Location for winter living aboard and cruising.

[The Traveler]

Hello,


We are about 12 years out from retirement and starting to plan how we want to spend our retirement years. Currently we're in the Annapolis area but have lived all over the U.S.



I think the best way to accommodate both my wife and my interests, and to enjoy the best year round weather, is to have a home in the Colorado mountains for the summer, and a boat somewhere to live aboard and cruise in the winter.



If you could pick the perfect spot to keep our boat and start our winter cruising from, where would it be?



I know the Bahamas are amazing but could you actually spend several months there? Every year? Any cities (Charleston? St. Augustine?) that are nice enough that we'd enjoy living aboard there for a few months every winter?



How about hurricane considerations and storage? I assume the boat would be on the hard through hurricane season.



I suppose the boat doesn't have to be based in the U.S. so we could look at leaving her in the islands somewhere. My concern is we'd get bored in the islands. As beautiful as they are, I don't know if we can spend 6 months living on the hook in beautiful anchorages.



I think the perfect spot would be a town (like Annapolis) where we'd enjoy spending our first 1 or 2 winter months living aboard and prepping, then cruise the islands for a couple months, then come back and enjoy the town again while we finish our winter. I was in St. Augustine for a week...something like that might work.



And without an unlimited budget, cost is definitely a consideration.



Thanks in advance.

[skipmac]

Depends on your tolerance for cold weather but anything much north of Jacksonville will have more than a few days of sub freezing weather every year. Even Jacksonville area usually has at least a few days every winter in the thirties and occasionally hits the teens.


How long you could spend in the Bahamas will depend on what it is you want to do in your retirement. If you swim snorkel, work on the boat, cook on board, work on the boat, explore new islands, work on the boat, hand with other cruisers and such then you could spend years in the Bahamas. If you want shopping, eating out at nice restaurants, stay at fancy marinas then you might tire of the Bahamas after a season.


However, one of the nice things about living on a boat, you can move if you don't like where you are.

[The Traveler]

Originally Posted by skipmac

If you swim snorkel, work on the boat, cook on board, work on the boat, explore new islands, work on the boat, hand with other cruisers and such then you could spend years in the Bahamas. If you want shopping, eating out at nice restaurants, stay at fancy marinas then you might tire of the Bahamas after a season.
.

Definitely more the former over the latter. I guess we just have to give it a try!


We don't hate cold weather, and actually enjoy the seasons, so having some cold nights isn't necessarily a bad thing, but do you have any recommendations for nice boating towns south of Jacksonville that would make great (affordable) base camps?



Thanks

[Breaking Waves]

Take a look at Fort Lauderdale and Key West .... very different....depends on what you were looking for.

[NorthernMac]

South Carolina seems pretty nice

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by NorthernMac

South Carolina seems pretty nice

Charleston SC was one of my favorite stops on the ICW. Lots of really good restaurants, marinas not outrageously expensive, easy to get around.

But winters it is a bit colder than I would like on a boat.

[rockerdar]

We had our last boat (a 51' catamaran) for about eight years. Our summer home is in the B.C. Rockies and we would spend winters on the boat. Until they replaced the bascule bridge with a fixed bridge (thus eliminating our ability to stay there due to 70' off the water height), our favorite place to store the boat over the summer was Jarrett Bay Boat Works near Beaufort, North Carolina. When you return to the boat each fall, you can take your time enjoying the trip down the east coast. Charleston is one of our favorite stops. We spent three winters cruising the Bahamas. We prefer the Exumas and down to the Raggeds and Jumentos as opposed to the northern Bahamas. You also can go over to Cat Island, Long Island and Eleuthera. We never got tired of it. We love to snorkel, dive, kayak, fish, explore. We also enjoyed spending time near Georgetown for the camaraderie with other retired cruisers that enjoy an active lifestyle.

I agree that anywhere north of Florida is too cold, at least for me, for liveaboard during the winter. But even Charleston isn't that bad if you aren't staying the entire winter. You can anchor near the marina and take your tender to shore (used to cost $5/day to tie it up at the marina). The marina has a free shuttle to West Marine as well as to the grocery store.

There are inlets along the intercoastal in Florida where you can anchor for free with easy access to land.

Next year we plan to start this same adventure on our new boat (a stink bug as opposed to a sailboat). The southern Bahamas chain is gorgeous; you won't find prettier water anywhere. And should you require medical attention, it's a quick flight back to the U.S.

Just my two cents FWIW...

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by The Traveler

Definitely more the former over the latter. I guess we just have to give it a try!


We don't hate cold weather, and actually enjoy the seasons, so having some cold nights isn't necessarily a bad thing, but do you have any recommendations for nice boating towns south of Jacksonville that would make great (affordable) base camps?



Thanks

Same here. Living in north FL for the last 30 years I do miss the seasons. Here we basically have two, really hot and not hot with occasional cold. Fall in areas just a little farther north, even as far south as Atlanta, was always my favorite. Of course starting about Nov the average weather in Atlanta was 32 degrees, gray and drizzling for months with an occasional freeze and sleet.

Lots of options in Florida, depending on your budget and inclination. Lived in Ft Lauderdale for a few years but got a bit tired of the scene and marina prices starting climbing to ridiculous prices so moved north. S Florida is nice but most places from Jupiter south to the Keys docks will be hundreds if not $1000/month or more. Indian River/Titusville area is a lot cheaper and still has reasonable facilities, restaurants, etc and still isn't too far if you want to hop over to the Bahamas.

The Keys are, well they're the Keys. If you don't know then go check it out. It's a scene all it's own.

SW coast is nice, beautiful beaches but the nicer areas are as much or more than Miami/Ft Lauderdale and the bugs can be really nasty.

Personally I would be most happy moving around. Charleston in the late summer to early fall, start moving south as it gets cooler, Bahamas for the winter.

[The Traveler]

Originally Posted by Breaking Waves

Take a look at Fort Lauderdale and Key West .... very different....depends on what you were looking for.

Love the Keys. I used to visit before we were into boating so I never looked at them from the perspective of living aboard. Are there many amenities for cruising?


Haven't been to Ft. Lauderdale yet. Seems like it could be a nice option. I've heard expensive though?

[The Traveler]

Rockerdar you just described my dream. Sounds perfect. Mountains in the summer and cruising in the winter. Is there a reason you kept her so far north in Beaufort, NC? Was that a price/convenience/services thing? I believe that's a nice little town right?



Beaufort probably also kept you out of the hurricane zone for insurance?

[The Traveler]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Personally I would be most happy moving around. Charleston in the late summer to early fall, start moving south as it gets cooler, Bahamas for the winter.

If the nice spots in FL have gotten too expensive then we may have to look more at the Carolinas. Although in 12 years we'll probably be priced out of there too....


It my be a bit cold when we start out but still doable.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by The Traveler

If you could pick the perfect spot to keep our boat and start our winter cruising from, where would it be?

And without an unlimited budget, cost is definitely a consideration.

Thanks in advance.

The standard model is to haul your boat out for the summer at Green Cove Springs and cruise down to the Keys and Bahamas for winter. Then cruise back up to GCSM and haul out for the summer and ................ leave for your summer home.

[The Traveler]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The standard model is to haul your boat out for the summer at Green Cove Springs and cruise down to the Keys and Bahamas for winter. Then cruise back up to GCSM and haul out for the summer and ................ leave for your summer home.

Green Cove Springs on the St. Johns River?


No problems with insurance leaving a boat in FL?

[rockerdar]

The reason we selected Beaufort was due to the size of our boat. With a 25'3" beam, there weren't many places that could haul us (and we prefer to store our boat on the hard). We fell in love with the Beaufort area (think quaint seaside towns, Outer Banks . . .) and the boatyard being up the river offered good protection from summer storms. With a smaller boat, you could look into places just north of the Florida/Georgia border. Most insurance companies consider that the cutoff point when it comes to insurance. We did leave the boat in the water in Ft. Lauderdale one year. Of course, then you have the worry of it getting beat up at a dock when a storm/hurricane occurs. And the insurance is higher. If you want to leave it in Florida, you need to decide well in advance, as the insurance companies only accept a certain number of boats before they 'close' their market. BTW, our boat suffered a lightning strike that year, necessitating hanging out for a couple months in Ft. Lauderdale while all of the repairs were done. We love Fort Lauderdale. You can get anything done or buy whatever you need there. Prices are similar to elsewhere (unless you're thinking about marinas). There are some places in the ICW that have buoys you can use (for a reasonable fee & limited stay). We always used it as our final shakedown/provisioning stop.

If you plan to stay in marinas, definitely Florida can be expensive. But you're on a boat, so I wouldn't think you'd be wanting to stay put in one place for too long. In that case, there are (as I already mentioned) numerous places to drop anchor all along the eastern seaboard. Costs you nothing, and you get to visit lots of great places. Cumberland Island is wonderful; we anchored right off the parks ferry dock. Just south of there is Fernandina Beach, with great restaurants and beautiful restored Victorians. Then you can pop down to St. Augustine, again with great restaurants, provisioning, historical sites. You get the idea . . .

The Keys are beautiful. There are mooring buoys throughout. They aren't a place where I would stay long term on a boat, but that's just me.

A lot will depend on the size of your boat and your budget. If it's not a big boat, you have a lot more options. There are numerous little marinas along the intercoastal. You would probably want to look at least a year in advance, as many times there is a wait list. So it's good that you are starting to think ahead.

I totally understand your thought of mountains and oceans. We love the combo. We bought our place in Canada because it was a lot less expensive than the US (US $ was 58 cents on the Canadian $ back then; it's still favorable at 75 cents USD to $1 CAD), we're less than an hour from the border, the mountains are equally (if not more) beautiful, there's less people/air pollution and thus higher quality of life (need I go on?!) . . .

Once you get started in the lifestyle, you'll meet lots of people and get 'smarter' each year. You'll find out about new places. You'll make lifetime friends that may end up being better friends than your prior ones -- because you share a common passion and lifestyle. I suggest you do it as soon as you can. You never know what fate is going to throw at you, and I seriously doubt that you will regret it. We certainly don't.

[Jackz]

This is our second winter in the keys, we spend most of our time in Marathon because there is lots to do and see and easy access to amenities. We do trips to Key West, Dry Tortugas, Islamorada, Everglades, Key Biscayne, and out to the many reefs that are nearby. Plenty of marinas, mooring, and anchorages in the area.

If you want to jump off to Bahamas, Cuba, or Isla Mujeres, they are all very doable passages. Flights to/from Key West and Miami are easy and there is great public transportation up and down the keys.

I left Hilton Head on 10/31 at 47 degrees and arrived a few days later in Marathon at 82 degrees. Stays much warmer here when the northers come through, compares to Marco, Ft Myers, and anyplace else on the east coast of Florida. Especially at night rarely gets below 60.