Any input regarding the Texas-Gulf area? Padre? Anything,....
Seems like a great winter snowbird drop down south from LOTO.

Curious...,

Thanks

There is a Nice jail in Port Isabel lol. Better learn Spanish

Thanks "Quin" for the advice, 1st impressions are lasting. I've been doing a little research, seems like the most southern shorelines of Texas appears pretty industrial, too bad... easy drop down south.

Heading out to Havasu / Bullhead / Vegas to explore more over the holiday break, I'll try to get on the river above Havasu for the 1st time and try to see Lake Mohave too.

Being based in MO it seems like Havasu (if the Colorado river doesn't dry up) or Florida Keys (if they don't sink from glacier melting) are good contenders for a power boating snowbird's winter roost.

-PS Gotta love them Wellcrafts. I still got my first boat an old 83', Great Hull.

True on the best year-round temps and the great weather. But unfortunately, the 50th state is very unfriendly to powerboating. Marinas are few, skilled mechanics are tough to find and the water is big and unpredictable. I love having my Sunsation on Oahu and there are days when the water is amazing, but it is the only newer performance boat on the island. Retirement for a boater in Hawaii is likely best for a sailboater keeping his boat in a slip.

Well, it worked out pretty well. The local Neuse River boating is good, with several places to go/hang out including both restaurant/bars and sand bars. It's a 45-minute run to Beaufort/Morehead City and open ocean water, the local fishing/crabbing is great, and more and more businesses are moving into the area. Lots of growth here - we even have a WalMart SuperCenter 10 minutes away - LOL! Love this area - Arapahoe/New Bern, NC.

Oh - The summers are not too bad here; a little warmer and more humid than PA, but not bad at all. The winters? Well - we haven't winterized yet...

Michgan and havasu

I like Eastern Washington, although summers get hot, (100), its not that bad. Winters are mild, mostly 40ish, you could boat in ski jacket bundled up. You have the Columbia River, since two dams, its like a lake. You also have lake Chelan. Seattle is an easy 2hr drive. Decent restaurants and shopping. No state income tax, property tax is reasonable. Energy costs insanely cheap, lowest rates in the U.S. (Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, Chelan County PUD moved to a flat residential rate for electricity of just 2.7 cents per kilowatt hour.) Real estate is also reasonable, 5bedroom 6,000sqft. house on 4acres with a pool under $800K in the best neighborhood around. Doesn't rain as much as the rest of WA. Arid desert climate, kind of like Palm Springs.

We love south Fla. too, rented a beautiful big home in south Cape Coral last winter close to the 2 big marinas, very nice and quiet there and close to the water, you can walk for miles, bicycle everywhere, go to the marina's and eat, drink, etc. boat right up to them, or boat over to Ft. Myers Beach, and, it's warm there in Jan.and Feb.

We are heading out on Sat and as well as the New Years fun run, got to love FL!

Boating Areas to Retire (Winter)
 

Over the Christmas / New Years break we were able to visit the Colorado River area between Lake Mead down to Parker, AZ. As fate would have it, the area experienced snow for the first time in a while: :crazy: None the less, I found Bullhead City to be interesting. Four wheeling in the desert was a major plus!! Seems you can run the river down to Havasu or put in at Lake Mohave. Lake Mohave looks great. I've boated Havasu a couple years ago over Christmas / New Years. I didn't feel comfortable trying to make it North, up the river. Is the river typically high enough for easy passage from Havasu up North? Any input on Lake Mohave -vs- Havasu? Anything worth trying below Havasu?

During the snow bird months (Jan-March) does it actually get warm enough to cruise the waters? (Think windshield). I've still got plenty of time before pulling the plug on the day gig thing so more exploration / comparison of S. Florida (keys) is on the list.

Happy New year!!

comparing the west coast of Florida Gulf to the Texas side of the Gulf - IMO 100 % I would take the Florida side 10 out of 10 times. Been boating in both areas in my day anyways just MO.

If I had one choice only and could afford it , I would pick the Florida Keys. Again just MO.

For just summer boating only . If I had a couple choices inland lakes ONLY - I would pick Lake Powell, LOTO, Tahoe, New York has some good lakes but with inland lakes boating season can be very short depending where as we all know. Our season in Dallas is very short as well - would be lucky to get 5 very full months of boating here anymore. It sucks and no performance stuff here anymore. It really bores me currently.

Below havasu big bend area to imperial res. Mostly smaller boats (haven't been there in a few years) flatbottoms and squirt-boats. Home of the dat cruisers. Not much winter activity as i remember. Powell is bueatiful in summer a little chilly in winter for me. Also might consider the sacramento river delta, lotsa water 5 major rivers convirge into sf bays to ocean. Pleanty of boating and variety of boating.
If you are considering inland how about st. Johns river, fl. Exits to atlantic in j'ville. Lot of diversity there also. Sure liked going from fresh to salt then back to fresh to clean engines.
Good luck on your search. Hope this helps
ps don't forget the bahamas!!

You really don't know Havasu. You also have the river, about 60 miles to Laughlin and plenty of places to eat and drink. Yeah it's not the Gulf and doesn't pretend to be. Why do people slam things that don't know what they are talking about.

:hitfan::cool-smiley-011:

I've considered the Lake Havasu area but after boating on the Great Lakes for so long it will seem really small. I don't want to boat on salt water so I guess I will stay in Michigan and boat from April to October!

Cut him a little slack... a few years in Cape Coral has ruint him.

Yeah the snow was different, first time in 27 years, but the week after New Years it was back in the mid 70's. I never have a problem running up river from Havasu no matter the Lake elevation, you can go up from the Havasu side on plane or go up the Calif. side thru the no wake.Havasu is about 25 miles long with another 60 or so up the river. I like Mohave also but tends to get more wind then Havasu. Then there is Powell which takes me about 6 hours towing the boat. We are out on the water year round here in Havasu. Actually I should be out there today.

Sorry. Oh by the way Love Your Pics!

We stopped by to check out Havasu on our way home from a coast to coast boat delivery. Loved the area. It was a Friday before TGiving and boats were everywhere on trailers at shops and in the street. I supose getting ready for the weekend? We ate at Martini Bay by the London Bridge and loved it. Kokomos looks like a party spot but closed.
Everything on the river walk was closed. What is the season? Only saw 2 boats on the water.

We really loved the place and the area around it. Offroading, which we also like, is everywhere. Just south of town we visited a community of motorhome who just park there in the desert for free and ride miles into the mountains.
I liked it...

check out glamis, ca (150 miles) and ocotillo wells, ca (an additional 75 miles) from havasu city. If you like sand these are your places. Loved these places.
Disclaimer: Been severial years.

Have two waterfront places if your able to. One on the St. Johns River in Florida that you wouldn't need to worry about maintaining it. Seeing that it would most likely be used from October till May. The Other would have it be in Minnesota up on the Whitefish Chain in Crosslake, MN. I've heard good things about the Whitefish Chain. Big lakes that you can run a performance boat on. I would imagine May to October for that place. Having a yard wouldn't be a problem seeing that you would be there during the summertime to be able to maintain it.

Just think you can use your boat year round. This is my personal preference. Hopefully this might help you.

It depends on what you want our of retirement.

I'm convinced that there are few places on the planet more beautiful, or that offer more diversions than the Traverse City/Boyne/Charlevoix area of northern lower MI.

Lake Mi, the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and the North Channel up into Canada and that's without talking about all the inland lakes. Torch is routinely rated in the top 10 most beautiful lakes in the world.

Got a big boat? Run across the pond and visit Chicago or Green Bay; or go north to Mackinac Island - just watch the weather but you're retired so you're not on a schedule.

The Hospital is second to none, I think because the people who are there really want to be there.

Casinos, winerys, you name it and it can be found (unless you're into horse racing - our previous Gov single handedly killed that in the state)

Visit the area in the summer, fall and again in the winter. Michiganders love to ***** about the weather, but few of us leave. If you're retired leave for a few weeks in Jan & Feb…March is time to get the boats ready for the season anyway.

Boating is usually May - Sept or April to Oct if you're hardcore and lucky. However, I like to boat when it's warm and when it's too cold to boat here, it's usually close to being too cold to boat anywhere else unless you're in S. Fla or the west coast. But I've boated a (very) little in Fla and I'm not wild about salt water, dealing with manatee zones, and the thought of hitting a gator while trimmed out I would think would ruin your day :)

Don't get me wrong FLA is very cool and I love to visit but can't imagine living there year round. The best of both worlds - to me -would be Traverse City and S. Fla somewhere for Jan & Feb.

Also, call me a sissy but we don't have hurricanes, fire ants, not many snakes or spiders, and you can walk barefoot on our grass.

Before you pull the trigger visit most of the areas suggested. I'll bet almost everyone on here would give you the tour of the areas they've mentioned but if you're going to tour all the boating Mi has to offer you'll be here a while.

cheers

NOT Colorado. Beautiful state but no water. Any lakes of any size are at 5,000+ ft......kinda of a performance killer and cold. Did I mention the winters are cold? Cost of living not as bad as New York or California, but still up there. Skiing great, 4wheeling great, fishing ok, lots to do just not good boating.

Florida here we come!!!

I just re-read your original post.

If you're after a good glass of wine, there are 2 peninsulas that go north of TC; the Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula. There are 25 wineries on the Leelanau and 8 wineries on Old Mission. My wife held a gun to my head a couple years ago and we did the wine tasting trip - in February - I thought she was nuts - February? Traverse City ? Wine Tasting ? Man I hate it when she's right (which is frequently) but it was one of the most fun trips we've ever done. The people at the wineries treated us like royalty because we were one of the few people up there getting smashed - sorry tasting - during the off season. I'll never go when it's crowded again.

There isn't a VA hospital in TC but there is a "Vet Center" and a "Community based outpatient clinic". The VA medical Centers are all in southern and/or eastern lower MI. (there is one in the U.P but that might as well be on another planet)

Traverse City also has distilleries, and there are almost as many beer micro-breweries in the state as we have inland lakes.

Thank you for your service.

Good luck with your search.