Looking for Docking Facilities

Escaper · 01-11-2009, 02:50 PM

I will be looking for a place to dock year round ( 65' McKinna ) in a protected Marina, Yacht Club etc. I have been told close to Fort Lauderdale is the place to be?
I would like to be close to the Intercoastal waterway.
My wife and I will be on board October through April and expect family and friends over this period.
We like to golf, enjoy visiting different waterfront restaurants and good company for social events.
We are going to be new to these area's and lifestyle, would appreciate advice you could give us.

Gary & Darlene Trudell
Calgary, Alberta

CaptTom · 01-11-2009, 03:11 PM

Escaper,
Welcome aboard.
Ft Lauderdale is a good spot, as it's easy to get to Miami, the Keys, Bahamas, and Palm Beach from there. Easy cruising on the ICW; plenty of marinas, restaurants and places to drop anchor. The inlet, Port Everglades, is deep and wide for you to head to the ocean. Depending on your budget, there are a number of marinas. Close to the inlet (Pier 66 and across the way), up the New River (which then will take time to get to the inlet as the river is mainly slow speed), Bahia Mar, Sunrise Harbor, etc (not far from the inlet and scenic for guests). Plenty of smaller docks, also if you have a condo down here on the water, they may have a spot for you.
McKinna builds a nice boat. What year is it and type of power?
You'll find many friendly and helpful folks on the forum. Also use the SEARCH function to find more info.
Best of luck.

Escaper · 01-11-2009, 03:44 PM

Thank you for your response,

This is all new to us at this level of boating, we can use all the help we can get.

It does sound like the Fort Lauderdale area is where to be. We will try and find some modestly priced facilities and then fly down and look around.
This is a rather big move for us going from a 36' to a 65' and we naturally have our concerns.
The boat is a 2000 65' McKinna Motoryacht with twin 800hp Caterpillar 3406E electronic Diesel engines.

We are looking forward to meeting new people and having some new great friends.

Thanks Again

NYCAP123 · 01-11-2009, 04:32 PM

Escaper,
The first thing you need to be aware of is that for that boat the entire inland waterway system will be an idle speed zone. You will also be dealing with several bridges that open on schedules. This is no big deal if you're going out for a day cruise, but if you want to run up to Palm, over to the Bahamas or down to Miami and the Keys you'll want to be near an inlet so you can make the ocean or you may add an hour or so to the start & end of each cruise. Up the New River is more a place to get repairs or store the boat. If you plan to spend time aboard or cruise I'd recommend being close to the ICW. Ft. Lauderdale has some top notch marinas, but they can be pricey. You might want to look up towards Lighthouse Point where you'll be at Hillsborough Inlet or put the boat behind a house or condo. Personally, I'm not a lover of buying a slip unless you've spent several years there and know you'll be staying for a long time more as resale is not good from what I've seen. You're bound to be directed that way though. Consider that with an eye toward one day walking away. I'd recommend picking up a cruising guide for the area which will give you details of all the marinas. Probably the top marinas in the area would be Pier 66, Bahia Mar, Swimming Hall of Fame and the Coral Ridge YC. There is also a (relatively) new town marina at Las Olas Blvd. You might also want to have some local publications sent to you for classifieds if you'd like to stay behind a house or condo. (Does anybody know if the New River Times is still printed?) Otherwise you'll probably find ads in the Sun Sentinal.

CaptTom · 01-11-2009, 04:58 PM

Hey NYCap,
Happy New Year.
You're right about docking behind homes. The Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post should have some ads for locations all over.
Also, Gary, if you purchased the boat from a dealer up by you, see if they have any doings with any dealers down here. Many times dealers and brokers have the "in" on backyard docks. Tucker (a broker) may want to chime in on this.

Pascal · 01-11-2009, 07:09 PM

as NYCAP mentioned, around FTL you have to deal with bridges and no wake zones... also, restaurant hoping isn't always practical with a 50/60+ boat especially on week ends... good luck finding space.

personally, i dont' see what the appeal is up there, once you're ve been up and down the ICW a few times, the only other place to go is in the ocean...

you may want to take a look at Miami... we have Biscayne Bay which is terrific cruising ground with many nice anchorages all within 10 to 15 miles. You're also closer to the keys...

and the water is blue / green... not ICW brown! :-)

renting dock space behing home is a good alternative for storage but many owners do not allow you to stay on the boat... it depends... if you go that way, make sure the owner is ok with it.

Marmot · 01-11-2009, 08:37 PM

Was kayaking on the New River today from above Sailboat Bend to the ICW and saw lots of moorage for rent signs above Riverwalk.

Capt J · 01-11-2009, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Escaper

I will be looking for a place to dock year round ( 65' McKinna ) in a protected Marina, Yacht Club etc. I have been told close to Fort Lauderdale is the place to be?
I would like to be close to the Intercoastal waterway.
My wife and I will be on board October through April and expect family and friends over this period.
We like to golf, enjoy visiting different waterfront restaurants and good company for social events.
We are going to be new to these area's and lifestyle, would appreciate advice you could give us.

Gary & Darlene Trudell
Calgary, Alberta

Actually, if you're looking for golfing in addition to restaurants and stuff, The Boca Raton Hotel and Resort marina would be ideal. It has a beautiful golf course, hotel, restaurants, a ferry to take you to the beach, pools, and is a 5 star facility. With Bahia Mar and Pier 66 and the other marina's in Fort Lauderdale, there is no golfing near by. It would be a 20 minute car ride away.

I ran a 65' McKinna, what is the name of the boat you're buying? I believe the one I ran a few times was a 2001. It was stable, very roomy, and most everything was easily accessible.

NYCAP123 · 01-11-2009, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt J

Actually, if you're looking for golfing in addition to restaurants and stuff, The Boca Raton Hotel and Resort marina would be ideal. It has a beautiful golf course, hotel, restaurants, a ferry to take you to the beach, pools, and is a 5 star facility. With Bahia Mar and Pier 66 and the other marina's in Fort Lauderdale, there is no golfing near by. It would be a 20 minute car ride away.

The Boca Hotel truely is 1st rate, but dockage is very limited there and that inlet can be difficult. Escaper recently moved way up in size and they're not familiar with those waters. There also are not as many places (restaurants, etc.)to boat to up that way. Of course, I'm not a golfer though zzzzzzzz.

Capt J · 01-11-2009, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYCAP123

The Boca Hotel truely is 1st rate, but dockage is very limited there and that inlet can be difficult. Escaper recently moved way up in size and they're not familiar with those waters. There also are not as many places (restaurants, etc.)to boat to up that way. Of course, I'm not a golfer though zzzzzzzz.

Well, you've got the cove restaurant 2 miles south and Houston's restaurant about 5 miles south in Pompano. Both restaurants are within an hour or hour and a half away at idle speed.

Hillsboro inlet is what I would recommend going out of and would avoid Boca Inlet in a vessel that size. Regardless, Hillsboro Inlet is 45 minutes away.

NYCAP123 · 01-11-2009, 09:54 PM

Back in November I came down from Palm to Dania on the inside with a 50. Thought I'd lose my mind, especially when I realized that I'd miss the 14th St bridge by just a couple minutes.

Capt J · 01-11-2009, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYCAP123

Back in November I came down from Palm to Dania on the inside with a 50. Thought I'd lose my mind, especially when I realized that I'd miss the 14th St bridge by just a couple minutes.

Yeah miss one bridge and it's a major pain, but they're all on schedules. I remember I missed that stupid barge/pontoon bridge on the inside in NC, I think near Southport by 2 minutes and it only opens once every hour that seemed like an eternity. It all depends on how you look at things I guess, travelling it's frustrating but if you're just out on the boat for a day with friends, whats the rush...there's plenty of bikini's and houses to look at........... ohhh and the bridges from Great Bridge,VA north on the ICW open only on the hour now and are like 2 miles apart usually......

The thing is, the only restaurant you can get that 65' Mckinna into in Fort Lauderdale is Shooter's/charley's crab and that's 45 minutes from Bahia Mar or Pier 66. There really isn't another place for dinner that could accomodate it......or Houston's in Pompano, or the Cove in Deerfield..... we don't have the magnitude of restaurants on the water that are accessible to a yacht that size that we used to here in Fort Lauderdale......Ohh and you have Blue Moon at Commercial blvd in fort lauderdale......

NYCAP123 · 01-12-2009, 06:24 AM

Now let's give that pontoon bridge a break here. I believe the guy that operates it has been there since before cars. It will probably go when he does. Truthfully though I avoid the section of the ICW south of Southport like the plague. With a boat of any size it's 2 hrs. at 4 kts. from Cape Fear to that bridge and an hours wait if you miss it. BTW, the key for the Norfolk area is don't bother trying to rush. 6 to 8 kts. will time out about right.
There are actually a few more places accessable in the Lauderdale area that can be gotten into (with a good tip) or where your captain can drop you off at, plus places to go in your dink (125 miles of waterways). Additionally, you've got Dania all the way to north Miami and Bayside within range on the ICW. The run from Boca down to Lauderdale is also (no offense intented) boring.
Of course everyting is subjective. Before I moved there I flew into Orlando and then drove down the coast until I found the place that felt right for me. Not a bad way to do it.

CaptTom · 01-12-2009, 07:03 AM

Don't forget, this guy has a 65-footer. He can run out Port Everglades and pull into Government Cut in Miami in one hour, or head north and pull into Palm Beach Inlet in about 1 1/2 hours, plenty of time to go to the Sailfish Marina for brunch and be back well before dark. Weekend trip to St Augustine or points in between. You get the idea. Sure the bridges are a pain, but know the schedule and you can work them pretty well (used to do that when I assisted on a dinner cruise boat).

Pascal · 01-12-2009, 07:06 AM

and the Sunset Beach Pontoon bridge gets stuck in the mud at low tide.... if you miss an opening as the tide goes out, you may have to wait 2 or 3 hours for the tide to come up because it doens' open at low tide! When i passed thru in nov. I noticed the construction of the new bridge is underway... there is hope!

Bridges in South Florida are usually well synch'd and if you keep the list by the helm, you can quickly figure out how fast you need to go to make the next one, it's always well under hull speed.

it is indeed a little boring after a few times around FTL, that's why i dont' see the attraction.