Best place to build a boat and a home base

[jalmberg]

My wife, Helena, and I are getting to the age where we are ready to sell the house in New York and move some place where we can:

1. build a cruising boat... currently a Buehler Juna is top on my list... and...

2. build a cottage for a home base... some place to come back to after long cruises.

In other words, a cottage with a boat-building shed out back, close to both a good source of wood and good sailing waters.

Other requirements would be a mild or warm climate, and a city with some sort of cultural life an hour or so away, plus reasonable land prices, taxes, and building codes.

The 3 obvious locations are the Pacific Northwest, and Pamlico Sound in NC, and Maine (though I'm not sure Maine meets the climate requirment :)), but I'm sure there are other great places that we're not considering, including places outside the US.

So, if you live in this kind of boat builder's/sailor's heaven, I'd love to hear about it.

[Bill R]

Maine.

[jalmberg]

Maine.

Yeah, Maine has a lot of appeal. I don't know any of these places very well. Any specific town or area of Maine you like in particular, Bill?

[Larks]

Phuket, Thailand - great climate, great people, great craftsmen

[Bill R]

Yeah, Maine has a lot of appeal. I don't know any of these places very well. Any specific town or area of Maine you like in particular, Bill?

I moved here from Pittsburgh, PA almost 6 years ago. I currently live just NW of Portland, but my job takes me up and down the coast from Kennebunkport to north of Bar Harbor.

If I had no location requirements because of my job, I would relocate to the Midcoast (Rockland area) or, better yet, somewhere Down East, north of Bar Harbor.

[rbgarr]

New Hampshire has lower taxes and has Boston and Portland within reasonable driving distance. Materials sources are close enough to hand and land not too far upriver beyond Dover on the Piscataqua would give access to the ocean. Land prices right on the water on this coast anywhere near a city will be expensive.

http://i38.tinypic.com/r1c5ev.gif

[Paul Pless]

I think I'd head to where George(dot) lives.

Where is that?? San Angrios, Brazil I believe.

[jalmberg]

I think I'd head to where George(dot) lives.

Where is that?? San Angrios, Brazil I believe.

Helena is Brazilian, in fact. I can't handle Sao Paulo or Rio (too big/dirty/crowded), but the coast is beautiful. Northern Brazil is one of the places on our 'possibility' list, because we could move their easily, but pretty darn HOT in the summer. Would just have to sail to Maine, I guess :)

[jalmberg]

I think I'd head to where George(dot) lives.

Where is that?? San Angrios, Brazil I believe.

Ilha Grande, Brazil...

Yes, I've been there. Fantastic sailing. Like in a James Bond movie, with the islands just rising out of the blue water.

[Dryfeet]

I'll put a vote in for the PNW. Retired here myself a couple years ago. Still looking for that piece of property but price$ are coming down and many places already have a shop on the property. You might not want the island living as we have chosen but any mainland area has reasonable proximity to your metropolitan needs and yet allows rural living for the rest of it. Sailing and boating can be a year round proposition as the water doesn't get hard but your ambition to be 'out there' on it does tend to wane about this time of year.

[schlaboatnic]

I'll second the PNW. While the greater metropolitan areas are still expensive, the Olympic Penninsula areas are still, for the most part, reasonable. Moorage is also more affordable and it is a great starting point to the some of the best protected cruising in the world.

[Scot L T]

Yea, go for the PNW. We need a few more boat builders over here. Why should the East coast have all the builders??

People are great on both the American and Canadian sides of the border, the weather is reasonable most of the year and like schlaboatnic said...some of the best, protected and empty waters in the world.

[katiedobe]

Look in the Florabama area of the gulf coast. We took a drive along the gulf shore and saw lots of great little places. Appalachacola was a very intersting town and not too far from the Capital of Florida, iirc.

Or look at the area of Texas from the Corpus Cristi south to South Padre Island. Anywhere in the USA is close to boatbuilding supplies. You all have mail order capability.

[paladin]

Thailand is great if you don't try to live like a farang.....(foreigner).....air cond. not required.

[MiddleAgesMan]

The southeastern coast has most of what you're asking for, including the warm weather you won't find in Maine. The only thing we don't have is a variety of good marine supply houses but the internet and UPS are your friends. :)

[RFNK]

Quick question - for how many months of the year is it too cold in Maine for enjoyable sailing, I mean, for how many months do you leave your boats out of the water each year? Rick

[rbgarr]

From mid to end of October to mid April, early May... very generally.

[Boston]

Ive been thinking of the PNW as well but am torn
having grown up on cape cod I always wanted to end up there
but I couldnt afford it if my life depended on it now
I seem to remember my father saying he had paid about $17,000 for the house in Fairhaven
that and the east coast is fished out and I just love fishing
I was thinking of building somewhere cheap along the Columbia river and steaming down river from there
not sure how far upriver I need to be to hit cheap land and still have good ocean access
but Im sure Ill figure it out when the time comes
cheers
B

[Paul Pless]

From mid to end of October to mid April, early May... very generally.Is your Shields still in the water?

[rbgarr]

Yes. Fingers crossed for a few more Indian Summer days but probably won't get them, so I'll be taking the boat out in freezing rain or something like that... again. :D

I went out the other day and the boat was very sluggish. Slime has regrown on the bottom since the August scrubbing and it really drags.

[jalmberg]

I moved here from Pittsburgh, PA almost 6 years ago. I currently live just NW of Portland, but my job takes me up and down the coast from Kennebunkport to north of Bar Harbor.

If I had no location requirements because of my job, I would relocate to the Midcoast (Rockland area) or, better yet, somewhere Down East, north of Bar Harbor.

I've just been looking at Rockland with Google Earth. Looks like a fair size town with a big harbor.

Thanks for the specific ideas. That's really helpful.

[jalmberg]

New Hampshire has lower taxes and has Boston and Portland within reasonable driving distance. Materials sources are close enough to hand and land not too far upriver beyond Dover on the Piscataqua would give access to the ocean. Land prices right on the water on this coast anywhere near a city will be expensive.

http://i38.tinypic.com/r1c5ev.gif

I used to know Portsmouth pretty well. I used to live in Freemont NH, back when Rt 128 was hoping to become Silicon Valley East. To really date myself, I worked for a company that was building a state-of-the-art 2400 baud modem for these brand-new things called ATM machines.

In fact, I sold a few acres of rock and water (i.e., the stuff NH is made of) for $10K. Sure wish I had held on to it :(.

-- John

[jjdeal]

I'll put in a recommendation for Pamlico Sound, NC. There is sailing to be had year round, plenty of lumber, and moderate temps. It does get cool in the winter, but that's usually during Jan and Feb. Oriental, NC, is the sailing capital of NC. 850 people and 3000 sailboats. It is a quaint little fishing village whose residents are trying to keep it that way, i.e., no big box stores, no fast food chains, etc. Check it out!

[jalmberg]

I'll second the PNW. While the greater metropolitan areas are still expensive, the Olympic Penninsula areas are still, for the most part, reasonable. Moorage is also more affordable and it is a great starting point to the some of the best protected cruising in the world.

The PNW sounds fantastic to me. It's the one place mentioned so far that I haven't been to, but I'm hoping to change that soon. I'm guessing there must still be land available for reasonable prices, as long as it's out of sight of water?

Any particular towns you like?

[jalmberg]

Phuket, Thailand - great climate, great people, great craftsmen

I've been to Bankok on business 4 times and never made it to Phuket, much to my regret. I have a few friends (all European) who retired to Thailand. There must be a pretty good crowd of expats there, by now :).

I wonder if it would be cheaper to build a boat in Thailand than in the States? I have a friend in Singapore who had a beautiful wooden boat built in Malaysia, I think, out of this beautiful, dark hard wood. Can't remember the name of it, but it was really lovely.

This was a long time ago, but when we got back to the Singapore Yacht Club (at their open air bar), and I asked him what it cost to build a boat, it seemed very reasonable.

I'm sure it's gone up, like everything, but maybe it still makes sense to build down there?

-- John

[jalmberg]

I'll put in a recommendation for Pamlico Sound, NC. There is sailing to be had year round, plenty of lumber, and moderate temps. It does get cool in the winter, but that's usually during Jan and Feb. Oriental, NC, is the sailing capital of NC. 850 people and 3000 sailboats. It is a quaint little fishing village whose residents are trying to keep it that way, i.e., no big box stores, no fast food chains, etc. Check it out!

Helena and I checked out Oriental this summer. (Yes, we are really looking!) I loved Oriental, but Helena found it a bit small. She fell in love with New Bern which has a nice downtown area.

[jalmberg]

Look in the Florabama area of the gulf coast. We took a drive along the gulf shore and saw lots of great little places. Appalachacola was a very intersting town and not too far from the Capital of Florida, iirc.

Or look at the area of Texas from the Corpus Cristi south to South Padre Island. Anywhere in the USA is close to boatbuilding supplies. You all have mail order capability.

I'm planning to visit that area in November. I want to look at a boat in Panama City. Another place I have never been to, so I'm looking forward to it.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

My wife, Helena, and I are getting to the age ....

Helensburgh is the obvious choice, though Rhu, Clynder and Rosneath are perhaps prettier.

[Paul Pless]

I'm planning to visit that area in November. I want to look at a boat in Panama City. Another place I have never been to, so I'm looking forward to it.Panama City <<wretch>> Its the worst tourist trap fake city on the entire Gulf Coast. Anywhere in Alabama or the Florida Panhandle would be better. If it were me looking to buy down there I'd look to Orange Beach, Alabama or maybe just inland on one of the river or Mobile Bay communities.

[jjdeal]

Yes, Oriental, NC, is small...actually one of the things we like about it! New Bern is a lovely place and surely larger than Oriental. Another favorite place is Beaufort, NC, a couple of hours ride down the ICW or 45 minutes via ferry and roadway. The NC Maritime Museum is in Beaufort, as well as the boatbuilding shop. Check that out, too!

[jalmberg]

Helensburgh is the obvious choice, though Rhu, Clynder and Rosneath are perhaps prettier.

In Wales? My great-grandfather emigrated from Wales... you think they'd let me back in? :)

-- John

[jalmberg]

Yes, Oriental, NC, is small...actually one of the things we like about it! New Bern is a lovely place and surely larger than Oriental. Another favorite place is Beaufort, NC, a couple of hours ride down the ICW or 45 minutes via ferry and roadway. The NC Maritime Museum is in Beaufort, as well as the boatbuilding shop. Check that out, too!

Unfortunately, I didn't hear about Beaufort until recently. My daughter lives in Charlotte, so I'll get to see it in the spring, probably.

How is the sailing on Pamlico sound? It looks pretty ideal from looking at a chart.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Scotland

Here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=helensburgh&ie=UTF8&gl=uk&ei=dJzpSr_XC8n4-AagzM3lCw&ved=0CAsQ8gEwAA&hq=&hnear=Helensburgh,+Dunbartonshire,+United+Kingdom&z=13) - you could ask - maybe they'll let you in - you could try being an asylum seeker fleeing from the prospect of Guantanamo...

[jalmberg]

Panama City <<wretch>> Its the worst tourist trap fake city on the entire Gulf Coast. Anywhere in Alabama or the Florida Panhandle would be better. If it were me looking to buy down there I'd look to Orange Beach, Alabama or maybe just inland on one of the river or Mobile Bay communities.

Huh... Good to know. I'll be driving up from Jupiter, so I'll get to see pretty much the whole FL gulf coast, at least as far as Panama City.

[toggle]

PNW Puget Island Wash. on the Columbia, aprox.30 miles from the mouth,60 miles to Portland Or. Access by bridge to wash. or last car ferry,to Oregon,on the Columbia. Affordable land water access and great sailing.

[Paul Pless]

Huh... Good to know. I'll be driving up from Jupiter, so I'll get to see pretty much the whole FL gulf coast, at least as far as Panama City.As long as your going that far continue on to Gulf Shores Alabama. Orange Beach, Fairhope, Magnolia Springs, and Daphne are all worth looking into seriously.

[Robert L.]

By Boston:
I was thinking of building somewhere cheap along the Columbia river and steaming down river from there
not sure how far upriver I need to be to hit cheap land and still have good ocean access

The Columbia River and its major tributaries give access to many hundreds of miles of navigable waterways in Washington, Oregon and Idaho perhaps even further east. The shear variety of landscapes is incredible, you could probably spend years just cruising the Columbia Watershed and yes there is ocean access, with one minor obstacle just west of Astoria.

The Columbia Bar.
Part of the Graveyard of the Pacific.

http://72.41.23.68/images/ColumbiaBar/Bar1.jpg http://72.41.23.68/images/ColumbiaBar/Bar4.jpg

http://72.41.23.68/images/ColumbiaBar/Bar6.jpg http://72.41.23.68/images/ColumbiaBar/Bar7.jpg

http://72.41.23.68/images/ColumbiaBar/Bar8.jpg http://72.41.23.68/images/ColumbiaBar/Bar9.jpg


Wikipedia
Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar..

The Columbia Bar is part of a set of major marine coastal hazards along the Pacific Northwest coast, including Cape Flattery at the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula and Cape Scott, which is at the north tip of Vancouver Island. Historically this region's nickname to mariners was the Graveyard of the Pacific, and the region is studded with thousands of shipwrecks. The "Graveyard" also includes the rocky, rugged shoreline of the west coast of Vancouver Island, the shores of the Olympic Peninsula, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

[Boston]

appreciate the tip
any places on the river you particularly like, Ive been up in that region a few times and its just spectacular. Spent about a month a few years ago just goofing off around Tillamook but it was sooooooo expensive. Ild be completely content even a hundred miles up the Columbia as long as Im in the green parts.

best wishes
B

[katiedobe]

If you think Tillamook is expensive you will be shocked at the prices on the Columbia east of Portland up past The Dalles, this is the columbia river gorge area and there are Federal rules about what you can do there regarding your home building and so forth.
Now west of Portland once you get past St. Helen's and Longview bridge I think the prices are lower.
But realy Boston I have been keeping an eye on prices in the Tillimoook area and the Hood River area and Tillamook is much better priced and has way more activities available that I enjoy. Crabbing, Salmon/steelhead drift fishing, whitewater kayaking, camping and hiking and hunting all within 30 minutes drive anywhere in the Tillamook area. Check out the prices for a little town on the Bay called Garibaldi.

[Boston]

I am but a poor carpenter
place needs to be cheap and I need to be able to drag the build down to the water without having to spend my life's savings

[James McMullen]

It rains every single day in Washington State, and twice a day on Thursdays. You need webbed feet to live here.

At least that's what it feels like around here lately.

[bamamick]

Just south of Fairhope, Alabama on the Bay would be a nice spot. My brother in law could build you a super house and barn (I'm serious. He's been written up in several lifestyle and architectural mags).

Another great spot would be Josephine, Alabama on Perdido Bay. There used to be a wooden boat builder living there, but I am not sure if he's still there.

Mickey Lake

[Woxbox]

Ive been wondering the same thing. What Ive seen all up and down the East Coast is that no matter where the retirees first go, thousands more follow. I was back in Lewes, Del., this summer. 20 years ago it went unnoticed and was a nice and cheap place to retire. Then it got discovered, and its one big traffic jam getting in and out of the place, and the building of trophy homes has not stopped.

This is where things are headed down in the coastal Carolinas. Lots of subdivisions being set up and sold. Has Home Depot moved in yet? Ive heard that area called the new Florida. If you move down there from New York, it will be nice at first, but for how long? I dont have an answer here, just a cautionary note. My folks retired to Florida some many years back, and the inlaws retired to Maine, outside Rockland, in fact. Maine has retained its character against the odds, but I wonder how long it can hold out, too.

[jalmberg]

Ive been wondering the same thing. What Ive seen all up and down the East Coast is that no matter where the retirees first go, thousands more follow. I was back in Lewes, Del., this summer. 20 years ago it went unnoticed and was a nice and cheap place to retire. Then it got discovered, and its one big traffic jam getting in and out of the place, and the building of trophy homes has not stopped.

This is where things are headed down in the coastal Carolinas. Lots of subdivisions being set up and sold. Has Home Depot moved in yet? Ive heard that area called the new Florida. If you move down there from New York, it will be nice at first, but for how long? I dont have an answer here, just a cautionary note. My folks retired to Florida some many years back, and the inlaws retired to Maine, outside Rockland, in fact. Maine has retained its character against the odds, but I wonder how long it can hold out, too.

Maybe for awhile, because when New Yorkers think retirement, they think 'warmer'. Maine is in the wrong direction. If I wasn't into sailing, boat building, and crewing on big schooners, I wouldn't be thinking Maine, either. And the idea of sailing to Portugal or Brazil or the West Indies for the winter is in the back of my mind :-)

[Boston]

I want nothing more than a small plot of land with a few trees
something where I can smell the water
the ability to drag my build to shore
and leave a small cottage behind to come home to
wouldn't think I was asking for the moon
but I guess in the end
its a rich mans dream
and I am but a humble carpenter
maybe there is room yet for me
or at least I hope there is

B

[py]

Tasmania

[Chip-skiff]

New Zealand is a wonderful place to sail, with a strong wooden-boat tradition and a great many keen builders. Auckland is pleasant to live in or around. The Bay of Islands is paradise, but also pricey. Likewise Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds. There are many isolated spots on sheltered waters, within a half-day's drive of a city.

Never been to Tassie, but have friends there who like it well enough.

One item: I know that NZ has a maximum age for immigrants & prospective citizens (55?) I think Australia does as well.

[jalmberg]

Just south of Fairhope, Alabama on the Bay would be a nice spot. My brother in law could build you a super house and barn (I'm serious. He's been written up in several lifestyle and architectural mags).

Another great spot would be Josephine, Alabama on Perdido Bay. There used to be a wooden boat builder living there, but I am not sure if he's still there.

Mickey Lake

I have to admit to a New Yorker's near total ignorance of Alabama. I'll have to do a bit of digging to educate myself!

Thanks for the tip.

-- John

[jalmberg]

Scotland

Here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=helensburgh&ie=UTF8&gl=uk&ei=dJzpSr_XC8n4-AagzM3lCw&ved=0CAsQ8gEwAA&hq=&hnear=Helensburgh,+Dunbartonshire,+United+Kingdom&z=13) - you could ask - maybe they'll let you in - you could try being an asylum seeker fleeing from the prospect of Guantanamo...

Interesting... I'm 1/4 Welsh and 1/4 Irish, so I've got the Celtic background going for me :-)

It looks like a lovely place to sail, but it must be pretty darn expensive, no? What would a small cottage on a lot big enough for a big shed or small barn... something big enough to build a boat in... cost, roughly?

I have a friend who lives outside of Oxford and his modest house was scary expensive, even by New York standards!

-- John

[Hal Forsen]

The Oregon coast is real nice.
My brother relocated up to Port Orford about 15 years ago.
The property prices outside of the towns are still reasonable although you will pay a premium for a house ON the water.
You can also expect 200+ days of rain a year but that keeps the big trees happy and many of those trees are some of the best boat building woods around.
There's good fishing and hunting and it seldom snows. The ocean is often rough but there's plenty of rivers and lakes when it's blown out.

Hope you find what your looking for. ;)

[katiedobe]

Shh! Don't tell him about the southern oregon coast. No you don't want to go there, where it is quiet, remote and full of great places for sale with shops already. Not to mention the white water rivers.

But I don't know about sailing out on the ocean from down there, and once on the ocean where do you go to anchor for overnight.

Look up in Kitsap Co, washington. Much more stuff to do in the Puget Sound.
Now if you like fishing, hunting, hiking, whitewater rowing in a drift boat, salmon fishing, steelhead fishing, snow skiing and visiting the redwoods once in a while then Southern Coast is great.

[jjdeal]

Unfortunately, I didn't hear about Beaufort until recently. My daughter lives in Charlotte, so I'll get to see it in the spring, probably.

How is the sailing on Pamlico sound? It looks pretty ideal from looking at a chart.

You can do LOTS of sailing in the Pamlico Sound with interesting trips to Ocracoke and Cape Lookout (via the ICW and Beaufort). One catch is that the PS is shallow...rarely more than 20-25 feet deep, so it can get choppy fast. Also a potential issue if you have a deep draft, although that doesn't seem to stop folks. We have sailed almost every month of the year there...I remember some delightful sails on New Years Day! In fact there is a regatta in Oriental on 1 Jan for those who don't want to watch parades, football, etc.

It is a delightful place in my opinion...that's why we will retire there!

[jjdeal]

You can do LOTS of sailing in the Pamlico Sound with interesting trips to Ocracoke and Cape Lookout (via the ICW and Beaufort). One catch is that the PS is shallow...rarely more than 20-25 feet deep, so it can get choppy fast. Also a potential issue if you have a deep draft, although that doesn't seem to stop folks. We have sailed almost every month of the year there...I remember some delightful sails on New Years Day! In fact there is a regatta in Oriental on 1 Jan for those who don't want to watch parades, football, etc.

It is a delightful place in my opinion...that's why we will retire there!


PS We moved to NC from Tallahassee, FL. There is wonderful sailing there, too, although not as many places to go as in the Pamlico Sound, Outer Banks, etc. Have spend many a wonderful day on Dog Island, St. George Island, etc. just off the FL coast. Have friends who have a boat in Panama City Beach. Yes, PC is a tourist area, but you have to go to OLD Panama City area, near the city marina. Shell Island is a few-hour sail from there and it is grand. I could live there, too!

[davebrown]

i third NC.

[David G]

From your description, I think I'd lean toward Maine or the Salish Sea. Maine has more sailing infrastructure than the PNW, but the PNW has more sailing possibilities. Maine is probably gonna have cheaper off-water land, though I haven't researched it. 'Twere me, I'd be thinking British Columbia.

[jalmberg]

From your description, I think I'd lean toward Maine or the Salish Sea. Maine has more sailing infrastructure than the PNW, but the PNW has more sailing possibilities. Maine is probably gonna have cheaper off-water land, though I haven't researched it. 'Twere me, I'd be thinking British Columbia.

Maine would be our first choice for many reasons: boat culture, schooner sailing in the summer, availability of wood & boat builders, proximity to Boston, scenery, 'easy' sailing to Europe and West Indies, minimal culture shock to us poor New Yorkers, etc...

The big negative is Winter. Having spent two years in southern New Hampshire, I keep thinking cold, dark, snowy...

Now if we could sail to Madeira every winter... but that probably isn't going to happen.

[katiedobe]

Ask Steven Bauer about culture shock and what the difference living in Portland Me compared to New York is like.
They adjusted. But it is different.
If you want longer months of sailing available then go to Panama City or Appalacacola, Florida area. The NC Pamlico Sound sounds nice too.

Anywhere in the USA you can buy or have trucked to you the finest boatbuilding woods in the world. So lumber availability should not be a huge consideration. After all how many boats are you going to build four or five in your retirement? That is not a lot of wood unless you are building some large boats. I am assuming you are doing under 20 footers, with different designs and purposes but still all in all not huge 10,000 board foot orders of lumber.
I moved from Portland, OR where due to poor wind consitancy, crappy raining weekends during the winter, sun shining only during the workdays duing the winter, I was not able to sail my trailered daysailer on the Willamette or Columbia river very often between Nov and March. Now a larger boat moored on the Columbia would have given me more opportunity but still sitting in foul weather gear steering by hand in a driving rain on the Columbia for a few hours for a day sail is not fun. It is one thing if you are doing a trip of a few days and have a destination and for a few hours you have to put on your foulies but daysailing in them is not fun at all.

Now living down further south I am able to sail almost every day. Yes it rains but it does it quickly and copiously and gets it done. Never is there any ice. The water is usually warm enough to swim in. The foulies have been worn only once on the water when I had to move the boat during a tropical depression.
Plus as you get old it is harder to stay warm.
Think southern hospitality and go visit Maine during the nice weather like all the other tourists.
And the South does have Culture. New Orleans is still alive, Mobile, (OK no Culture in Florida yet) then Savannah, and all along the North Carolina and South Carolina there are great cities with wonderful culture. Don't be a Yankee Snob. I was until I married a Southern Gal and visited the Family. I experienced such wonderful love and great southern hospitality from stangers. Not to mention the food, and the beauty of the south. I actually am considering it as a place to move to if I ever leave Mexico.

Madisonville, Louisiana on Lake Ponchatraine is another place that just came to mind. They have a wonderful Maritime Museum and small woodenbaot building class and Lake Ponchatrain connects to the Mississippi and then to the Gulf and from there you can go to the Carribean after Coasting along the Gulf shores of the USA. Plus there are lots of places available at a good price since hurricane Katrina. If you build just build smartly.

[rbgarr]

Regarding New England winters and getting on the water: for our next boat I'm looking into what it takes to keep a powerboat safely docked and afloat in winter, and ready for use. It would require heat, defrosting and windshield clearing capabilities in an enclosed deckhouse only (probably hot water to bus/ forced air heater off the engine, automotive type windshield wash system) and ways to keep the minimal required systems from freezing (think block heaters and insulated bilge compartments lit by incandescent bulbs from dockside 110v outlets). There are enough clear, beautiful calm days in the forties each winter month to make it worthwhile versus onshore storage and all that comes with it. One advantage we have is living very close to where the boat would dock and lobstermen friends who would keep a daily eye out as well.

I think it's doable with reasonable care and attention.

This is an example of the boat type I'm looking into: http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1966/Brownell-Flybridge-Sedan-1910665/Aurora/NC/United-States

[openboater]

before you head to Portland Maine, have a look at this ;

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/data/GYX/CLAPWM

If I read this right, it said Portland had 152 days in 2008 where the minimum temp went below 32 degrees.

NUMBER OF DAYS: YEAR 2008 NORMAL

MAXIMUM 90 OR ABOVE 0 4.5 MINUS 4.5
MAXIMUM 32 OR BELOW 39 47.7 MINUS 8.7
MINIMUM 32 OR BELOW 152 154.7 MINUS 2.7
MINIMUM 0 OR BELOW 5 13.3 MINUS 8.3


Is that conducive to boating ? the salt water may not freeze, but my old fingers would.

check out the climate data from NWS or NOAA.

[Liam English]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64919353@N00/sets/72157622666996205/

Try Vermont! Beautiful uncrowded waters, great scenery, access to the world's oceans through canals to the St Lawrence, the Hudson, and to the Great Lakes through the Erie Canal. An active boat building community takes full advantage of local woods and sawyers, while the winter provides time not only for skiing and such, but happy hours in the shop. Montreal is nearby to the north, while Boston and NYC are in easy reach to the south.

[SBrookman]

One item: I know that NZ has a maximum age for immigrants & prospective citizens (55?) I think Australia does as well.

Great, there goes another retirement fantasy. Maybe I get my wife there then apply for a hardship entry!

As for retiring in FL, especially SW FL, you'll need a lot of heat tolerance and anywhere in the state, hurricane awareness. The heat, growth management issues, road traffic, water quality and shortages, and the parade of hurricanes got us out of there. Culture consists mostly of football.

Still looking for the place to retire to. Maine is a strong possibility depending on our winter tolerance and PNW would be ideal if we can move that far away from family and friends.

We vacationed on the Olympic Peninsula a few years ago and fell in love with Port Townsend, wooden boat center, lots of classic boats, big protected waters, mild climate and 2 brew pubs! Seattle and it's culture and traffic were a ferry ride away.

[BrianW]

This is an example of the boat type I'm looking into: http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1966/Brownell-Flybridge-Sedan-1910665/Aurora/NC/United-States

That's a gorgeous boat!

The tiller set up is perfect for the true sailor turned powerboater. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/spirittiller.jpg

[SScoville]

Check out Georgetown, SC. We have a couple of mills which are eye sores but we're at the confluence of 5 rivers on Winyah Bay. 1 hour from Charleston.

[Carlsboats]

Don't think you could do much better than Maryland's Eastern Shore on the Chesapeake Bay. Mild climate. Over a couple of centuries, lots of boats have been built there under open-sided sheds. Close to major suppliers of wood, hardware. Reasonable real estate and living costs (except maybe in a few famous spots such as St Michael's or Oxford). The other side of the Bay -- Annapolis, Baltimore-Washington area -- would be much more crowded and expensive, so i would confine the search to the laid-back Eastern Shore. Maybe begin with Chestertown, a really nice place, and spread out from there.

[spirit]

I hope you find a HOME site that you are really happy with, wherever that may be, and that this is your very first priority. For BUILDING A BOAT, a warm shop can be nearly anywhere: consider remodeling a garage or barn to have a shop downstairs, so that your furnace works well for both spaces. (Obviously, shop smells and toxic vapors should not go into your dwelling.) As far as SAILING AREAS go, the world is your oyster if you can trailer the boat and also live aboard it. You could live in Maine or on the cape or anywhere, and move the boat to wherever you wish to wander afloat.

Good luck!

[Woxbox]

Reasonable real estate and living costs

I guess it depends on your idea of reasonable. Chestertown isn't cheap, although decidedly more affordable than Annapolis. If you want to be on the water, prices on the Eastern Shore start above $600,000 and go up from there -- and go up very rapidly. Yes, I've been checking the ads.