Where is your favorite place to boat and why?

[Denis]

The weather outside is very cold and all I can do is think and dream about boating and the upcoming season. I thought this would be an interesting question for the members and it might give others a new destination to try.
We actually have two favorite places to boat. The first is Napatree beach in Rhode Island. There is a narrow channel leading into Napatree and once there you have a very nice anchorage that is pretty well protected from just about everything. On a busy weekend there may be several hundred boats anchored there but there is plenty of room. Dingy over to the beach and walk over the sand dune and you are on one of the most beautiful beaches you can find. It is pretty much open ocean on that beach so you get plenty of waves you can ride or board on. A short half mile walk in either direction gives you something to do. In a westerly direction you can walk to an abandoned WWII bunker that you can still get into. In an easterly direction you can head into the small town at Watch Hill where you can grab a bite to eat, have a drink or ride a merry-go-round. Either way it is a treat for your senses and you can head back to your boat and watch the sun-set. All of this is available without anybody reaching into your pocket for some sort of fee, no police, no guards, nobody bothers you. What a wonderful feeling.
Our second favorite place to boat is Block Island RI. Block is a short one hour ride from our dock and once there you have several choices. You can head into the great salt pond to pick up a mooring, anchor in the anchorage or head into one of three marinas for a slip. Each marina has it's own personality, one is a party dock, one is a fishing dock and the other is a blend. Or you can head around to the east side of the island and go into Old Harbor to pull up on the beach or dock at the bulkhead. You are very close to the center of town from this vantage, a short walt to shops, restaurants, bars movies etc. Bring your bike or rent a bike or scooter and check out the island. You can find everything from a busy beach loaded with people swiming and playing games on the sand to a deserted beach for just the two of you or your family. I have one of my fondest memories when my son was twelve, we rode our bikes to the west side of the island. We found a narrow dirt path and followed it to a bluff everlooking the atlantic ocean. We dropped our bikes and climbed down the bluff to the beach below. It was covered with large bolders but we found a patch of sand to put our blankets on. We sat there, just the two of us, not another person in sight and we talked, while in the background the three to four foot waves crashed onto the beach. Out over the ocean two military jets were doing some sort of manuvers that we watched. That could very well be the best three or four hours I have ever experienced in my life. I can never get that time back, we enjoyed a lunch we brought, we enjoyed natures beauty and we talked about things fathers and sons should talk about at least once in their lives. I have a memory that will last me my lifetime. Thanks to Block Island.
Those two places are our favorites, what are your favorite places to boat?
Denis

[Veebyes2]

I live in a boaters paradise. Few places are more than an hour away, at displacement speed. There are only a couple weekends a year when even the busiest anchorages are crowded. Even then there are good places to go if you want to be alone. We do not have 'destinations' i.e. places with marinas & restaurants. For us all boating is self contained.

Pics say alot more than words. The horseshoe shaped cove is part of what was once a NASA tracking facility. Everyboater who flies in or out sees it but very few ever go there. You need to know your way around skinny water to get in.



Any place you can put a couple of Albins together is a good place



Anyplace you are in the middle of riends is agood place also

[bnoft]

While I have not traveled there by boat, I have been around veebyes "home" in a boat and it is paradise. There must be someplace as beautiful but nothing could be more so. It snowed here today, OK, to you guys in the NE it was a flurry, but single digits at night and below freezing during the day make me envious of veebyes.

[TonyAmalfitano]

This is the third time I looked at this thread. The same thing happened each time. I just shook my head and said I did something wrong.
Here I am freezing my ass off in New Jersey, while VeeByes is toasty warm down in the Islands. I'm getting sick

Anyway, when it's warm, I boat Barnegat Bay. Lots of places to drop the hook for what ever. The beach is a short walk from some spots.
There is a bunch of restaurants with dock space, some with transient slips.
There was once a house boat that was a sea borne store, it's not around any more. The pumpout boat hits the hot anchor spots, it's a free service, we tip Capt Jack a ten, I bet he makes good money in tips.
Atlantic City is a 4 hour run, Cape May is 4 more.
Boy, could I go for a BBQ on the hook, pop a few taps, kick back and be warm.
BUT!! The BEST is fighting the Green Heads once we round Good Luck Point!! Damn, do I miss it!!

[powerboater56]

Although I am limited to day-boating in my Mako, I feel that my home waters of Narragansett Bay offer superb boating.

There are endless boats to see in Newport -- everything from baggy-wrinkled rusting singlehander sailboats to gleaming megayachts that throng the harbor all summer. There are many smaller, quieter harbors in Narragansett Bay -- Wickford, Bristol, Jamestown -- and many quiet coves for anchoring out like Mackeral Cove in Jamestown and others on Prudence Island.

You can go to cities like Providence and Fall River, or out into the ocean with easy trips to Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and other great places.

Narrangansett Bay always has interesting events all summer long -- Tall Ships regattas usually stop here, the world's best racing sailboat fleets assemble for major race weeks, and I always watch the start of the Bermuda Race and other noted races. There are antique yacht parades often, and 12-meter sailboats are out in the bay almost daily all summer.

On peak summer weekends the Bay is jumping with hundreds of boats of all kinds, but during the week in summer the Bay can seem deserted even on glorious sunny days. There is usually a nice breeze that builds during te day, and very few mosquitos, greenhead flies and other pests, at least during daylight hours.

My only complaint is how short the season is. The winters can seem endless.

John S.

[Veebyes2]

Before you all get too envyous this is where I am sitting right now & this is where I'll be to almost mid June.



It is better than being covered up in a boatyard & is only couple minutes walk from the house.

[johnmurray]

My favorite boating spot is the Rideau waterway that winds through the rural Ontario countryside from Kingston to Ottawa, Canada's capital. The route is about 120 miles long and there are 46 locks that are beautifully maintained by the federal government as national historic parks. While there are plenty of facilities for boaters along the way, the route is very un-commercialized and it is easy to enjoy the lake and river scenery as it was 200 years ago.
While it is possible to do the trip (one way) in three days, four or five days offers a more casual pace. The beautifully landscaped Ottawa part of the canal passes through the very heart of a city of 1.2 million people, but it is possible for a transient boater to tie up within sight of the Parliament Buildings or many other locations of interest to visitors.
At Ottawa you can descend the eight-flight Ottawa locks to the Ottawa River and then continue down the river to Montreal or back to Lake Ontario via the St. Lawrence River.
The canal is open roughly from mid-May to mid-October...usually traffic is free flowing, but there can be waits at lock stations on peak summer weekends. All lockstations have overnight transient docking facilities with washrooms and many (but not all) have shore power.

[apage]

Well:

You guys stole my fire. Bar none, my two favorite boating destinations (really destinations in general) are BI and Bermuda. In fact, they are similar in a great many ways (look at a map). In BI, sometimes you'll even see the bumper sticker BI, Bermuda of the North.

There is nothing that I enjoy more than walking around the flats in BI with my five year old daughter turning over rocks for hermit crabs or raking for clams. In Bermuda, I've had the chance to cruise and fish as well. We found a nice secluded beach that my daughter aptly named after herself and cousin.

The enjoyment that I get from boating is magnified when I have my family with me. I used to cruise (in the summer) with a very generous family when I was a kid. In the winter, I skiied with them. The name of their boat was Summer Shush. The dad took me aside one time and said, "Two of the very best family sports around are boating and skiing". I have never forgotten that.

My goal in life is to cruise extensively with family. In the winter, as Denis succinctly pointed out, is a time when I think back about those times on the water and how all the expense and time and elbow grease of having a boat is well worth it for having a fleeting memory of time spent with family on the water.

I will look for all of you on the water and hope that we can plan a nice weekend to my favorite stateside boating destination.

Great topic for posting.

Cheers,

AP
Albin Marine

[chiefrcd]

I too have looked at this thread several times and honestly it's pretty hard to pin point just one place for me. I think more than a "place" its the fact that I'm boating that I love so much. I just took a 28 degree, snowy fishing trip off Va Beach last Thursday and I simply loved being on the water and I've spent numerous days sailing around the BVI's with that same feeling. So for me....just get me to the water and I'm a happy camper

[tomcat rio]

a lot of cool day trip destinations. several restaurants with transient docks for lunch/diner. fun to watch greenport firworks from the water on the fourth. nice anchorage on the north end of robins island. sunday morning, new york times and junk food..


http://www.boatli.org/ports.nf.htm

[bnoft]

My boat is also on the hard, but in contrast to the scenery around veebyes boat, I don't see anything green!

[jcollins]

Like Chief and others I have had to think long and hard about a favorite place. I am fortunate to live in "the land of pleasant living" The Chesapeake is my favorite place. I have not cruised the whole bay. Although I want to, it may be years before I do.
From Harve De Grace, MD. to Norfok, VA is about 200 miles. There are literally thousands of miles of creeks, rivers, tributaries, etc. to explore.
If your into tranqulity the Eastern shore is the place to be. If you want nightlife, restaurants, etc., then head to the Western shore. Both shores offer a little of each. I don't have to go far to enjoy the beauty of where I live. 1/2 mile on my own creek will find me tied up with friends.
Yes, I am envious of the beauty of Bermuda and Block Island. But, my own backyard is the place to be!
Whether your in the cold northeast or mild northwest or Bermuda. Family and friends make this expensive way of life worth it.