Boat “camping” vs. actual camping.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve read on cruising forums that a given person can’t cruise on a boat less than 40 feet because they don’t want to “camp.”  I always suspected that people who say it have never truly camped.  Now, after five weeks of tent camping, I am certain of it.  Cruising on a smaller boat – even as small as our Bristol 29.9 – is absolutely NOTHING like camping.

Pegu Club has real furniture and a real galley.  When we want to do dishes we use a real sink and take advantage of 68 gallons of water – we don’t have to put the dishes into a bucket and head over to the camping facility’s sink.  Pegu Club has electricity – not merely flashlights.  She has a toilet so we don’t have to get dressed and trek across a campground in the middle of the night.  On Pegu Club we don’t have to put everything with a scent into a bear box.  When we want to go somewhere else, we spend ten minutes putting things away and raise the anchor vs. having to break camp and load up the car.  When we arrive, we drop the anchor and there we are vs. unloading the car and setting everything up.  Pegu Club may only be 30 feet, but she is 30 feet of pure luxury compared to camping.

There’s no doubt that an RV or a trailer would be more comfortable than a tent, and certainly more comparable to living on a boat.  Before we left on this trip, we talked seriously about getting an RV for land travel when we’re finished with boat life some day.  But now?  I have less than zero interest in doing it.  Perhaps I’ll change my mind in the coming years, but currently a life of land travel in campgrounds and boondocking doesn’t appeal in any way, shape, or form.  I miss the boat, and I miss cruising.