Warm winter spot south of Norfolk

We're hoping for some input on winter locations (Nov-April) to take our recent purchase to avoid another Norfolk winter.

For the last 2 winters...From Beaufort, NC to Savannah, Ga seems to be half and half, warm to cool days with cold nights. From Savannah to Cape Canaveral, Fl seems to be half and half, pretty warm days and cool nights.

To get to shorts and tee shirt weather almost every day AND warm nights....we found you had to be south of the Canaveral area...we spent Feb in Ft Piece, Fl and it was great.

My time frame traveling is leave NJ in early Dec, hit Wilmington, NC by Christmas, the Fla border by mid Jan, Feb in Ft Pierce, and return...NC by mid-march, Norfolk by 1 Apr...hit NJ by mid Apr. I hate the go-go-go...but to reach really warm weather at 6.3 knots...you pretty much have to with just a few family and friends stops along the way. If light jacket weather with occasional colder weather is fine +/- the Myrtle Beach area seems to suit the golfing crowd just fine.

Because everyone has their own thermostats and opinions...you can always check the historical climatic temps for places you might like to stay and decide from them more than someone's opinion...that's how I started weeding out where I thought I would be happy and went from there.

As a former NE boater and now east central Fl. resident I have to say between Cape Canaveral to Stuart is the best overall area. Not only is the climate cooperative, the population density and overall pleasant area are way above too far south.

Fort Pierce is a great area, good facilities, great access and good climate. Each of us has a different view, so you have to decide what you like. Once you pass Stuart, the facilities become increasingly more expensive and the area more congested. Good luck.

John

Sortie said:

As a former NE boater and now east central Fl. resident I have to say between Cape Canaveral to Stuart is the best overall area. Not only is the climate cooperative, the population density and overall pleasant area are way above too far south.

Fort Pierce is a great area, good facilities, great access and good climate. Each of us has a different view, so you have to decide what you like. Once you pass Stuart, the facilities become increasingly more expensive and the area more congested. Good luck.

John

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Please don't sell it too vigorously....

Sortie said:

As a former NE boater and now east central Fl. resident I have to say between Cape Canaveral to Stuart is the best overall area. Not only is the climate cooperative, the population density and overall pleasant area are way above too far south.

Fort Pierce is a great area, good facilities, great access and good climate. Each of us has a different view, so you have to decide what you like. Once you pass Stuart, the facilities become increasingly more expensive and the area more congested. Good luck.

John

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Thing is, unless fishing or staying tied to the dock is your main use of the boat, the fun cruising bases are Biscayne Bay south, and east to the Bahamas, and then on up the west coast of FL.

It really depends on how much time you have and boat driving you want to do.

I'll add those destinations in when I can add at least another month to my cruise...till then....my winter cruise is 4 months off from driving a boat nearly every day the other 8 months...well you get the picture....

psneeld, You are right, don't want to oversell it. George I agree with you re: cruising spots. However I was thinking the OP was looking for a place to keep the boat during the winter. Again to each his/her own.

John

nothing wrong with juipter if you know where to go,been here for 18 yrs?

SW Fl (Port Charlotte to Fort Myers Beach) is my recommendation. Warmer weather (almost always shorts during the day), better weekend cruising because of the barrier islands, and lower cost in general compared to FL East coast are what draw many snow birds to this area. From Stuart FL, Fort Myers is 2 long or 3 average cruising days across the Okeechobee water way.

Ted

caltexflanc said:

Thing is, unless fishing or staying tied to the dock is your main use of the boat, the fun cruising bases are Biscayne Bay south, and east to the Bahamas, and then on up the west coast of FL.

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George haven't you spent the last couple of winters in North Carolina? I know this was a very cold winter in fact I'm surprised I had no damage due to an excellent winterization job on my Mainship. There's no way I'd want to try and stay in the water year round in NJ. I know a fair amount of boaters who stay in and live on boats in the Chesapeake but this past winter couldn't have been much fun without a diesel furnace. Also keeping the block heaters and ER room warm is needed. This can be an issue if there is an extended power outage.
So how was North Carolina this past winter?
Bill

From Miami round to Clearwater is great winter cruising if you don't want to just tie up and wait for spring.

"So how was North Carolina this past winter?"

It sucked. Ditto the winter before.

caltexflanc said:

"So how was North Carolina this past winter?"

It sucked. Ditto the winter before.

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I thought it might be rough. Did you have any problems keeping your vessel warm and fresh water flowing?
Bill

I have been tied up at Harbortown in Fort Pierce coming up on a year. In FL I have since 2009 had stays at 8 other marinas for a month or more. Hands down this is the best. Wonderful staff, protected, great facilities and 300 yards from a GREAT grocery store, (Publix). There are reasonable rules but nothing fanatical, place is clean and well kept. Attached boatyard. Alas, West Marine next door to Publix is moving 3 miles south. Good bar and restaurant on compound. Better reserve early cause it was full during the season. Oh yeah, 100 yards from a liquor store.

Wifey B: And definitely don't want to come any further south, like South FL or the Keys or southwest FL. South FL is the worse because the weather is perpetually incredible and that would spoil you and make you feel so bad. And you don't want the ICW where it's actually navigable plus beautiful ocean and close to the Keys or Bahamas. And the attractions of South Florida wouldn't be fun. Besides who likes art or nature or any of that stuff. Or live entertainment. You sure don't want that. And most of all a choice of a bazillion great restaurants or anything in the world a boater might ever need in boating paradise. Or public docks and things like beautiful beaches. Or to be around so many other boaters. A choice between so many marinas makes things much too complicated. And don't want to be somewhere that if fuel prices at the marinas bother you, then you get fueled from trucks or boats at much better prices. Really why would any boater want to be in South Florida. The thousands there must be insane.....hehe

Oh and for you men, one other reason not to come to South Florida. Girls wear incredibly skimpy bikinis with triangle tops and thong bottoms and then even worse, in some areas you'll see model types topless. Only thing worse would be if you ran across a nude beach accidentally.

God I must be crazy to love Fort Lauderdale so....hehe

Avoid Florida, we're full-, go to the Bahamas, it's only 48 miles from Miami.

Billylll said:

I thought it might be rough. Did you have any problems keeping your vessel warm and fresh water flowing?
Bill

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No, nothing that bad. The block heaters took care of that pretty much on their own. We did run the reverse cycle units, set to say 50 degrees if we were off the boat, on a regular basis to keep them in shape. We pretty much stopped living aboard in January 2013.

WifeyB "Oh and for you men, one other reason not to come to South Florida. Girls wear incredibly skimpy bikinis with triangle tops and thong bottoms and then even worse, in some areas you'll see model types topless. Only thing worse would be if you ran across a nude beach accidentally"

I knew there was a reason the wife wanted me to get rid of my boat.Larry

IF you want to be warm all winter Key West is the best chance.

No need for a TV , the show in town is non stop.

FF said:

IF you want to be warm all winter Key West is the best chance.

No need for a TV , the show in town is non stop.

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I agree...other than the southern Bahamas or even further below the flow of the Gulf Stream.

Fred can you do us a favor and buy a slip down there that some of us can use whenever you are not there?

Bahamas

Would love to team up with some fellow trawlers on a trip to the Bahamas. Being a newbie I probably wouldn't feel confident making the trip on our own.

Fred can you do us a favor and buy a slip down there that some of us can use whenever you are not there?

As a liveaboard for almost 23 years a slip is never!!!! on my agenda.

My boats have anchors , that allow privacy , and the vessel to point into the wind for no noise cool living (with sunshades ) in FL.

Folks in transit are always welcome to an O nite dock (and use of the workshop) when crossing FL on the ICW, located east of the Ortona lock.