A dock on the New River rents for $250-$300 per month. From my house to
the Port Everglades inlet there are 5 bridges. Unless it is between
7:30-8:30am or 4:30-5:30pm, I call about a half mile from the bridge and
usually it is open when I get there and I don't have to slow down,
except for the 17th causeway bridge. It opens on the hour and half hour,
so if your timing leaving is a little late you may have to wait. If your
mast height is less than 55' you don't have to have an opening.
We sail down to Miami, Biscayne Bay, Elliot Key, Pumpkin Key, Boca Chita
Key. Lots of spots to anchor. We don't do marinas.
The $300 for the Bahamas is good for a year, or if you leave and come
back to the states, a second entry if within 3 months. FLL to Bimini is
41 miles, FLL to West End, 68 mi. A 8-12 hr overnight trip. We have
crossed the stream in almost all the months of the year. You just have
to watch for the right weather window even in the summer.
Kelton
s/v Isle Escape

Rosalie B. wrote:
(anchorlt) wrote:


Rosalie B. wrote in message . ..

"just me" wrote:


I am planning to move my boat, a 40' Jeanneau, to the ocean (one of them)
around the first of the year.
I'm trying to decide where and which one. I plan to fly to the boat every
month or so. I expect I'll spend anywhere from a long weekend to ten days
or so. Eventually, I'll retire and spend longer times aboard. Once there, I
would like to have places to go to, visit and explore. Choice A: San Diego
area. Choice B: Atlantic side, Florida to North Carolina. Direct and
numerous daily flights by more than one airline are important. Your
thoughts, experiences and opinions are welcomed.

The Florida east coast has very little sailing (IMHO) except Hawk
Channel along the Florida Keys (where there's very little in the way
of protected anchorages for a boat with any kind of draft to her, and
on the other side it's very shallow and iffy - ditto on the draft),
and in some sections of the Indian River. Possibly also the St.
John's River (Jacksonville). Miami and the St. John's River and the
St. Mary's River are Class A inlets. There are so many power
boats....

South Florida is NOT expensive, unless one has only a few sheckles in
pocket, and then anywhere is expensive. I live there. S FL has access


South Florida is way more expensive to keep a boat at a marina than
the Chesapeake or North Carolina. I have lived there, I have visited
there, and my daughter lives there. I'm sorry to disagree, but I
don't regard prices of $2.00/ft/day or $28 to $55/ft/month (plus tax,
and liveaboard fee) as inexpensive.


to Keys, Bahamas, Cuba (when embargo and Bush are gone), Turks &
Caiacos, and all of Caribbean islands, east and west. Nowhere else in
U.S. are there as many choices and good sailing waters and winds.


The problem here is that all those places you mention except the Keys
involve going to a foreign country. Thus NOT in the US. For the
Bahamas, the 40' boat will pay $300 every 3 months to go to the
Bahamas. Also the normal winds in the winter appear to be from the NE
which makes it a problem to cross the Gulf Stream.

Want flights? No more anywhere than into and out of Miami and Ft.
Lauderdale. If "it" exists for a boat, any boat, and cannot be found
easily and quickly in S FL, it does not exist anywhere.


The disadvantage to Ft. Lauderdale for a sailboat is that there are
too many bridges. And also too many power boats.

This is not say there are not other great sailing areas, i.e.,
Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound and nearby, Maine and N, Gulf coast,
far NW (Puget Sound and nearby) and some of Great Lakes (Ontario, Erie
and Huron are, in my experience, the better ones).

St. Johns River in N FL? You ain't goin' to do much sailing on this
river, except in northern reaches, and their ain't much even there. I
have motored all of navigable St. Johns River and very narrow channels
and shoaling in mid and southern areas are all too common for sailing.


I have not tried the St. John's River myself, but people have
recommended the sailing there and in St. Augustine where they say they
go out of the inlet and sail, and I do not think much of that inlet,
especially in a contrary wind.

The whole area from there north past Charleston has a great tidal
range (for the south east coast) which makes shoaling a problem. Plus
in Georgia one is not supposed to stay aboard more than 30 days a
year.


grandma Rosalie

krj wrote:

A dock on the New River rents for $250-$300 per month. From my house to

You must have a smaller boat with a shallower draft than we do and
also smaller than what I think he is talking about.

Friends of mine that live aboard on a 44 (which is really about 50
feet) had to go almost up to Lake Worth to find a marina that they
could afford to live aboard. They were FROM Ft. Lauderdale, and could
find no place in that area..

And ... this guy isn't going to be close enough to check on his boat.
He's only going to be flying in every month or so. He will want to
leave it somewhere that someone will be looking out for it if
possible. Like during the hurricane season.

That would be something that he could count on at our marina, or in
Deltaville or places that people often leave boats in charge of marina
personnel. I don't know how a person who rented a private dock could
do that unless the owner was willing to do it for extra money.

the Port Everglades inlet there are 5 bridges. Unless it is between
7:30-8:30am or 4:30-5:30pm, I call about a half mile from the bridge and
usually it is open when I get there and I don't have to slow down,
except for the 17th causeway bridge. It opens on the hour and half hour,
so if your timing leaving is a little late you may have to wait. If your
mast height is less than 55' you don't have to have an opening.

It is true that for a mast height less than 55' you wouldn't have to
open the 17th St bridge, and if you have a mast that short you
probably could go all the way down to Miami inside.

That doesn't address all the power boats though, and fishermen
anchored offshore at night with no lights.

We sail down to Miami, Biscayne Bay, Elliot Key, Pumpkin Key, Boca Chita
Key. Lots of spots to anchor. We don't do marinas.

Biscayne Bay and all the spots that you mention on the bay side are
too shallow for us to get to. I don't know the draft of the Jeaneau,
but we have a shoal draft at 5 feet, and I know won't risk it. And on
the Hawk Channel side there are only about 3 places we can anchor -
Marathon (Boot Key Harbor or near there), Newfound Harbor, and Key
West. And possibly Indian Key (the one on the Hawk Channel side).
And we can't normally get all the way to Marathon from Miami in one
day. There's also only a couple of places we can get through from one
side to the other.

The $300 for the Bahamas is good for a year, or if you leave and come
back to the states, a second entry if within 3 months. FLL to Bimini is

Again - he's only going to be down at the boat for long weekends. He
doesn't have time to wait for the weather. So he's not going to be
there in the Bahamas for a year unless he leaves his boat over there,
and commutes back and forth.

41 miles, FLL to West End, 68 mi. A 8-12 hr overnight trip. We have
crossed the stream in almost all the months of the year. You just have
to watch for the right weather window even in the summer.

Yes I know all those mileages, and I agree - wait for the weather.
But Bimini is shoaled again and you can't get in except at high tide.
West End is (to my mind) horribly expensive and is also isolated, and
ditto for Chub.

Rosalie B. wrote:
(anchorlt) wrote:


Rosalie B. wrote in message . ..

"just me" wrote:


I am planning to move my boat, a 40' Jeanneau, to the ocean (one of them)
around the first of the year.
I'm trying to decide where and which one. I plan to fly to the boat every
month or so. I expect I'll spend anywhere from a long weekend to ten days
or so. Eventually, I'll retire and spend longer times aboard. Once there, I
would like to have places to go to, visit and explore. Choice A: San Diego
area. Choice B: Atlantic side, Florida to North Carolina. Direct and
numerous daily flights by more than one airline are important. Your
thoughts, experiences and opinions are welcomed.

The Florida east coast has very little sailing (IMHO) except Hawk
Channel along the Florida Keys (where there's very little in the way
of protected anchorages for a boat with any kind of draft to her, and
on the other side it's very shallow and iffy - ditto on the draft),
and in some sections of the Indian River. Possibly also the St.
John's River (Jacksonville). Miami and the St. John's River and the
St. Mary's River are Class A inlets. There are so many power
boats....

South Florida is NOT expensive, unless one has only a few sheckles in
pocket, and then anywhere is expensive. I live there. S FL has access


South Florida is way more expensive to keep a boat at a marina than
the Chesapeake or North Carolina. I have lived there, I have visited
there, and my daughter lives there. I'm sorry to disagree, but I
don't regard prices of $2.00/ft/day or $28 to $55/ft/month (plus tax,
and liveaboard fee) as inexpensive.


to Keys, Bahamas, Cuba (when embargo and Bush are gone), Turks &
Caiacos, and all of Caribbean islands, east and west. Nowhere else in
U.S. are there as many choices and good sailing waters and winds.


The problem here is that all those places you mention except the Keys
involve going to a foreign country. Thus NOT in the US. For the
Bahamas, the 40' boat will pay $300 every 3 months to go to the
Bahamas. Also the normal winds in the winter appear to be from the NE
which makes it a problem to cross the Gulf Stream.

Want flights? No more anywhere than into and out of Miami and Ft.
Lauderdale. If "it" exists for a boat, any boat, and cannot be found
easily and quickly in S FL, it does not exist anywhere.


The disadvantage to Ft. Lauderdale for a sailboat is that there are
too many bridges. And also too many power boats.

This is not say there are not other great sailing areas, i.e.,
Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound and nearby, Maine and N, Gulf coast,
far NW (Puget Sound and nearby) and some of Great Lakes (Ontario, Erie
and Huron are, in my experience, the better ones).

St. Johns River in N FL? You ain't goin' to do much sailing on this
river, except in northern reaches, and their ain't much even there. I
have motored all of navigable St. Johns River and very narrow channels
and shoaling in mid and southern areas are all too common for sailing.


I have not tried the St. John's River myself, but people have
recommended the sailing there and in St. Augustine where they say they
go out of the inlet and sail, and I do not think much of that inlet,
especially in a contrary wind.

The whole area from there north past Charleston has a great tidal
range (for the south east coast) which makes shoaling a problem. Plus
in Georgia one is not supposed to stay aboard more than 30 days a
year.

grandma Rosalie

We had a 45' Bruce Roberts, 6' 8" draft for several years. The River is
8' to 20' at low tide. My friend has a 42' Catalina, 5'5" draft at my
neighbors dock. He pays $250/month. Across the canal is a 48' Ameil.
Don't know the draft, but it must be 5-6 feet. The smallest lot with
dock space is 65' wide, so with the city required easement of 5', it can
accommodate a 55' boat.
Kelton

Rosalie B. wrote:

krj wrote:


A dock on the New River rents for $250-$300 per month. From my house to


You must have a smaller boat with a shallower draft than we do and
also smaller than what I think he is talking about.

Friends of mine that live aboard on a 44 (which is really about 50
feet) had to go almost up to Lake Worth to find a marina that they
could afford to live aboard. They were FROM Ft. Lauderdale, and could
find no place in that area..

And ... this guy isn't going to be close enough to check on his boat.
He's only going to be flying in every month or so. He will want to
leave it somewhere that someone will be looking out for it if
possible. Like during the hurricane season.

That would be something that he could count on at our marina, or in
Deltaville or places that people often leave boats in charge of marina
personnel. I don't know how a person who rented a private dock could
do that unless the owner was willing to do it for extra money.


the Port Everglades inlet there are 5 bridges. Unless it is between
7:30-8:30am or 4:30-5:30pm, I call about a half mile from the bridge and
usually it is open when I get there and I don't have to slow down,
except for the 17th causeway bridge. It opens on the hour and half hour,
so if your timing leaving is a little late you may have to wait. If your
mast height is less than 55' you don't have to have an opening.


It is true that for a mast height less than 55' you wouldn't have to
open the 17th St bridge, and if you have a mast that short you
probably could go all the way down to Miami inside.

That doesn't address all the power boats though, and fishermen
anchored offshore at night with no lights.


We sail down to Miami, Biscayne Bay, Elliot Key, Pumpkin Key, Boca Chita
Key. Lots of spots to anchor. We don't do marinas.


Biscayne Bay and all the spots that you mention on the bay side are
too shallow for us to get to. I don't know the draft of the Jeaneau,
but we have a shoal draft at 5 feet, and I know won't risk it. And on
the Hawk Channel side there are only about 3 places we can anchor -
Marathon (Boot Key Harbor or near there), Newfound Harbor, and Key
West. And possibly Indian Key (the one on the Hawk Channel side).
And we can't normally get all the way to Marathon from Miami in one
day. There's also only a couple of places we can get through from one
side to the other.


The $300 for the Bahamas is good for a year, or if you leave and come
back to the states, a second entry if within 3 months. FLL to Bimini is


Again - he's only going to be down at the boat for long weekends. He
doesn't have time to wait for the weather. So he's not going to be
there in the Bahamas for a year unless he leaves his boat over there,
and commutes back and forth.


41 miles, FLL to West End, 68 mi. A 8-12 hr overnight trip. We have
crossed the stream in almost all the months of the year. You just have
to watch for the right weather window even in the summer.


Yes I know all those mileages, and I agree - wait for the weather.
But Bimini is shoaled again and you can't get in except at high tide.
West End is (to my mind) horribly expensive and is also isolated, and
ditto for Chub.

Rosalie B. wrote:

(anchorlt) wrote:



Rosalie B. wrote in message . ..


"just me" wrote:



I am planning to move my boat, a 40' Jeanneau, to the ocean (one of them)
around the first of the year.
I'm trying to decide where and which one. I plan to fly to the boat every
month or so. I expect I'll spend anywhere from a long weekend to ten days
or so. Eventually, I'll retire and spend longer times aboard. Once there, I
would like to have places to go to, visit and explore. Choice A: San Diego
area. Choice B: Atlantic side, Florida to North Carolina. Direct and
numerous daily flights by more than one airline are important. Your
thoughts, experiences and opinions are welcomed.

The Florida east coast has very little sailing (IMHO) except Hawk
Channel along the Florida Keys (where there's very little in the way
of protected anchorages for a boat with any kind of draft to her, and
on the other side it's very shallow and iffy - ditto on the draft),
and in some sections of the Indian River. Possibly also the St.
John's River (Jacksonville). Miami and the St. John's River and the
St. Mary's River are Class A inlets. There are so many power
boats....

South Florida is NOT expensive, unless one has only a few sheckles in
pocket, and then anywhere is expensive. I live there. S FL has access


South Florida is way more expensive to keep a boat at a marina than
the Chesapeake or North Carolina. I have lived there, I have visited
there, and my daughter lives there. I'm sorry to disagree, but I
don't regard prices of $2.00/ft/day or $28 to $55/ft/month (plus tax,
and liveaboard fee) as inexpensive.



to Keys, Bahamas, Cuba (when embargo and Bush are gone), Turks &
Caiacos, and all of Caribbean islands, east and west. Nowhere else in
U.S. are there as many choices and good sailing waters and winds.


The problem here is that all those places you mention except the Keys
involve going to a foreign country. Thus NOT in the US. For the
Bahamas, the 40' boat will pay $300 every 3 months to go to the
Bahamas. Also the normal winds in the winter appear to be from the NE
which makes it a problem to cross the Gulf Stream.


Want flights? No more anywhere than into and out of Miami and Ft.
Lauderdale. If "it" exists for a boat, any boat, and cannot be found
easily and quickly in S FL, it does not exist anywhere.


The disadvantage to Ft. Lauderdale for a sailboat is that there are
too many bridges. And also too many power boats.


This is not say there are not other great sailing areas, i.e.,
Chesapeake Bay, Long Island Sound and nearby, Maine and N, Gulf coast,
far NW (Puget Sound and nearby) and some of Great Lakes (Ontario, Erie
and Huron are, in my experience, the better ones).

St. Johns River in N FL? You ain't goin' to do much sailing on this
river, except in northern reaches, and their ain't much even there. I
have motored all of navigable St. Johns River and very narrow channels
and shoaling in mid and southern areas are all too common for sailing.


I have not tried the St. John's River myself, but people have
recommended the sailing there and in St. Augustine where they say they
go out of the inlet and sail, and I do not think much of that inlet,
especially in a contrary wind.

The whole area from there north past Charleston has a great tidal
range (for the south east coast) which makes shoaling a problem. Plus
in Georgia one is not supposed to stay aboard more than 30 days a
year.


grandma Rosalie

On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 00:20:22 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

there are only about 3 places we can anchor -
Marathon (Boot Key Harbor or near there)

==================================

Are you able to carry a 5 ft draft through the bascule bridge at Boot
Key Harbor and into the basin east of the bridge? The chart is a bit
sketchy regarding depths in that area.

Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 00:20:22 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

there are only about 3 places we can anchor -
Marathon (Boot Key Harbor or near there)

==================================

Are you able to carry a 5 ft draft through the bascule bridge at Boot
Key Harbor and into the basin east of the bridge? The chart is a bit
sketchy regarding depths in that area.

The Boot Key bridge entrance is deep enough, but there is an electric
line over the entrance just past the bridge that would keep anyone
with a tall mast from going in there. It's the Sister's Creek
entrance that's iffy, although I have heard of someone with a 6 foot
draft doing it at high tide.


grandma Rosalie

On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:
The Boot Key bridge entrance is deep enough, but there is an electric
line over the entrance just past the bridge that would keep anyone
with a tall mast from going in there. It's the Sister's Creek
entrance that's iffy, although I have heard of someone with a 6 foot
draft doing it at high tide.

============================

Thanks. The mast on our new (to us) trawler tops out at just under 27
feet so should not be a problem :-)

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoo...bum?.dir=/4f58

We hope to be cruising down to the Keys by winter and living aboard by
next summer. We'll look for you on the ICW.

Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:
The Boot Key bridge entrance is deep enough, but there is an electric
line over the entrance just past the bridge that would keep anyone
with a tall mast from going in there. It's the Sister's Creek
entrance that's iffy, although I have heard of someone with a 6 foot
draft doing it at high tide.

============================

Thanks. The mast on our new (to us) trawler tops out at just under 27
feet so should not be a problem :-)

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoo...bum?.dir=/4f58

We hope to be cruising down to the Keys by winter and living aboard by
next summer. We'll look for you on the ICW.

Congratulations on your trawler

These are some pictures and text - the first about Boot Key Harbor and
then about things to watch out for, and the third about the various
marinas in Marathon.
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/49b92/#TL
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/b9e2a/8/
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/ba68d/d/

Unfortunately, we will not be going south on the ICW this winter - we
are putting the boat up and traveling by car. If you go to
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/48f2c/#TL and follow the links it
will tell about the trip up from the Keys to the Chesapeake this past
spring. Because it was so stressful, we aren't going to do it again.

It isn't all finished - I've got some photos to post yet, but I think
you can get the gist of it pretty well.

grandma Rosalie
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/

Average waiting list for a slip in S. California 30' a year or more, 35' 3-5
years, 40' how many decades you have left?


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:
The Boot Key bridge entrance is deep enough, but there is an electric
line over the entrance just past the bridge that would keep anyone
with a tall mast from going in there. It's the Sister's Creek
entrance that's iffy, although I have heard of someone with a 6 foot
draft doing it at high tide.

============================

Thanks. The mast on our new (to us) trawler tops out at just under 27
feet so should not be a problem :-)

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoo...bum?.dir=/4f58

We hope to be cruising down to the Keys by winter and living aboard by
next summer. We'll look for you on the ICW.

Depends on the marina. This is true for Alamitos Bay (actually, it's worse
than a year.) However, I got into Holiday Harbor in San Pedro after being on
the list for only a month. (Nice marina, too.)

--Alan Gomes


"Michael" wrote in message
...
Average waiting list for a slip in S. California 30' a year or more, 35'
3-5
years, 40' how many decades you have left?


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 06:07:04 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:
The Boot Key bridge entrance is deep enough, but there is an electric
line over the entrance just past the bridge that would keep anyone
with a tall mast from going in there. It's the Sister's Creek
entrance that's iffy, although I have heard of someone with a 6 foot
draft doing it at high tide.

============================

Thanks. The mast on our new (to us) trawler tops out at just under 27
feet so should not be a problem :-)

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoo...bum?.dir=/4f58

We hope to be cruising down to the Keys by winter and living aboard by
next summer. We'll look for you on the ICW.