The boaters & prices in TX -LA can't be beat. They haven't outlawed anchoring or living aboard like the state & local governments in FL have. Here in FL, they would prefer you just sent them your money & stayed away. It is amazing!
The problems are not any of those things you mentioned (bugs, gators, snakes etc). We have most, if not more of them in FL too. The problems are the nasty muddy water, the climate (except extreme south TX) & all the industries that use the waterways as their personal sewers. Nothing like the smell of an oil refinery, first thing in the morning. Of course to many, it smells like money. A lot of the area is shallow & you certainly can't see the bottom... but there are many channels & they are kept dredged due to the heavy commercial traffic & the lax environmental rules/enforcement. Another case of taking the bitter with the sweet. A lot has changed in the middle gulf coast after Katrina & in Texas due to growth in popularity, coastal population & of course real estate prices. I had the good fortune of living on my boat almost 20 years in TX & spending a lot of time in FL (my parents lived here). There was NO comparison between boaters and/or facilities generally found in TX vs FL at any point in that time span, tho you could still find some pockets of really great people on the water in fl... if you knew where to look. When moving from TX to FL (7 years ago) there were still many places along the way with free transient dockage. You knew the moment you reached FL waters. It was like hitting a brick wall. Attitudes changed & prices sky-rocketed. Port Lavaca was really cheap back then. No liveaboard fee & the marina had a great workshop you were free to use. They had free newspapers, doughnuts & coffee in the office. Unfortunately you couldn't find work or eat a fish caught in local waters (Lavaca Bay), as it was a "superfund" site, thanks to an Alcoa plant, as I recall. Has that designation been lifted? Up in the Clear Lake area, where there are something like 7000 wet slips, they are immediately downstream from the Brio superfund site. They had to ban swimming & fishing on Clear Creek at the newly built "Challenger 7" waterfront park due to the toxicity of the water! Hey.... Delcambre is supposed to be a secret! Years ago, the guy at the fuel dock had a visiting yacht log, he was given as a gift by earlier sailors. He was really proud of it. I think we were the 8th visitor to sign it! When I asked what he charged to tie up for the night, he almost fell on the ground laughing. He couldn't imagine anyone charging for that. You didn't have to tell anyone you were there. They all knew (are you on that little sailboat from TX?) & treated us with both curiosity & a whole lot of southern hospitality. The TX-LA tug boats captains, as a group, are extremely knowledgeable & a lot more pleasant to deal with (if you have the right attitude) than almost anyone you'll find on the water. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Morel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 7:20 AM Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Florida.... Texas! > At 11:44 PM 12/6/2008, Ron Rogers wrote: >>Rick, >> >>For reference purposes, those fees are cheap - very cheap. $30 a head >>Liveaboard fee is also very low unless there are a mess of kids aboard. >> >>Ron Rogers > > True, but that's what were used to on this side of the gulf :-) > > Let's see if I can remember on some of the fees. > > The "expensive" Port Isabel ones were $435 a month, probably plus > electricity. Based on our 49' LOA. > > The one we settled on was at Port Lavaca. $3 a foot, based on slip > size. $4 a foot extra if you stick out of the slip. So $150 for us in > a 50 foot slip, plus $15 electricity and the $30 a head liveaboard. > > Corpus Christi Municipal Marina. $4 to $5.25 a foot, depending on > which dock, $50 "utility recovery fee" over 40', $28 under, metered > electricity and $75 liveaboard. Liveaboard not allowed on under 30'. > > In Louisiana: > > Near New Orleans at Slidell, North side of the lake, one was $5 a ft > LOA plus $75 liveaboard fee. Another I think was $6 a foot plus I > think the same liveaboard. The others were all full up with a waiting > list. > > Our slip at the Port of Iberia was a one year lease at $900 a year, > now up to $1,000 a year. They have meters for electricity and water > and you get it turned on. Our "utilities" ran $50 to $75 a month. No > liveaboard with the new rules. > > At Intracoastal City, $100 a month including water. $10 for limited > 15A electricity or put your own pole and meter in if running AC, etc. > No extra fee for liveaboard. Over about 4 1/2' draft you have to wait > for a South wind or be able to push through mud. > > Another one there, at a shrimp plant. Dockside only, no electricity > and haul your water from a faucet. $60 a month. > > Delcambre public dock. Free dockside, just tell the city you're > there. No electricity and a faucet for water at the start of the "L" > dock. Note that a shrimp boat may raft up to you if it's crowded. > > Rick > > _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
