Need advice for starting sailing life/location

[Spartanacus]

Don't forget E Florida from Daytona to Sebastian on the Mosquito lagoon/Indian river lagoon. Lots of flat water and no crowds. Skip the ditch in SE Florida and go right on down to Miami and all the Keys.
Good non weekend anchoring at Sand Key and Elliot island. A quiet sail in Card sound's shallow clear water is relaxing as the Dolphins swim with you..

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[sinnerman]

Originally Posted by TMay

Hello all, first post, long time lurker.

Quick background: I grew up racing Catalina 25's and a Capri 15 in the PNW in the 80's and 90's. Mostly in the Columbia river with excursions to surrounding lakes and the San Juan Islands. Now a couple decades later I'm ready to get back into it and eventually get a boat of my own. However... I remember enough to at least know that boats come in all different kinds and are suited for different things with various pros and cons. So before I buy something, I want to crew on a bunch of different boats for a couple of years to get my skills up and hopefully be able to make a good first purchase. I'm going to be looking to move in a few months and need to figure out a good location, which is what I come to you for advice on. Here's what I want to do:

- Participate in club racing, preferably at least on a weekly basis
- Be able to experience a few different locations within a day or two drive
- Have access to sailing communities who are open to taking on crew members and where there will a variety of boats
- Setup roots in an area with an active sailing community with lots of cruising options, from East Coast to Bahamas and Carribean

I'm not interested in doing the PNW again, been there done that. Here's some locations I was looking at:

1. Chesapeake Bay area
2. Tampa Bay FL
3. Fort Myers FL
4. Jacksonville FL

Any thoughts on those places? Any obvious choices I missed? I didn't include Miami because I think it would just be too big for me. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks

I lived in Tampa Bay area. Good place for a shallow draft boat if you want to go beach hopping. Also, nice life on shore (St. Petersburg, Tampa, Clearwater etc.).

However if you want to sail the coast, Tampa Bay takes a while to get out to the ocean...

If you want to LEARN to sail I would go to Chesapeake Bay. Lots of place to stop with the boat. Great seafood. You can sail down the coast. Pretty miserable in winter however..

(Like Newport RI, nice in summer, horrific in winter..)

There is an excellent school there (Annapolis Sailing School) https://www.annapolissailing.com
ASA uses their navigation book as the Coastal Navigation text.

Another place I considered sailing (racing lessons) was San Francisco.
Always a lot of wind. Lots of fast, heart pounding sailing.
Used to be a racing club/school there (OCSC..?) but I could not find it anymore in the internet.
J-World is there...They have club sailing/racing...
https://sailing-jworld.com/san-francisco/

Cheers

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by TMay

Thanks all for the inputs.

I took a hard look at SW Florida. Would have been nice to be sailing out of St. Petersburg and be based in Lakeland. But as I looked into the housing/insurance/hurricane situation, I felt like it just wouldn't be sustainable to live there.

So now I'm looking at Chesapeake Bay. Annapolis would be cool of course, but is expensive. Looking hard at Virginia Beach - anyone have any experience with that area in particular?

Any racing club recommendations off the Virginia side of the Bay?
How bad are the crab pots and obstacles around there? Is it stressful trying to get around in the bay?

thanks

They race every Wednesday in the Bay just outside Little Creek. (Virginia Beach/Norfolk)

Then the Hampton Yacht Club has a full schedule of racing.

As far as trailering a boat to Florida if you live on the Chesapeake Bay my question would be why?

Why take the boat to Florida to sail.

Sail down there after you retire.

And btw, folks with boats on trailers simply don't sail as much as those at a marina.

I know since I had four beach cats on trailers.

Luckily for me in Tennessee and in Florida, I was able to find places to keep my boats assembled and parked near the water.

Little Creek Photos Chesapeake Bay

[JimJohnston]

Take a look at the Great Lakes (not yet mentioned) where there is a couple of thousand NMs of open water, islands, coves, bays, towns, marinas etc. And seldom the fear of hurricanes. Yes it can get cold in winter and the waters become very 'hard'. That's when you take a break and head south for a charter.

[TMay]

Originally Posted by Adelie

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

Thanks Adelie. I don't have a boat yet, and I'm trying to figure out the place, which is the point of this thread. I currently live far from any sailing, but I'm getting ready to relocate within a few months and would like to do so to place with a good sailing community. thanks

[TMay]

Originally Posted by sinnerman

I lived in Tampa Bay area. Good place for a shallow draft boat if you want to go beach hopping. Also, nice life on shore (St. Petersburg, Tampa, Clearwater etc.).

However if you want to sail the coast, Tampa Bay takes a while to get out to the ocean...

If you want to LEARN to sail I would go to Chesapeake Bay. Lots of place to stop with the boat. Great seafood. You can sail down the coast. Pretty miserable in winter however..

(Like Newport RI, nice in summer, horrific in winter..)

There is an excellent school there (Annapolis Sailing School) https://www.annapolissailing.com
ASA uses their navigation book as the Coastal Navigation text.

Another place I considered sailing (racing lessons) was San Francisco.
Always a lot of wind. Lots of fast, heart pounding sailing.
Used to be a racing club/school there (OCSC..?) but I could not find it anymore in the internet.
J-World is there...They have club sailing/racing...
https://sailing-jworld.com/san-francisco/

Cheers

Thanks. I think San Francisco would be too expensive. Definitely leaning towards Chesapeake Bay at the moment.