Best year-round sailing in the USA?

[dduresky]

Biscayne Bay, Miami FL, great weather year round, amazing places to sail to, great racing events, I will have to admit that it is not "challenging" sailing in that the conditions ate pretty mild, typically 10-15 kts of wind, and a chop on the bay. Sailed there for 14 years,

[Racer86]

Another vote for San Francisco Bay. Conditions will allow you to learn how to sail in 20-30 knots of daily wind, plus learning to deal with tides and the current they produce. Plus when you are ready, offshore of SF, you can and will be in heavy conditions with ocean swell 15-25 feet at times with that ever present wind. You will find out a lot about your boat and yourself.
I did not know what 30 years of sailing in San Francisco Bay taught me until we starting cruising in different area's of the world. Seems it prepared us for most challenges we have encountered.

[Dartanyon]

I can't believe we've gotten to page 2 of replys and no one has mentioned Seattle or Vancouver BC!

I certainly vote Puget Sound. Sailing all year, racing too. Can be hugely expensive if you want to live in the city, but head west to the Peninsula, and it gets very affordable. Just to the north we have some of the most famed cruising grounds on the planet, great for weekend jaunts or multi week trips (since you're not in cruising mode yet). The anchorages are all nearly empty in the winter months. Sure it's a bit damp in the winter, but there is wind and it will make you appreciate the sub-tropics all that much more when you get there. Not to mention, people are just plain nice here.

[Jhowell5558]

Florida upper gulf coast
Destin, Ft Walton Beach, Niceville
Referred to as the Redneck Riviera
Choctahatchee Bay is the size of SF Bay - any mast under 50'
get's you out to the gulf
No state income tax
Enough tourism to keep the economy healthy
Very reasonable property taxes

Came her 30 years ago - still here -

[CHRIS V CLEMENT]

Schmidla - You may want to look at the Clear Lake area in Texas. It is a bedroom community southeast of Houston. There are three Yacht clubs, Houston Yacht Club, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, and Lakewood Yacht Club that sail both in Clear Lake and Galveston Bay. You may want to visit all of them and see which of their many programs fit your budget and sailing aspirations.


I live in New Orleans and have been a lifelong sailor on Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico from Padre Island, Texas to Key West, Florida. There is still a fleet of Ensigns in New Orleans, but J-22 and Rhodes 19 are more popular for racing and day sailing here.


Sailing is a year round pastime anywhere on the Gulf of Mexico coast of the United States, and the cost of living is very reasonable in most locations.


Good luck and good sailing.

[MB750]

Noob here, but I can shine some light on your situation. Back in 2015 I moved from Sheboygan to San Diego. I worked at Kohler, now I work for a distributor. I can tell you my rent tripled to live in a northern burb of SD and my income barely moved at all. I got a small raise, but only because of the inherent promotion. The wife's transition was lateral. Also, slip fees are north of $500/mo. If you want cheaper rent, you'll be 30 miles away from the ocean.

Can't vouch for the sailing though, that's coming up next month as I'm signed up for some Keelboat lessons at Mission Bay Aquatic Center.

[Hoosiersailor]

Oriental NC. You can sail year round. Winter will be cold but at least the Pamlico and ocean won't freeze like the lakes do here in the midwest. Plenty of places to explore and visit that can be reached in a few hours or you can spend days/weeks. Plenty of protected water to hone your skills and open water when you want more challenge. And a great sailing atmosphere.

[frantzjoe]

I disagree about Southern California. In the fall through spring we sail out of Ventura. My wife has no interest in daysailing so we sail to Santa Cruz Island and occasionally to Santa Rosa, Anacapa or San Miguel. Several anchorages on Santa Cruz are within 2 1/2 hours, including Pelican, Prisoners, Potato Bay, Little Scorpion, Yellowbanks, Smuggler and Chinese. Further on are Coches Ptietos, Willows, Forneys, Fry's and Cueva Valdez. There are many more.

In the summer we head south for 2 or 3 months. We anchor in Dana Point harbor, Newport Harbor and Mission Bay, but mostly Catalina. On Catalina it is Emerald Bay, Howland's Little Geiger, Isthmus Cove, Cat Harbor, Little Harbor, White's, Hen Rock, Moonstone, Buttonshell and off of Avalon. There are many more. We never use moorings, only anchor. Sometimes it is challenging, for example; Isthmus Cove can be over55 feet deep. But Little Harbor is 18-25 feet.

We have other favorites such as Paradise Cove in Malibu.


Joe

[jrbogie]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Hopefully, your grandfather thought to put you on the waiting list for a marina berth... or has that situation changed since we left California?

Jim

only changed for the worst. you pay the city seventeen large just for a permint to buy a slip, no rentals available, which go from eighty grand to a quarter million. ventura on the other hand is fantastic with half the sailing distance to the channel islands compared to sb.

[Kia Ora]

No place to go in Southern California????? What about San Diego, Oceanside, Dana Point, Newport, Long Beach, San Pedro, King Harbor, Marina Del Rey, Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Channel Islands, Catalina.....

[gradyho]

Charleston SC most definitely. We have year round sailing, February and March can be somewhat chilly, but lots of wind. I berth in Pawleys Island, 60 miles North of Charleston for $125.00 a month, water and electricity included in a very weather protected marina. Hurricanes have never been a problem for me. A neighbor of mine, a young fella with his girlfriend, lives in the marina on a Westsail 32, he works via the internet. Another friend of mine who has a steel sailboat and usually is on the hook, he comes here about once a year to do repairs on his boat. He has an electric welder that he uses for repairs, no cost for the electricity, he usually stays for about 2 months. Last time he was here he welded up a whole new 75 pound anchor, LOL. For fun I sail between Charleston SC and Wilmington NC and sometimes out to the “Georgetown Hole” for fishing. The East coast is the place to be, you have the whole east coast as your oyster, plus the Caribbean, the Bahama's, Bermuda.......To hot for you down South in the summer? Head up to Maine for the summer, Maine has over 3,000 islands to explore. Just saying.......

[YachtBroker]

Texas has 300 miles of coastline and Houston/Galveston has the third largest concentration of boats in the US. With a 25-30 square mile bay to sail in and easy access offshore. 7000 slips in 5 square miles. This area also has one of the lowest costs of living housing wise and nice all floating finger piers on both sides marina slips are $11/ft a month. Those slips are $20/ft a month in Florida.

The water ain't Florida but it doesn't costs Florida rates to live there either and people are nice.

[Pizzazz]

I have sailed some of the so called cruising grounds in the US (LA, SF, Seattle, RI, the Virgin Islands) and some in Europe (the Bristol Channel & Greece).

If you want to just sail, San Francisco is the best place as it has strong consistent winds. The tide is strong though and you have to time your trips otherwise it gets tired real quick. You can't just wake up and sail, you have to plan. Seattle is may be the second best place but you do not get the same wave action that you get in the ocean around Pr. Conception and beyond.

So Cal is great and convenient sailing. Long coastline with a well developed boating industry. Easy to cruise and to get to a harbor when needed. Not much anchoring - you either sail or come back to a mooring or a marina. You need to get past the Channel Islands - Catalina line to get some decent winds. San Diego has very little wind.

The Northeast is cold in the winter and boating in the cold is not for everyone. The Virgin Islands, Greece are fantastic places if you do not have to work but then you may as well go the South Pacific.

The Bristol Channel is the other end of the spectrum. Frequent gale force winds, exposed to the ocean, 50 ft tidal range. Think about sailing there and then any of the above places will seem like heaven.

[EveningTide]

I've been sailing in Morro Bay California for 15 years. Some of our best sailing months are in the winter when the fog is gone and the sun shines. Our Yacht Club has an active ocean fleet for both racing and day-sailing. The ocean is always cool (cold!), often windy (20 knots) and rough- a good place to build your sailing skill. Not many nearby places to anchor but the Santa Barbara Channel is only 90 miles south with good cruising.

Rent is high but not as bad as the cities.

[buzzstar]

Upon rereading the OP, I believe anywhere from the Pacific Northwest to southern California, and many, many points in between would serve you needs. Even the "bad" days are days you can be out there and learn. Virtually all sea and weather conditions may occur, although snow and ice can mostly be ruled out the further south you venture, and most hurricanes are residuals only, and rare at that. Heavy weather sailing and light winds do occur with regularity, there are plenty of opportunities for navigation and seamanship challenges, but all season are readily doable. Read more, listen to the posters (not so much the nay saying out of country folks, except maybe the Cates) and decide for yourself. If you tire of the available scenery, then maybe it is time to head out to new places. That may be called cruising? Meanwhile, it is a great area to live and learn. Enjoy, whatever you decide and do.