Has anybody sailed this area? Trying to find a place that is warm in winter, not to costly, and the shortest driving distance from the Midwest. Have hope of taking a boat down and being able to fly in two or three times to sail when the snow is flying.
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Port Isabel/South Padre Island
The following is a response I wrote a while back to a similar question on another board. I personally would recommend the Corpus Christi/Port Aransas/Rockport area of the Texas coast. I'm sure there are some intersting places to cruise around Port Isabel/South Padre Island, however from looking at the charts, very little of the water on the land side of Padre Island is deep enough for most sailboats. Most of the water between Port Isabel and South Padre Island is shallow enough for wade fishing. Padre Island National Seashore is an interesting place to visit, primarily because the 90+ mile long barrier island is undeveloped. You can sail anywhere on the Gulf side, but it is almost always a lee shore, with no harbors or anchorages. Between South Padre Island and Port Aransas there is only one place (Port Mansfield Channel) where you can get from the gulf inland if a storm develops. The body of water between Padre Island and the mainland is called the Laguna Madre. According to the charts, most of the Laguna Madre from Corpus Christi south to Mexico is too shallow for sailing most sailboats (with the exception of the Intercoastal Water Way and Baffin Bay); outside of the ICW most of it is only 2-3 feet deep. There are hardly any facilities or any sort or settlements along this body of water. Most of the land inland is owned by private ranches such as the King Ranch. Once you North of the North Padre Island, the Laguna Madre opens up into Corpus Christi Bay and a series of five large deeper water bays all connected by the ICW, and all with lots of water deep enough for sailing, and lots of areas for gunkholing or getting away from it all. You have access to the gulf at Port Aransas and 60 miles further north at Port Oconner. Here you have a variety of developed and undeveloped cruising grounds, with facilities interspersed often enough for provisioning, and numerous public ramps. I must comment on the scenary, there isn't much except for the close up views of abundant bird and marine life. The coast is all pretty low sand dunes, dry and arid, not many trees except around Rockport where I kept my boat for 3 years. The winds are reliable and pretty constant along the coast, so you can count on having wind to sail almost always. Visit my web site for local weather information, gulf coast offshore weather bouys and average monthly temperatures, etc. Link below. The winters here are mild, with lots of good sailing most of the year.
The following is a response I wrote a while back to a similar question on another board. I personally would recommend the Corpus Christi/Port Aransas/Rockport area of the Texas coast. I'm sure there are some intersting places to cruise around Port Isabel/South Padre Island, however from looking at the charts, very little of the water on the land side of Padre Island is deep enough for most sailboats. Most of the water between Port Isabel and South Padre Island is shallow enough for wade fishing. Padre Island National Seashore is an interesting place to visit, primarily because the 90+ mile long barrier island is undeveloped. You can sail anywhere on the Gulf side, but it is almost always a lee shore, with no harbors or anchorages. Between South Padre Island and Port Aransas there is only one place (Port Mansfield Channel) where you can get from the gulf inland if a storm develops. The body of water between Padre Island and the mainland is called the Laguna Madre. According to the charts, most of the Laguna Madre from Corpus Christi south to Mexico is too shallow for sailing most sailboats (with the exception of the Intercoastal Water Way and Baffin Bay); outside of the ICW most of it is only 2-3 feet deep. There are hardly any facilities or any sort or settlements along this body of water. Most of the land inland is owned by private ranches such as the King Ranch. Once you North of the North Padre Island, the Laguna Madre opens up into Corpus Christi Bay and a series of five large deeper water bays all connected by the ICW, and all with lots of water deep enough for sailing, and lots of areas for gunkholing or getting away from it all. You have access to the gulf at Port Aransas and 60 miles further north at Port Oconner. Here you have a variety of developed and undeveloped cruising grounds, with facilities interspersed often enough for provisioning, and numerous public ramps. I must comment on the scenary, there isn't much except for the close up views of abundant bird and marine life. The coast is all pretty low sand dunes, dry and arid, not many trees except around Rockport where I kept my boat for 3 years. The winds are reliable and pretty constant along the coast, so you can count on having wind to sail almost always. Visit my web site for local weather information, gulf coast offshore weather bouys and average monthly temperatures, etc. Link below. The winters here are mild, with lots of good sailing most of the year.
I was there looking for the same thing
Dick, We went down to South Padre a couple years ago for vacation. We looked extensively in the Port Isabel area for sailing oportunities. My data matches Capt. Ron's. The marinas didn't cater to sailing much. The only liveaboard marina I found was across the channel from a fleet of shrimp boats (I don't think so). Last year we went to Florida Gulf Coast (Port Charolette). It was almost exactly the same driving distance and about the same latitude as Port Isabel. The area is much more conducive to sailing. It is also more expensive. Searches on airline tickets to various destinations over the past year have shown me that the price is about the same for south Florida and south Texas. In about 3 weeks, we are going to Galveston Texas to look at a couple boats and to vacation for a bit. That is about a 1000 mile drive from you. From my internet research, the area is by far cheaper than Florida marinas. The weather not as good, but sailing oportunities better than Port Isabel. I can let you know more when we get back if you wish. Your neighbor down the road Ward
Dick, We went down to South Padre a couple years ago for vacation. We looked extensively in the Port Isabel area for sailing oportunities. My data matches Capt. Ron's. The marinas didn't cater to sailing much. The only liveaboard marina I found was across the channel from a fleet of shrimp boats (I don't think so). Last year we went to Florida Gulf Coast (Port Charolette). It was almost exactly the same driving distance and about the same latitude as Port Isabel. The area is much more conducive to sailing. It is also more expensive. Searches on airline tickets to various destinations over the past year have shown me that the price is about the same for south Florida and south Texas. In about 3 weeks, we are going to Galveston Texas to look at a couple boats and to vacation for a bit. That is about a 1000 mile drive from you. From my internet research, the area is by far cheaper than Florida marinas. The weather not as good, but sailing oportunities better than Port Isabel. I can let you know more when we get back if you wish. Your neighbor down the road Ward
Too Cold?
I'd called down to one of the Sailing schools in Corpus Christi for a Feb ASA 101-104 class. They said they weren't running classes in Feb because it was too cold. Ended up taking class in Fort Myers. Need to find somewhere warm for winters.
I'd called down to one of the Sailing schools in Corpus Christi for a Feb ASA 101-104 class. They said they weren't running classes in Feb because it was too cold. Ended up taking class in Fort Myers. Need to find somewhere warm for winters.
Drop a line neighbor
I was sailing out of Burnt Store Marina the first week in February. Like you said, Florida a little more expensive. That is why I'm looking elsewhere. It is further, but check out Key West Sailing Club. Rates sound really great. chocho41@aol.com
I was sailing out of Burnt Store Marina the first week in February. Like you said, Florida a little more expensive. That is why I'm looking elsewhere. It is further, but check out Key West Sailing Club. Rates sound really great. chocho41@aol.com
Drop a line to Iowa neighbor
I was sailing out of Burnt Store Marina the first week in February. Like you said, Florida a little more expensive. That is why I'm looking elsewhere. It is further, but check out Key West Sailing Club. Rates sound really great. chocho41@aol.com
I was sailing out of Burnt Store Marina the first week in February. Like you said, Florida a little more expensive. That is why I'm looking elsewhere. It is further, but check out Key West Sailing Club. Rates sound really great. chocho41@aol.com
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