http://www.forkandbottle.com/books/c...#chcompanionWe moved from Austin, TX to Oriental ("The Sailing Capital of North Carolina) over the last two years, and have been full-time since the spring.
Positives:
- Great community of sailors: competitive but everyone wants everyone else to get better
- relaxed, 900 permanent residents, there are two stoplights in the entire county
- sailing on the Neuse River/Pamlico Sound is a lot of fun, and runs from April through December. Two good
boatyards in town, about 8 boats per permanent resident. (Do the math. If you're in North Carolina, this is a great place to keep your boat.) Active
racing community.
- lots of live
music for a town this size
- Lots of places to
cruise to from here,
ICW goes right by on it's way to
Morehead City and
Beaufort.
- Real estate is super reasonable for waterfront property.
Cautions:
- we are still working, but both in jobs we can do from our home offices. Not a lot of industry here
- we waited until our
kids were off to college
- if you want symphonies/ethnic restaurants/opera/real theater, Raleigh/Durham is two hours away
- It's not as hot as Austin, or as humid as Houston, but it is more humid than we expected (July-August)
- Yes, storms come through here -- trees shelter us from the
wind but a long-lingering storm to the East can raise water levels along the Neuse dramatically. Most houses are up 9+ feet for a reason. The standing examples were named Irene and Isabelle. Worry about it every five years or so.
It all depends what you're looking for, but we love it!
John
p.s. I initially wanted to move to Bellingham or the San Juans, but my wife couldn't stand the
weather. Our concerns with Houston/Clear Lake (where I have family) were that it was a day's cruise from the Gulf, and where do you sail to from there besides Galveston?
p.p.s. I believe in global warming, but I don't think it's going to drive us out of here in my lifetime.