Great plans but not sure you can get all your criteria in one location. Some places have some things but not the other.
A general overview of your preferences.
-
New England.
PROS. Great cruising grounds. Hard to beat. Lots and lots of places to go and see. Can
cruise for years and not run out of places.
CONS:
Weather. Short season, usually no more than six months. NOT
CHEAP. If you're looking for a marina unless you end up in the far north boondocks of main or some other very out of the way place. If you can live with a
mooring and
dinghy or
water taxi to the
boat you can get by for a lot less but a lot of the more popular areas have a waiting list for moorings.
- South CA.
PROS: Great
weather, good sailing
CONS: Limited cruising, basically south to
Mexico or off to
Catalina or the other 3-4 nearby islands. EXPENSIVE and limited marina space.
North CA
PROS: Great weather, good sailing (although can blow like stink at times)
CONS: Cruising OK.
SF Bay and the CA
Delta have a lot to see but
offshore again limited options. Generally expensive but cheaper slips can be found in the outskirts or up the
Delta.
Chesapeake:
PROS: Good cruising, Not expensive.
CONS: Somewhat limited season.
FL East coast.
PROS: SE you have the Keys and
Bahamas. All east coast FL pretty much year round sailing. NE FL affordable
CONS: NE cruising limited to up and down the the coast but south FL isn't that far. SE FL very expensive.
FL
West coast.
PROS: Reasonable cruising options. Year round sailing. Most areas are affordable.
CONS: Can be hot, hot hot in the summertime. Some areas very expensive. Cruising is OK but not the best. Lots of shallow areas.
PNW: Good cruising but lots of the year it can be cool and damp.