Help! Need U.S. Warm Water Port

[drjoshua]

Mates:
Just sold my Tanzer 27 in San Carlos, MX - mostly b/c non-sailor wife hates driving to MX. Reside in Colorado (with my Coronado 15 - and said wife) and desperate for winter port for day sailing and, possibly, buying another boat.

Need suggestions - am looking at Florida or S. California. Very mush appreciate suggestions.

-Doc

[psk125]

SoCal daysailing might be OK, but Florida, especially the west coast, might be a lot more interesting in a smallish boat.

[Dennis.G]

Lived on a boat in San Diego, and no one there considers it a "warm" water port. Of course these things are relative. Keeping a boat in the water in Southern California is very expensive, and not a lot of places to sail to. Day sailing is OK. Even storing a trailer boat is not that easy however.

Fly to Virgin Islands or other warm water location and charter. I would think chartering made for you. Cheaper in the end than maintaining a boat far away.

BTW I am in San Carlos at the moment. Shorts and sandals.

[GrowleyMonster]

Kemah, TX has a huge community. Lots of inland sailing opportunities along the TX gulf coast. New Orleans is good. Most marinas in the area are on or very near Lake Pontchartrain, pretty much year round sailing, especially for a small boat drawing less than 6 feet. Great for day sailing. Lots of semi protected waters on the outside, too, and the open gulf is not so far away. Slips are pretty reasonable. Sometimes there is a long waiting list at Orleans Marina but South Shore has slips available for all sizes pretty much all the time. Then you got Bucktown and there is Seabrook, and also some marinas on the North Shore. There are always lots of ratty old boats for sale, too. You could pick up a cheapie to live on while you shop for your dream boat. New Orleans is just a short sail from Pensacola, Panama City, points south, etc. We got the world's best food, best music, and lotsa cultcha. You might also have a look at far south Texas... Port Isabel, South Padre, Port Mansfield, etc. Galveston is nice. Sort of like New Orleans Lite, except it is in Texas and they close down all the bars every night for some reason. Great Mexican food anywhere from Galveston on down.

[Lemsteraak]

California is expensive and it is difficult to find a place to dry store your boat. Maybe the Delta or Napa Valley?, but I wouldn't call that a warm water port. Florida might be a better choice as they have some nice places to dry store a boat like Indiantown. Relatively inexpensive but it is a harsh climate to store a boat. If you like water, Florida is great, otherwise it is like living in a dog's mouth.

[Tayana42]

It is 75* Fahrenheit and sunny in Long Beach, California today. Most surfers are wearing wetsuits though. For daysailing there are plenty of destinations. From here at around 5 knots it is 2 1/2 hours to Newport Beach, 4 hours to Dana point, 2 hours to Redondo Beach, 3 hours to Marina del Rey, 4 1/2 hours to Catalina ( Avalon, White’s, Isthmus, Emerald) and a few more hours around to Cat harbor. Also within a day each way are Oceanside, Paradise Cove near Malibu, Channel Islands, Ventura and even Santa Barbara or San Diego if you put in a long day. If the sea or weather are rough or you only have an hour you can stay inside the Long Beach/Los Angeles breakwater (at three miles long it creates one of the longest man made protected harbors) and have virtually lake sailing conditions. Southern California is not perfect but there is a reason so many people came here to live. May I say again, 75 and sunny, January 27.

All times mentioned above are approximate but close enough for you to get the idea.

[drjoshua]

Have looked at SoCal and Texas and, for various reasons and based on your and other comments, am focusing more on mid to southern FL gulf coast. Where exactly is now the Q. Cost of winter residence and boat storage rest of time is big concern. We plan eyes-on trip in March - Tampa/Clearwater to Key West. Thanks for responses and any ideas on above3.
-Doc