Location for winter living aboard and cruising.

[Augi]

As others have mentioned, it all depends what trade offs work best for you and your tolerance for cool weather and hot weather, what kind of sailing you want to do. Do you want to stay in the USA with all of the conceniences or do want to explore other cultures.



No one mentioned the Sea of Cortez. A place like Guaymas on the Sea of Cortez is an easy drive drive from Colorado, there is a good marina there with reasonable prices, great nature, great winter climate with low humidity, for being on the water, and cool nights for sleeping.

Another place you could drive to is SouCal. But you will have days on the water in the 50's F in winter and keeping a boat in SouCal is expensive. You would have the Channel Islands National Park to explore and Catalina, you have the prevailing northwest winds(lee shore) to contend with and not a lot of great anchorages on the coastal SouCal.

Instead of the Colorado Mountains for the summer you could chose somewhere with elevation for a cool climate in New Mexico or Arizona and be a days drive from your boat in Guaymas or SouCal.


If want to make sure you almost always have wind then the best choice would be the Caribbean or Bahamas. Grenada is a great choice because it is out of the hurricane belt(lowers the cost of insurance). You could explore all of the Caribbean and Bahamas over the years and leave the boat in places to avoid hurricanes like Grenada, Rio Dulce, Cartagena, Panama, Trinidad in the summer. You could go through the canal and cruise to the Galapagos.

[doublewide]

Summer lay-up in Grenada. Winter cruising in the Windward, Leeward, and Virgin Islands. You Can't Beat That.

[DMCantor]

We've been doing exactly what you suggest since I retired 10 years ago. We keep our boat in the Caribbean, sailing back and forth to the US is way too much work for us. That means that hurricanes are very much a consideration. We have mostly kept our boat on Grenada for the hurricane season, though we did leave her on Curaçao for a couple of summers.


In the summer we split our time between our home near Annapolis and several weeks in Switzerland. I think Colorado would be an excellent choice, especially if you have some connections there.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by doublewide

Summer lay-up in Grenada. Winter cruising in the Windward, Leeward, and Virgin Islands. You Can't Beat That.

Yup. Lots to see and do. Tremendous variety.

[alansmith]

Yup, Sea of Cortez is amazing sailing. I keep a boat in San Carlos Mexico. The fella who owned it before me lived in Colorado.

You enter mexico just south of Tucson at the Nogales border crossing. It is very good highway all the way down. Heavily patrolled by Federal Police to keep the bad boys away.
Marinaseca has the best boat yard in the northern section of SOC. Watch some sea of cortez sailing venues on YouTube. It is uncrowded...excellent weather...plenty of gorgeous places to see. Fishing is excellent. People there are warm and friendly. The thing about SOC...it is primitive...primordial in some ways....you don't get that in many places these days.

Wish you the luck....

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by NorthernMac

South Carolina seems pretty nice

SC is about as moderate as Jacksonville or possibly more so since the Gulf Steam comes closer. I would go someplace south of Sarasota, FL and stay on that coast.

[Michael Pope]

Charleston too cold for me in the winter . Get bad storms there too. If I was only going to be there for the winter I would pick west coast Mexico inexpensive different culture and as long as you stayed away from the heavy tourist loads , interesting. Way less bad Hurricanes . Just do not do drugs and avoid places that are over Americanised and learn Spanish. then there is Costa rica Each one to their own choice. There is so much wonderful world out there. Mike Pope

[The Traveler]

Augi, those are great ideas and we're definitely open to anything. Having lived in CO, we'd love to get back there but we're planning a trip to the Sedona/Flagstaff areas to check them out too.

[The Traveler]

DMCantor,


Sounds like you have the best of everything. We love Switzerland. We also like it very much here in Annapolis but the hot, humid summers are not our favorite. Do you have any visa or citizenship issues with spending that much time out of the country?

[The Traveler]

Thanks for all the suggestions. You're motivating me to keep saving our pennies so we can afford this.



Looks like we have some more chartering in our future to explore all these areas.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by The Traveler

Green Cove Springs on the St. Johns River?


No problems with insurance leaving a boat in FL?

Yes in Florida. I bet a big portion of people do only come in the winter do this. Insurance probably k with your boat being hauled out for hurricane season

[gwbull]

We had a very nice time during a prolonged stay at anchor and on a mooring at Boot Key Harbor, Marathon, FL. Anchor for free or moor for $340/month at the municipal marina with all the usual amenities and wonderfully friendly community. Actually warm there in winter as opposed to further north in FL. Walk to supermarket, restaurants, hospital and many other desirables. Roughly 300 moorings available in the harbor, surrounded by land, and convenient location for cruising north, south and the Bahamas. Popular spot for folks doing what you plan to do.

[The Traveler]

GWBull,


I think we'd definitely enjoy exploring the Keys. Did you keep your boat somewhere in FL for the summer?

[CarlF]

I treat the boat as a movable vacation home. There's no reason (and little cost advantage) to stay all winter in one spot or go to the same places every year. For my wife, two months on the boat at a time is her sweet spot.

If you are not a resident of Florida, it's hard to find reasonable priced insurance for Florida during hurricane season.

If you have air conditioning, I would keep the boat in Charleston, Savannah, or Brunswick in the water during summer. If you're like me, an occasional week on the boat even in summer heat is necessary for mental health. There are always fun boat projects to do. When you are retired you have the flexibility to fly very cheaply.

Depending on when you leave Colorado in the fall, spend some time in SC or GA. It's beautiful. Leave in late November and spend three months in Florida - pick different cities each year for variety. Don't stay any one place too long - it gets boring. If budget allows, spend one of those three months back in Colorado skiing. It will really break things up.

In late Feb or early March head to The Bahamas when things have warmed up and the winter winds have died down. We use Great Harbor Cay as a base as it's a great community with good air service. Perhaps a month at GHC and then cruising for a month. Have some friends or family visit for a week or two (you have no idea how many friends you have until you have a boat in the Bahamas). Stay until early May and then return to your summer storage point.

By mixing a month at a marina that has good monthly rates with some anchoring out in between, this really isn't that expensive.

[mvweebles]

I've had a summer cabin in the mountains outside Colorado Springs since 1990. Our retirement plan is mid May through mid October in Colorado. Rest of the year in a base-camp for the boat in Floridas gulf coast. Cruising trips to Bahamas, Rio Dulce, Central America, and perhaps Great Loop. There is also some decent cruising along the Florida gulf coast. We enjoy dawdling. Destination is less important than the journey.