Best U.S. City for Sailing on a Budget

[atoll]

pago pago is pretty good if ya don't mind the smell of fish..................

[Cheechako]

I wouldnt give up on the job market too easy.... although I dont know your major. My grandson got a good job in one interview 6 months ago after graduation....

[Southcoasting]

Wife and I just moved to Fairhaven, MA and have to say, this area here, with the exception of some towns (Marion, Mattapoisett, Westport) has pretty affordable living costs...

Since you are looking at cities, I would have to say New Bedford. Property is super cheap for New England standards, in fact even compared to North Carolina where we last lived...

Here you are 1 hour from Boston, 30 minutes from Providence, 30 minutes from Newport...

You will have access to all the great sailing grounds this area has to offer including Buzzards Bay, Cuttyhunk, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Narragansett Bay, Newport, Bock Island, Long Island, etc...If you get bored, Conneticut, New York, and Maine are not far off the sailing grounds...

Also, keeping a boat on a mooring is generally, pretty cheap with mooring rentals in this area starting as low as $25 a foot...If you get your own mooring through my town (paying upfront moor equipment costs of course), Fairhaven, you pay $30 a year for the mooring permit and $50 for the year to store the dinghy on the town provided dinghy racks.

Dock space is a bit more with fees starting around $70 a foot and up to $95...

[sailcruiser]

Originally Posted by Southcoasting

Wife and I just moved to Fairhaven, MA and have to say, this area here, with the exception of some towns (Marion, Mattapoisett, Westport) has pretty affordable living costs...

Since you are looking at cities, I would have to say New Bedford. Property is super cheap for New England standards, in fact even compared to North Carolina where we last lived...

Here you are 1 hour from Boston, 30 minutes from Providence, 30 minutes from Newport...

You will have access to all the great sailing grounds this area has to offer including Buzzards Bay, Cuttyhunk, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Narragansett Bay, Newport, Bock Island, Long Island, etc...If you get bored, Conneticut, New York, and Maine are not far off the sailing grounds...

Also, keeping a boat on a mooring is generally, pretty cheap with mooring rentals in this area starting as low as $25 a foot...If you get your own mooring through my town (paying upfront moor equipment costs of course), Fairhaven, you pay $30 a year for the mooring permit and $50 for the year to store the dinghy on the town provided dinghy racks.

Dock space is a bit more with fees starting around $70 a foot and up to $95...

Southcoasting, are those fees monthly or annually? SC

[Southcoasting]

Originally Posted by sailcruiser

Southcoasting, are those fees monthly or annually? SC

Annual fees (Seasonal pretty much since it is New England afterall and we have seasons)

[wristwister]

Seattle. Why?

Great cruising grounds
Active race scene
Lots of moorage, can be had cheap
Huge selection of cheap boats
Real easy place to hitch rides on OPBs
Decent job market
Ralatively affordable housing
Year round sailing
Mostest Awesomest place on earth

[Compass Rose]

I'm biased since I live there, but I say Seattle. The climate is moderate (you can live aboard in winter without freezing to death), summers are glorious beyond words, moorage is MUCH cheaper than in California, there are countless incredible cruising destinations, the job market is better than in many U.S. cities, it has a big sailing culture and it's a super cool city with great music, excellent restaurants and bars, mountains nearby and tons to do.

[Capt.Fred]

Cruising Forum
The best place for a sailor to live and sail: Catch your own sea food including shrimp.

The general consensus of the length of the U.S. Coast is 12,383 miles. NOAA has it at 88,112 miles. No matter, I’m talking 35 unique miles of Gulf beaches plus many more miles of beaches in the deep sandy coastal bays and bayous. I’m talking all pure white quartz sand that squeaks when dry, No rocks at all and no muddy bottoms. All year sailing, with no putting your boat away or freezing your butt off in the summer.

The cool breezes from the Gulf come in every afternoon and there’s no rocks at all, (It’s located at the southerly end of the ground up quartz mountains on the Appalachian Chain). It is one of the oldest land masses in the U.S., (Florida is coral and was under water. North of this Coast was covered with ice in the last ice age and west of here is old Mississippi mud). Most of the flora and fauna migrated back North from this location, (this area has the most diversity of flora and fauna).

The sweet clean fresh water table is 17’ below my 85’ elevation 20 acres located 7 short miles north of the tourist condos on the beach, (Billions of gallons of fresh water rushes south underground into the Gulf every day). New Orleans is a couple hours drive to the West and Florida and Pensacola is 7 miles and 12 miles respectively to the East, (Real estate taxes are very low and beautiful land is still reasonably priced).

Food is taxed at 10%, Nearby Florida real estate taxes are very high with no taxes on food.

Anchor anywhere with no hassle, (just don’t be a nuisance or that will change).

Jump off to the Western undeveloped Caribbean, (Pick that free fruit from the hundreds of tiny uninhabited islets).

How much more should I go on…? I’ve lived in the crowded expensive North East Coast for 25 years, lived and sailed the freezing Pacific Coast for 25 year and I’m now located at Lat. 30deg 24.65’ N & Lon. 87deg 32.99’ W for 28 years and have never looked back….

I’m 78; I single-hand sail and swim from my Rob Roy 23 most every day…..Happy days my friends…. Capt. Fred A. Saas www.biophilia.net

[Kettlewell]

Capt. Fred sounds happy with his spot, but I don't think hurricane season there is any picnic. Plus, Alabama is not for me!

My own two cents is that you have to decide where you want to live first, then figure out how you're going to go sailing there. Sailing is never cheap, but if you wish to crew on other people's boats you mainly have to look for areas with very active racing fleets--most cruisers don't regularly take out crew, while every racer I've ever known is always looking for crew.

On the East Coast that would mean Annapolis as #1, with maybe Newport as #2, but both are very expensive places to live in terms of housing, taxes, and other costs.

I've had the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time on the water in every state on the East Coast and I don't think you can beat Florida for overall cost of living--low taxes, low boating costs for things like dockage and equipment, but as always if the cost of living is low so is the pay in whatever job you get. There are possibilities in Florida of hooking up with folks doing deliveries just about anywhere in the world, possibly providing free sailing experience offshore. There are lots of boats based there too.

[belizesailor]

I have not lived in the US for some time, but the Gulf Coast states have historically been pretty reasonable. Anywhere from Texas to Florida you can find reasonable dockage and lots of sailing opportunities.

Texas coast check out Galveston, Corpus Christi, Kemah, Port Aransas...

Louisiana: New Orleans...lake Pontchartrain is large and a good place to sail and has Gulf access through the Rigolets. I raced there a year after Katrina and it was still a mess, but maybe cleaned up by now.

Mississippi: Not widely known, but the Mississippi Sound is quite a good cruising ground. Much has changed I expect since Katrina and BP, but probably on the mend too. Check out Biloxi, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis... Several very active yacht clubs along the Sound.

Alabama: the Mobile Bay area has lots of possibilities....a very big bay with easy Gulf access. And easy access via the ICW to either Mississippi Sound or Pensacola.

Florida: Pensacola is a great spot for sailing with a large protected bay and easy Gulf access. Tarpon Springs: I used to keep my boat here, historic Greek community w/ great food, a scenic putt down the river gets you to Florida's west Gulf coast...a great cruising ground. Tampa Bay/St. Pete: the more popular marinas will be relatively expensive, but still cheaper than the US West Coast. South from Tampa Bay: many, many interesting possibilities....

[prof_mariner]

Except for 3 or 4 months out of the year and the occasional hurricane that will swing by come September/October, I've been very impressed with North Carolina. We're right on the ICW and only a half an hour's sail to the ocean from where we live. There are a couple of wide sounds just to the NE of us that are plenty big for a daysail if you want to stay in protected waters. Not many live-a-boards here though. Last night it dipped into the 20's, which is just downright cold.

[Mimsy]

Annapolis is pretty spendy. Corpus has better sailing than Houston but Houston has a lot more in the way of job opportunities. Mobile is also a good area, though not as strong on the job front as Houston.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Hunter

hey forum,
I will be wrapping up my college career this spring and, like most of my peers, can not realistically anticipate making any real money for at least the next decade.... So riddleme this? What is the best U.S. cityto livein forsailing on a budget? Opportunities for paid and, of course, unpaid crew positions, formal ASAor ussailing training, length of sailing season, open sailing community in general, and cheap housing, public transit, are all considerations. I'm interested to know your opinions! Thanks.

do yo plan to stay in Michigan? We are in Muskegon. its not bad cost-wise but the water gets darn hard in the winter. I contemplated indoor heated storage and live aboard but the admiral nixed that one. Low rent, no taxes, no sewer, no water, no heat bill.