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east coast provisioning stops

13K views 79 replies 30 participants last post by  Plumbean 
#1 · (Edited)
Lots of guidebooks and online resources that tell you what a particular port might offer. You have to pick a spot and find out if it has what you need. I'd like to reverse that and start a list of specific ports that have good provisioning access.

Please make each post contain specific info on a specific port, mainly focused on provisioning for food, drugs, hardware, marine supplies, propane fills etc
 
#2 · (Edited)
Miami Beach

Miami Beach
So far, this is our favorite. Lots of room to anchor free in Sunset Lake or between the causeways. Then free tie up at the police dock and a 3 block walk to Publix or 4 blocks to Fresh Market. Restaurants, drugstores, hardware are within a half mile. Laundry is just over a half mile which is a bit far without a bike. Marine supplies are far away.
Bonus is the water spigot at the dock for cleaning fish!
 
#3 · (Edited)
annapolis

Annapolis

Great town with great atmosphere but only sort of good for provisioning. The grocery store is over a mile walk from the nearest dinghy dock near the end of Back Creek. That's a long hike to me. There is a trolley that will take you to the grocery but I've yet to figure it out, we just use our bikes instead. There are dink docks at the end of every street on Spa Creek and Back Creek, not sure where to pick up the trolley. Need to explore that further. Banks, drugs, hardware, marine supplies are available, tho again not a short walk. Best to figure out the trolley!
Free anchoring space is somewhat limited.
There is a bus that will take you to a mall.
 
#22 ·
Annapolis

Great town with great atmosphere but only sort of good for provisioning. The grocery store is over a mile walk from the nearest dinghy dock. That's a long hike to me. There is a trolley that will take you to the grocery but I've yet to figure it out, we just use our bikes instead. Need to explore that further. Banks, drugs, hardware, marine supplies are available, tho again not a short walk. Best to figure out the trolley!
Free anchoring space is somewhat limited.
There is a bus that will take you to a mall.
If you are an SSCA member the local cruising stations will provide support.

Anchor in Back Creek and dinghy up to the bulkhead above the power sub-station. Less than 1/2 mile walk to groceries, an excellent Chinese restaurant, Quantum Sails, and Fawcett. West Marine is another quarter mile adjacent to a laundromat. CVS is close.

Anchor in Spa Creek, the South Anchorage, or grab a mooring in the main field and the tourist center at the Harbormaster's office has maps and guidance for buses, the Circulator, and the eCruiser. Laundry in the Harbormaster's office. Good bus transportation to local mall and Sam's Club.

Weem's Creek has easy access to a local grocery.

Herrington harbor North - south of Annapolis has a West Marine on-site, but no groceries.
Edgewater has Fawcetts, West and groceries about a mile away. Chesapeake Harbour in Edgewater may have a courtesy van and has laundry on-site but no fuel.
HHN is in Deale, MD. Great boat services and a West Marine, but no provisioning of significance.

Fawcetts, West Marine, groceries, laundry and Chesapeake Harbour are all in Eastport.

Edgewater does have a West Marine but it's far from the water without ground transportation.
 
#4 · (Edited)
st augustine

St Augustine

Another great town but very limited for provisioning.
First, moorings are the only real option in a field that can get very rough. Too rough at times for the dink so you might need the launch that has a very limited schedule. Dink dock is at the muni marina which runs the field and operates the launch.
Grocery store is well over 1 mile away as is west marine and hardware store.
Banks, restaurants, drugs are close by
Propane refills are about a half mile
 
#25 ·
Taxis are a surprisingly mixed bag. For instance, in Ft Pierce FL, a 5 minute ride is likely to run you $30 while in St. Augustine the same ride would cost you $5 including tip.

I think this is a cool idea for a thread, but it needs more management. For example, there are comments about access to grocery stores in both Annapolis and St. Augustine but neither identifies the anchorage or dinghy doc from which the reference is made . . ..
 
#6 · (Edited)
St Michael's MD

- Acme grocery store in town, 5 minute walk
- Several marinas in the town or within good proximity
Fuel Service, ice available
-Anchorage outside has room for a 100 boats, well protected except Northern winds.
- Non weekend/holidays you can find a spot inside with great protection all around
- Maritime Museum has discounted dockage for memebers
- Good restaurants and a couple of pubs in town
 
#14 ·
St Michael's MD

Acme grocery store in town, 5 minute walk
Several marinas in the town or within good proximity
Fuel Service, ice available
Anchorage outside has room for a 100 boats, well protected except Northern winds. Non weekend/holidays you can find a spot inside with great protection all around
Maritime Museum has discounted dockage for memebers
Good restaurants and a couple of pubs in town
Perfect timing for the info. We'll be sailing there next week on a short shakedown after taking delivery of our new boat. Thanks!
 
#7 ·
Good idea. We've sailed into many harbors on the East Coast of the US from Canada to the Exumas over a few decades, and the really handy ones-to provision, ease of shore access, etc., are not that easy to find. We've sailed for a couple decades with kids of all ages, and know what a find a good provisioning stop is, especially for a family.

On the coast of Maine in Penobscot Bay in particular, Camden Harbor gets my best rating for all of the above. All the regulars like Diesel, gas, LPG(filling all sized tanks), CNG exchange(both small and large bottles), ice(even 50 pound blocks!), are all available from dinghy docks around the harbor.

Chandlery(medium sized but ample for 90% of what a transiting boat would need) at Wayfarer, on the water.

Provisioning; steps off the public dinghy dock, French and Brawn is a full service grocery, with butcher shop, fish monger. Not the big box grocery store but a real find for a boat with a hungry crew. The kids will roll your cart to the dock, unload and take you back(or call the water taxi).

Full drug store, restaurants, book stores(marine/chart heavy), second to none public library on the harbor(free wifi), Vespa rentals, you name it. It's a busy harbor with a lot of tourist traffic onshore in summer.

The biggest drawback is, the anchorage is exposed to the south and at times, choppy but there's usually plenty of space to drop the hook. Moorings are almost always available with showers, laundry, taxi etc.

Dockspace in the inner harbor is available but usually taken and expensive. The best find is an inner harbor float(check for an overnight rental). Private, dead calm protection, easy dinghy row and quieter than the town or marina docks.

The town docks are reasonable if you can find an overnight space, and they'll let you tie up for free for a couple hours to provision. Great anchorages(like Pulpit Harbor, Fox Island Thoroughfare) are just an hour or so away.

Next best I think(only second because of location up the bay), is Belfast for ease of all the above.

For full chandlery, Rockland has a Hamilton Marine right on the public pier. Everything is available in Rockland, but you have a schlep to a big grocery store.
 
#8 ·
Seaduction:1059223 said:
Aren't there taxis anywhere?
If I want to go to the store to buy some fresh groceries and spend maybe $40, adding $20 round trip for a cab is not in MY budget. Picking up a small part at the hardware store for $10 is then tripled by cabfare. Might work for you but not for most cruising budgets.
The point of this thread is to share those locations that have good access. Thank you
 
#11 ·
It seems like all of this would be good information to add to the Active Captain information/reviews already posted about these locations. One of the categories is Shopping so I'm sure details would be welcome. When I research a new town we sail to, that's where I go first. With SailNet's limited search capabilities, it's easier to use AC, especially when people stop posting to this thread and it gets buried.
 
#12 ·
As I said up front, that is backwards from what I'm trying to do here. You can surf up and down the coast looking at various harbors and reading comments and maybe you'll get lucky stumbling into a good provisioning stop. Or have a list of all the good stops in one place. Feel free to not participate here.
 
#13 ·
Drop me a PM for a ride if youre in Southport, NC.
That's another good point. I've gotten rides from over a dozen members.
 
#15 ·
Also 10 miles east of St. Michaels in Easton are at least two major propane suppliers, a marine canvas shop, hardware stores, a West Marine, Lowes, Target, Walmart, etc. There is a MUST shuttle bus that can take you between St. Michaels and Easton for $3 E/W ($1.50 for seniors).
 
#16 ·
Herrington harbor North - south of Annapolis has a West Marine on-site, but no groceries.
Edgewater has Fawcetts, West and groceries about a mile away. Chesapeake Harbour in Edgewater may have a courtesy van and has laundry on-site but no fuel.
 
#17 ·
Okay, I'll play

In the Boston/North Shore/Cape area. In no particular order:

Scituate: Town Dock for short tie-ups or mooring for cheap overnight. With mooring comes launch service and free showers/bathroom at GC/Harbormaster Office. Grocery store, restaurants, liquor store, all within 5-10 min walk. This may favorite port in MA

Provincetown: Lot of places right off of city pier (5 mi or less). I think Flyers is mooring service/launch.

Plymouth (haven't been to): Lot's of places right from dock. Takes a long time to get into Plymouth Harbor from open water due to shallows.

Boston: (Inner Harbor): Everything is walkable, even from Constitution Marina.

Salem: Everything is walkable.

Marblehead: Busy on w/e, but if you get a spot on the short-term tie-up dock near the Habrormaster/The Landing Restaurant- Grocery store is less than 5 min away.

Rockport: Very popular/Small port. Not many open spots for visitors, unless you anchor on the other side of the jetty. If inside the harbor, launch service and everything is walkable.

Newburyport: Long city dock, great location to town, everything is walkable. Bad thing is Newburyport is 3 miles up the Merrimac River, which can be a problem if bad weather at the mouth.
 
#21 ·
At the north end of lake Worth Florida it is possible to anchor in good holding in a pocket of marker 27 [ I think that is the number ] Dinghy into the cut at the north end leading into little lake Worth. It is possible to beach the dink there by the bridge. There is a Publix on the west side of the bridge and some other shops.

This is an excellent place to provision the boat if heading out to the Bahamas as you can push your cart down to the bridge.

This Publix sticks in my memory as I had a nervous breakdown there in the fresh vegetable section. Having been cruising down island for some years I arrived cleared in and was looking forward to my first salad with crisp lettuce for quite a while. In fact I had been dreaming about fresh crisp iceberg lettuce.

However when faced with the reality in Publx of a whole section offering a huge variety of lettuce , iceberg, romaine reddichio etc I just could not cope, I mean how could I choose?
 
#28 ·
(PS - There are those of us who killed our ActiveCaptain membership and don't care to use that site.)
It'll never stop amazing me how the people who never contributed a single update, a single review, or a single piece of information to the ActiveCaptain community are the ones who stand up and then protest how evil it all is.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Little Creek VA is just inside the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Has all the amenities in the marina and a large grocery store about half a mile away. West Marine a bit further but still walkable. Good restaurants and bars in the marinas and right next to them. The Norfolk airport is close enough you could even walk there if need be but most people would take a taxi. Great for crew changes or if you need to go back home for some reason. Little Creek also has a Navy base so it has a well dredged channel, and you can get in day or night in any weather. The marinas are OK with tying up to their fuel dock until morning if you come in after hours. There is a long stretch both north and south of the Chesapeake entrance with no good stopping place for a sailboat and this is by far the most convenient to the entrance. Also good for jumping off to the islands or Bermuda (which is what we did)
 
#26 ·
New Bedford, MA... has a great anchorage, dockspace and moorings behind a hurricane barrier. There is a massive supermaket (Market Basket) which is about 1.5 miles away. You will also be able to get ANYTHING you need for a boat in the harbor.
 
#27 ·
Well for those transiting the Hudson River there is a decent anchoring spot in Beacon, NY. Beacon Sloop club lets you use there dingy dock, but no services such as water/fuel I don't think the club house even has water, it uses a composting toilet. Train station right there, express trains to the City. There is a Key Foods (small local grocery that has excellent selection) that is about a mile walk. Lots of restaurants, excellent Contemporary Art Museum (The Dia) and coffee houses. Heck if you give me a PM a couple of days or so before I will try to give a ride to the Key Foods, or to Waly-Mart/Home Depot/Lowe's/Sam's Club/Big Groceries/Shopping Mall etc. Across the River is Newburgh, no anchoring, very loud docks but good restaurants; any provisioning will be a cab ride.
 
#29 ·
Kemah/ Clear Lake, Texas there is a West Marine right on the water there on Clear Lake, and pretty much everything else you need within walking distance. The lake has draft in it to take any sail boat in the channel.
 
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#31 ·
It would be quite simple to sort our data by content. We do it today for slip pricing, fuel pricing, and pumpout. On the website, you can have it show only marinas that have pumpout as an example. Then as you pan around, only the red markers with pumpout display. There's no reason we couldn't do something similar with any data field - it's in the plan but no one has asked for it yet.
 
#34 ·
xort, Your comments about Miami Beach are spot on. On the subject of marine supplies in Miami Beach, there is a marine supply store that if you get in a bind will deliver to the Police dock. You can also reach it by dinghy but it's about an hour up the Miami River. There is also a small marine supply store in the Miami Beach Marina but I hear they sometimes charge you to dock your dinghy there while shopping.

Miami Beach also has rental bikes with baskets available in many locations. I think there is a bike rental station just south of the police dock.
 
#35 ·
Jeffery, say for example I'm in the Miami Beach Area heading south. The current method to find a grocery store on the Active Captain would be to check out the anchorages and marinas and see what is available. What Xort wants is a list that tells you what anchorages and marinas have a grocery store or a hardware store or marine store or propane. With this list I call up the Miami area and right way I can see that if I anchore in Sunset Lake I have easy access to a Publix and a short walk to an Ace Hardware. If I want a marine store I will have to go be at or near Miami Beach Marina.
 
#36 ·
Jeffery, say for example I'm in the Miami Beach Area heading south....
No, I get it. Try our site and use the Settings section in the Markers card to show only marinas that have pumpout. Then the only red markers displayed are the facilities that say they have pumpout. You can turn off all other markers too if you want so any marker you see is one with pumpout. Make sure to undo those settings because it will remember them in the future.

There's no reason the Grocery field couldn't be handled in the exact same way. No one ever wanted it (interesting that we just got a comment on the website requesting it...).

I think there are other better ways to handle the real information need - this is something we've been thinking about for a couple of years. I'm traversing the entire Erie Canal between Waterford and Tonawanda right now en route to the Great Lakes and Mobile Bay. We're stopping at 21 different towns, meeting with mayors, chambers-of-commerce, and business development organizations like CanalNY. We're showing them a new type of database for putting together A&A's - activities and attractions. Those A&A's fit against a planned route (shared from existing ones that we'll provide or manually created) to create a spreadsheet type of display showing the things you're interested in - concerts, fireworks, groceries, farmer's markets, festivals, special events, etc, based on the time you plan to be there. Switch the start date and like a spreadsheet, it filters down to the rest of the list so you can see what's happening a couple of days on each side of when you'll be at different locations on the route.

We realized that a static field (like grocery) isn't good enough to sort on although there are good reasons to do that too. What's really needed is a full database that towns will manage. Some items have time conditions - obviously grocery doesn't but a farmer's market does. We're going to use the Erie Canal as a test bed and show these ideas in 2014. The Erie Canal is perfect for this because all the towns are relatively close and there are overseeing marketing groups who love our idea and want to help promote it.

If you step back and look at the guts of the idea, we're trying to get towns to crowd-source their A&A's for business development reasons (users can add A&A's too and rate/review them). There's no better way to collect all the different data when it's something as big and diverse as this. We've just got to get the towns to contribute data in as great a way as boaters have added their updates with all of the other ActiveCaptain data (3+ million updates so far).
 
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