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where to live

6K views 32 replies 16 participants last post by  TrueBlue 
#1 ·
ok just thought I would put this out there. come may my girlfriend will be finishing school to be an RN and we will not have a reason to stay in the midwest and would like to live on the coast and liveaboard as we build funds to take a few years off to cruise. So my question is with me as an industrial mechanic and her as an RN any suggestions. we want to find a good ballance of good wages cheap marinas that still take live aboards and good sailing.

I know I am asking for the world here
and I know that there are a thousand options but let hear a few

thanks
 
#2 ·
I would suggest the lower Chesapeake Bay...Hampton/Va Beach/Norfolk as providing excellent cruising grounds and ample work opportunities, decent climate and reasonable prices for marinas.
I am presently in NC and prices are lower here but work opportunities are more restricted.
 
#3 ·
2nd vote for the Chesapeake...as Cam says NC is good, but jobs can be an issue...norfolk/hampton great for both RN and Industrial...middle bay is good for both but a bit more expensive..solomon's islnad area comes to mind, several militarybases and regional hospitals

At least worth a visit to the area, before you decide. Good thing about the bay is that it is temperate, not like florida/georgia, bad thing the bay is temperate...can be cold and rainy in the winter...

I've lived aboard and worked from the Annapolis area through DC/Woodbridge and down to the Deltaville area and loved every minute of it.

dave
 
#5 ·
With slip fees starting at $140/foot for 6 months, a bit lower during the off-season months, Narragansett Bay is an expensive region for live-aboards. Home prices are also extremely high.

It's also an area with not many "industrial" business opportunities, but if your mechanical skills are diverse, you should find employment; perhaps in one of the electrical utility power plants, at a local commercial shipyard, or in one of the many boat building resourses. They all need skilled mechanics for installing/servicing marine engines.

However, there is a serious shortage of nurses most everywhere, coastal communities included, so your girlfriend will have little difficulty finding job placement. It's the career path my daughter has chosen.

Narragansett Bay is well known as being one of the best sailing areas in the world, with an incomparable quality of life.
 
#9 ·
It's definitely a buyer-beware environment down here. A new 400-home "plantation" recently went up which was situated around a golf course. The developer went bankrupt shortly thereafter, which closed the golf course, and now all of these people have these new homes with backyards overlooking an immense weed patches. They can't golf, and they can't sell their house. They are stuck.
 
#14 ·
Time for a west coast plug... for an American, the Seattle/Puget sound area has it's own charms, and it's proximity to the excellent cruising in British Columbia is an added bonus.

Realestate can be costly still, but the mild climate offers year round sailing- with good rain gear- and handy access to offshore adventures as well.
 
#17 ·
Not to get myself off topic but with the thought of living in a temprate climate is the any of the budget boats IE catalina hunter pearson morgan that I should stay away from. I plan to cruise in the future but the narow beam and price of a good blue water boat just does not seem practical for dockside living and sailing on the bay. looking in the 10,000 to 15,000 range and not a major project.

thanks for all the good info
 
#18 ·
dodge...If your cruising plans are for the East Coast/Bahamas then you need not geta bluewater vessel and would be better served by a production cruiser. Your budget is very minimal so I don't think you're gonna get yourself a decent liveaboard boat that doesn't need an infusion of cash and/or effort to make it cruise-worthy.
I would not steer you away from a particular brand but rather caution you to get a survey and engine survey on any boat you like so as not to purchase a sinkhole for your $$. The condition of the individual boat you find and buy will be more important than any blanket statements about brands I might make.
 
#19 ·
Dodgeboatguy, You can find some excellent production cruisers, as camaraderie mentions, and no blanket statements either,- save one. If you search takes you to those older thick hulls of the late 60's and early 70's look for the dimenished hardware and amenities that are often found on the 1974 models. This is the time when fiberglass (an oil product) costs increased by 400% (Carter years, oil cartel, gas lines) and many of the production cruisers took some drastic cuts in what they were providing. 'take care & joy, Aythya crew
 
#20 ·
One thing to keep in mind, living on a boat at a dock, tends to reduce the amount of time spent sailing. It becomes a hassle to put things away to go out. With that in mind, the Norfolk/Hampton area probably offers the most shoreside (jobs, shopping, marine businesses). If I really intended to do much sailing though, I'd look at Deltaville, VA or Oriental, NC, and plan on probably commuting a ways.
 
#22 ·
What's your budget? How many people are going to be living aboard??
 
#23 ·
Another Vote for the Chesapeake...

So my question is with me as an industrial mechanic and her as an RN any suggestions. we want to find a good ballance of good wages cheap marinas that still take live aboards and good sailing.
I have to concur with all the votes for southern Chesapeake Bay. You have marketable skills for the area and can locate to some of the more rural bay areas. Marinas down there are really very reasonable, they are open year round, and you can sail twelve months a year. The Chesapeake, in my opinion, would be better than the Carolinas, since it's a little more sheltered, yet still has good winds and space for sailing.

Good luck!
Max
 
#25 ·
Would you need to be able to sail it? $10K is pretty tight for a boat in sailable condition that is large enough to liveaboard. You could probably get a boat that needed work that was large enough to liveaboard for that price.
 
#29 ·
and it's only $32 a foot for winter wet. My cost is only $864 for a 27' for 6 months.
BTW, I also winterstore my 36' LOA boat at NEB for $42/ft dry, includes hull cleaning, haul and launch. All year round 24/7 security (real guards on patrol & surveilance video) is a plus, along with gated entrance, hurricane hole lagoon, swimming pool, full facilities, onsite restaurant/pub with live entertainment . . . yada, yada (g), and it's only 5 minutes from home.

Apples to oranges?
 
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