Texas Gulf Coast, Anyone?

My wife and I are moving to San Antonio and moving our 330 from Texoma to the gulf, propably in the Corpus area. I’m curious to the responses of this thread too. She is moving this weekend to take a new job and I will be staying in the DFW area until my youngest son finishes High School this year then I’ll be joining her. So, we have a year to find a place to put the boat. We are going to purchase a home on the gulf somewhere, I’d like it to have a dock so I can just walk out back and hop in.

Matt
 
I'm subscribed. I very curious what the boating life is like on the coast. Always wanted to be on the ocean and the Texas coast would be the closest, most cost effective place to be. Where do you go? Can you drop anchor near a beach. I'd imagine you'd need to be on the ICW to do that or you'd be rocking and rolling in the surf.
 
Port O'Connor and port lavaca.... we have a boat slip in port lavaca...very cheap rent! 137 mth. Comes with use of club house facilities.
 
We live in South Houston and have our boat At South Shore Harbor Marina.Its a nice marina. Good luck on your move.
 
I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd give an update. I now live on Padre Island, in the canals. My home is on a point so I have unrestricted views of sunsets and the ICW. We love it!

As we looked for homes, my realtor's husband, who is a fishing guide down here, gave us advise, from his standpoint, of where to be on the canals. He asked about my boat and I told him. It drafts over 3 ft, twins, etc. he just couldn't understand why I would even have such a boat! "It's too big" he said, "I'll never use it", etc. I thanked him for his thoughts and told him not only was I NOT going get rid of her, but I needed a dock big enough to tie her up to. All this has come to pass.

I boat every weekend. Sometimes it's just to cruise around the canals (all deep enough for my boat, BYW) sometimes to Rockport (a local destination for food, music, walking downtown, etc) via the ICW, sometimes out to the gulf.

It is tricky out there in the ICW as well as the canals. I've learned to keep her in the middle. When encountering a barge that frequents the ICW, I radio to them and explain I'm gonna be a little close when we pass.

I have found some skinny water in the ICW, usually close to where the markers are, but should not be. That uncomfortable sound you know you're turning sand.... even though my depth gauge says otherwise!

To combat this, I'm ordering many local detailed charts. I am also looking at purchasing a new plotter sonar combo. Garmin and Simrad really have my eye right now. Granted, these will have limitations, due to water depth and speed, but it will show changes in the ICW that are not always on charts. Honestly though, it's a learning curve. Slow down, be careful and talk to barge pilots, they KNOW the ICW.

The first time I went offshore, it was exhilarating! I was leaving out a narrow cut called Packery Channel. I'd taken my SeaDoos out there before, so it wasn't completely foreign to me, but it's different in my 330. I had a couple more "oops" and really got a lot of water come over the bow, but she powered through beautifully and now she and I are regulars out there.

Once you clear the breakers, it's easy peasy. But you have to respect the sea and what the conditions are. Windy days with 4-5's are no place for me. My boat will do it, but it is pounding and not any fun, so what's the point? Not to this newbie!

All said, I love our life here on the island. My home is more than I ever dreamed of. Its great walking out back and my boat is tied up right there! I can work on it, clean and polish whenever I feel like it, not when I only can.

It takes some getting used to but if you want to run a larger boat in Texas, this is pretty hard to beat!

And yes, we are looking to get a small flats boat, but that's another subject altogether!


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Congratulations! Many years ago I lived in Ingleside and Aransas Pass. I didn't own a boat at the time but did navigate a mine countermeasures ship around quite a bit.
You are in an enviable position for sure!
 
We are in Houston with a 460. We have padre island in our summer plans, would love to get more info! Congrats on the place it sounds PERFECT


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Wrv thanks! My wife and I are very happy here. Love to hear some "old war" stories about tolling around one of Uncle Samuels toys!

Notherdecision, give me s couple days and I'll get more info to you. I'm on North Padre, almost to Mustang Island, there are places to go to, but not a ton here in the Latina Madre, north. Of course if you are headed to South Padre, there are many places! Let me get back with you


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Hifirush said:
I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd give an update. I now live on Padre Island, in the canals. My home is on a point so I have unrestricted views of sunsets and the ICW. We love it!

As we looked for homes, my realtor's husband, who is a fishing guide down here, gave us advise, from his standpoint, of where to be on the canals. He asked about my boat and I told him. It drafts over 3 ft, twins, etc. he just couldn't understand why I would even have such a boat! "It's too big" he said, "I'll never use it", etc. I thanked him for his thoughts and told him not only was I NOT going get rid of her, but I needed a dock big enough to tie her up to. All this has come to pass.

I boat every weekend. Sometimes it's just to cruise around the canals (all deep enough for my boat, BYW) sometimes to Rockport (a local destination for food, music, walking downtown, etc) via the ICW, sometimes out to the gulf.

It is tricky out there in the ICW as well as the canals. I've learned to keep her in the middle. When encountering a barge that frequents the ICW, I radio to them and explain I'm gonna be a little close when we pass.

I have found some skinny water in the ICW, usually close to where the markers are, but should not be. That uncomfortable sound you know you're turning sand.... even though my depth gauge says otherwise!

To combat this, I'm ordering many local detailed charts. I am also looking at purchasing a new plotter sonar combo. Garmin and Simrad really have my eye right now. Granted, these will have limitations, due to water depth and speed, but it will show changes in the ICW that are not always on charts. Honestly though, it's a learning curve. Slow down, be careful and talk to barge pilots, they KNOW the ICW.

The first time I went offshore, it was exhilarating! I was leaving out a narrow cut called Packery Channel. I'd taken my SeaDoos out there before, so it wasn't completely foreign to me, but it's different in my 330. I had a couple more "oops" and really got a lot of water come over the bow, but she powered through beautifully and now she and I are regulars out there.

Once you clear the breakers, it's easy peasy. But you have to respect the sea and what the conditions are. Windy days with 4-5's are no place for me. My boat will do it, but it is pounding and not any fun, so what's the point? Not to this newbie!

All said, I love our life here on the island. My home is more than I ever dreamed of. Its great walking out back and my boat is tied up right there! I can work on it, clean and polish whenever I feel like it, not when I only can.

It takes some getting used to but if you want to run a larger boat in Texas, this is pretty hard to beat!

And yes, we are looking to get a small flats boat, but that's another subject altogether!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great move....enjoy
 
I'm planning a sales trip to Texas in the coming year. Corpus, Galv., Houston, then the lakes up to Texoma. Where do boaters like us buy stuff for their boats in these coastal towns? In Charleston, SC they all went to West Marine and I am not quite ready to be a West Marine vendor. (have to go to Cali and do the presentation. That's not something I want to do.)
So, do most of the bigger marinas have a store on site down there or is it just a bunch of docks mostly?

So far I've not found too many marine stores down there other than West.
 
I'm on Texoma. Most of the bigger marinas has small ship stores. Mostly knick-knacks like t-shirts, hats, a few minor boat supplies, etc. Cedar Creek probably has the deepest selection.

What are you trying to sell?
 
My little snap fastener covers. I enjoy and value face to face sales more than online and phone so I'm traveling to start the business. Certainly not worth it financially but a lot more fun. SnapCapn.com

(I'm a sponsor so it's legal for me to pimp myself)
 
We have Blackburns ship store in Clear Lake and some local dealers like YES Yacht Equipment Services. Other then that it's West Marine.

Josh
 
Blackburn's in League City is great. Good supply of hardware, paint, sealant, etc. No engine parts there. I like dealing with them and it is close (we are in Waterford Harbor).
 
I'm in the process of buying a 280 Sundancer and looking for a slip near Port Aranasas.. Went down to check out Island Moorings Marina in Port A.. Anyone have feedback on it?
 
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