East Coast Marinas, covered on fresh/brackish waterways

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:23 pm

Didn't feel this would arouse enough input elsewhere and the Trojan content is questionable but is still boat related.
I am looking for an east coast marina to leave my boat from June till October while I boat in Canada each Summer.
I have no idea where to start looking so am hoping someone here will have some ideas for me.

Main criteria are:
Covered slips.
As close to fresh water for the boat to sit in as possible.
Low hurricane risk.
At least as far north as New Bern maybe....

Roll out the suggestions guys..... here's my thinking..

My other alternative is Demopolis, AL.... so comparing the distance to Fort Pierce as a common jumping off point to the Bahamas each winter I can play with about 900 miles up the ICW on the East coast which is about Norfolk, VA.

So what choices do I have south of Norfolk?

larryeddington · Post by **larryeddington** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:33 pm

Questionable

Stay at home,

Could lease boat out, but trusting someone is big issue.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:36 pm

Low hurricane risk will put you north of Norfolk ,Unless you head way inland. Insurance is cheaper North of N.C. in many cases . there maybe some places on the inter coastal , Like Atlantic yacht basin south of Norfolk . New Bern is not bad but is a higher risk the going more north ( have step daughter in New Burn )

Your insurance Carrier may be able to tell you low risk areas ( lower rates)

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:02 pm

larryeddington wrote:Questionable Stay at home,
Could lease boat out, but trusting someone is big issue.

hey Larry,
wife and I were talking about whether the trip west from Mobile following the north shore of Gulf would be worth doing. What is there worth seeing and is the boating interesting?

larryeddington · Post by **larryeddington** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:27 pm

Well as you know my boat is high and dry and will be on a lake or maybe redriver here in Tx or Louisiana. However I have another boat I take fishing to the coast, Matogorda Bay mainly and have not explored the whole coast. For sure West from Mobile is very interesting with stops at Biloxi, New Orleans, then on into Tx there are many stops you can make along the way including Galveston and go a short way up the Houston Ship Channel to the San Jacinto Monument and you can visit NASA as well, though I think not by boat. The Intercoastal give a lot of protected cruising but can be boring, you obviously can go to Corpus Christi Port and further south. I think one of the porblems you face is once going south, Padre Island areas you have to go back, and for your northerners we have a lot of distances here.

I followed a friend of mines great loop voyage which I thought was very interesting they finished it in Mobil bay. I wish I could do it, I don't have the URL on this computer but will send it to you if you would like.

They cruised out of Lake Ponchetrain around the coast, canaled accross Florida up the East coast, Hudson river into the lake system accross Erie, Michigan down Chicago River to Mississippi South then into the Tombeggee system and eventually out Mobil bay.

larryeddington · Post by **larryeddington** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:28 pm

oops double post, erased by me

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:53 pm

Larry,
I would like to read about their loop travels.... we thought about doing it also but I think we will just get maybe 60% done in bits as described below.
My situation is in retirement wife and I will spend winters (7 months) in US and Bahamas on the President then leave it somewhere for the Summer (5 months, need to do that to keep healthcare valid) and go back to Ontario and use the Trojan... cheaper than taking the President up and down each year to Canada. The fuel saved and less wear and tear will more than cover the cost of storage for two boats. We will be living on the boats all year, so really each boat only needs storage for 1/2 yr in a marina.

We start this year by spending the Summer on the Tennessee & Columbia rivers then come November move down to Florida and the Bahamas till early May when if enough $$ are still flowing we will spend Summer 2013 going up the east coast as far as Philly before heading back to Bahamas again.
Subsequent years it will be Bahamas for winter and Ontario for Summer, hence the need for somewhere to keep the President during the Summertime.

We have had this plan for year's and finally we get to start it this year when oil is over $100

Cruising @ 9 knots will make it still work.

Commissionpoint · Post by **Commissionpoint** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:53 am

Tuscaloosa on the Black Warrior River is a decent place to stash your vessel for a few months. It may not be in the area you had in mind though. Just a suggestion.

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:24 am

Commissionpoint wrote:Tuscaloosa on the Black Warrior River is a decent place to stash your vessel for a few months. It may not be in the area you had in mind though. Just a suggestion.

If my choice ends up on the river system, I'm considering Demopolis 124 mi further south than that and only 200+ miles away from the Gulf.
Right now boat is another 407 miles up river from Demopolis on the Tennessee.

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:08 am

Michael,
Here are a few blogs about boaters and their Great Loop experience. I always enjoy browsing these and looking at their photos and entries...

Here's a distance guide of US ports.
http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/ ... tances.pdf

http://piajack.blogspot.com/

http://www.greatloop.com/

http://www.betsyrick.com/

http://pwp.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep ... 300518&ck=

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:25 pm

Thanks for those links Jamie... I already have the distance guide it is very useful.

Back to my original question it seems to me that going up the inland river system to say Demopolis is my best alternative to meet my needs for Summer storage.
Repeating the north gulf ICW route vs east coast ICW every year may well also be the easiest and quickest..... time will tell.

Commissionpoint · Post by **Commissionpoint** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:52 pm

Demopolis is a good choice too. Tuscaloosa would afford you a bit more hurricane protection as its further inland. Tuscaloosa also has a lot more to do, espescially in the autumn when you would be returning south. Either way its nice area. Rather inexpensive too compared to many places on the east coast. There is a group of folks who get together on Sundays when there is a Crimson Tide home game. Pretty much on board tailgate parties where the University comes close to the river. Definately something to check out if you are in the area with a boat at that time of year.

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:05 pm

Commissionpoint wrote:Demopolis is a good choice too. Tuscaloosa would afford you a bit more hurricane protection as its further inland. Tuscaloosa also has a lot more to do, espescially in the autumn when you would be returning south. Either way its nice area. Rather inexpensive too compared to many places on the east coast. There is a group of folks who get together on Sundays when there is a Crimson Tide home game. Pretty much on board tailgate parties where the University comes close to the river. Definately something to check out if you are in the area with a boat at that time of year.

I had to smile (trying to not be sickly) when I read your comment on hurricane protection, I was in Scottsboro last year April when those tornadoes were causing so much damage in AL.... Tuscaloosa did not fare well.
For hurricane protection I think they are pretty well equal as they don't tend to travel that far over land and tend to swing back east anyway.
The todo stuff is not really of interest... it will be all work to get boat ready for move and then go.....

Commissionpoint · Post by **Commissionpoint** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:39 pm

ready123 wrote:The todo stuff is not really of interest... it will be all work to get boat ready for move and then go.....

Don't tell me you are an Auburn fan...........

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:39 pm

Commissionpoint wrote:
ready123 wrote:The todo stuff is not really of interest... it will be all work to get boat ready for move and then go.....
Don't tell me you are an Auburn fan...........

More of a Bama Breeze fan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfhNKK7rkhw

Actually more into Rugby than college ball