by talbot » Tue May 10, 2016 10:51 pm
I think it would be useful to try a "cruising" forum. There are some issues that are unique to the activity. For instance, Small Craft Advisor recently had an article on firebuilding. We assume everyone has basic Boy Scout camping skills, but apparently that's not so.
Regarding sleeping aboard, there is a whole thread on setting up the cockpit as a tent platform for extended trips. My focus has instead been on emergencies and ad hoc cruises where it's a nice night, and you just don't want to come in. It took me a while to figure out, but basically it goes like this:
1. Ventilation is a problem in the cabin, so add portholes and sleep with your head by the door.
2. Bugs are a problem, so make screens for the door and ports.
3. The cuddy floor slopes aft, so make a shingled sleeping pad that gets thicker as it goes aft.
4. The door isn't vertical, so bring a tarp to throw over the boom to keep rain from dripping in.
5. The size of the cabin is similar to the size of a superlight backpacking tent. So if you're a backpacker, you know the drill. For the record, my wife is -not- a backpacker.
As a couple, we typically camp on shore in a ginormous tent with camp chairs, double-burner Coleman, cooler, and everything including a kitchen sink. The point of my solo anchor-out system is, once you've done steps 1-4 and accepted situation 5, you don't need much to overnight in summer: Light polyester sleeping bag, alcohol stove, a pot, a cup, a water bottle, a snack, instant coffee for the morning. It all fits in a bookbag day pack, including the boom tent and port screens, and the pack stores on top of the hatch screen on the cuddy floor forward of the mast. The only thing I might add is a small flask of Maker's Mark, if I could trust my marina neighbors to not raid the bar. The kit lives aboard all summer. The process of turning a day sail into a cruise consists of notifying my wife on the cell phone that she is free to watch the chick flick tonight instead of the Batman rerun.