Considering Moving the boat to Port Aransas

[flgypsysoul]

I highly recommend the Rockport Tx area....two boat yards that do quality work and a great friendly harbor with easy access to the Gulf a lot less expensive than Port A or CC. Live aboard and sail there all the time...good winds all year. Friendly people that will help at a drop of a hat. Check it out.

[rrranch]

Going on our 4th year as live aboard in port a. The last 3 at island moorings. We've become family there I guess. My wife and I both love it! We're on about the deepest Draft sailboat in the marina and haven't had any problems getting out at all. The new owners have been great! We sail a lot. Nearly every weekend. There are a lot of good anchor spots nearby. Mud island and the bay side of the islands across from ingleside. The gulf is less than an hour away for us and I really love that. This is my favorite time of year to sail and can't wait to go this weekend. Light boat traffic and the winter texas haven't really arrived yet.

[tmelhiser]

Originally Posted by rrranch

...There are a lot of good anchor spots nearby. Mud island and the bay side of the islands across from ingleside...

People only hear what they want to hear, and this is exactly what I wanted to hear!

Knowing that there are sailors who actually leave the marina and that there are anchor spots near by help make this an easier choice. Do any of the anchor spots have sandy beach areas suitable to lounge about and let the kids build sand castles? Or is it more like marshland and wildlife watching?

Do you have any feed back on the slips and the typical wind conditions, waves, etc? I think I have narrowed it down to a choice of a few slips on Docs 2 or 3.

A few of them are on the ends, nice locations, but the wind was pretty brisk out of the SE the day I was there and made me worry about easily being driven into the dock. Where the slips towards the center seemed a good bit more sheltered.

Thanks again,

-Travis

[ssanzone]

All these Austin people!

I just moved here and have been muttering 'how did I get talked off a coast' multiple time a day?

Anyone down for a Austin CF meet up?

Send me some PMs and I will be happy to set it up.

-steve

[rrranch]

Mud island is my favorite sandy beach. I have to anchor about 200 yards out with the 6 foot Draft but that's ok. I only have to swim a short distance. St. Joe island has two spots I know where we can park the bow right on the beach. Lots of shells and sand in both these areas.
Most of the ship channel islands have signs saying keep off. Well the ones across from ingleside do. They are still great sheltered anchor spots though. We are at the end slip on the 400 dock. 401. I get in and out fine. It's super easy backing in there because of the long dock on the side. My wife bumps the bow on it and let's me off so I can handle the lines and walk her backwards. I'll never give up that slip. Most of them are easy to get in and out of. There has always been plenty of room for us to maneuver.

[Ocean Girl]

RTB, we will see you, Beverly, and Bob before this, but we will use harbor walk to regroup after haul out at hooking bull, no use going all the way back up to clear lake when we are headed for Bahamas 😃. Wish we knew about the marina sooner, it sounds like our kind of place.

As far as hitting the gulf from Island Moorings, I cannot imagine why it would take 51 minutes..? It is very close, it would of guessed 20 but maybe I'm remembering wrong( shrug). Are you marking that out to the sea bouy maybe? Then yes, I could see 51 minutes to clear the entrance to the gulf,(in good weather), that would make more sense. I'll double check with my hubby.

Anyways, for the OP the car drive is the killer! We did this drive from austin to Port A and drive from Austin to Clear lake. It is a long tough drive but I found clear lake to be much faster to get to( up to an hour faster).
Cheers
Erika

[rrranch]

It usually takes us 30 to get to the ship channel in daylight. Then another 30 when we're fighting the current to the turn into the jetties. It seems like we're always going into the current going to the gulf. It's never been too bad.

[rrranch]

I wish I had that drive. My wife is on the boat almost all the time but I've been riding my motorcycle back and forth to lubbock where our farm is all this year. Almost 600 miles. It's taking a toll on my butt!

[RTB]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

RTB, we will see you, Beverly, and Bob before this, but we will use harbor walk to regroup after haul out at hooking bull, no use going all the way back up to clear lake when we are headed for Bahamas ��. Wish we knew about the marina sooner, it sounds like our kind of place.

We'd love to have you as neighbors! Scupper will be happy too. Lots of dogs here to play with.

Ralph

[cntrycuz]

Might try a look at Palacios....Serendipity Bay Resort on Matagorta Bay...$145 per month all utilities included, pool and nice shower rooms, lots of activities...4 hours from Austin. Google Earth


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Ok

[GrowleyMonster]

Might be fun to explore lake Travis in a little center board day sailer.

[Ocean Girl]

Lake Travis is awesome. Water level is low but still great sailing. Plus no one sails at night ( don't know why..?) so you have the lake to yourself

[ErBrown]

Originally Posted by RTB

Not for everyone, but Harborwalk is the nicest marina on the Gulf Coast in my opinion. It too is close to the Gulf, if that's what you want. Priced right, and no charge for liveaboards. Clean, 2 great pools, very protected, a nice Bar and Restaurant, and super convenient restrooms/showers/laundry on every dock. It's a gated marina coming from hwy 6, with security, so no gates needed on the docks. Kemah/Clear lake boats come here on weekends for a getaway.
Marina | HarborWalk

Ralph

Thanks Ralph,

We're seriously considering harborwalk. Haven't been down there yet but have been checking out the area via Navionics. It looks like everything around is really shallow 3-6ft and less other than the channel and ICW. How long does it take you to get into enough water to comfortably get in some sailing? We draw 4'8", so don't need a ton of water but 3-6 makes me a bit nervous.

I called down there this weekend and they where very friendly and we'll likely come down to check it out soon. That being said our whole purpose for moving the boat here is so we can get out and use it on a fairly regular basis for weekend sails. Just want to be sure the place we chose makes that as convenient as possible.

Thanks

[RTB]

If you are an Active captain member (free if you are not yet), click on my link.
https://activecaptain.com/X.php

#10 is the marina. If you zoom in, that box blocking it disappears. You can measure distances by putting the curser on a point. Left click and hold, and a box will come up where you can plot a course or measure it. In this case, it's about 10 miles to the Galveston inlet. You can either go out there, or continue north and sail north and west of Bolivar. Plenty of options. But in reality, it will be hard to beat Port Aransas. It's a shorter distance to get outside, and the same making your way to Corpus Christi Bay.

There are positives and negatives to any marina. Like Ocean Girl suggests, you can try one out and move if it isn't to you liking after trying it out for awhile. I do believe Harbor Walk is a safe/secure place to leave your boat while you are in Austin. I'd even keep an eye on it for you if you ask, since we live on our boat.

Send me a PM if I can help in some way. I'll give you my phone#, and more than happy to answer any questions, or check something out for you.

Ralph

[CapRon]

One of favorite anchorages out of Port A is Lydia Ann Island. Coming out of Port Aransas Municipal Marina, do not turn left (Corpus Bay) or right (Gulf of Mexico). Go straight into the Lydia Ann channel. About a mile up the Lydia Ann channel you will see a light house on the left. Go past the light house. Not too far you will see a channel marker on the right. This will be a big cove. Water is around 28 feet deep and is out of the ICW traffic lane. You can anchor close to shore. Take the dink to the shore and it's about a 1 mile walk to the Gulf side of the island (it's really San Jose Island) and there are no foot prints on the beach and you can fill up a bucket with sand dollars very quickly there (Run on sentence). Once back to the boat it has a beautiful view and makes for a wonderful sundowner. Forget about sleeping the first night because the dolphin feed in this cove and the sounding clicks they make reverberate in the hull. It's not annoying, however it can keep you up. I kept my boat in Corpus but there are quite a few good sailing venues. Lavaca Bay is a well kept sailing secret. Skinny water but consistent and never crowded. I live in the Clear Lake area now and it too has its pros. I enjoy sailing the Texas Gulf Coast. Lots of fun and fun people. The offshore sailing can get rough in that area though.


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