Great Loop Cruise Planning, Part 3: Short Term Planning

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In this part of my multipart trip plannng series, I explain how to plan a week to 10 days out.

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By far, my favorite part of trip planning is planning ahead for the next week to 10 days of travel. I do this about once a week, as you might expect, and fine-turn the plan as the week progresses and things change. Because — as I’ve said over and over — things will change.

Tools for Planning

I use several tools for this stage of planning.

• Note paper and pen. I use a standard spiral-bound notebook to make my plan. You can just as easily do this in a weekly planner or on a calendar.
• Charting app. I use Aqua Map. A lot of folks swear by Navionics. There are other apps out there. The main reason I prefer Aqua Map is that it enables me to quickly create a route and it optionally shows icons for Waterway Guide and Active Captain marinas and anchorages. (I prefer Waterway Guide data because it’s more reliable, but Active Captain does list more anchorages.)
• My current medium term plan. As I discussed in the previous part of this series, this is where I list all the places I want to stop along the way, along with any fixed dates I must be in these places.

Making the Plan

I start by prepping the note paper. In the margin, I write the day of the month for the next seven to 10 days, leaving at least two empty lines between each day. Under or next to that, I put the abbreviated day of the week so I know whether it’s a weekday or weekend. (More about that in a moment.)

Each day represents where I’ll spend the night. So I’m basically going to list each day’s destination in the space beside the date.

I often create my short term plan the day before I need to start using it. So the first date is often the current date and the location I put in is where I am. That’s my starting point.

Next, I’ll consult my medium term plan. Are there any places I listed coming up? Do any of them require me to be there on a certain date? If that date is coming up, I’ll put that destination in the proper place on my plan so I can plan for it.

Now I’ll pull out Aqua Map and start creating a route from where I am on the first day of the plan to where I’d like to be. I keep in mind that I prefer to cruise 20 to 40 miles in a day but am willing to do less and can do up to 60 if I need to. Do I have a desired destination within 20 to 40 miles? I plan a route to get there. If a desired destination is within 60 miles, I look at my overnight options between here and there and decide whether I want to stop along the way or press forward to get there quickly. Otherwise, I just look for interesting places 20 to 40 miles from my starting point and plan a route to get to them.

Here’s an example of the route I planned from Marineland to St. Augustine. I’ve been to St. Augustine twice and the only reason I planned to stop there was to buy provisions for the 10 days I planned to spend cruising the St Johns River after I left. I can click any of the Waterway Guide icons on this screen to get complete details and reviews about marinas, anchorages, and bridges.

These days, I’m favoring good, quiet anchorages with shore access over costly marinas in places I don’t necessarily want to stop at. But you might favor marinas. Either way, a charting app that shows all your options and displays complete and accurate info, including reviews, with just a click can be a real time-saver. That’s why I use Aqua Map. Seriously: I can’t recommend it strongly enough.

When I get the first route done and saved, I put the destination onto my plan beside its date. I also include the number of miles to get there per the planned route so I know in advance what kind of day is ahead.

Then I repeat this process for that point for the next six to nine days.

Here’s the plan I made for the week I left the dock behind my dad’s house in Fort Pierce on February 25. Note that I include an A or an M in a circle to indicate whether it’s an anchorage or a marina.

Here’s my actual plan for the week that just ended. “Launch” refers to rocket launches at Cape Canaveral; I got to see one at night and one midday and it was amazing. The plan changed (of course); I’ll discuss that shortly.

Weather

While making your short term plan, you need to consider the weather. I have been haunted by bad weather since arriving in Florida and remain haunted by it to this day. In fact, I was creating the next plan when I realized that weather was going to be so big a factor in my travel plans that I may as well just stay put.

Watch the weather forecasts from good, reliable sources. The NWS/NOAA is the best. Find them at weather.gov. Windy is pretty good for spot forecasts related to wind and waves. Do not rely on simple weather apps on your phone or, for heaven’s sake, the Weather Channel, for weather information. (I shouldn’t have to tell you this. If you’re planning a trip that’ll take weeks or months to complete, you should know this by now.)

Keep in mind that you don’t need to wait for perfect weather to cruise. If you did, you wouldn’t get very far. But you do need to consider the impact of weather on cruising across large bodies of water or anchoring in places with limited shelter. As I’ve told others, I don’t mind riding choppy waters on the ICW in a driving rain, but I do mind being tossed around or dragging an anchor at night.

The point is this: if it’s Monday and you see in the forecast that Wednesday night is going to be windy and rainy, you might not want to plan for an anchorage on Wednesday night.

And remember that weather forecasts change! The closer to the forecasted day you are, the more accurate it’s bound to be. But if you’re one of those people who look at 10-day forecasts and think the forecast for day 9 is reliable, you’re only fooling yourself. Things can get better or worse at any time.

Weather is what might change your short term plan. The plan I’ve shared here is a perfect example. I was still in Marineland on the morning of February 2 when I started planning my next seven to 10 days. I saw in the weather that Sunday was going to be rainy and very windy — a big storm coming in. Monday would be okay in the morning but bad in the afternoon and on Tuesday the wind would howl. My original plan was to leave St. Augustine on Saturday and head for Jacksonville and the St. Johns River to start a leisurely cruise up the river. But what’s leisurely about cruising in heavy rain or strong wind? Nothing. So I decided to extend my stay at the more affordable and laid back Marineland Marina, go to St. Augustine on Monday morning and stay there for two nights, and then, on Wednesday, continue my trip. So not only did weather change my current plan, but it also delayed the planning of the next week or so of my trip.

I did say that your plans would change, didn’t I?

Weekends vs. Weekdays

I like to know the day of the week I’ll be at a destination mostly so I know how crowded it might be.

For example, some anchorages, especially in Florida, can be very crowded on weekends. This also applies to destinations with free day docks. In my experience, day trippers can be very noisy and inconsiderate so I try to plan for those kind of destinations during the week.

Similarly, some waterways can be crowded on weekends. Again, I’m thinking about south Florida, but also the Myrtle Beach area. Who wants to be traveling in a narrow channel among a lot of folks who have limited boating skills/experience and lack consideration for other boaters? I’ve warned so many people against driving through Myrtle Beach on weekends and every one of them who ignored me have complained about it.

So I keep all this in mind when making my plan and will stay at an out-of-the-way anchorage or marina to avoid the crowds.

Of course, Saturdays also mean Farmers Markets. Is there one at your Saturday destination? This one was in West Palm Beach when I passed through in January.

Making Reservations

The plan I shared above shows notes about reservations. I do not make reservations unless I either know for sure that I’ll reach a marina on that date or they have a cancellation policy. So I didn’t reserve New Smyrna Beach until I was in Cocoa and I didn’t reserve Marineland and St. Augustine until I was at New Smyrna Beach.

I’ve read lots of reviews where people complain about losing money on a reservation and give the marina a bad rating because of that. If the marina has a strict cancellation policy that requires 48 hours notice and you try to cancel the day before, whose problem is that? Do yourself and the marina (and the rest of us who want to book slips) a favor: only reserve a slip if you know for sure you will be there.

In my change of plans, I was very fortunate that Marineland let me stay three extra nights and St. Augustine was able to rebook me for the following week. (My relationship with St. Augustine is pretty funny; because my boat has such a shallow draft, they’re able to park me in slips they normally can’t use so I’ve never had a problem getting reservations there.) If I’d been stuck with those reservations, I would have been stuck with my plan. But I’d much rather be here at Marineland than costly, noisy St. Augustine.

Making the Next Plan

If, as the planned week goes on, you make a lot of changes to your plan, you might want to start the next plan early. The goal, I think, is to have at least the next day or two planned so you know where you’re going to go and when.

What do you think? Is this how you do your short term planning? Share your comments with us below so we can all learn from them.