Gulf Coast, AL to FL Panhandle Move

JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,051
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
My wife and I are thinking of moving my Catalina 310 from Lake Guntersville to a gulf location. The thoughts were to put it someplace between AL and FL panhandle with good sailing access and easy beach day by car. The boat would be basically our 'beach condo' to stay on and sail on good days of course. Any recommendations on marinas, or avoid? My current slip is $255 / month so I know it will go up, we want nice area, with some good accommodations, basically we would be down once a month for a long weekend to enjoy it and the gulf area.
 
WayneH

WayneH

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Jan 22, 2008
1,084
Tartan 37 287 Pensacola, FL
Oh, Yeah. Prices will go up. My slip in Pensacola is north of $500. We are tucked away in Bayou Chico and fairly well protected. After Hurricane Sally in 2020, slips are difficult to locate.

Personal Knowledge:

We spent three days on a weekend at Bear Point Marina in Orange Beach. Sportfishermen go past this marina headed to the gulf and make the marina rolly.

Barber's Marina in Elberta, AL used to have a breakwater but Hurricane Sally......

Big Lagoon has several marinas on the north side only because the south side is a National Park. But these are also along the path to the gulf for sportfishermen so you need a marina with a breakwater of some sort.

If you find a slip in Bayou Chico, try to get one close to shore. Pensacola Shipyard is building a dry stack for FIVE HUNDRED boats of 50 foot or less and I expect traffic to get worse as people have various ideas of "No Wake".

We stayed in a marina on the Fly River in Mobile Bay for a while. Huge amount of water to sail in but it reminded us of Galveston Bay. Between the Mobile River and the ship traffic, the bay stays roiled up and dirty.

I know of a couple of other marinas but I have not visited them so I won't give an opinion of them.
 
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JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,051
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Any ideas about Gulf Shores or Orange Beach AL area?
 
JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,051
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
www.segersmarine.com

Chico Marina | Segers Marine

Chico Marina gives quick access to the Gulf of Mexico and situates you just minutes away from the downtown area of Pensacola, Florida.
www.segersmarine.com www.segersmarine.com

I assume you are here
 
Rick Webb

Rick Webb

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Jun 2, 2004
3,476
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
Forget about anything east of Fort Walton. Marinas are still not rebuilt from Michael. Slips are in very high demand in the Fort Walton area as well. Slip fees will be easily above 150% to 200% of what you are paying now.

Do consider broadening your search out to Gulfport and Bay St Louis in Mississippi.
 
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kloudie1

kloudie1

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Nov 6, 2006
10,028
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Look around Orange Beach, Josephine, Bear point Pirate's Cove areas Good sailing around in Wolfs Bay and a fairly easy out to the Gulf from Perdido Pass.. There are some good places on the Mississippi coast as well, but many require that boats be removed if a hurricane approaches.. Sailing out to the Islands off Mississippi is fun..
 
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WayneH

WayneH

.
Jan 22, 2008
1,084
Tartan 37 287 Pensacola, FL
JRT said:
www.segersmarine.com

Chico Marina | Segers Marine

Chico Marina gives quick access to the Gulf of Mexico and situates you just minutes away from the downtown area of Pensacola, Florida.
www.segersmarine.com www.segersmarine.com

I assume you are here
Click to expand
Actually, we are here. It used to be the laughing stock of the bayou. But I recently learned that the ownership was solidified into one person and things improved quickly. So much so that the marina is full. :cool:
https://www.pelicansperchmarina.com/
 
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JRT

JRT

.
Feb 14, 2017
2,051
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Bring this back up. I'm looking at options now to move RoseLeigh in January to March of 2025, ya a long ways off. We have decided with my daughter off to USM in Aug we will try to start some salt water living on RoseLeigh for long weekends and holidays. The lake life isn't for us, I'm utterly tied of the shockingly large amount of spiders and bugs where we are, it seems it has gotten worst every year and is terrible now.

With my daughter going to USM in Hattiesburg MS, I'm wondering about the gulf area south of here now? Any feedback is appreciated, we are planning a beach trip to Biloxi in September right now.
 
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kloudie1

kloudie1

.
Nov 6, 2006
10,028
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Long Beach, Pass Christian, Gulfport.. even as far west as Slidell.. (12 or so miles to the Gulf, but you can take a run to New Orleans )
As I said, check with them for hurricane rules..
Good Luck!
 
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JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,733
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
kloudie1 said:
Pass Christian Harbor
Click to expand
This their link.
https://pass-christian.com/departments/harbor/

You do have to move your boat on a Mandatory Hurricane Evacuations.

If that occurs, I will move our boat to Pass Christian Yacht Works. 1 hour motor move.

My Progressive Boat Insurance will pay them to lift our boat to Store it on stands. [my cost $400 out and back]

We will still have full Insurance Coverage ! :biggrin::biggrin:

Jim...
 
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JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,733
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Please note the finger piers are still torn up on 3 of 4 piers,

I am a member of the Yacht Club there.

They do teach new sailors to sail small boats.

Sad but true.

Jim...
 
Rick Webb

Rick Webb

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Jun 2, 2004
3,476
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
Point Cadet

This may be dated information but something to check on wherever you end up.

When we lived in Biloxi the slips in Point Cadet were required to get their own meter and account with Mississippi Power. On the surface seems like not a big deal I remember guys bitching about it but did not pay much attention. It is however it is a pretty big deal. A year after Katrina my wife was transferred back to Keesler AFB to reopen the hospital. The kids and I stayed here in Florida and she rented an apartment in Ocean Springs and did a weekly commute every weekend.

When we got the first electric bill, I was shocked that the bill on the little apartment with just one person who was almost never there was more than half of what the bill was for our house with three of us the pool, lawn pump and air conditioning set lower than she can tolerate.

After studying the bill I realized how large the portion of a monthly electric was not for electricity. There are several fees attached to the privilege of having an account and attaching to the grid. Separately they seem insignificant in total though they were more than the monthly cost of electricity.

If individual meters are still the case factor that cost into the monthly outlay for the slip.
 
JamesG161

JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,733
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
All Mississippi Gulf Coast Marinas have Mandatory Evacuations for Hurricanes.

Choose Wisely :cool:

Jim...
 
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BigEasy

BigEasy

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Jun 21, 2004
2,695
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Johann said:
Gulfport Municipal looks pretty nice.

Arguably, Gulfport marina is the nicest marina on the northern Gulf Coast. Completely rebuilt a few years after hurricane Katrina & redesigned to “hurricane proof” standards, if there is such a thing! It’s a big marina, over 300 slips, with pump out on each pier, modern rest rooms & clean showers, fuel dock, & store. Restaurants within walking distance. Easy sail to the barrier islands. Only negative as @JamesG161 mentioned is you have to vacate the slip if a mandatory hurricane evacuation is ordered. Availability is usually not a problem & cost is comparable to what you are now paying.
Click to expand
 
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