Boating in St Augustine area FL

We currently have our boat on the TN River and considering moving ourselves and the boat to Ponte Vedra FL. Looking at keeping the boat in either St Augustine or Jacksonville Beach. Can anyone in this area give me pros and cons to either and insurance suggestions on who to go with? My current coverage with State Farm wont even write a policy in FL. Thanks for you input.

Greetings,
Mr. s. REALLY bad currents around the Bridge of Lions during tidal changes. DON'T ask me how I know.

soggy said:

We currently have our boat on the TN River and considering moving ourselves and the boat to Ponte Vedra FL. Looking at keeping the boat in either St Augustine or Jacksonville Beach. Can anyone in this area give me pros and cons to either and insurance suggestions on who to go with? My current coverage with State Farm wont even write a policy in FL. Thanks for you input.

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Hi Soggy,

We have spent quite a bit of time in and around St. Augustine. My grandson is in college there. It depends on what type facility you would want. Camachee Cove on the West side of the Vilano Beach bridge is very nice, and near the inlet. For a little more funky old style try Oyster Creek now Rivers Edge on the San Sebastion River. I like St. Augustine, and have left the boat there a couple of months twice.

Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor/ St. Augustine Marina in St. Augustine, Florida, United States

RIVERS EDGE MARINA

If you want to be in the middle of the action, your best bet is probably the municipal marina. As RTF said the currents are pretty strong although they have put a new barrier near the bridge. Wherever you put the boat St. Augustine is a great weekend trip. Stay at the marina or on a mooring. There is a water taxi if you don't use a dinghy.

The issue for me is, what do you like to do with the boat? If fishing, then St. A. If cruising for long weekends and vacations, then Jacksonville. The St. Johns river is a fantastic cruising ground all the way to Sanford. The area north of Jacksonville up through Georgia is a gunkholer's heaven, with lovely small towns like Fernandina, St. Mary's, Brunswick interspersed along the way. Fact is, there just isn't much to do with a cruising trawler style boat within a day or two of St.A If your objective is to get out to the Bahamas and or the Keys, then the further south from there the better, as in WAY furhter south. I should also note the St. A inlet can get a little squirrely; not as bad as many and very usable most of the time, but not a class A like the St. Johns or St. Mary's.

As for insurance have you tried BoatUs, they typically have desent prices.
Boat Insurance: BoatUS Marine Insurance Program
I have Allstate and they covered me while in Florida.

By the way, one thing you could do is keep your boat in St Marys, Jeckyll Island or Brunswick/Golden Isles at least during hurricane season, a lot of people do. Many insurance policies (mine, for instance) use " south of Cumberland Island", i.e, the St Mary's, as a cut off.