Best town for sailors between Savannah, GA, and Georgia, FL

[CaptsWife]

I finally joined this forum, solely to answer this message.

We are Yankees and moved to Brunswick a little over two years ago. My husband retired and he wanted to start sailing again and I wanted to live near the ocean. Savannah was too pricey for us so we just looked at a map and decided to look in Darien and Brunswick (St. Simons is very nice, but again, too pricey). A friend of a friend's mother was a realtor in Jesup so I contacted her and gave her a list of houses that I wanted to look at. My husband had to stay home, but he put me on a plane and said don't come home 'til you've made an offer on a house. We live in a beautiful middle-class subdivision in Brunswick. Housing is unbelievably reasonable here.

We also heard about the bugs. Honestly, they are not that bad and we live on the marsh. Gnats come for about 2 weeks in spring (spring here is MUCH earlier than up north), then the deer flies come once it gets hotter. Then it gets too hot and there are no bugs, LOL. Mosquitos only come in the fall and the gnats do come back, again, for a couple of weeks. It is more than tolerable.

Day sailing is tough. We bought our slip in the Frederica Yacht Club which is right next to Morningstar Marina on St. Simons Island. You can sail in the harbor, but we like open ocean so we usually have to motor out the shipping channel which can take up to an hour depending on tides and winds. But we get many hours of sailing in outside that channel. Throw a line out and we've caught some nice yellow fin tuna, too. Lots of sailors, but very few actually take their boat out. Our marina was destroyed by Hermine (not Matthew) so we moved to Brunswick Landing marina which, as someone said, is very hospitable, but very, very far from the ocean. If we stayed there while our marina is being rebuilt, it would take 2 hours to get to open ocean so impossible to day sail. We are now at Morningstar Marina which actually is a tad cheaper than Brunswick Landing anyway.

We've had our boat at Rocky's at St. Marys to work on it several times. Great guy. It's the only marina in the area where you can work on your own boat.

Savannah is way too far from the ocean. Nice city and we visit often.

Brunswick/Darien/St. Simons/Jekyll Island area has plenty of excellent restaurants and the people are very welcoming. I love it here. The summers are brutal. Truly brutal. Hot, hot, hot. Super hot. And humid. But you get used to it. It's why everyone moves so slowly.

But honestly, knowing what I know now, I'd go to St. Augustine. Much closer to the open ocean and it's a great town! Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach are very nice, but the marina was destroyed with hurricane Matthew. Otherwise, that may have been a good choice, as well.

Stick with your plan and come down and see for yourself. Please feel free to send me an e-mail if you want to get in touch during your visit or have more questions. Good luck to you.

[vonchris7]

Lived in this neck of the woods for 25 years. Beautiful country and friendly people. Hit me up if you would like more detailed information on the ambiance.

[Lynn Odendahl]

I'll take "Gone native" as a compliment. I really do like it here as long as we get to Maine and Nantucket for the summer.

Most produce is inorganic now. Since the 90's more and more vegs and fruits and grain especially has become GMO. Hell. its not even real food anymore. And then livestock are fed this crap so you scout out farms who raise Grass-fed beef, pork and poultry in order to get actual nutrition and not just toxins and calories. I have a string of farmers up and down the East Coast that I buy from and either freeze or can the good stuff.

Also have discovered Thrive Market on the internet and they ship most of our non-perishables to the yard.

Sorry for the long soliquey but getting good food a in SE Ga is a constant challenge. The NE Pa and N. England are heaven for food. In Gloucester we walked from the dinghy dock to a Stop and Shop and thought we had gotten to good food heaven

[Madison]

Thanks so much. Our plan for this trip is to fly to Savannah, see Beaufort, then points South, ending around Ponte Vedra Beach and flying out of Jacksonville. Maybe too much for 11 days? Not too much distance so maybe it's doable.

Other two areas: Western FL, and Virginia to North Carolina.
Maybe the V to NC in June.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Savannah is well away from the Ocean, Thunderbolt is I guess the only Marina?

Thunderbolt is a town, a suburb of Savannah. There are several marinas in Thunderbolt and a few more and at least one yacht club nearby. There's also a marina in Isle of Hope, another Savannah suburb. Active Captain lists them all.

The Savannah River carries large ship traffic and south of the city, they go pretty fast and produce serious wakes.

To the OP: When I was considering retiring and moving, I picked a city and subscribed (by mail) to the local newspaper. It gave me a good insight into the area I was considering. Another thing I did was engage a real estate agent who sent me (by email) listings of homes in my price range that met my requirements.

I've been to several of the cities mentioned by boat but of course that's not the same as actually living there. And remember every town or city has its good sections and its "not so good" sections.

Being pretty much a "city boy" at heart, I would pick Jacksonville. You have a choice of the ICW or the St. Johns River for boating excursions.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Is that not the area where when going down the ICW they recommend going outside to avoid it..

Some folks do but we love it. Of course when we boat, it's the journey, not the destination that counts. If you're in a hurry to move the boat or if you have a six foot draft, you might want to consider avoiding it.

[bill352]

You don't say what kind of house/condo you're looking for, but Jax has a bunch of nice little neighborhoods and marinas near or on the St. Johns. Even Orange Park, which most people think of as a giant strip mall, has some funky little spots. And the river here is one to three miles wide and perfect for daysailing.

We live in the area, and are very pleased with it. Sometimes the hummingbirds and the ospreys interfere with our view of the manatees, but that's the price you pay.

Originally Posted by skipmac

I haven't been too impressed with the cuisine in Jacksonville,

Skip - Go have lunch at Bistro Aix (San Marco) and tell me what you think.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Moody46CC

Cast your net wider. IF restaurants are important, try Charleston and the surrounding region. Many superb restaurants. Within a 30 minute drive is kinda limiting, but try the marina on the Stono River (Buzzard's Roost) or the marina at the old navy yard on the Cooper. Georgetown, 45 minutes north, is much cheaper. Heading south are Beaufort (that's the one pronounced "Bufort") and Savannah.

Buzzard's Roost has been gone for close to ten years. The upstream side has been rebuilt as St. Johns Yacht Harbor and is pretty nice but the road over the creek caved in so apparently you have to walk a fair distance to the boats.

Charleston does have dozens of fine restaurants but they are downtown and a pretty good drive from St. Johns Yacht Harbor.

[Geek_Guy]

We are also transplants to the N FL area. I've found the locals are 99% wonderful. But as others have hinted at I usually find people treat others well that are treated well. There is a certain 'charm' in that Southern good ole boy thing.

As to the cuisine in JAX......that as well as many things in JAX have changed tremendously over the last 15 years. It does not have the charm that is in Savanna or Charleston. But there are many new interesting restaurants and shopping destinations.

If you have time visit some of the area South of JAX on the St Johns. There are very nice areas and the living expenses are very reasonable. Our marina is 6 dollars a foot. Housing is very reasonable with decent houses in the 200k range, and 300 - 400 will get you waterfront with dock. The day sailing is as good as you can find. The river is 3 miles across from just South of JAX for about 20 miles. Deep wide and beautiful. There are also lots of creeks and side lakes that are great fun.

Gators aren't a problem. We have been swimming with them (didn't know it at the time). We simply aren't on their food chain. Though yes they will take small pets if they are on the bank.

We love all of the area from Charleston to St Augustine. We visit Charleston, Savanna, and St Augustine several times a year. Fernandina is cute as a button.

On food in the area. Charleston is the best, Savanna is good, then a few clicks below is JAX and St Augustine. Fernandina has had some OK, but we find most there is below the options elsewhere in the area. Don't know why you would have to go to JAX for that much from Fernandina. Seems to have most anything you'd need as far as I can tell.

[Madison]

Sounds like we need to spend more time on the St. Johns. The sailing area sounds great. In nyc, we sailed in the harbor, members of a sailing club. Never got tired of it.

As for housing, we would prefer to live on the water, that is, not on the Atlantic ocean but maybe on the St. Johns. Or we can live in from the water, too. The first thing is to find an area to rent for 6 months or a year to try out.

Wish we had more than 11 days this trip!

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by skipmac

By the way, don't worry about the alligators, they find New Yorkers kind of tough and stringy and usually go for more tender fare. Seriously, it is rare they attack adults but pets and small children should be careful around the edge of the water, especially at dusk.

And June is the worst time of year. Mating season and they seem to get protective of their space..

[joecat22]

I see that several posts have suggested the west coast of Florida. That would great except for the tricky tides and constantly changing and uncharted shoals in all the passes. Not to mention the lightning capital of the world, alligators, sinkholes, non-stop traffic jams, noseeums, and lots of natives who dislike New Yorkers.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Lynn Odendahl

I'll take "Gone native" as a compliment. I really do like it here as long as we get to Maine and Nantucket for the summer.

Most produce is inorganic now. Since the 90's more and more vegs and fruits and grain especially has become GMO.

I'll try not to burst your bubble too much, but non GMO grains and vegetables are becoming non existent, try as you will, but your crops will become cross pollinated by your neighbors GMO ones.
Years ago there were lawsuits in the Midwest as people were keeping their own seed crops to plant next year and Monsanto I think took them to court and proved their seed crops had Monsanto genetics and were therefore Monsanto property. They were forced to destroy their seeds, I think.
I am pretty deep into food production, and know that unfortunately most organic food, isn't. its a marketing ploy.
For example I was in St. Vincent years ago repairing the only crop duster on the island. He sprays Bananas. St. Vincent is a little unusual as it is full of individual farmers that have little banana fields and he sprays for a CO-OP.
Most of the bananas are sold to Europe as "organic". I asked him how he could tell which were which, he just smiled. If its a Banana on St. Vincent, it gets sprayed. Which it has to, see all commercial bananas or almost all anyway are one type, the Cavendish and the Cavendish is particularity susceptible to a fungus called Black Cigotoa (sp), if you don't spray them all, very soon there will be none.


Yes, going Native was meant as a compliment, as I guess you are not the type to interrupt and tell them this isn't how we do it in New Jersey

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by joecat22

I see that several posts have suggested the west coast of Florida. That would great except for the tricky tides and constantly changing and uncharted shoals in all the passes. Not to mention the lightning capital of the world, alligators, sinkholes, non-stop traffic jams, noseeums, and lots of natives who dislike New Yorkers.

Having lived all over Florida since 1954 I have to disagree. The West Coast of Florida has much easier navigation than the East Coast if you are going to open water. The tides in the passes on the East Coast are far worse than those on the West Coast, and as a rule less crowded. As for all your other objections I see little difference on either coast, but do think you are exaggerating them.

The problem I see with your search is trying to find what I will call a getaway location for sailing where you can eat out in style and find night life. Part of the problem I have with sailing on either coast is too many boats, often power boats going too fast, especially on holidays. Getting away from the crowd on the water means getting away from good food and fun night life. I still think you should check out the Keys.

[Madison]

Thanks for your clarification about East and West coasts of Florida.

We are looking for a place to move to and would like a few good restaurants but night life is not important at all. I just don't want to cook every night and we enjoy great food. We also aren't expecting the level of cuisine one finds in nyc.

Finding a balance of some convenience but not crowded will be a challenge, I'm sure.