the weekend.
Just make sure you have a nice picture of the Bahamas in front of you when you open the credit card bill!
Yes, I think the Bahamas photo might be a good idea. 🙂
Having bought the Waterway guide a few years ago, I would have advised you to save your money and buy the “Skipper Bob” books instead (now published by the Waterway Guides folks in Deltaville, VA, btw). There is one for marinas and another for anchorages along the ICW. Really all you need is the Anchorages book, it is an absolute gem. Ours is all marked up with our notes.
The Waterway guide is mostly a vehicle for their advertisers to get you to come to a marina/restaurant/chandlery, etc. and you get to pay to receive the adverts – great job if you can get it.
Fair Winds,
Mike
Well Mike, if you weren’t enjoying yourself so much in the caribbean, perhaps you could give me these tips a little sooner!
🙂
We do actually have the Skipper Bob ICW anchorage book. I thought the other ones might be helpful too. That sucks if they are as you describe them though!
Right! I will try and do better in the future, I’ll take a black mark on this one. So sorry, sir!
Perhaps you could let me know b4 you buy ANY cruising gear, then if I advise that you hold off, or my advice saves you something, you could put the savings into the “TabbyCat Drinking Fund.” Months from now, when you are swinging on the hook looking at a beautiful sunset, you will raise your glasses and toast to the TDF – um, that would be the “TabbyCat Drinking Fund”, not the “Total Dumb F—” 😉
Fair Winds,
Mike
LOL. Sounds good Mike. I’ll save it for when we meet up though, so we can share the drinks.
unless we decide to head to Cuba instead of the Bahamas for 2011. We’ll see.
What a great feeling.
🙂
I wonder when the USA will wake up and drop the embargo on Cuba, so that we can also travel there. It seems to me that openess between nations is a more effective tool for change in either or both nations. The original idea, supposedly, was to deny Fidel Castro dollars, so that he would kowtow to American demands to get the money. He opted for a different route. Now it’s the votes of the Batistianos in Miami that get cited as the excuse for the continuation of the embargo. Perhaps we now have a more enlightened regieme now? Hasn’t seemed so thus far, but there is hope, maybe. Anyway, good on you for getting the charts!