Keeping a boat on the eastern seaboard

[JordanH]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I spent one July working on the boat in Annapolis. Headed up to New England in August, and said I would never again be on the Chesapeake in the summer months.

Note that the New Englanders talk about the boating "season". If you go south to southern Florida in November, then back north in May, the season never ends.

Oh? Where do you prefer over the Chesapeake?



... if I stay on the boat going between Florida and New England, the boating season may never end but my marriage probably would. The reality is that I need to maintain the house, family and so-on for most of the year. What I've proposed is that they let me jump down to the boat in May/June to set it up for the summer. Then they join me for 2 months... then I take September to close up the boat and head home. 4 months of the year... until we're ready for our year sabbatical and then we all take off for the year around the atlantic and back.
so.... yup, I can see a real good sailing plan if I were a 100% live-aboard and could remain in the US full time... but I'm Canadian, still working, still with the house & family. So I have 4month constraints by the family and under 6 month constraints because there's only so long I can remain there as a visitor.

[JordanH]

Originally Posted by hlev00

My wife and I think that the waters between Martha's Vineyard and Block Island, including Buzzards Bay and Narragansett Bay are some of the best in the US if not the world for cruising, of course with limit of 5-6 months of sailing season.

We have been based in both Jamestown RI (5 years) and Marion MA (7 years) on Buzzards Bay. Either are great bases as are others in the same vincinities. Buzzards Bay gives you a bit more access to Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Boston and Maine. Narragansett Bay gives you more access to Block Island and Long Island Sound. If you will be doing extended cruises of 10-14 days either are great as a base. If your sailing trips will be primarily shorter 2-4 days you should think a bit about what areas appeal to you the most. Or start with a couple of years in one and a couple of more in the other. The majority of space is moorings. Docks are fewer and so harder to come by with longer waitlists. Narragansett Bay has more docks. There are fewer and fewer yards allowing DIY, but they do exist in all these areas. Don't count on mooring your boat in the same location as where you haul and store. That will free up a lot more options.

Thanks. That would be ideal.
I think more time on a mooring or anchor is what we actually require. Each year would likely be a month getting set, 2 months "out and about", and then one month cleaning up for winter. I just need to get the families feet wet into full-time living and sailing on the boat as opposed to our day and weekend sails here at home.

[Kettlewell]

My wife and I think that the waters between Martha's Vineyard and Block Island, including Buzzards Bay and Narragansett Bay are some of the best in the US if not the world for cruising, of course with limit of 5-6 months of sailing season.

I agree! And one of the good things about learning to sail around there is that you get a taste of many of the skills you will need for world voyaging. I read lots of boating books when I got started and I was always surprised when they talked about practising reefing your sails--in New England we do that all the time! Same with navigation: currents, tides, and fog are all common. You can practice anchoring off a long sandy beach that looks like someplace in the Bahamas, or you can pick up a mooring in a harbor packed like sardines. We've got weedy, muddy, and rocky bottoms too. About the only anchoring thing I rarely do in New England is Med Moor, which is a skill needed for the Meditteranean. You get the opportunity to talk to cruisers coming and going from all over the world. It's a good sailing ground to develop your skills and comfort with your new boat and lifestyle.

[malbert73]

If cost is a factor- look for marinas away from Annapolis. You’ll need a car to get from BWI to anywhere- unless you keep your boat on patapsco river in or near baltimore, where an Uber may be affordable.
I’d look on eastern shore of chesapeake bay- Kent Island, rock hall, Oxford areas. Probably significantly cheaper storage costs than Annapolis.
Chesapeake can be brutally hot in July and August. But April-June, and Sept into Nov can be amazing. Easy trip up to NE when it gets hot….

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by JordanH

Oh? Where do you prefer over the Chesapeake?



... if I stay on the boat going between Florida and New England, the boating season may never end but my marriage probably would. The reality is that I need to maintain the house, family and so-on for most of the year. What I've proposed is that they let me jump down to the boat in May/June to set it up for the summer. Then they join me for 2 months... then I take September to close up the boat and head home. 4 months of the year... until we're ready for our year sabbatical and then we all take off for the year around the atlantic and back.
so.... yup, I can see a real good sailing plan if I were a 100% live-aboard and could remain in the US full time... but I'm Canadian, still working, still with the house & family. So I have 4month constraints by the family and under 6 month constraints because there's only so long I can remain there as a visitor.

If your time to sail/cruise is July and August, I would definitely lean towards New England/Long Island Sound somewhere as that time period on the Chesapeake can be hot and somewhat windless, although this year wasn't terrible.

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by JordanH

Oh? Where do you prefer over the Chesapeake?

If my boat use was constrained to the summer months, I'd stay in New England. I DIY and anchor out, but I've heard that boatwork in Maine is considerably cheaper than in the New York to Newport area. I did re-engine and rerig the boat one summer while staying on a friend's mooring at Prudence Island.

It doesn't hurt to move around, and if you want to go offshore you need to shake the boat and crew down with some overnight passages, say to and from Maine.

[5BTM]

"...Since I'll be "semi-retired" and "working from home", I can physically be where ever... but my wife and daughter are tethered up north for the school year. It would make the most sense for me to have my vehicle with me."

You might want to check the US rules as they apply to "working from home"
while in the States.

[JordanH]

Originally Posted by 5BTM

You might want to check the US rules as they apply to "working from home" while in the States.

This is very good advice. I have looked into it to some extent and my understanding is this.

A foreigner (Canadian) doing work for foreign (Canadian) customers is certainly able to do work while in the USA on a visitor visa. The taxation becomes an issue if you gain 'substantial presence' status in the USA. Which is the 183-day rule that is calculated as 100% of days this year + 1/3 of the days last year + 1/6 of the days the previous year.

So as an example, if I were to spend 4 months (120 days) in the usa for 3 years, on my 3rd year the calculation would be:
120 days + (1/3)*120 + (1/6)*120 = 180 days and since that is less than 183 days, I would not trigger the substantial presence rules. Now... if I were there for 6 months of the year, that would be a problem!

There are, of course, exceptions to that but they largely don't apply to me. I did wonder if the "Days you are in the US as a crew member of a foreign vessel" could be bent in my favour. ;-) I know, I know, it's intended for working commercial vessels, but I have to wonder if it could be applied to foreign yachties. Anyone want to test their luck and try it?



At any rate... it shouldn't affect me. Let's use an example and say that I semi-retire next year and initially stay for 6-months.
2024 : 180-days about 6 months. That is under the 183 rule.

In 2025 : Maybe I stay 4 months. That would be 120 days + 60 days from 2023 = 180 days and I'm still good.

In 2026 : Maybe I stay just shy of 4 months, 111 days + 40 days from 2024 + 20 days from 2023 = 181 days and still good.

In 2027 : I'm kicking off across the Atlantic but maybe I return or spend some time there... As long as it's less than 4 months, I'm still good.
etc etc etc.

At least that's my understanding... I'm not an accountant, do your own research etc etc all the other legal caveats and disclaimers. ;-)

[Riggerman]

I am also Canadian. Quite a few of us keep our boat in Guatemala ( RioDulce)

The main reason, hurricanes free, easy access to Belize, Mexico, Honduras etc...

Very affordable compare to most places I know, My side dock is $250.00 a month including internet, water, swimming pool etc...for a 43 footer. very save and secure.
An other reason is repair and maintenance. very good qualified tradesmen here ( but like any where else you need to shop around)

No tax as long as you take the boat out of the country 3 months every 2 years. Most of Us go to Belize, Honduras bay islands. or Mexico.
My boat is registered in Canada, but never paid taxes on it, because it has never been in Canada.

Only down side, is the travel distance. But I spend 6 months in Canada, and 6 down south , so no issues for Me.

There about 6 to 700 boats here, many marinas and 3 haul out yards. Many boats are for sale here, some, projects, and some ready to go. My marina is the most expensive of them at $250.00 US a month for a 43.

For more info contact Me at mrjfortin@yahoo.com Good luck.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by mako

OP, if you register the boat in Canada but don't import it, do you still have to pay the total of 25% taxes, or do they not apply as long as offshore?

Then you just need to go about obtaining a cruising permit (good for one year), sail across to The Bahamas annually, then bring it back into the US on a new permit.

If you expect to document the boat in the US then you'll need a citizen to own it (Florida relative).

BTW I feel your pain. I'm in discussions to build a new boat in China but will have to register it offshore, then cruise in my own home waters on a permit as well. Otherwise would be subject to 30% duties.

Many of the large boats are registering in Grand Cayman Isl.

[jen1722terry]

Wonderful comments on cruising the East Coast.

We're Yanks who also own a home in Nova Scotia (Mahone Bay - 45 minutes south of Halifax for the non-Canadians). We're there as I write this watching a bald eagle over the harbor.

I kept a Bristol 26 in the Cheaspeake for a year in the 1980s. Lovely in the spring fall - even some nice winter sails - but, IMHO, too hot with flukey winds in the summer. I suspect it's even hotter now.

We keep our current Cape Dory 31 in Northeast Harbor, Maine on Mt. Desert Island and have done so for 8 years. Love it. So many harbors and islands to visit and mooring and slip prices are lower than further south. The Town Marina there can accommodate 53 feet or they have moorings for longer boats. It's a 9-hour pleasant drive from there over to Halifax. We winter our boat most years in nearby Blue Hill, Maine at a nice yard that allows mast-up storage and allows you to do much of of your own maintenance

It's a long day sail to Cape Sable for a 53-footer bound for Nova Scotia. We also plan to go through the reversing falls in St. John, New Brunwick and explore the rivers above it (highly recommended by several cruisers we've met). You may wish to do the same.

Many of our neighbors in Maine go south to winter as it's an easy direct run to Cape Cod then down the coast or into the Chesapeake. Cape May, New Jersey is highly recommended for a stop and if you can get under their bridge it saves 5 hours or so via the shortcut to the Chesapeake and Delaware canal.

Can't really comment on the taxes/tarrifs. We paid 5% on our boat to bring it into Canada for a year in 2016 with the caveat that we can't sell it here and a Canadian can't rent or even sail the boat. We'll be bringing the boat back to Canada next summer so we can do some work on it at a yard near our home.

Enjoy the dream. If you're down near Mahone Bay, give us a holler. We'll be here most of the time until New Years.

Jenn and Terry
North Conway, NH
Mahone Bay, NS
Northeast Harbor, ME

[cdy]

Slip prices in Florida are out of sight - especially on Atlantic side - marinas are getting bought up and slip rental doubling - kept a boat in Ft Pierce - new corporate owner and slip rental went from $580 - to $1,100 per month on a 32 foot boat - non livaboard (safe Harbor) but even at those prices - marina is full

[Wolfgang.Schau]

I just decided to put my 41' Lipari, a Fountain Pajot Catamaran on the market for sale due to health issues.
It is totally blue water ready with everything you need for a long haul live aboard.

We came from Massachusetts and strategically have chosen St. Augustine because there the hurricane risk is the least at the entire East coast. We kept it here on a mooring at the municipal marina, they really look out for your boat. You may reply to may e-mail at Wolfgang.Schau@gmx.com.

[wgerstmyer]

Another vote for Maine, especially if you’re talking about summer cruising to introduce the fam. 3500 islands, only 13 full-year inhabited, most gave good exploring hikes ~lovely to be able to sail in any direction each day and have a beautiful hike in pleasant weather! I go south each winter so full year sailing but wintered over in the water at DiMillio’s in Portland (excellent foodie small city and easy travel connections) where there is a community of ~40 live aboards and most everything is walkable as you are in the heart of downtown. But there are so many great harbors and so many Mainers that care, and know about, boating. So many DIY yards if you are on the hard. Nice, old school tradesmen and people like me who still row their dinghies. As mentioned earlier, plenty of great learning to sailing conditions and no theft concerns but rather others around you will look out for your/anyone’s boat. Since you’re Canadian I’d caution against the heat and humidity of the Chesapeake on south during the summer. I was a Virginian and I can’t take it except in the winter.
s/v The Now
Brewer 12.8