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jstevens · 31-05-2014, 07:56

Shawn,
As most of the posters have pointed out, the person giving you advice is being unnecessarily restrictive in directing you to avoid brokers and any boat not made of steel. Not that you shouldn't listen to this person if he/she has ocean crossing experience, but it does sound like you are getting as much prejudice as knowledge.
With regard to living aboard in the Pax River area. You may be surprised to learn that the area suffers from extreme gridlock during rush hours for those working at the NAS and living on the Solomons side of the river. The bridge across the river is only 2-lanes and usually comes to a complete stop for the evening commute. If there is an accident or a break down on the bridge or either side traffic can stop for over an hour. I know several people who work at the base and lived on the Solomons side. They gave up on the commute and moved to the St. Marys side of the river. Unfortunately there are not many marinas for live aboards on that side. There is a marina on the base, but it likely does not allow live aboards.
A plan to replace the bridge with a 4-lane one was being developed when I was last in the area (2012), but i'm sure that is at least a decade away from happening.

Good luck,
John

Edited to add: You may find some marinas on the Potomac (Smith Creek and Leonardtown areas) that allow liveaboards and provide a more convenient commute.

AndDavRos · 31-05-2014, 08:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by jstevens

Shawn,
As most of the posters have pointed out, the person giving you advice is being unnecessarily restrictive in directing you to avoid brokers and any boat not made of steel. Not that you shouldn't listen to this person if he/she has ocean crossing experience, but it does sound like you are getting as much prejudice as knowledge.
With regard to living aboard in the Pax River area. You may be surprised to learn that the area suffers from extreme gridlock during rush hours for those working at the NAS and living on the Solomons side of the river. The bridge across the river is only 2-lanes and usually comes to a complete stop for the evening commute. If there is an accident or a break down on the bridge or either side traffic can stop for over an hour. I know several people who work at the base and lived on the Solomons side. They gave up on the commute and moved to the St. Marys side of the river. Unfortunately there are not many marinas for live aboards on that side. There is a marina on the base, but it likely does not allow live aboards.
A plan to replace the bridge with a 4-lane one was being developed when I was last in the area (2012), but i'm sure that is at least a decade away from happening.

Good luck,
John

Edited to add: You may find some marinas on the Potomac (Smith Creek and Leonardtown areas) that allow liveaboards and provide a more convenient commute.

John,

Thanks for the gouge! I'll take a closer look at the Smith Creek area. St. Johns just looked really beautiful, but I can see how traffic would be an issue.

Thanks again,
-Shawn

Cacique · 03-06-2014, 16:35

Steel can be incredibly strong but I have seen a nice looking boat where the skin had corroded to paper thin, the owner had a nightmare working out which plates to replace.
By boat Cacique is a Vancouver 27 and GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic as we say in the UK) she circumnavigated 1990 to 1993 and previously crossed the Atlantic at least twice, her circumnavigating owner Rona House has now bought another Vancouver this time a 34 (still GRP) and is at present in New Zealand going around again, she obviously has confidence in GRP.
Your friend was lucky to end up on sand if he had hit rocks or coral it could be an entirely different story in any type of construction.
The principal thing with sailing is to keep the boat afloat and not touching the bottom, that way the hull should hopefully hold up.