Conference unifix::sailing

I cant help you with the south shore, but you might want to consider Upper
Narrangansett Bay for a mooring. The drive to Warwick, East Greenwich, and
Bristol is about 1- 1 1/4 hours. This is pretty much constant, unlike areas
approaching the cape which can get brutal at certain times.

Of course if you hate protected areas and an April to December season this
isnt for you.

Walt

 re:.1
 Well i quess an April to December season is hard to argue with and a protected
area never hurts...

 Do you know of any names i should check with???

 rich

There has been a lot of movement this fall as a result of Gloria (boats
between marinas, people moving up) so I dont know who has or has not got
slips or moorings available to rent. 

These are the marinas who control the majority of dockage in 
Warwick:                            and East Greenwich:
                  
Brewers (Cowessett)                     Nortons
Masthead
Apponaug
Carlsons

I think most of the existing moorings belong to E Greenwich Yacht club or
private parties.  Brewers has a few but they are exposed to a good 3 mile
east fetch (all of them went ashore during Gloria). Ask Nortons and Carlsons
about mooring, there are some near them and may be theirs.


I dont know much about Bristol except it is almost 100% moorings. The
harbor master should be able to fill you in.

Sorry, I dont have any phone numbers, but 401-555-1212 should help.

Walt

The major player in the South Shore (Mass. variety) will be the Harbormaster.
Phone number should be available from Information (Directory Assistance?).

Season is determined by the amount of hair on your chest, or is it fuzz on
your brain? :-)

Plymouth 
good protected harbor; you might try Plymouth Marine. they've put in a large
number of docks in the past couple years. 

Duxbury
Harbor is basically a smallish basin at the end of a long, narrow channel.
Sailing is heavily dependent on tides because of the flats in Duxbury Bay.
There are a lot of Catboats in the harbor that do very well in the shallow
waters.

Green Harbor, Marshfield
Narrow inlet that is mostly power and commercial fishing.

Scituate 

Best choice on the South Shore (my opinion, 'cuz I live 10 minutes away). Very
protected but VERY, VERY crowded. Access to Mass Bay and open water is very
quick and simple. Moorings are controlled by the Harbormaster as
are the slips at the town marina. Procedure: they put you on a list for slip or
mooring based on your size. When a mooring for your size boat comes up for sale
the Harbormaster gives your name to the owner and you and the owner can work out
a price. Last Fall's prices ranged between $2-4,000. What you're buying is the
right to put a mooring in a specific spot on the bottom. You provide the mooring
and ground tackle, subject to Harbormaster's approval, of course. Slips are
essentially a waiting game. I'd suggest calling every so often to make sure you
stay on the lists. 

RE: 4

Humm, 10 minutes away; I live on Lawson Road (I own the blue J30 off the 
town fish pier).

More on Scituate:

For slips, you may want to try either Young's Boat Yard or the Welch 
Company.  As of about 2 months ago, both had space available.

For my money, Scituate Harbor is the best and only harbor to be in between 
Boston and the Canal.

							Thos.

re .4

re Scituate: Ye gods! $2000 to $4000 for the right to put in a mooring?
Paid to the last permit holder? I would think that the harbor is public
property and that the town should issue mooring permits for a reasonable
fee. If I were a lawyer, I'd sue the town. 

Marblehead also has a waiting list. When a mooring location becomes
available, the harbormaster calls you. If you want the location, you pay
the town a $1.25 per foot annual permit fee. The person giving up the
location has no say in who gets the mooring (and gets no dollars). You
can then either put in your own mooring or pay one of several service
companies to do it. 

re .6
Aww, come on Alan, Scituate's just adhering to our good ol' laissez-faire,
capitalist, Yankee values. Marblehead, on the other hand, seems to have gone
the way of big government and big bureaucracy. O  O
                                                /\
                                              |____|
                                                   
I'm not familiar with the story but I think the previous Harbormaster in
Scituate was relieved of duty because of certain irregularities in the assigning
of moorings and slips.

Have a nice Christmas.

Ed

I, too, live in Hudson and kept a boat in E. Greenwich, R.I. as opposed to the
South Shore ... largely because the commute time is less (than Hingham).  
However, If you do any crusing (as opposed to racing or day sailing), you
might want to consider driving a little extra to get to better cruising waters.
I became really frustrated with the 3-6 hr sail just getting into the ocean
from the protection of the bay (the return trip is literally a breeze running
downwind).  E. Greenwich to Newport is about 17 miles - usually beating all
the way.  If you plan on doing bay sailing, then drive to E. Greenwich (about
1.25 hrs) and sail in a big, roomy bay.

I plan to cruise elsewhere, however - and I'm not sure where yet - probably
Mattapoisett if I can find a mooring.  Buzzard's Bay is the best cruising I've
seen (lot's of wind too!).  I also love Scituate for it's open access to the
ocean and proximity to other cruising harbors.  I have no experience cruising 
on the North Shore ... but the drive from Hudson is a killer.  By the way, 
Hingham is about 1.25-1.5 hrs away via 90/93/3A .... but again, no place to
cruise to.

Bob