Before any vacation, I like to read novels, biographies and histories of the areas we plan to visit... and, in the case of our cruise, we've also read many blogs and memoirs of other people cruising the great loop... and small boat cruising in general. There are too many books to list them all, but there is one I MUST tell you about... because it is about a C-Dory 22 (basically our same boat). River-Horse:A Voyage Across America by William Least Heat-Moon tells the story of his adventure from New York harbor, up the Hudson, through the Erie Canal...up the Missouri... and ultimately entering the Pacific in Oregon. Portaging over dry land only a few times. The writer is a little pretentious... make that VERY pretentious... he thinks he is Shakespeare or Byron or whatever. At times it is tough to read (I've only gotten as far as the Missouri), but it gives a clear picture of what it can be like cruising on a tight schedule, through boring patches of river, through treacherous waterways and weather. It basically exemplifies for me what NOT to do on our cruise (or in a travel memoir)! It is interesting, though, to see how "bare bones" his boat was outfitted... and how often he and his first mate/friend/co-pilot didn't sleep or cook on the boat! Staying at B&Bs, Inns; and eating at local eateries did allow him to write about the many interesting people he met in small river towns along the way. IMHO, you don't learn alot about a place sitting in a marina or anchoring out. (That's going to be my rationale when explaining to Rob why we MUST sleep in a real bed on a frequent basis)
Our goal is also to meet interesting new people: locals and other cruisers; and see new places...particularly small towns with interesting histories. We'll probably talk a bit about the challenges we face as small boat cruisers...and the challenge of spending so much time together in such a small boat! We hope you'll enjoy our stories and learn something new as we explore small town America.
