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View Poll Results: Is Texas good for Cruisng/Liveaboard?
What part of "Friendship" don't you get, son? 3 15.00%
You can all go to hell; I'm going to Texas 12 60.00%
Drive fast, let the Yankees freeze. 6 30.00%
Yes, it's great. 6 30.00%
Don't mess with Texas. 3 15.00%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 20. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 18-04-2021, 17:51   #46
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

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Originally Posted by Seymore View Post
What are the relevant politics like? That is, for example, does Texas or their DNR stick their fingers into anchoring along the ICW?

Do they have things like municipally controlled mooring fields?

Are they unreasonably concerned about anchored-out liveaboards and derelict vessels?
No, not like Florida, because there are way fewer long term anchored vessels in Texas...like almost none. Also unlike Florida, most of the ICW is pretty desolate so no one is likey to object to where you anchor. The ICW in Texas still carries quite a bit of commercial traffic, also unlike Florida.

I dont recall ever using a muni mooring field in Texas, or even seeing one. There are muni marinas though.
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Old 18-04-2021, 17:53   #47
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

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More responses to some of your questions.

Re New England. Yes, Texas in general is less expensive than NE. Another bonus is minimal tides/tidal currents/rocks...all of which NE has in abundance. But man, if you are used to cruising NE, then the TX coast will be a big disappointment. Ive had the pleasure of doing some sailing in NE (Maine, New Hampshire, Mass...). It is one of the best places on the planet to spend Summer...awesome! Texas by contrast is one of the worst places to spend Summer.

Texans are generally a friendly bunch whether you are a cruiser or not.

Re bays, yes, with a shaol draft boat you can explore the bays behind the barrier islands. It is not really very scenic: brown water, low lying sand/mud islands with scrubby growth, brownish mud/sand beaches, lots of debri on the unmaintained beaches (some of which is interesting: Ive found messages in bottles, televisions, NOAA current tracking devices, wrecked boats, huge oil field tanks...). There is however, since there is almost no human precense, quite a bit of wildlife. The big highlight is bird watching. These islands lie along major bird migration flyways so you can spot lots of species here. Ashore there are jack rabbits (impressive speed!, coyotes, etc. The water gets clearer and thus the bays & beaches prettier down toward S Padre Island.

A pro is world class BBQ (which is hard to find in NE) and fresh GOM seafood! (different than NE seafood...you wont find lobsta rolls in Texas!).
Wat?! No lobsta rolls! That is a deal breakah, kehd!
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Old 18-04-2021, 18:54   #48
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

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Wat?! No lobsta rolls! That is a deal breakah, kehd! [emoji3]
[emoji1787]....
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Old 18-04-2021, 19:53   #49
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Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

Montanan, I was in Bozeman one February. Kinda shocked as a New Englander. What a sweet place!! Not too cold, (that week) and beautiful. Truly. Hospitable.

And as for the Texas coastline, I have a pic of my Mother’s Mother as a teenager walking her alligator on a leash down Galveston Beach. In about 1918, before the hurricane. I assume it’s all still like that? (Just kidding about the assumption. But not about the alligator. They had odd pets. They didn’t take them all to Spokane when they moved. Just the monkey, birds, and dogs. The bear and armadillo, chickens, and so on stayed behind. )
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Old 19-04-2021, 15:20   #50
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

I'll chime in. We've had our boat in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas now for 12 years. You've gotten some great responses above from folks who actually have a boat in either the Clear Lake/Galveston area, and the Corpus Christi/Port Aransas area.


Clear Lake is great for access to everything you need for your boat. It's fun too. But it ain't the same.


Corpus Christi is a decent sized town, with a nice city marina. Locals can be irritating when they drive thru the T heads throwing loaves of bread to the seagulls, but there's lots nearby, and it's very comfortable. The wind blows ALL of the time. It's the windiest city in the US. The good news is that it's comfortable sitting on the pier in the mornings and evenings all summer long. That doesn't happen in Clear Lake. Most things you need are nearby, and it's not too far to a couple of decent yards, including 1 or 2 that allow DIYers. There are several decent anchorages a couple of hours away.


Port Aransas (Port A to everyone in Texas). This is a small fishing community with a tourist problem. Really, it's mostly great. Avoid spring break and you will be OK. The city marina is decent. It has it's problems, but the piers are all floating piers, and the water is clean. Outside of the marina, it's not unusual to find visibility of 10'. The town is great, with plenty of restaurants, bars, and a decent grocery store. A surprisingly decent supply of marine products at Ace Hardware. West Marine is 30 minutes away by car. It is delightful, nearly all year long. Winds are about 2/3 of those in Corpus Christi, about 15 miles away, as the crow flies. There are a few great dinghy destinations near the marina. The BEST anchorage on the Texas coast is about 10 miles away, in Ingleside. Perfect holding, clean water, little current. A marina is there, a bit run down, but ice and beer from either there or a convenience store. Fishing is outstanding. Other good anchorages similar distances away.


There are a lot of people who spend days on the hook, even in the summers, without A/C. But. It's warm. A/C is absolutely required in the marina.


Getting here: The Gulf ICW is great, if you want to avoid oil rigs. In the gulf, you can hang on the shipping fareways which obviously have no oil rigs. Radar is helpful. Hitting a rig submerged is not likely, but remotely possible.


Hurricanes: Yup. Part of life. Pain in the butt. We just finished up 3 years of repairs from Hurricane Harvey. Neighbor's rig came down on our boat, to the tune of $236K.


Feel free to pm me and I'll give you my phone number. I'm a transplanted yankee 45 years ago. There's no where else I'd live. It's fantastic.


P.S. We had friends who cruised the entire gulf coast, around and up to Georgia, down to the Bahamas and all of the Caribbean. They said the BEST wildlife is in south Texas.
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Old 19-04-2021, 17:45   #51
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

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Originally Posted by bstreep View Post
I'll chime in. We've had our boat in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas now for 12 years. You've gotten some great responses above from folks who actually have a boat in either the Clear Lake/Galveston area, and the Corpus Christi/Port Aransas area.


Clear Lake is great for access to everything you need for your boat. It's fun too. But it ain't the same.


Corpus Christi is a decent sized town, with a nice city marina. Locals can be irritating when they drive thru the T heads throwing loaves of bread to the seagulls, but there's lots nearby, and it's very comfortable. The wind blows ALL of the time. It's the windiest city in the US. The good news is that it's comfortable sitting on the pier in the mornings and evenings all summer long. That doesn't happen in Clear Lake. Most things you need are nearby, and it's not too far to a couple of decent yards, including 1 or 2 that allow DIYers. There are several decent anchorages a couple of hours away.


Port Aransas (Port A to everyone in Texas). This is a small fishing community with a tourist problem. Really, it's mostly great. Avoid spring break and you will be OK. The city marina is decent. It has it's problems, but the piers are all floating piers, and the water is clean. Outside of the marina, it's not unusual to find visibility of 10'. The town is great, with plenty of restaurants, bars, and a decent grocery store. A surprisingly decent supply of marine products at Ace Hardware. West Marine is 30 minutes away by car. It is delightful, nearly all year long. Winds are about 2/3 of those in Corpus Christi, about 15 miles away, as the crow flies. There are a few great dinghy destinations near the marina. The BEST anchorage on the Texas coast is about 10 miles away, in Ingleside. Perfect holding, clean water, little current. A marina is there, a bit run down, but ice and beer from either there or a convenience store. Fishing is outstanding. Other good anchorages similar distances away.


There are a lot of people who spend days on the hook, even in the summers, without A/C. But. It's warm. A/C is absolutely required in the marina.


Getting here: The Gulf ICW is great, if you want to avoid oil rigs. In the gulf, you can hang on the shipping fareways which obviously have no oil rigs. Radar is helpful. Hitting a rig submerged is not likely, but remotely possible.


Hurricanes: Yup. Part of life. Pain in the butt. We just finished up 3 years of repairs from Hurricane Harvey. Neighbor's rig came down on our boat, to the tune of $236K.


Feel free to pm me and I'll give you my phone number. I'm a transplanted yankee 45 years ago. There's no where else I'd live. It's fantastic.


P.S. We had friends who cruised the entire gulf coast, around and up to Georgia, down to the Bahamas and all of the Caribbean. They said the BEST wildlife is in south Texas.
Great response/pm sent, thank you!
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Old 23-04-2021, 06:34   #52
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

We are currently docked in Rockport on a 43' sportfisher, which is fairly close to Corpus Christi. Slip fees are less than Port Aransas or Corpus. People are friendly. We are about 8-10 miles from Aransas Pass via the ICW, which is the only jettied pass to get to Bluewater. Port A is closest to Bluewater. Freeport also has easy Bluewater access. Limited slips in Port Oconnor area. Palacios is a long ride to Bluewater. Yes, Texas is hot, get over it. Rather have sweaty balls than frozen nuchkas.
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Old 23-04-2021, 06:45   #53
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

We kept a boat in Port Lavaca years ago. The slip was dirt cheap and the bay was practically deserted except for shrimp boats and the barges coming through. The winds were decent, but the water was shallow, especially near the ICW from the spoils. Real estate was cheap (and according to Zillow, still is) crabbing was abundant along the shores, and you could buy shrimp from the shrimpers for next to nothing. The 24-hour a day heat was legendary in the summer months, but cooled off after Labor Day. When the temperature dropped down into the 80's, the locals put on sweaters and overcoats and abandoned the beaches, and we had the place practically to ourselves.
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Old 23-04-2021, 06:49   #54
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

Great responses.

I lived in Clear Lake/Kemah and I’m currently on the hard in Key West doing some maintenance.

You can not beat Clear Lake for access to ANYTHING you might need for your boat. There is honestly no other area like it in the US. Thanks to the petroleum industry and NASA you’ll be able to get jobs done quickly.

So if you think you’ll be doing some work and want access to machine shops and parts Clear Lake is a winner. The food is outstanding as well. I’m not just saying that I travel all over the world.
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Old 23-04-2021, 07:12   #55
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

Check out Foster Journey on You Tube - they’re a live aboard family on the Texas coast.
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Old 23-04-2021, 07:18   #56
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

IMO Texas is not great for cruising. I lived there for most of my life, and sailed there for 6 years. There are really no good spots to go to. Honestly if I move back to Texas I will put a boat on Lake Travis or Canyon Lake and not worry about the gulf.

There is a good bit of racing on Clear Lake if that is your thing.
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Old 23-04-2021, 07:44   #57
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

If you are looking for rude people, high taxes, and stupid laws, please don’t go to Texas. You just won’t be happy there. If paying $7.00 instead of $13.00 for a quarter pounder meal at McDonalds appeals to you then Texas is a great place to be.
Just try to never say “where I’m from we do things much differently”.
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Old 23-04-2021, 07:50   #58
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

Have you bought the Waterway Guide for Western Gulf of Mexico? It covers from the Mississippi Delta to the Mexican boarder.
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Old 23-04-2021, 08:04   #59
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

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If you are looking for rude people, high taxes, and stupid laws, please don’t go to Texas. You just won’t be happy there. If paying $7.00 instead of $13.00 for a quarter pounder meal at McDonalds appeals to you then Texas is a great place to be.
Just try to never say “where I’m from we do things much differently”.
��
MCDONALDS!!! Texans go to WhataBurger! [emoji6]

Better yet, Chilis, for a better quality burger, but not for $7.
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Old 23-04-2021, 08:11   #60
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Re: Is Texas a good place to cruise/liveaboard?

When I was doing the Gulf Coast in my trawler some years ago, I did Florida and then went as far as New Orleans before turning back. Not much worth seeing beyond that.
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