Need Snowbird Advice

[psneeld]

I definitely assumed wrongly that the Bahamas would be warm, sunny, and accessible from S Florida in the winter. Even so, for as much as it would cost to do this, we could keep our existing boat in Seattle and charter in the Carribean for two or three weeks a year and still come out ahead. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Thanks TF crew for straightening is out!

Slow down a second. Florida and The Bahamas are big enough to have different climates in different parts, mainly due to the Gulf Stream.

It can be snowing in Jacksonville and 85 in Miami.

Almost the same in the Bahamas. The easily/quicky accessible northern Bahamas can be in the 50's at night (close to the same temps in Ft Lauderdale, but if you go just a little further south both in Florida say to the keys and another 100 miles south in the Bahamas the temps start staying much steadier.

If you are lucky enough to get a place to dock further south and head south into the Bahamas, the climate is much more winter friendly.

But with that is the tradeoff of time, money, convenience etc..... but some do it and others just live with the few days of colder temps and wind experienced farther north in the Bahamas.

But yes, if you can charter when and where you want.... it would probably work out better in some ways.

 

[Sababa]

A key limitation for us is that for the next four years we could only do the Florida/Bahamas side during school breaks—two weeks in December, one week each in February and April. So waiting around for a weather window would be out, as would a long crossing to the south. Also, as you move further south in Florida, the moorage goes from exorbitant to ruinous. My insurer would also require us to hire a caretaker for when we are away and to hire a captain for our first few voyages to check me out on the larger boat and the new cruising grounds. Add to that the difference between the net sale price of our boat and the cost of the new one, the inevitable round of upgrades on the new boat, and the cost of fuel for the crossings over at any kind of speed, and chartering plus airfare to the warmer parts of the Caribbean starts to look cheap by comparison.

 

[jimfrens]

+1 on Boston Harbor Shipyard Maria. A friend is a year-round liveaboard there.

When I lived up there, we were at The Marina at Hatters Point on the Merrimack River, upstream from Newburyport. All slips there were seasonal, May 15 - October 15. A few folks went to Hampton NH for winter living. Check out other Boston area harbors such as Salem and Nahant. Nahant Yacht Club is a good organization and May allow seasonal stays.

 

[ranger58sb]

A key limitation for us is that for the next four years we could only do the Florida/Bahamas side during school breaks—two weeks in December, one week each in February and April. So waiting around for a weather window would be out, as would a long crossing to the south. Also, as you move further south in Florida, the moorage goes from exorbitant to ruinous. My insurer would also require us to hire a caretaker for when we are away and to hire a captain for our first few voyages to check me out on the larger boat and the new cruising grounds. Add to that the difference between the net sale price of our boat and the cost of the new one, the inevitable round of upgrades on the new boat, and the cost of fuel for the crossings over at any kind of speed, and chartering plus airfare to the warmer parts of the Caribbean starts to look cheap by comparison.

If it helps...

We did a lightweight cost analysis comparing snowbirding by boat to longer-term condo rentals -- using Annapolis/Florida as the theoretical end points. Condo rental cheaper and easier.

Boring, but cheaper and easier.

I didn't include personal transport in that; assumed we'd drive our own car down... which might not suit your situation. OTOH, when we've gone south by boat, we've mostly made do with bicycle and shank's mare... occasionally augmented with complimentary marina shuttles, Ubers, a few car rentals.

-Chris

 

[mvweebles]

If it helps...



We did a lightweight cost analysis comparing snowbirding by boat to longer-term condo rentals -- using Annapolis/Florida as the theoretical end points. Condo rental cheaper and easier.



Boring, but cheaper and easier.



I didn't include personal transport in that; assumed we'd drive our own car down... which might not suit your situation. OTOH, when we've gone south by boat, we've mostly made do with bicycle and shank's mare... occasionally augmented with complimentary marina shuttles, Ubers, a few car rentals.



-Chris

So true - VRBO/AirBNB makes financial sense.

We own a small 1-bdrm condo on the ICW (St Pete Beach) that we rent monthly. Originally VRBO, but now booked with past returning guests. Its around $2750/mo with everything included. Our guests are mostly Canadiens who drive down for 6-weeks or so, but we have one couple from Wales who struggle with cost of rental car.

I would guess that a slip for a 55-foot boat would be in the $1k-$1.3k per month range, and comes with nothing (if you could find one). Yet another example of boat owner suspending rules of financial responsibility.

For anyone thinking of snowbirding in coastal Florida, I will add that you really need to plan a year in advance to find a longterm apartment.

OP - I admire your creativity to blend a sensible family experience with your daughters special needs. Says a lot about you. Best of luck!

Peter.

 

[Sababa]

Available slips on the Florida side were running 2k+/mo with an annual lease. On the Boston area side I found one place with availability in Salem that wanted over $20k for the season. So we would have been in for over $60k a year just for parking. By contrast a week bareboating a three cabin power catamaran with The Moorings out of St. Thomas about $12k and airfare is about $1k/head.

In hindsight it’s pretty naive, but since I always think of Seattle as having some of the priciest real estate in the USA, it didn’t occur to me when I was hatching this plan that moorage on the East Coast could cost three times more than what we pay here.

 

[Shrew]

Pardon the interruption, but I have another question regarding the same subject(snowbirding). What would be the feasibility of having a boat on each coast? We wouldn't be going back and forth but more traditional, say 6 months in the puget sound area or even Alaska somewhere and 6 months in gulf coast area. I would haul the boat out for its respective off season.

Just pondering??

Please start a new thread. Hijacking causes a condition where there are two conversations occurring in parallel within the same thread.

 

[FlyingFin]

Snowbirds

Very few moorings in Florida, and probably none that are safe from petty theft, so unless you plan on being aboard most days, you will probably wanta slip in marina. In Lauderdale,a better option is to rent dockage from a waterfront homeowner. If you want easy access to Grand Bahama, stay around Jupiter or south, if bimini or Exuma is your goal, you want to stay in Miami or the Keys.