Hello from Los Angeles

Interested in getting a trawler to cruise for when I can pull away or eject from normal life. Im getting the sense it may be better to start this new lifestyle somewhere on the east coast. I can only imagine boat slip costs here on the west coast.

Welcome to the forum. You'll find plenty of information on here.

Welcome aboard. We lived and cruised on the west coast out of Long Beach for ten years but are now back to the east coast where we have cruised the entire coast. So let me give you my perspective on each:

The west coast is undeniably nice particularly SoCal. Slips are expensive and anchorages limited though. We have anchored from San Diego to Catalina and the Channel Islands and found very nice spots, but I think I can count all of the anchorages in that stretch on two hands, maybe a bit more.

If you want to cruise full time and rely on anchorages it will get old. You need a marina base and then head out for several days at a time to anchorages. Long Beach is a good central location but slips will be $15/ft/mo or more and many do not allow live aboards.

The east coast OTOH has thousands of anchorages. You can live aboard full time and rely on anchorages 95% of the time. Or you can pick a home base for the winter like Stuart Florida and travel north when it gets warmer. I believe that Stuart slips are available for three months at a time at reasonable rates, maybe $10/ft/mo. Maybe someone can confirm.

Long term slips are available in places like New Bern, NC for about $7/ft/mo and would be a good place for full time living in a marina.

So the west coast is pretty with nice weather but expensive with limited anchorages and slips. East coast is cheaper with tons of anchorages but you have to move with the seasons for decent weather.

David

Don't forget the Great Lakes ! Cheap marinas, fresh water,(actually drinkable), lots of protected anchorages and islands. NICE PEOPLE! Transient slips sometimes going for a buck a foot. Summer slips for around $250 a month. Winter storage, generally around a grand.
Cheese shops in every town (at least in Wisconsin). Lots of Great food. There is a festival somewhere every weekend. Farmers markets start in July for fresh everything in every town. Near "Blue Water" adventures can be had by crossing Lake Michigan or especially Lake Superior. Our bathrooms are almost always clean, parking is free, locking your boat is optional, dogs always allowed. Fuel, licenses, taxes and fees are generally low.

Should I go on?

pete

Pete Meisinger said:

Don't forget the Great Lakes ! Cheap marinas, fresh water,(actually drinkable), lots of protected anchorages and islands. NICE PEOPLE! Transient slips sometimes going for a buck a foot. Summer slips for around $250 a month. Winter storage, generally around a grand.
Cheese shops in every town (at least in Wisconsin). Lots of Great food. There is a festival somewhere every weekend. Farmers markets start in July for fresh everything in every town. Near "Blue Water" adventures can be had by crossing Lake Michigan or especially Lake Superior. Our bathrooms are almost always clean, parking is free, locking your boat is optional, dogs always allowed. Fuel, licenses, taxes and fees are generally low.

Should I go on?

pete

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river to ocean

Ok Pete. U had me at Hello. Lol. I like the idea staying in freshwater and traveling thru rivers to ocean. Farmers markets and lots of outdoor activities would be nice. Change of seasons would be kewl for a change of scenery as well. Now all i have to do is give my girlfriend an ultimatum. Lol.

So what would be a good size Trawler to start with?
I noticed some older ones around the $50k mark. Are these worth investing in.

Welcome aboard. At 50K you will have to do a lot of work on them. That is ok if you enjoy working on the boat. I like working on my boat but not everyone does. Have fun looking.

I notice you're from LA! True, there are a lot more anchorages on the east coast than there are here on the west coast but given the weather (a huge part of boating..) and access to the PNW, I love the Pacific!

(Examples East Coast going north & arriving in Main. Fantastic scenery! West Coast north to Puget Sound...also fantastic. East Coast south to Florida & the Keys...Paradise. West Coast south to the Sea of Cortez...It's an aquarium- nothing like it!

Also, the California Delta north of San Francisco Bay. Literally dozens of places, rivers, marinas to explore.

Don't write off the West Coast and the best of all....you already live here!

A lot of boaters never step off their boat and enter the water. If you enjoy water sports, paddling, swimming, spear fishing, etc.,then the south west coast of Cal is an amazing playground with crystal blue water, nice air and water temps, with plenty of offshore Islands to have fun and explore. If you are not into the water immersion stuff, then heading to the PNW may make more sense for some. Whatever you are into.

Hi, Great Lakes pete here again,

Of course I would be expected to recommend a boat like I have. And I will.. Plenty of 35 - 40 foot trawlers in the $50 -$75,000 dollar range. Go single diesel, buy fairly close to wherever you will call home port. Expect to do some deferred maintenance until you get it caught up.

You can own a nice boat around here for $500 per month (once it is paid for), thats dockage,fuel, insurance and some do it yourself maintenance. Expect to pay at least double that amount for the first year or so getting it like you want.

You don't mention your age, financial situation or employment. Just judging by your price range I expect you are just like most T.F.ers. (Somewhere past middle age, around middle income and probably a "working stiff" or recently or soon to be retired. Great lakes area is not a tech center but there are lots of jobs around here and if you are in the healthcare field (Nurse, mid admin, P.A., N.A.etc) you can write your own ticket wherever you want. If you are "skilled", i.e.:butcher, baker, carpet layer, candlestick maker, you can slide right into a decent job. Girlfriend also.

Did I mention that you can pick cherries off the trees in Door County, Literally tons of apples in Bayfield, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries are everywhere. Cross Lake Michigan when Peaches are ready and there are unlimited amounts. Of course we are not California like for produce but then again we don't have California prices.

Hmmm, what are you waiting for?

pete

Pete Meisinger said:

Don't forget the Great Lakes ! Cheap marinas, fresh water,(actually drinkable), lots of protected anchorages and islands. NICE PEOPLE! Transient slips sometimes going for a buck a foot. Summer slips for around $250 a month. Winter storage, generally around a grand.
Cheese shops in every town (at least in Wisconsin). Lots of Great food. There is a festival somewhere every weekend. Farmers markets start in July for fresh everything in every town. Near "Blue Water" adventures can be had by crossing Lake Michigan or especially Lake Superior. Our bathrooms are almost always clean, parking is free, locking your boat is optional, dogs always allowed. Fuel, licenses, taxes and fees are generally low.

Should I go on?

pete

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Wifey B: And......all that.....but.......

Three month season....or perhaps four.

Love the Great Lakes to visit but not where I'd want to spend all 12 months of the year.

Well im 46, not sure how long will take me, but if i can take my gf to see some of these cities I know she will be interested. As far as what we will do on the boat, id say mostly sight seeing with a social aspect. I think it would be kewl motoring from city to city with friends and their boats. As far as costs you mention, well sounds doable. I appreciate the enthusiasm. Reminds me of my motto ive stuck with all my life. "Just do it ", lol.

Pete, whats a TFer btw?

twindiesel said:

Interested in getting a trawler to cruise for when I can pull away or eject from normal life. Im getting the sense it may be better to start this new lifestyle somewhere on the east coast. I can only imagine boat slip costs here on the west coast.

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I lived aboard and cruised out of San Diego where after ten miles of "cruising," you are out into the Pacific Ocean. But when I retired, the draw of family and more diverse boating/cruising waters landed me here. Many on the left coast will tell you the waters there are just fine, but I think you may have a predisposition to what I considered the obvious.

rgano said:

I lived aboard and cruised out of San Diego where after ten miles of "cruising," you are out into the Pacific Ocean. But when I retired, the draw of family and more diverse boating/cruising waters landed me here. Many on the left coast will tell you the waters there are just fine, but I think you may have a predisposition to what I considered the obvious.

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Wifey B: You make the most of where you are. When we lived on the lake, that was our boating world and we loved it. We didn't know anything more. If I was on the Pacific Coast, I'd find great boating. I'd take advantage of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and all the large small towns in between (large because they are but small compared to the big 3).

Just like I'd make the most of the Great Lakes if that's where I was. I'd take every possible boating moment and enjoy what was there.

If I lived in the NE, I'd dislike the shorter season, but I'd find the incredible areas for boating and take advantage of the season.

Don't compare the west coast to the east or the NE to the SE, just love where you are and take advantage of it. It's like going to Hollywood on the west coast. Well, we live near Hollywood, FL but it's not the same. If I moved to the west coast I'd sure miss the Bahamas and the Caribbean, but I'd savor what is there.

Hey TwinDiesel,

I used to keep my boat at Island Yacht Anchorage #2 in Wilmington, CA. I paid less for the slip there than I do now in Clearwater, FL. The weather was also nicer more often, e.g. less rain, so I got to do more boating. Especially for a beginner, it was much easier boating -- much deeper waters, no sand bars, all floating docks, etc. And, there were some great short trips, e.g. Avalon, Isthmus Cove, Newport Beach, Huntington Harbor; some great longer trips, e.g. the back side of Catalina, San Diego and Tijuana; and some great, free, protected places to anchor for free, e.g. Island White. I loved all of the moorings @ Catalina.

I'm very glad I started in the easy waters of SoCal. And, I might sell my current boat and buy one back there after finding my way to the Bahamas for a bit and otherwise exploring where I am.

Don't fret. Enjoy SoCal!

BandB said:

Wifey B: You make the most of where you are. When we lived on the lake, that was our boating world and we loved it. We didn't know anything more. If I was on the Pacific Coast, I'd find great boating. I'd take advantage of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and all the large small towns in between (large because they are but small compared to the big 3).

Just like I'd make the most of the Great Lakes if that's where I was. I'd take every possible boating moment and enjoy what was there.

If I lived in the NE, I'd dislike the shorter season, but I'd find the incredible areas for boating and take advantage of the season.

Don't compare the west coast to the east or the NE to the SE, just love where you are and take advantage of it. It's like going to Hollywood on the west coast. Well, we live near Hollywood, FL but it's not the same. If I moved to the west coast I'd sure miss the Bahamas and the Caribbean, but I'd savor what is there.

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Certainly, but the PO apparently has a choice and was asking....

If moving is in the cards for you and short cruises with thousands of anchorages in an area with a lot of jobs for as long as you're working you should look at the Chesapeake. There are fresh water areas in the northern part of the bay, probably well over a thousand marinas to use as a base, a seven month boating season or you could take the boat south for the winter and take short vacations or long weekends on the boat. We've been cruising the bay for almost 40 years and still find new anchorages on every trip. Also if your not sure what to buy and you and your significant other want to look at the area head to Annapolis in October for the boat show, then take a few days to drive around and look at some of the most interesting little towns in the country. (St Michaels; Oxford; Cambridge; Chesapeake City; Havre de Grace; Solomons Island; Easton; Crisfield; Tangier Island all in Maryland then head a little south to Virginia with just as many beautiful little towns; the through the canal into the Outer Banks or through the C&D to the north into New Jersey.
John

John that sounds amazing. I will consider this. May work as a selling point. U never know, wink!
Also to all those in favor of the Left Coast I have fished up and down the Pacifics nicest offerings and even though u do have a point to start and learn here where I live, i have 3 biases. #1 Not only are the marinas super expensive, but they are filled to capacity, I cannot live within 60 miles of the ocean due to housing costs and every single marina Ive boarded a boat at seems to be filled with snobs. #2 theres not one place I can think that id like to sail to cause its surroundings are ugly. #3 California is over rated and the PNW is too cold. In general just seems to be more water, rivers, inlets and access to hundreds of thousands potentizl slips with access to the Bahamas. Score Left Coast 1 , East Coast 10.

Out of curiosity, what is your monthly $$/ft. slip budget?

Cali, esp the LA area, has all types of marinas. Some are resort style with folks looking for that and others who are, and some with simpler offerings, for those looking for that.

It's not a three or four month season here. It's a twelve month season, just takes two or three years to accumulate them.

A T.F.er is a Trawler forum er

pete

The west coast is undeniably nice particularly SoCal. Slips are expensive and anchorages limited though. We have anchored from San Diego to Catalina and the Channel Islands and found very nice spots, but I think I can count all of the anchorages in that stretch on two hands, maybe a bit more.

If you want to cruise full time and rely on anchorages it will get old. You need a marina base and then head out for several days at a time to anchorages. Long Beach is a good central location but slips will be $15/ft/mo or more and many do not allow live aboards.

The east coast OTOH has thousands of anchorages.

The best part of the West Coast is not California. If you are comparing the California coast to all of the East Coast, the East Coast wins. But throw in Washington State, British Columbia and Alaska and its no contest.

This from Wikipedia:

"The aerial distance from Victoria on the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Stewart, British Columbia on the Alaska border at the head of the Portland Canal is 965 kilometres (600 mi) in length. However, because of its many deep inlets and complicated island shorelines—and 40,000 islands of varying sizes, including Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii —the total length of the British Columbia Coast is over 25,725 kilometres (15,985 mi), making up about 10% of the Canadian coastline at 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi).[1][citation needed] The coastline's geography, which is shared with Southeast Alaska and adjoining parts of northwest Washington, is most comparable to that of Norway and its heavily indented coastline of fjords,[2] a landscape also found in southern Chile. The dominant landforms of the BC Coast are the Insular Mountains, comprising most of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, and the Coast Mountains, which extend beyond into Alaska and the Yukon.

The British Columbia Coast is mostly part of the Pacific temperate rain forests ecoregion as defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. In the system used by Environment Canada, established by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the area is defined as the Pacific Maritime Ecozone. In the geoclimatic zones system used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests the bulk of the region comprises the Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone, although small areas flanking the Strait of Georgia at the coast's southern extremity are classed in the Coastal Douglas-fir zone."

There are plenty of slips in that area for way less than $15/ft. Check out Island Yacht, Island Yacht #2, Newmarks, Leward Bay, Holiday Harbor, Lighthouse, and more.

Liveaboards are limited by the state to 10% and additionally by los angeles to 5% (of the number of slips at a marina). So, those slots often have waitlists and those available may be less desirable, e.g. under train bridge near trains.

gkesden said:

Out of curiosity, what is your monthly $$/ft. slip budget?

Cali, esp the LA area, has all types of marinas. Some are resort style with folks looking for that and others who are, and some with simpler offerings, for those looking for that.

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Last time I checked for a 36ft slip It was between $550 and $650. Id say about $300 is more than reasonable to store a boat.

Hi TwinDiesel,

Yeah. Okay. When I had a 42' there and rented a 55' slip, I was paying $11/slip-ft plus some pass-through fees. It came to a littlenover $600/mo. So a 40' slip would provably be about $450.

Shorter slips tend to have have less beam and narrower fairways, so could be a little less expensive...but not down to $300/mo.

Lots of spectacular fresh wayer cruising grounds in the NE. You dont have to stick around when thdcwayerbgetd hard but dont miss it if you are adventuresome... it is wonderful and lots of places to spend the rest of the year.

All places are great when you are boating! East or west...

My San Francisco monthly slip fee 50’ $450/ month.

twindiesel said:

Last time I checked for a 36ft slip It was between $550 and $650. Id say about $300 is more than reasonable to store a boat.

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I kept my last boat, a 52', at Al Larson Marina in L.A. harbor on Terminal Island.
For 15 years I paid $7/ft on a mooring (7yrs) and then on a 60' end tie (8yrs).
It was actually a sweet deal because I always paid on time, was friendly, helpful, etc.
The slip fee at that time - 5 years ago - was only $10/ft.
But Al Larson's nickname is 'Loser's Landing'... Hmm

If the PNW is too cold for your blood (it is for me), San Francisco Bay is the only decent cruising zone in the west coast. There are dozens of anchorages inside the bay, and decent laid back trawler cruising all the way to Sacramento. And there are decent trips out the Gate to Half Moon Bay, Drakes Bay and a bit further if desired. However, SF suffers from the same housing and slip costs as LA. Before moving my boat to Ensenada last year to start a refit, I was in Emery Cove Marina (Emeryville) and paid about $575/mo for a 40-foot slip (FYI - Ensenada is not much cheaper). A bit of a reality check : it costs as much to slip and insure and maintain a $50k boat as it does a $250k one. By the time you have a diver clean the bottom every couple months, haul every couple years, insurance, etc, I don't think you're getting away for less than $10k per year no matter where you are.

I would think a person could get a few years of weekend cruising out of SoCal before it got monotonous. It's been a while, but the Oxnard area marinas used to be relatively affordable and nice. Check out channel islands harbor marina. Won't be $300/mo, but won't be MDR rates either. And housing is less expensive.

As far as the East Coast, there is a lot more dawdling style cruising. There are long stretches of protected ICW waters and many, many boating centers. I moved from SF to St Pete about 15 years ago. It was 82-degrees here yesterday and took a friend's 21-foot center console boat to a waterside restaurant for lunch.

I haven't spent a ton of time in the Chesapeake, but it's probably the best dawdling style of cruising in the country. It's big and diverse. But does have winter. It also bleeds into the NC Pamlico Sound area with New Bern, Wilmington, and other boating centers

But the epic trawler crawl in the US - perhaps the world - is the 6000 mile Great Loop.

The missing link here is your ability to adapt the rest of your life to whatever you decide is the best flavor of trawlering for you - unclear whether your idea is to cruise, or live in a cruising grounds and keep a home-base. The Bahamas are great, but not a long weekend trip if you're working.

Although our departure date is still fluid, my other half and I will leave out of Ensenada and eventually end up in Florida. An immensely doable trip on many trawler style boats, though decent seamanship skills are required (given your fishing background....). The Baja Ha Ha is a good jumping off point for many with similar dreams.

Good luck.

I am in San Diego and although I have only had my Trawler for a little over a year I have had a boat here for about 20 years. Yes slip fees are very expensive but I look at the Sheet and see the slips in LA are considerably less than here in San Diego, and your so much closer to the various Islands in the Channel Island Chain. San Diego was great because of Mexico being so close, but now there are so many restrictions that it's expensive and complicated to explore their waters inside 14 miles of shore.

I have Cruised the PNW, and Alaska with family who have boats. That's much more appealing to me than the East Coast unless you prefer people over wildlife. I would get my feet wet here in Southern California then buy some cold weather gear and go North! Boat snobs are everywhere but much fewer in small marinas, away from huge population zones.