Where is your "home" port and tell us a little about it..

My home port is Holdfast Bay, which is in Glenelg, (a suburb of Adelaide) in South Australia.
The area has a Mediteranean type climate similar to Southern Italy or Spain, which of course makes for a great wine producing region.

Our small marina has quick access to the St Vincent Gulf via a small lock. Crusing destinations within relatively close proximity include Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula, Port Lincoln, & Coffin Bay.

The only sizeable protected water in the area is the Murray River which is navigable for 2000 km (1200 miles). I am still trying to work up the courage to cross the bar at the mouth. The seas can get nasty in these parts, especially venturing outside the gulf, but the rewards are worthwhile. Unspoilt beaches, great fishing, uncrowded anchorages; I love it.

The first pic makes me want to go hang gliding assuming the photographer is standing on the top of a dune.

My home port is St. Petersburg, FL. Our boat is berthed not too far from the north end of the Sunshine Skyway. We are just off the ICW and have quick access to Tampa Bay, Egmont Key and Fort Desoto. I've been cruising the waters from Tampa Bay to Anclote Island off Tarpon Springs for most of my life.

Just stumbled upon this thread. Here are a few photos of our home port:


Untitled by alagozian, on Flickr


IMG_6781 by alagozian, on Flickr


IMG_6768 by alagozian, on Flickr

My home port where I liveaboard my C Kip 40 is Poole Harbour on the south coast of the UK. Poole is reputedly the second largest natural harbour in the world and contains 5 islands which combine to make it a pretty much all weather cruising ground. There is always somewhere to shelter from the wind. The is a fabulous diversity to the harbour in that one side is urban and a working port and no more than a mile away behind the islands you could be in a wilderness. It's ideally located for exploring both the Solent and the Jurrasic coast (google them for more details) but more often than not I will just pop out under the two lifting bridges, that separate my marina from the main harbour, and drop anchor somewhere tranquil where I can happily stay for several days. I love to drop a kayak over the side and explore all the creeks and inlets leading off from the main channels that cannot be accessed by larger craft. Care is required in navigating the harbour as the average depth is reputedly a mere 18 inches so you have to have good local knowledge to stray from the main channels and its a common site to sea an embarrassed mariner waiting for the tide to come back in. Fortunately the bottom is pretty soft all over so rarely are boats badly damaged. I patrolled the harbour for almost 10 years so have as good a local knowledge as any which means I can seek out the even mor secluded spots where others may fear to navigate. That's not to say I don't wake up with the boat at a funny angle room time to time as she takes the ground but with my long keel and the harbours soft bottom that doesn't concern me unduly. I guess my home ports only real drawback is the unpredictable British weather! But when it's good it will rival anywhere Struggling to get the pictures to upload but there's loads on the good ole Internet!. Iain

FondduLac WI

The largest lake in WI. Fed by the Fox River flowing south to north to Green bay, home of the Packers. Then to lake Michigan, Up the St. Lawrence seaway and anywhere you want to go from there. Unfortunately I have several years (that's wishful thinking) to go before retirement. So I'll just hang out here for awhile.

Ocean Side Property

I have been off this site for a while because of being too busy. We finally moved into our Oceanside Property this summer.

In this picture it is the house with the Red Roof. I pulled my boat up last week and it is the one sitting between the house and the garage. On the other side of the garage is my BIL's boat. Where the brown equipment shed is located ( just in front of my boat and behind the little white shed ) will be where I am going to place a Cafe. It looks funny that our wharf is empty but it sure is a nice sport. All summer we had whales, dauphins and even Salmon breaching the water while on the deck having coffee.

In a few years this picture will have a Marina in the centre of it which means my property will be on the outer edge of the Marina.

Anyway this in my Home Port

SunRoad Marina, San Diego, CA

Our marina is great! Facilities are terrific, management is the best, social activities year round....better than a yacht club.

Perry's Yacht Harbor in Isleton is our current home port. 5 hole pitching course is a favorite amenity of our sons. Covered and enclosed berths to keep the suns rays and trail dust off. Little bit of wildlife to make it interesting ain't bad either. Even a few cabin tents for our guest use too. Serenity is the primary selling point, that and mirror calm water as you could secure a 40' boat with 1/4" line in our harbor its so calm in a heavy blow.

Landlocked in Missourah for now and maybe forever.
Scout is on the Lake of the Ozarks 75 miles from the house.
The 'Lake' is privately owned by a utility company, 95 miles long and 1200 miles of shoreline. Gets a little crazy in the summer but the other 9 months it's a great place
I spent a large percentage of the summer on the lake driving other peoples boats. My post retirement 'Captain' business is alive and well and kept me busier than I wanted all summer.
For that and other reasons, Julie and I decided to put down some roots at the lake. At least for the next couple of years.
We lucked into a great FSBO place with a 'cruiser dock' for Scout, a nice small cabin for more amenities at the lake, and enough waterfront and property for a nice home if we decide to go that direction. Deep water and protected (no-wake) cove and privacy. Dock is 3-well so the Whaler will be there on a lift soon. And.....room for another boat! Julie is saying 'no, no, no' but she loves boats so maybe.
We'll miss SOME of our current marina neighbors but having our own dock and place is going to add to OUR boating pleasure.
More work...but I'm retired right.

Anode said:

We'll miss SOME of our current marina neighbors but having our own dock and place is going to add to OUR boating pleasure.
More work...but I'm retired right.

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I'm envious as hell! Ever since I saw Henry Fonda in "On Golden Pond", I've lusted for a place like that and apparently you have it.

Today, MK Bay marina, Kitimat, BC, Canada, November 3rd, frost in the morning, sunrise light,

Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham. Yesterday gusts to 52...today sunny and calm. Gotta love the PNW in the fall!

Port of Everett, second largest marina on the West Coast. Proud home of Naval Station Everett and the worlds largest building, where they build the Boeing jumbo jets!

Must be a long walk to the toilet from some of those berths.
Doing the washing would be an all day job , looks like you would have to take a cut lunch.
Sure is a big establishment.

Benn

Home port Jupiter Florida

Our home port is Jupiter Florida. We love this town which once upon a time was a sleepy little town. Word is out and this town is booming. People are nice here, water quality is great with the gulfstream so close to our inlet.Our 05 MAINSHIP 34 Trawler is a joy to pilot and gives us great enjoyment. Too bad we couldn't keep Jupiter a secret.

Our home port is Queen City Yacht Club, Portage Bay, Seattle WA. The bay is located between Lake Union and Lake Washington. Our transit time to the Locks and into Puget Sound is about 30 minutes and we can usually be into the saltwater in a half-hour more. What Paua Hana said about Lake Washington anchorages is right on. You can anchor overnight in Andrews Bay and Cozy Cove. Both are very protected and Andrews is surrounded on 3 sides by a park. Cozy is surrounded by houses but it's still pretty nice. I don't know if you can overnight in Meydenbauer. Kirkland Marina can be rough on a busy day due to boat wakes, and is a real bear in a strong S SW wind. This year, two boats sunk at the dock in a wind storm. One of them, a Bayliner 3688, had one wing of its cockpit and a portion of its transom torn off.

bluewater1953 said:

Our home port is Jupiter Florida. We love this town which once upon a time was a sleepy little town. Word is out and this town is booming. People are nice here, water quality is great with the gulfstream so close to our inlet.Our 05 MAINSHIP 34 Trawler is a joy to pilot and gives us great enjoyment. Too bad we couldn't keep Jupiter a secret.

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Love it Bluewater.

Moonstruck said:

The Manatee Pocket is a great place for boat "eye candy". We have stopped there many times waiting for a weather window. We usually stop at the Stuart Corinthian YC and fuel at Marina Cay. We are now just up the way at Ft. Pierce.

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In the 60's one of my favorites was a little spot in Stuart. Frances Langford (a pretty actress) had a supper club that we used to dock at on our way thru... I'm certain she's gone (she was not young then) but wondered if her place still existed? It was on the west side of the river.

She also had a house nearby and if I was very lucky would be at the restaurant and invite us dock behind her home for a few days. She had a swimming pool which in my mind was an outstanding thing to own!

As for home ports, the boat says Pensacola because Kidlet has a house there. Home is where the boat is, and currently we are on the Gulf coast gearing up for the engine swap. It's a boat -- stuff takes longer than anticipated always.

Still, I'm afloat so it's all good. And here in Carrabelle, the phosphorescent comb jellyfish (specifically, the rainbow variety) are in the river. If you're in the neighborhood, dump a bucket of water on the swim platform and watch the lights dance. It's nifty.

I saw these back on the other side of Panama City last January, and am not sure the duration of the visit. They only arrived last week so hopefully will remain for a time.

Mini-science lesson: Comb jellyfish do not sting. I wrote an article about 'em ... let me see: (here it is)

Janice142 Article Carrabelle Sparkles

It's nifty as heck. I will say that I'm not seeing the quantity of sparkles I saw further west and I have no idea why that is. Perhaps someone else knows?

Janice, thanks for reminding me of this.40 years or more ago we anchored overnight many time at Cape Lookout, NC. Our sons were about 6 & 8. They would play in the water and sand all day. We would put them back in the cockpit to shower the sand off in the evening. Because we had limited water we would first hose them off first with the saltwater wash down pump hose. The turbulence caused by the pump would activate the phosphorescent particles in the water. To see them standing there with little sparkellies all over their tanned bodies was so cute. Days gone by, but still great memories.