714 Miles Traveled
180 Sailing
534 Motoring
We are so sick of motoring - this is the final 'big stretch' of a bunch of motoring going through the ICW at Cape Hatteras. We started the month in the Hudson River, and ended up having to motor all the way down the New Jersey Coast and through the Delaware Bay due to no wind. Once in the Chesapeake we had a couple of windy days - it's either blowing <5 knots or > 20 knots there doesn't seem to be any in-between here. We knew there'd be a bit of motoring, but thought we'd left the majority of it behind us after the Erie Canal. It seems like motoring is the dirty secret of cruising life since everyone is doing it to make miles, but it's frustrating when you just want to sail.
31 Nights on Anchor
0 Nights At Marina
For the first time, we spent every night of the month on anchor. We haven't been to a marina since we had the mast put back up in Catskill Creek. We prefer anchoring, not just due to the cost savings but it's quieter and honestly easier since our boat is set up to be off-grid. We still haven't turned on the watermaker, but we picked up a water jug in Annapolis so we can haul water in the dinghy without going to the fuel dock or marina.
44 kWh of Solar Generated
In the month of October, we generated 44 kWh of solar power. The lowest our batteries got were 35% state of charge due to getting rained out for a couple of days. With the sun getting lower in the sky and days getting shorter, we're seeing a lower output per day (1.42 kWh/day). We did pick up an additional solar panel as a 'floater' that we can move around the deck to optimize another 100+ watts of solar. We now have 550 watts of solar installed plus another 130 watt floater panel.
$3,137 Total Spent
$101 Average Per Day
Boat repairs and upgrades were higher than expected. While we were in Annapolis, we got spare parts, a new halyard, a series drogue, and some other odds and ends. We also had an issue with our engine raw water pump leaking - driving about $400 in rebuild kits (including spares). We didn't spend ANY money on marinas or moorings, but had another big month of motoring driving our fuel expense higher than we budgeted. Groceries were also higher than planned because we did a pantry grocery run while we were in Baltimore. Finally we had two Amazon orders, including the solar upgrade we did (another panel, controller, and wiring). November we're hoping to get our costs back under control, but do expect to greatly exceed our grocery budget as we start to stockpile food for the Bahamas.