marina question

[Pavel989]

ey, my dad and i want to buy a sailboat to have some fun with, specially for the summer. but niether of us have any idea as to where we can keep it. we live in bucks county, PA (suburb of Philly, we're near the jersey shore, bout and hour by car. and we dont know of any good marinas and their prices, any advice?

[Pblais]

It sort of depends on where you want to sail. If you choose a location then that is where all your trips begin from and day trips limit how far you can get away from port. The Jersey Shore may afford the best place for sailing but you'll need a shallow draft boat. The Chesapeake is close and could be considered great. Delaware is perhaps the very place you would want from a tax point of view but the Delaware River isn't the most hospitable place to sail. Swift current and heavy commercial traffic does make it more of a challenge.

New Jersey Marinas, Boating Services, Dealers, Fishing Reports, Waterfront Restaurants

Will show you who is where by county and what they have. Rates are probably something you need to talk to each marina about. The details can get a bit more complex as far as extra costs and services. It would help to know more about what boat you plan to get but perhaps getting ideas what it will costs to keep it isn't a bad exercise either.

I would look closely at the time it takes to get to and from the boat and the other things you might do there. Would you stay overnight on the boat or just do day sails and come home? All this is to get closer to what you'll do there when not on the boat.

There really are an unlimited ways you can enjoy a boat but it needs to come together as a one package of fun. It should include the ability to do different things too as doing the same day sail 60 times can take away much of the initial excitement. Racing and Cruising are other ways to enjoy a boat and of course we all here just love Cruising though some do race as well.

Pick the marina that offers the services and facilities you know you'll want to use. Cheap facilities have less to offer than the more pricey ones. I think it would be a great idea to take a drive and stop and see a few. Find a place you'll want to be at. Once the drive starts getting too long you'll need to turn around and re look at some places. Rates do fluctuate by location and time of the year and length of the contract.