Good Location Near Richmond?

[flagorio]

We are at York River Yacht Haven in Gloucester Point across the river from Yorktown and east of the bridge. We bike to shopping, restaurant on site, pool, small West Marine, but large Ace with marine section nearby. Easy access by car to Hampton, etc. they also have a yard and lifts. There is one liveaboard who has been here. 20 years. Others only a few months. It seems cheap.
Our friends are in Deltaville but do check around if you go up there, some marina owners are nut cases especially if you are exposed to them over a long period of time.

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by capt-couillon

Check Powells in Deltaville. I have been living aboard here for about 6 months while I refit to head south. Quiet, well protected, very small at the head of Jackson creek. Lg West Marine close by, lots of riggers, mechs, and a good sail loft as well. Great owner, docks and shower house rebuilt last year. 8-10' water at low tide, close access to the Bay, no bridge or power line issues.

Re: Cellphone coverage. In Deltaville, Verizon is the only 24/7 reliable coverage. Don't know why, but all the rest are flakey most of the time. Richmond (downtown) 1hr 20 min (71 miles).

David

Thanks - that's a bit of a deal killer for us (the cell phone coverage). I want to have my phone work & I've been w/AT&T for a long time, have unlimited data, etc. the AT&T map shows ok coverage but real life experience beats the map every time!

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by saltwaters wife

Hi Jen:
We can check out Doziers to see how well AT&T works. No problem. Possibly this weekend if that's okay? I have been pet sitting for seven years now. Had to cut back on some of my clients. Can't seem to find good help and would have loved to been able to hire one full time person. But, no in the cards I guess. Not right now anyway. What is it that you and your husband do for a home business? It is possible you already said but sorry I have forgotten.

Hi - thanks for checking out the cell coverage - obviously this weekend is fine . My business is virtual - I help people develop either a side income or a career replacing income (with benefits) while they segue out of their current career.

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by flagorio

We are at York River Yacht Haven in Gloucester Point across the river from Yorktown and east of the bridge. We bike to shopping, restaurant on site, pool, small West Marine, but large Ace with marine section nearby. Easy access by car to Hampton, etc. they also have a yard and lifts. There is one liveaboard who has been here. 20 years. Others only a few months. It seems cheap.
Our friends are in Deltaville but do check around if you go up there, some marina owners are nut cases especially if you are exposed to them over a long period of time.

Thanks! How's the cell coverage? I would prefer a non-urban setting but it sounds like your place might be close to things but not having subs and aircraft carriers going by in the middle of the night lol (my major concern with Portsmouth). Other details: showers & laundry on site? When you say cheap, approximate rates? I'll look on the web site - sure they are there. Thanks for the input!

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by Suijin

I'm going to suggest that if you're refitting a 76' wooden boat that you'd be better off in Deltaville. A bit bigger, more chandleries, more techs and service companies, etc.

I think Shroeder's Yacht Systems has a yard in both Urbanna and Deltaville, but not sure if the location in Urbanna is just an office. They have a full yard, showers, laundry, wifi, you can live aboard even while your boat is hauled, if necessary, and they are ok with DIY work and will even just supervise or give advice. Other place I would check out is Chesapeake Boat Works in Deltaville. Gets high marks from some folks here.

I don't know a person who has stopped in Deltaville or stayed longer to get work done who was not happy with the experience.

Whoa! Not a 76' wooden boat lol!! She's a 76 year old 50' ketch . Most of the work is done - we re fastened, replaced about 30% of the planking, I reefed out & re-caulked the deck. In another year or so we will rebuild the rudder & rudder post but right now we're just looking for a fairly mild climate and a quiet spot so that she can stay in the water and really swell up again . I want reliable cell coverage - have AT&T so that seem to be a bit of a factor but it just may mean we need to be closer to Norfolk & the rest of those cities. Thanks for the input. Deltaville sounds lovely if my phone would work there!

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by CaptFrankM

I agree that Shroeder's is an awesome yard. They just did a massive paint job on my boat and it literally looks better than new (www.svrockhopper.com). However, this was the Shroeder's group in Urbanna, not Deltaville. Jeff does have an office there, but Conway is on-site everyday, as are Frank, Frankie, Nelson and the rest of the guys. These guys do amazing work.

As above, full yard, showers - no laundry - wifi. Not sure about living aboard while in the yard. I know people who stay aboard many nights, but I knew I wanted to be off the boat while we worked on it, so I never asked about it.

Everyone we've spoken with via phone has been super-nice. Just need to sort out cell coverage. Urbanna looks like it is better on AT&T's map, but I'm a bit suspect of those maps

[flagorio]

Showers are great. It's in the pool house and the entire second floor of the bathhouse is a large community room with kitchen and bar. There is a large TV up there and most evenings folks gather for evening libation. There is also Internet access. And there is a ships chandlery on site. It's a little removed and yet it's close, it's certainly quiet at night. In addition there's the bar and restaurant which is pretty good and has free breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. Cell coverage is good because you're right across the water from Yorktown. And it's a great hurricane Hole because it's well protected

[Viturina]

Sounds pretty nice I will call them shortly - have a full plate tomorrow doing the final move out stuff from the house we were renting while we did the refit. Any idea how the AT&T coverage is? Are you on Verizon?

[CaptFrankM]

I went by Dozier's Urbanna and Urbanna Yachting Center this morning. In both locations, my iPad was showing three out of five bars for AT&T cellular service.

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by CaptFrankM

I went by Dozier's Urbanna and Urbanna Yachting Center this morning. In both locations, my iPad was showing three out of five bars for AT&T cellular service.

Capt Frank - you're the best! Thank you SO much for checking that out for me

[CaptFrankM]

Happy to help.

By the way, just a couple of random comments.

Salt Ponds is really nice, good community and great location right off the bay. However, they did have a waiting list for long-term slips. We have been on the list for three or four years now. We aren't ready to move all the way down there, so every time we make it to the top, we have them roll us back to the bottom. We get a call every six months or so.

York River Yacht Haven is also really nice and I know they used to allow liveaboards, since we knew some people who did. Also, they have floating docks and one of the best ship's store I have seen. Gloucester Point is a good mid-sized community and there are more amenities than in Delataville or Urbanna.

Last but not least - particulalry if you are living aboard - every marina that I know of in this area cuts off their dock water in the winter time. You have to fill your on-board tanks and, if they get low, you have to jerry jug in more. I am not saying that this is the case in ALL marinas down here, but is the case in every one that I am familar with. Make sure you check with the marinas you like to see what their policy is.

[WebWench]

Do a lookup of marinas on Active Captain - it will give you much information. I also think York River Yacht Haven might be a good place because with a car you can get to almost anything there. They do allow live aboards but I belive they charge a bit extra each month for that privilege.
Doziers has the two marinas and they are both nice. Another nice place is Chesapeake Yacht Basin in Kilmarnock (sp?)
All of these have laundry on site.

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by CaptFrankM

Happy to help.

By the way, just a couple of random comments.

Salt Ponds is really nice, good community and great location right off the bay. However, they did have a waiting list for long-term slips. We have been on the list for three or four years now. We aren't ready to move all the way down there, so every time we make it to the top, we have them roll us back to the bottom. We get a call every six months or so.

York River Yacht Haven is also really nice and I know they used to allow liveaboards, since we knew some people who did. Also, they have floating docks and one of the best ship's store I have seen. Gloucester Point is a good mid-sized community and there are more amenities than in Delataville or Urbanna.

Last but not least - particulalry if you are living aboard - every marina that I know of in this area cuts off their dock water in the winter time. You have to fill your on-board tanks and, if they get low, you have to jerry jug in more. I am not saying that this is the case in ALL marinas down here, but is the case in every one that I am familar with. Make sure you check with the marinas you like to see what their policy is.

Wow - the things you don't think of! I'm sure they shut off water but never gave that a though (can you tell I'm new to this?). I will ask as we go. I kind of like the idea if being in Gloucester Point, from the standpoint of proximity to some fairly substantial communities (fun for me vis a vis our business). I'll keep researching & please feel free to share any more random thoughts

[Viturina]

Originally Posted by WebWench

Do a lookup of marinas on Active Captain - it will give you much information. I also think York River Yacht Haven might be a good place because with a car you can get to almost anything there. They do allow live aboards but I belive they charge a bit extra each month for that privilege.
Doziers has the two marinas and they are both nice. Another nice place is Chesapeake Yacht Basin in Kilmarnock (sp?)
All of these have laundry on site.

Ok so you're the second person to recommend Active Captain so I need to scope that out. I just don't have wifi right now (on a mooring and relying on AT&T even though there is supposedly wifi throughout the harbor). So it is a bit harder to cruise around certain web sites on the phone. But I'll give it a try and I've never heard of kilmarnock (or whatever the town was!). Lots of exploring left to do!

[WebWench]

Active captain is free for your computer....but it requires flash, so it won't work on the ipad or iphone unless you download an app that includes it. Works great on my computer and shows you all the marinas and ancorages plus provides reviews and phone numbers, depths, issues etc.