Looking for opinions on slip dilemma

Jan 7, 2011
4,727
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
Hard to say what is the better choice for you.

Do you work?
Does the boat need work?
Are you a social person?

Having the boat closer means you can run out to the marina more frequently, either to work on her or when you have little free time. But if you can go and stay at the boat, then the longer drive may not be so bad.

I enjoy just tinkering around with my boat ( especially this time of year when the weather is not real great).

I work, and have a needy wife (hope she is not reading this) so will pop out to the marina when I have an extra hour to kill...but don’t generally spend all day (or night) at the marina.

I am not a dock rat, and could care less about the marina nightlife or facilities.

A 6-hour motor to get someplace to put the sails up sounds brutal.

I am so fortunate to be on Lake Michigan, and have about a 3 minute run from my slip to 30 feet of [fresh] water and 300 miles of length on this Great Lake.

Now if only global warming gets us above freezing year ‘round....:clap:

Greg
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,996
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
A 6-hour motor to get someplace to put the sails up sounds brutal.
Greg. I must have misread something. It sounded to me it would be a 6 mile motor or maybe an hour and a half. Boat time is boat time. And not car time.
 
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Likes: Parsons
Feb 26, 2004
22,760
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
unless if I forgot a tool at home
And my wife says: "What, you CAME HOME AND LEFT THAT TOOL WE NEEDED ON THE BOAT?!?"

Nothing personal to the poster who I quoted, but ALL of the tools I need are ON the boat.

All I got? Less excuses... :):):)
 
Apr 1, 2010
398
Cal 33 and Sea Pearl 21 . Crystal River, FL
6 MILE motor. 6 hours and I would not be buying a boat!!!

as of this moment I am leaning toward the first month or two at option 1 then moving to option 2 once the "newness" of the boat wears off.
 
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Likes: Scott T-Bird
Jan 11, 2014
11,324
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
And my wife says: "What, you CAME HOME AND LEFT THAT TOOL WE NEEDED ON THE BOAT?!?"

Nothing personal to the poster who I quoted, but ALL of the tools I need are ON the boat.

All I got? Less excuses... :):):)
Well, there is that set of tools in the basement. And that set of tools on the boat. And that set of tools that rides around in the back of the truck. :biggrin:
 
Jan 7, 2011
4,727
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
Greg. I must have misread something. It sounded to me it would be a 6 mile motor or maybe an hour and a half. Boat time is boat time. And not car time.
Oh...yeah...that makes more sense...

But an hour motor out seems pretty brutal too.

Greg
 
Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
We drive 1 hr 15 minutes for the better atmosphere and community. It is worth it. You are buying a cruiser sized boat, so you will be more likely to stay over if you are further from home. You will enjoy the boat much more. We do. We stay over at least 1 night every weekend. On the minus side, you won’t run down to do an evening sail on a weeknight, but would you if you were closer?
Option 2!
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
We've kept a boat in many locations for nearly a decade so we could explore various areas of coastal Maine. Driving was as long as 8 hours as we were living in Vermont. That sounds far but we sailed many different areas during that time. And that shorter than one winter where the boat was kept in the Chesapeake.

But it did reinforce that top notch sailing grounds are not that common to many harbors on the east coast.

So I'd pick option 2, hands down. But only for one season, then it's time to find a better situation.

Be careful though, with no intention of doing so, we moved to the best sailing grounds we found.
 

DougM

.
Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
Given choices one and two, I would pick door #2. However, neither one sounds like a particularly good choice. That makes me appreciate what I have.

When I raced scows, I dry sailed at a club a half hour from home. The kids literally grew up there in the summer. A good life at the time. The commute didn’t matter. The social life was a big factor

Now I am in fresh water, the boat is parked in deeded space literally 10 steps from the door of my place, and less than a one mile run to open water. The only downside is that being up north, the sailing season is pitifully short. The boat spends more than half the year on the hard.

As for tools, if the one I need is not on the boat, it is possibly in the garage. If its not in the garage... Its at my house 1000 miles away. No way am I going home to fetch a needed tool. The Ace hardware is only a mile away. Thats why I have 3 sets of some things.
 
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Likes: jssailem
Oct 26, 2008
6,052
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
6 MILE motor. 6 hours and I would not be buying a boat!!!

as of this moment I am leaning toward the first month or two at option 1 then moving to option 2 once the "newness" of the boat wears off.
Sound's like a good choice. You'll probably have plenty of reasons why easy access will be the primary need. Fewer people will mean fewer distractions during boat projects! :biggrin:When you have the urge to move to a new location, you'll already be on the water so moving will be relatively easy! When you are exploring sailing grounds in the area, you'll probably decide where you most want to be. It looks like there is more population and gulf access south of your location. Am I right in thinking that as you go north from Yankeetown, the gulf is more off the beaten path and access is more remote?
 
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Likes: jssailem
Apr 1, 2010
398
Cal 33 and Sea Pearl 21 . Crystal River, FL
@Scott T-Bird you are correct. I would actually take it one step further and say that option 2 (Hudson) is the northernmost point "on" the beaten path. as you head north from there it gets real shallow and deserted.
 

capta

.
Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I'm not sure how many times a year I'd drive 15 minutes to motor at least an hour out to uninteresting sailing, before I lost interest in the whole thing.
On the other hand, I'm not too sure how many times I'd drive an hour and motor another half hour or so before I lost interest in the whole thing.
I hope you can find a third alternative that's a bit more fun.
 
Mar 26, 2011
3,402
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
Option 3. I don't know what it is, but 2 hours of driving, followed by set-up time, followed by another hour (RT) of putting in and out. That's about 4 hours of non-sailing time for each outing.

I would think on it some more, perhaps.

(I drive an hour, but only motor ~ 1/2-mile, which is partly spent removing sail covers and setting up. If it were any farther... no.)
 
Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
Option 3. I don't know what it is, but 2 hours of driving, followed by set-up time, followed by another hour (RT) of putting in and out. That's about 4 hours of non-sailing time for each outing.
I think he is looking at a 34 ft boat, so it will be slipped. Thus, his setup will be minimal each trip. However, I agree that his motoring -vs- sailing time and his sailing area do not sound great.
 
Jan 19, 2010
1,169
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
I'd look at a different perspective: Those pesky storms called hurricanes... So, how likely would your area be to get hit? Which slip area provides the best shelter or ability to haul out ( when everyone is also looking to haul)?
 
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Likes: Jim26m
Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
I am an option 2 guy as well. My slip is 1 hr, 10 min from home and is an easy interstate, low traffic run. I can take back roads too if I want a nicer drive.. I started doing that back in 1978 when I worked.. We'd drive over on Friday night or Saturday morning and return Sunday evening, sometimes on a BMW motorcycle .. The 34 foot boat with air cond made that a pleasant mini-vacation.. I am retired now and we go for a few days during the week .. our motor out to the Lake Pontchartrain is only 15 minutes on a narrow bayou with a natural state park on one side and boat slips on the other .. makes me smile every time..
Yes, there is a set of hand tools on board, but the power tools have to travel for projects.. There were times when the kids were growing up when I might not be able to go out for a month or two.. slips here are very rare so if ya give one up, ya might not be able to get another for a while..
 
Apr 1, 2010
398
Cal 33 and Sea Pearl 21 . Crystal River, FL
yes, for anyone who hasn't read the whole thread, it is NOT for the C22 (I actually sold that boat several years ago). I gave a deposit yesterday on a Cal 33-2