New Guy In Search of Home

[misty]

Hey all, I am s/v Misty out of Iowa right now and am looking for a home base for a bit. I am recently flying solo and have been sailing all my life. I started sailing in Newport, RI back in in '50s as a kid. Most of my sailing has been on inland lakes on 25' plastic boats. I now have a 34' steel hull beauty called Misty and am in love with her. She is a yawl with mahogany trim (very little). I will be moving to saltwater within the month. I am thinking Fla. but am open to suggestions. I need a place that is not expensive and I can finish fitting her out. My plan is to go to Ft. Lauderdale's Playboy marina (a DIY yard) but all I need to do is to find and install ssb, vhf, pressure and hot water, self steering and stores. I hope to sharpen my sailing skills over the winter and make passage next year if all goes well. What I am looking for is a community of sailors skilled in these things. My knowledge base is limited to non existent. This has been a dream since I was 16. Life long and never ceasing! All help appreciated.
Respectfully
Skip Adams

[sww914]

I don't know about Florida but you have a solid plan. A DIY boatyard that's inexpensive is key for 2 reasons. One you don't have to spend too much and two, you should be able to find a lot of what you need right there if they've scrapped a lot of boats. Cheap boatyards get cheap boats and people with cheap boats are often on the edge financially and the first ting to go in bad times is the boat so the yard eventually scraps it out and BINGO! good used parts for you. I bought an older Icom SSB and an automatic tuner for about $450.00, a life sling for $30.00, interior lights for $5.00 each, an electric windlass for $400.00 and tons of ugly fenders and dirty line for free. On and on. Lumber out of the trash cans, hardware out of the recycling bins, you name it. I even traded some really nice home stereo speakers for an anchor and some chain.
I'll bet I've saved $20,000.00 compared to what it would cost me in a nice marina and shopping at West Marine. I proudly patrol the trash cans.
Find one close to a used chandlery and a hardware store too.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard, Skip.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Welcome Aboard Cruisers Forum Skip

[misty]

Wow, thanks for the info. I also am a dumpster diver and am in love with the idea of ssb for 500 bucks. I have an antenna on the back split stay of the main. I have all new running rigging and dock lines. Misty was a liveaboard for 20 years in the US VI's.
They stripped her of her wx fax, ssb, auto pilot, and the like. Thanks again.

[zeehag]

welcome to cf.
have you considered western fla? is nice there and has some great places for cheap still......look harder fro ssb unit--can be found for less than 500 dollars...
consider foot pump water--is able to be used even when electricity is in conservation mode....i use solar showers for my hot water..... goood luck and have fun!
texas also has cheap slippage....

[misty]

Thanks to all for the welcome. I feel like a member of the board now. Ya'll are so gracious. Change in plans. I am now going to Turner Marina in Mobile,
Alabama as the cost of docking and lifts are half of that in south Fla. I am going to take the advice of Zeehag and going to install hand and foot pumps for water. I will try the solar shower. Do you do that on deck or how does that work??? They pretty well stripped Misty out of electronics and aminities so I have to figure out how to reinstall these items. I know that I will find help here. thanks all.
Skip

[zeehag]

i heat the water in solar shpowers on deck and as i am bashful i carry em into my6 shower room and shower there. if i were all by myself in the world i would shower on deck as i am lazy.....

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here.
Over the last 40 years other boaters who were moving on to different areas or leaving the boating community have been very generous and passed things on to me which I've incorporated into my boat or passed on to other boaters. I've been lucky.
I know I tried posting this before but for your shower situation you can build your own solar heater above the head and have hot water for your shower just by letting it drain down on you. You'll be finding a lot of sunshine down there in Florida so it would be ideal.
kind regards,

[READY2GO]

Oh, come on Zee don't be shy.

[imagine2frolic]

Why do you need a boat yard to install your desired items? They can be done on the hook, or in the marina. There are numerous inexpensive places near, and around Jax Fl. if you want to do it farther south......i2f

[zeehag]

exactly as i2f sed... for real..many things can be done in water and save a world of hurt financially.
i dont know east fla, but i do know a bunch of west coast of fla....

[callmecrazy]

Florida has the most expensive marina rates you'll find on the East Coast. Gulf coast is not much better... Things cheaper when you head west or north. Texas has the cheapest rates with North Caroline coming in second and Virginia 3rd.

But there's always exceptions, find a good deal and go for it.I've heard Indiantown Florida is a good DIY yard, but they are not cheap. I lived on the hard and worked on my boat in MD for less than $200 a month, no complaints from the yard. There's yards in NC that are more like $100 a month... The East Coast kinda sucks though, depending on who you ask Florida is Florida, closest thing to Tropical the US has to offer... Might be worth the price. You can get a good Yard around Gulfport Mississippi, but there's not much else around (no jobs). Or go all the way to Texas and have both a decent sized city and excellent marina/yard rates. South Louisianna would be good if you don't need to find a job, they have plenty of working yards for the fishing fleets and the best food you'll ever eat

[zeehag]

it all depends on where you want to be-- there are deals and cheap places to be used, but ye have to know where they are and how to get into them. they are kind of away from populated areas.

[imagine2frolic]

& the cost of money & time to get from Fl. to Texas? It all adds up pretty quickly. The yard might be cheaper, but getting there may break you......i2f