Favourite places to live on the hook

[SY Kelpie]

We're two or three years away from setting off on our liveaboard adventure, and starting to get quite excited at possible destinations and itineraries.

As our budget will probably be quite tight we hope to spend most of our time living on the hook. But I am aware that there are areas of the world where this simply isn't possible, due to lack of natural harbours, or anchoring fees, congestion caused by moorings, etc.

Our home cruising ground is the wonderful west coast of Scotland. Abundant islands, inlets, anchorages; stunning scenery; shelter and good holding to be found never more than half a day's sail away. I won't mention the weather- nowhere is perfect!

Given that this is the sort of cruising that we are used to, what other parts of the world should we be getting excited about? I know it's a very open question but it would be great to compile a rough list of places/areas where it's feasible to live on the hook.

Thanks in advance

[Macblaze]

Well if you are starting in Scotland, it's a bit of a leap but...we spent a year in the PNW (west coast of Canada) although we did chicken out and spend most of the winter in a marina. But it is just like you described Scotland (which I now want to visit by boat).

Winter is perfectly doable with a good heater and some patience...we did a lot of weekend cruises throughout the winter months.

It's funny, people are always saying that it's too cold. We've not sailed the tropics yet, but I think I would rather not be too hot...I may change my tune if we ever do make it to the Caribbean. One thing to consider, when we were doing our research for our trip we found very few places in the world that didn't have an off season. Cold, hurricanes, winter storms...there was always something. It was one of the reasons we chose to stick with the beauty of the PNW.

[john61ct]

Northwest passage in September 8-)

[Mike OReilly]

Newfoundland.

[kenbo]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Newfoundland.

What Mike said +1

[hpeer]

Aw come on you guys, even I don’t do winter there, and I have lived aboard frozen in before. Burrr!

We have spent the last two winters between the Bahamas and the Carribean. We spend the vast majority of time “on the hook.” The difficulty in this is hurricane season. Safe anchorages are of short supply.

Luperon in the Dominica Republic. We like that a lot, very inexpensive.

Rio Dulce in Guatemala, big live aboard community, lots of services. But it’s sorta down a wind hole, takes some determination to get out of there.

Grenada and South are pretty storm free. Maybe you spend the hurricane season between Grenada, Trinidad, Ghana for the truly adventurous, ABCs, then Cartagena, Columbia before bashing back up to the leewards and restarting the cycle?

[Seymore]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

It's funny, people are always saying that it's too cold. We've not sailed the tropics yet, but I think I would rather not be too hot....

Hear! Hear!

You can always dress up for the cold, but you can't get away from the heat.

[SY Kelpie]

Colder climates are certainly of interest- cold can be dealt with, not so much six months of driving rain and gales...

I'm not thinking about a single location in which to be based, more a rough list of places that I could work my way through over the course of a few years. Carribbean is obviously on the list although I'm sure some places are better than others.

[44'cruisingcat]

East coast of Australia, no need to go into marinas at all. It's been well over a year since we did, and that was because my dad was sick and we needed to leave the boat.

You can travel north and south with the seasons, and maintain pretty much any temp that suits.

[SY Kelpie]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

East coast of Australia, no need to go into marinas at all. It's been well over a year since we did, and that was because my dad was sick and we needed to leave the boat.

You can travel north and south with the seasons, and maintain pretty much any temp that suits.

Nice! I think my max visa would be 6 months but I might be able to hop over to NZ and/or Pacific Islands...

[conachair]

Originally Posted by SY Kelpie

Given that this is the sort of cruising that we are used to, what other parts of the world should we be getting excited about? I know it's a very open question but it would be great to compile a rough list of places/areas where it's feasible to live on the hook.

Brittany has many dotted around, great place to spend a while exploring. Then after Biscay the Rias in Galicia should keep you busy for a while. Then a few dotted along the Algarve, some cruisers live in Culatra and around the faro lagoon over the summer then go up the Rio Guadiana to spend winter on the hook. Not so many anchorages in the Canaries but a few dotted around, then across the pond it's on the hook all the time for most
A lot of cruisers just never go into marinas.


Wintering up the Guadiana - November >

[Sailormantx]

There are many interesting places, pick whether you want to be warm or cold. Keep in mind that outside of you native country with a few exceptions you can only visit for 90 days as a tourist. Some countries allow visa runs to neighboring countries to reset the clock, others are pretty strict.
Exploring up rivers is endlessly fascinating and offers complete protection from the ocean. Some of my favorite places to visit and anchor in no particular order: Newfoundland, Senegal and The Gambia, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Canaries. Enroute to check out the Rio Gaudiana now, can't comment on that yet.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Sailormantx

Enroute to check out the Rio Gaudiana now, can't comment on that yet.

Too late!! The music festival was last weekend

[hpeer]

You guys are making me jealous. This is a great thread. I may make an Atlantic circuit yet.

I love Newfoundland, great sailing, by all accounts some of the best in the world. And as an added bonus you get St Pierre/ Miquelon thrown in.

And yes you can acclimate to the heat. My marina in Delaware was a stop on the great circle route. It was funny to hear folks coming up from the Bahamas complain about the Delaware heat as compared to the Bahamas.

Being a lucky sod we have two boats, one in Newfoundland, and are now in the Carribean. It’s a though life, but I’m surviving.

[Cherod]

i think it is quite a long way from ( our native ) Scotland to some of these exotic places mentioned and you may have to find some ( many ) places to drop the hook before you are even anywhere near them !! ,, however in a more practical level there are a few crews who have left the UK shores and made their way down to the Med mooring over in some very nice places along the way,, crews like Kittywake , Bora Bora , Knots Viking etc have YT channels and give some very sensible and relevant advice / start rather than focusing on the other side of the world.. enjoy ,, btw., what type of boat are you using ? . R