Brunswick Landing or Morningstar Golden Isles?

[lomalaurie]

We have stayed at BLM 3 times, an have always found them to be very professional, helpful & friendly. There are new restrooms on the north end of the Marina, and the clubhouse has recently been expanded nicely; there is now a large furnished meeting room with a bar, a screen porch, along with the amenities already there...free laundry, in new, large capacity machines being a very nice perk!

There is also a radio net two days a week, on channel 69, to let cruisers know about marina and town happenings/events.

The downtown has a couple of new businesses, and you will find Tipsy McSway's Bar & Grill a fabulous addition, with reasonable priced, tasty food, trivia nights, live music many nights, and a super staff. The locals are very friendly, too

I can not speak for Morningstar, as we have never stayed there. But BLM will remain our choice for our Georgia stays.

[LifeAt7Knots]

I really like MGI. Great restaurant and live music every weekend! You are only about 2 miles from Mallery St with all the shops and restaurants you could ask for.

In fact I liked it so much I bought a boat Slip at the Frederica Yacht Club. The marina next to MGI in the same parking lot. I am in between boats saving for my live aboard. I am renting it out at a fraction of the cost of MGI and you still have deeded use of the MGI facilities(except the pool)!

Thought I would try to help out the cruising community till I get my boat while defraying some of the cost. I am asking 9/Ft per month with 30 ft min. Free water, laundry, restrooms, showers, gated parking included. Pump out and cable available. Great deep water slip in the Golden Isles(over 7' @ MLW)!

Dave

[bigbrownpilot]

Dave,

We're happily settled at Brunswick Landing, but we find ourselves cruising over to MGI and anchoring, then taking the dinghy to dinner at Coastal Kitchen, or taking our dogs to the public dock to relive themselves whenever we do any local sailing. But for that rate, we need to seriously consider your offer. I have a few questions:

1. Where is the slip and what about the current? I've heard it's wicked in that area, and in fact have experienced it when anchoring there. Do you have any issues docking, and/or any issues with draft where you need to arrive or depart with a certain tide? (We have a Hunter 380, 37' 3" LOA and 5' draft with a shoal keel).

2. How long do you anticipate it would be until you would want the slip back? Would hate to lose our great location by the bath house if we aren't going to get a couple of years there.

3. Does anyone check the boats there during bad weather? One of the nice things about MGI and BLM is they both have very proactive dock masters and security.

We are in Atlanta now, but will be moving to SSI before the end of the year, and it would be great to be closer to the boat as well as to the inlet. We've met a lot of great folks at BLM and love the facilities, but it's also more of a port-of call for live aboard cruisers than people who live locally and own a boat. We plan on doing plenty of cruising in retirement, but right now it's mostly day sails and overnights. Please get back to me if you can answer those questions, and we'll seriously discuss it. We will be back down around August 6th and we can take a look then if you still have it available.

Thanks,
Dave English
Still the One H380
SSI

[lilbabypenguin]

We are also considering BLM, but am a little worried about the paper mill nearby. Has anyone noticed a noxious smell from the paper mill? I know on road trips sometimes I drive through towns that have paper mills and it can be really bad! Maybe people get used to it, but I would love to know if this has been an issue BLM? Thank you.

[bigbrownpilot]

Originally Posted by lilbabypenguin

We are also considering BLM, but am a little worried about the paper mill nearby. Has anyone noticed a noxious smell from the paper mill? I know on road trips sometimes I drive through towns that have paper mills and it can be really bad! Maybe people get used to it, but I would love to know if this has been an issue BLM? Thank you.

Welcome to the south. Yes, you will smell the paper mill at times in Brunswick. Probably also at MGI with the wind from the west as it is just across the Torras Causeway. We don't notice it. The only thing objectionable is the local tap water has a slight sulfur odor. Again, getting used to that and keep bottled water around.

Dave
H380 Still the One

[skipmac]

I don't recall a strong paper mill smell for the couple of months I was there but it does depend on which way the wind blows. My mother grew up in a small GA town about 90 miles from Savannah. She said growing up they could tell when it was going to rain because the wind would blow from the ocean and you could smell the paper mills along the coast.

I have picked up a strong sulfur smell occasionally from paper mills but never bothered me that much. Maybe I'm used to it.

[lilbabypenguin]

Thanks for your input skipmac and bigbrownpilot. We will give a shot, since the current at MGI makes me a little nervous being new to sailing and all. I know all about that sulphur water from visiting Florida, so that's good to know they have it there. No big deal on that.
Thanks again

[LifeAt7Knots]

Welcome to the Golden Isles. I have a boat slip next to MGI and I have not noticed the smell of the paper mills.

[RTB]

We were at BLM from July to November last year. Maybe got a whiff of the mill a couple of times. Nothing like at Fernandina on a mooring. Say Hi to Sherri from FUGUE. We shall return some day. Met so many nice people there.

Ralph
Adult pool | sailing away with R & B

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by lilbabypenguin

Thanks for your input skipmac and bigbrownpilot. We will give a shot, since the current at MGI makes me a little nervous being new to sailing and all. I know all about that sulphur water from visiting Florida, so that's good to know they have it there. No big deal on that.
Thanks again

What I would worry about more than the paper mill smell is the noseeums. They love the marshes and can be pretty annoying at times.

[cmac]

We are at the Golden Isles marina, but moved here after a couple of months at BLM. The paper plant oder and the birds were two reasons we move over to GI three years ago? The price was the same, but the distance to the inlet is considerably shorter at GI.

The facilities are pretty good at either marina, but I would give an edge to BLM with the recent improvements. We really like the staff at both locations - helpful and friendly. The manager at GI, Chris, works hard at taking care of everyone, but especially the people that keep their boat year round.

We have a car at GI, but the marina does have a loaner car for use up to an hour. The grocery (1 mile) and hardware store (1.5 miles) are about a 5-10 minute drive on St. Simon's, but you can bike nearly everywhere on bike paths. There are some very good restaurants at all price ranges. BLM does not have a loaner car which would be nice to get to grocery and box stores along with West Marine.

The fetch from the south can make it bumpy at GI, but if your not on the transient dock and at a slip father towards shore, it's not bad (we're on a 40 ft cat so we don't notice it very often and the wind has to be coming directly from the south). There is nearly always a breeze blowing at GI.





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[bigbrownpilot]

We decided to stay at BLM just because the current is less to deal with than MGI. Not that there isn't current at our dock, just more manageable. We also have plenty of water under our slip at low tide. We think the world of Sherrie, love the facilities, and have met some really neat folks at the social events as well as impromptu cocktail hour on the deck at the entrance to our dock. True; the "drive" to get to open water is longer than we'd like, and we rarely are able to hoist sails until we are past the islands SE of Brunswick Point (NW of the red 24, 22, and 20 buoys) just because the wind never seems to put us on a good point of sail through there. We're moving to SSI, and the difference in drive time is about 10 minutes more to get to BLM. We always have a car there, so that may be another factor if you don't. Our new favorite restaurant down there is Indigos, which is probably a 15 minute walk from BLM. I don't think you can go wrong at either marina; it's just a trade-off between current, draft, and proximity to open water, IMO.

[dailysailor]

Originally Posted by bigbrownpilot

We decided to stay at BLM.

Welcome to the Brunswick Landing Marina family! How are you liking it so far?

The new facilities are to die for. The "Yacht Club" as they like to call it is simply magnificent. Over 2000 square feet of air conditioned space with tons of seating and two flat screen TVs fully loaded with DirecTV.

The marina has also started offering complimentary wine THREE nights a week. While this does seem a little bit of over kill, it's a great way we've found to meet our fellow boaters. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the marina owner's grandson brings 12 (yes 12) bottles of wine, opens them all up, and let's us boaters drink as much as we'd like. These things start at 5pm and go on til whenever.

[bigbrownpilot]

Originally Posted by dailysailor

Welcome to the Brunswick Landing Marina family! How are you liking it so far?

The new facilities are to die for. The "Yacht Club" as they like to call it is simply magnificent. Over 2000 square feet of air conditioned space with tons of seating and two flat screen TVs fully loaded with DirecTV.

The marina has also started offering complimentary wine THREE nights a week. While this does seem a little bit of over kill, it's a great way we've found to meet our fellow boaters. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the marina owner's grandson brings 12 (yes 12) bottles of wine, opens them all up, and let's us boaters drink as much as we'd like. These things start at 5pm and go on til whenever.

We have been very happy with our experiences at Brunswick Landing Marina. Sherry has become an indispensable friend and advisor, and the mechanical service from Jim Hamrick has been top-notch. We're a little different than many of the transients and live-aboard sailors there in that we have a home on SSI where we plan to move as soon as we can sell our Atlanta house. BLM is truly our "home port", and while we have a house with a shower and laundry nearby, we still value the great facilities the marina has to offer. The social setting is great; whether we participate in one of the regular weekly events, or just see who's sitting around under the covered area above the dock ramp and have an impromptu get-together. Whether it's our home for day sailing or where we return to after long-term cruising in our future (retired) life, we hope to be there for a while. Keep up the good work!

David and Alysia English
"Still the One"
Hunter 380