Where's the best place to retire and sail?

Don S/V ILLusion · Dec 31, 2012

As a Tampa Bay resident, I would not consider this to be the 'best' place to sail by a long shot but I don't want to offend anyone else around here so won't elaborate further.

Bill1565 · Dec 31, 2012

Racing is great in Tampa Bay. Cruising and Gunkholing are better south of Venice. Charlotte Harbor is less expensive than Naples and Marco Island. Cape Coral/Ft Myers can be inexpensive, but you need a boater/realtor. parts of Cape Coral are a long way from sailing water. Fort Myers Beach is great but Reallly Tacky and expensive.

Sailm8 · Dec 31, 2012

You are where I was 15 years ago. Lived in the STL area and had a c22. My wife taught in a year round school district and had 5 weeks on 3 weeks off. We wouldtrailer to the keys and sail during her off time. When we moved up to a Cal 27 we kept the t C22 in the keys.

At first we thought we would like to move to the keys but found in over priced and to "free range" for our tastes. We heard about Punta Gorda and the great protected sailing on Charlotte Harbor. A couple of trips and we were sold. Bought a condo on a canal and have the boat in the back. I can see it from our lanai. I ended up teaching in the High School for 8 years and my wife at the same school for 9 years. We are fully retired now and love it.

Tampa is nice but it gets cold up there. As odd as it may seem the weather fronts from the north seem to peter out around Tampa/Sarasota. Check out the Punta Gorda Sailing Club at http://pgscweb.com. The advice to about finding a SAILING realtor is right on.

We have lived in a condo in Punta Gorda Isles for over 10 years and don't regret a single minute.

Edit: forgot to add that STL is much more uncomfortable in the summer. Rarely reaches 95 here and always a breeze. Coming from the midwest the temp is no problem.

HernandoBeacher · Dec 31, 2012

I sail out of Hernando beach which is about 40 miles north of Tampa Bay and agree that Tampa and much of the Gulf Coast of Florida is not ideal for sailing or cruising. For day sailing, you will want to be south of Tampa Bay to reach deep water in a reasonable amount of time. Where we sail, the ocean floor drops about a foot per mile. So if you want 10 feet of water, plan on an hour in the channel each way. South of Tampa depth is not so much a problem once in the Gulf but there are few inlets that are deep enough to accompdate a medium draft cruiser and the ones that are deep enought are constantly shifting.

31seahorse · Dec 31, 2012

Hello beeryboats,

We love Charlotte Harbor as mentioned above. Punta Gorda is very boater friendly with marinas, parks, and a downtown with art activities. (Note: You can also find the occasional brewsky for sale!) Burnt Store Marina, Bokeelia, etc are all within easy sailing distance.

RE: Cape Coral.....That was our choice. We live on a "fresh water canal" without Gulf access, but that keeps the price lower and still provides water for trailer boats and kayaks as well as natural surroundings in some areas of the Cape. There are launch ramps to the Caloosahatchee River, and access to the Gulf and the world from there. Check out CMCS (Caloosahatchee Marching and Chowder Society), a boating club started in the 1970s and very active group in cruising, racing, community service, and having a good time no matter what the members are involved in.

Planning is always good, Phil

keys please · Dec 31, 2012

you should check out charlotte harbor... I have a place in Port Charlotte and i can have my sails up in about ten minutes. property prices are very reasonable... we bought in about 3 years ago but still do the snow bird thing.... I grew up in sandy eggo, cal... but who could afford good canal property there... plus not warm enough in winter.... its hard to get good deep access in the keys.... i had a boat down there for twenty years, love the area but don't want to spend that kind of money for deep water access.... all the best...

Delezynski · Dec 31, 2012

beeryboats,

Planning for 10 to 15 years is a GREAT thing to do!!!!
But don't forget to take action NOW to enable you to carry out those plans.

1. Try to get to, and work in, a place with the highest cost of living you can! Be that Cal. or.... That way, retirement and any housing you purchase will be high. The living NOW may not be as good, BUT...... when you retire from a place with the highest cost of living, you can go almost any place you want to! If you move to a low cost place now, you can't go up.

2. Keep sailing and playing with boats. Keep looking and planning! Use that trailer boat to Take vacations to places you are thinking about, and explore the waters.

3. Remember that things change over time. What looks perfect today, may be out tomorrow. And take into account if you are planning full time cruising or just a lot of sailing. We know of people who do commuter cruising. They spend 6 to 9 months on a boat some place, then to a land-locked house some place in the US.

4. Keep your options OPEN!

Greg

Tom J · Dec 31, 2012

We loved the Englewood area, just south of Venice, Florida. Lemon Bay offered protected anchorages and quick access to the Gulf via Stump Pass. Plus, Charlotte Harbor was a short ride to the south on the ICW. We are somewhat retired, and planned to buy a place on a canal with a dock, preferably on Pine Island. Somehow, though, we ended up on Maui, HI. Not a bad place to retire to, but the boat is in Massachusetts, so every summer we live aboard and cruise Boston waters, Cape Cod, and the Islands. I'd have to say we love our retirement.

Team118 · Dec 31, 2012

We live up north on Lake Ontario and only have 6 months or so of sailing. My dream would be to move to Ft. Pearce, FL. It seems that housing is fairly cheap (as of today), the main marina in Ft. Pearce charges about $400/mo for a 40' sailboat...and if I look on a map, it's only about 3 inches away from the Bahamas!!!!

What could be better?

Well, that's the dream....

Rick D · Dec 31, 2012

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Sumner · Dec 31, 2012

I'll second, third or fourth Charlotte Harbor

. We don't live there and probably never will as we like where our house is, but we do keep the one boat there and really like the area. If sailing was our life and we wanted to move to a populated area that would probably be it.

As others have said you have Charlotte Harbor which is pretty large and protected with decent depths to sail and the Gulf is not far away. We like the west coast a lot and really liked the 10,000 Island area just to the south and the Keys are not that far away. Lots of places to go on the west coast and lots of places to duck into if you are out in the Gulf.

We haven't sailed up the east coast, but to me unless you are looking at Miami south you are either trying to get out the ICW through a cut and then you are offshore. Nothing wrong with that but not near the protected waters that you can find on the west side.

As someone else said haul that 22 down there and start taking trips. We did it with the Mac....

Florida Trips

... and had a great time. You can go about anywhere with the 22. Good luck,

Sum

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Our Endeavour 37

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Bill Roosa · Dec 31, 2012

Well it is a sail boat right? Lots of folks have come to the conclusion that north in summer and south in winter is a great way to enjoy retirement. The Chesapeake Bay is from June to September. Tons of stuff to see and do and gunk-holing till your keel rubs off. I'm sure some of our Maine sailors have similar testimonials. I think gunk-holing is a little harder on the keel up there though. As for where to spend the winter I can only say get the first digit on the latitude to read 2 or less.

Christian Sailing · Dec 31, 2012

Got a question: When the term "Sailing Realtor" is used are you referring to a realtor who understands the importance of finding a home amenable to sailing? I know this may be the final "dumb" question of 2012 but if I don't ask......

seadaddler · Dec 31, 2012

Best Secret

Oh well everyone has let our secret best place to live and sail and yes it is Charlotte Harbor,I started looking north of Tampa and planned to look all the way down to Ft Myers and at first fell in love with Tampa aand came real close to buying but than I said to the wife lets hold off and check out this Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda and well we sold the house in LI,NY aaand purchased a house in Port Charlotte in 2006 and retired in 2007 moved in full time 2008 and never looked back except to visit family in NY,but it's like pulling teeth to get my wife to leave to visit family.
Yes it cost less living here than up in Tampa and we don't have the crazy traffic and I love the fact how under used the Charlotte harbor is used for boating,no big tankers or cruise ships to worry about and many great places to cruise to,we joined the PGSC and club do alot of week cruises north to tampa and also south to the keys and local spots are great.
Even if everyone starts moving here it will never be as crowded as Tampa or Ft Myers,try visting some time and spend a week or few days boating here and you will be sold on moving here and plenty of houses on a canal to dock your boat in Punta Gorda.
You better hurry all the good spots are going fast.
Nick

Bill1565 · Jan 1, 2013

Christian Sailing said:
Got a question: When the term "Sailing Realtor" is used are you referring to a realtor who understands the importance of finding a home amenable to sailing? I know this may be the final "dumb" question of 2012 but if I don't ask......

Yes. that is exactly what I meant. Ask a potential realtor about his/her own boat.

MrBill_FLL · Jan 1, 2013

another vote for charlotte harbor. -with a small sailboat.
cape coral, ft myers are close enough to also be considered the same areas...

if you have a larger sailboat (32'+), then the south east fla coast. biscayne bay is very nice area, the keys, ft lauderdale, etc. but house prices are a lot more than the west coast.

-the idea being you can head over to the Bahamas, keys, Caribbean, etc with the larger boat.

Oriental NC should be on the list too. but I have never been there.

soldier1964 · Jan 1, 2013

with all these choices to ponder over, sounds like a trip to Ricks Boatyard is in order. A sampler platter and a drink overlooking the docks on a warm summers night will ease the mind to such a problem.

captainwolf · Jan 1, 2013

I think Florida's east coast is a great place easy access to the Bahamas. To bad your not ready now we are selling our Hunter 340 perfect boat for cruising the Bahamas and also equipped for it. Captain Wolf

Stroh · Jan 1, 2013

We pulled the trigger this past July on a place in Punta Gorda (Burnt Store Isles to be exact). We plan to retire there this coming year. We have been down several times to get it ready to rent until our house sells in Ohio.

So far, it seems to be our dream come true. Like several, I currently have a 22 foot and plan to upgrade once down there permanently and the dust settles and dock it an my back door.

My grandfather had a place on Pine Island and I loved the area. Punta Gorda seems to have it all and I can't wait to get on on Charlotte Harbor and points south.