Seasonal transient, SE Florida

[Marlinmike]

I'm stuck in dreary New York and doing some research for next winter season, looking for a marina below Fort Pierce to Fort Lauderdale, this would be seasonal transient, October to May. We don't need nor want to pay for high end resort marina, but also don't want to be in the end of a canal low level place. Did a search within this section and got mostly west coast stuff, if you could ring out a marina that you liked I'd appreciate it, just need a name I'll search on it.

Title is wrong SW should have been SE.

Thank you!

 

[BandB]

I'm stuck in dreary New York and doing some research for next winter season, looking for a marina below Fort Pierce to Fort Lauderdale, this would be seasonal transient, October to May. We don't need nor want to pay for high end resort marina, but also don't want to be in the end of a canal low level place. Did a search within this section and got mostly west coast stuff, if you could ring out a marina that you liked I'd appreciate it, just need a name I'll search on it.

Title is wrong SW should have been SE.

Thank you!

Now that you've told us which coast, it would really help us if you gave us just a few more clues such as what the boat is, size and draft, and what amenities you'd like, whether you'll have a car available to you, what kinds of things you enjoy doing, do you have a price limit. Anything else relevant to your choice.

If all you want is names, just go to Active Captain, Waterway Guide or Cruisers Net and go one by one. We can help you focus on those that might best fit but only with a few more clues.

 

[Marlinmike]

Thanks BandB, 35' Sportfish, 3.5' draft. Nice clean marina with at least some other boaters staying on their boats (would feel awkward if all owners just store boat in slip), pool nice to have, we would have a vehicle. Would like to be somewhat close to inlet to shoot across to the Bahamas when weather permits.
Have been looking at active captain, but hard to get real seasonal prices and tough to get a sense of what the marina is, one looked interesting Loggerhead, but again some insider knowledge of being there once would be great.
Thanks again!

 

[BandB]

Thanks BandB, 35' Sportfish, 3.5' draft. Nice clean marina with at least some other boaters staying on their boats (would feel awkward if all owners just store boat in slip), pool nice to have, we would have a vehicle. Would like to be somewhat close to inlet to shoot across to the Bahamas when weather permits.
Have been looking at active captain, but hard to get real seasonal prices and tough to get a sense of what the marina is, one looked interesting Loggerhead, but again some insider knowledge of being there once would be great.
Thanks again!

Air draft? I ask because some nice marinas in FLL well up rivers with many bridges.

Hard to get real prices without calling marinas.

Fort Lauderdale will be at the high end of the prices. Dania Beach is a little less and popular with Royale Palm there less expensive and many liveaboards. Marina Bay is well up the New River and popular based on it's extensive amenities. However, it is high end resort as are most Fort Lauderdale marinas. Fort Lauderdale puts you at the upper prices but in the middle of the boating world.

Move even a little north to Pompano or Lighthouse Point and you save some. Move to West Palm and some excellent marinas. However, if you want to get into a significantly lower price point that requires leaving these areas for marinas from Jupiter to Stuart. That includes some of the former Loggerhead marinas, sold to Suntex and now owned by Equity Lifestyle Partners.

Probably Stuart would be a good area for you to focus if being in the middle of things isn't important to you.

 

[Marlinmike]

Thanks for all the great information BandB, really appreciate it.

Air draft 18'

Don't want to make it out that I need really cheap, just not one of those high end yacht club types, the wife and I just like getting out walking etc with our Lab's. Having a vehicle also helps as we can drive to where we would like to go, generally early in the morning. Thanks again.

 

[DavidM]

You can usually take the daily rate that is often published on Active Captain and get an idea of the monthly rate by multiplying the daily rate by 6-8.

So if a marina is $1.50 per foot/ day it will be about $9.00 to $12.00 per foot per month.

YMMV.

David

 

[BandB]

You can usually take the daily rate that is often published on Active Captain and get an idea of the monthly rate by multiplying the daily rate by 6-8.

So if a marina is $1.50 per foot/ day it will be about $9.00 to $12.00 per foot per month.

YMMV.

David

To give you some idea of Fort Lauderdale prices which you can say whether you need to be elsewhere or not.

On the cheapest end is Royale Palm at $30 per month in season.
6 Months rates at Fort Lauderdale city owned marinas would range from $33 to $35. Last time I checked Bahia Mar was around $45.

As you move up the coast, rates drop. By comparison, Harborage in Stuart is $16/ft for seasonal and Sunset Bay in Stuart is $19.

 

[motoryacht lover]

I'm stuck in dreary New York and doing some research for next winter season, looking for a marina below Fort Pierce to Fort Lauderdale, this would be seasonal transient, October to May. We don't need nor want to pay for high end resort marina, but also don't want to be in the end of a canal low level place. Did a search within this section and got mostly west coast stuff, if you could ring out a marina that you liked I'd appreciate it, just need a name I'll search on it.

Title is wrong SW should have been SE.

Thank you!

MM you are right to make arrangements ahead of time. Trying to get a slip on the fly in the winter in SE FL will leave you with not many choices. Jupiter and South is expensive. I like the Stuart area, has city amenities, nice restaurants, some sheltered water to run around in a runabout on windy days and take the dog to the beach. Dogs are not welcome on most beaches in Florida so it is nice to have access to sand bars and islands where they can run.
4 Fish is a not well known small marina in Jensen Beach (Stuart Area) has a big grass area that makes dog walking in the morning and evenings convenient. Also has a yard on site for repairs. I quick drive takes you to a quaint downtown area of Jensen Beach with restaurants and such. In general I don’t like Ft. Pierce (downtown kind of rough) but Pelican Yacht Club is right on the inlet and across the bridge from downtown Ft Pierce. Has the pool, easy dog walking, on an inlet for the Bahamas and pretty green water. Consider Vero Beach but not as many choices up that way. You might want to consider the west coast as that is very pretty and not as congested but will leave you far from the Bahamas.

 

[Marlinmike]

Thank you everyone for the very insightful information, I was researching and really coming up dry with possibilities which kinda surprised me, hence why I posted to this well traveled group.
I'm thinking where are all these boats going too, do they all have homes/condos to stay at or do they just travel place to place....?
Thanks again - truly appreciate you taking the time to write.

 

[FF]

After looking , many folks are willing to take an extra day or two and prefer the West coast of FL.

Many more close islands and bays to anchor in should the life dockside gets boring.

Way less traffic too!

 

[Newtrawlerowner]

As has been mentioned the farther south the higher the price. Some marinas have privately owned slips and those owners advertise on Craigslist and some other sites. We had a nice slip in Ft Pierce. Harbortown is convenient, close the the inlet and on the ICW. Most marinas has 3 prices. Daily transient, monthly and annual. Be sure to include Liveaboard in your search. There are not many that allow full time. Even Harbortown had a 3 day max before the liveaboard fee kicked in. Some marinas are strict with this, some not so. Good luck.

 

[ranger58sb]

MM, I too got some help from TF folks, here:

https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s58/winter-florida-destinations-45183.html

We ended up at The Marina at Ortega Landing in Jacksonville, a very nice place... and so far winter (since Dec 1) weather here has been mostly mild to warm... with a few cool-ish days thrown in here and there. Grocery within 3 blocks (we're car-less), free city bus transit for old fogies, decent sized city, etc.

Next time, I think we'd go further south to areas we've not visited much... and/or possibly Ft. Myers... and maybe we'd not stay in the same place for a whole three-month window. Maybe Ft. Pierce for a while, Stuart for a while, Palm Cove for a while, etc. In fact, we'll be heading north from here this time via St. Augustine, for a while...

Daily rates bite. Monthly rates can be good. Weekly rates, if available, can at least offer a bit of relief.

When we lived near FLL, we kept our then-boat in Dania Beach, a ways up the Dania Cut, and that worked well enough. I think that marina is no longer in business, though...

-Chris