Where would you retire?

[Ignatius J. Reilly 19]

This is a completely unscientific poll ….

Question …. If you were an aging guy that wants to live/retire someplace in the world with a busy one design racing calendar, where would that be?   I know about places like Annapolis, Newport or Miami in the winter …. But I am wondering about other North American  or international locations that might not be regularly thought of. 

Specifically, I would love to find areas (winter and summer) that get 20+ boats on the line on a regular basis for midweek evening series …. as well as local regattas on the weekend.   Don’t really care about the class …. Just needs to be one-design (hate rating politics)  

Honestly the best racing I have ever been part of was the Mercury fleet in California.   Slow  pokey boat ... great sailors!  So … high performance/speed is not important.

OK … suggestions?

PS:  Not interested in frostbite sailing … been there – done that.

[Rum Runner 312]

Sarasota, FL has a good climate and small boat sailing scene. (Sarasota Sailing Squadron) You do have to deal with the Florida people and snowbirds but overall seems like a nice place. (I don't live there.)

[10thTonner 244]

Malchesine.

[Ignatius J. Reilly 19]

Sailed the Soling Worlds there ... definitely a candidate!

[LB 15 4,643]

Rating politics got nothing on OD politics. Google ‘Etchells’ , ‘Shitfight’ or ‘cheating cunts’ for more details.

[slug zitski 239]

Choose Spain

 

Search for a sea port with  a decent Snipe fleet 

[silent bob 658]

[Salona 27]

3 hours ago, Ignatius J. Reilly said:

 

Specifically, I would love to find areas (winter and summer) that get 20+ boats on the line on a regular basis for midweek evening series …. as well as local regattas on the weekend.   Don’t really care about the class …. Just needs to be one-design (hate rating politics)  

 

Annapolis will have 100+ for a Wed night race, maybe 50+ for Thurs night one design fleets. Less this year because of covid (and its a littlelower each year), but some the big weekend (phrf or orc mostly) races normally draw 100 boats.  Even with covid, we’ve raced every weekend since late June, finally taking a break until Sept.

 

[Fat Point Jack 147]

Right where I'm at!

And the only people concerned with the value of our house is our kids.

[Alan H 424]

Dunoon, Scotland.

---Where the Piper One Design fleet is.  I'd take Alpha home, where she belongs; on the Clyde.  Actually there's a house for sale on the Rosneath Peninsula, about a 20 minute drive from the Cove Sailing Club. I'd keep Alpha on a mooring at the Club, or maybe at Sandbank and have a little inflatable  I could hand-launch at Cove. On race day, slip the  inflatable in the water, shoot the mile-and-a-half across Loch Long to Sandbank and race all day.

[JimBowie 328]

Dillon Colorado.  Active fleets nice sailing sorta cheap.  Year round sports although you gotta wanna do more than sail.  Ski.  Biking.  Hike.

[The Q 420]

Well if not somewhere on the West Coast of Scotland in that cruising yachts paradise, , then.

Where I am now, The Norfolk Broads, at Horning,  sailing all year round, there's three pubs in the village to choose from, one next to the club. Sailing can be on a Broad, on the river, or if you wish you can go down river to the sea..

And if you don't fancy our club then there's around 30 in a fifty mile radius.

Cost's? Membership for a family £130, Moorings for a 27ft motorboat £600 (half that for a sailing boat)

[gewoon ik 45]

Cascais, Portugal. Sb20 or dragons. Your choise. 

[ROADKILL666 308]

Maine or Norway if they would let me.

[Willin' 797]

Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.

Second choice would be the Costa Brava, Spain.

 

[SF Woody Sailor 310]

Retire to Marin County, California.

Race a Knarr for the best tactical, small boat one design available. I will crew for you.

You can crew on my boat weekends and offshore. 

We can joint charter in the Caribbean for the winter.

Problem solved.

[Geff 183]

9 hours ago, ROADKILL666 said:

Maine or Norway if they would let me.

ABSOLUTELY!  Especially Norway.  But Vermont on Lake Champlain would be great too.  

[10thTonner 244]

You can sail and ski in Norway on one day ok. But only for a few days in a year, for a few hours (if any) a day. The rest is darkness. I’ll take northern Italy or southern France anyway. Maybe Malta, if you can stand the heat... or Capetown? Antigua? Itajai? Hyeres? Barcelona? Brest? Auckland? Bermuda? 

[VWAP 901]

 

[Ignatius J. Reilly 19]

3 hours ago, SF Woody Sailor said:

Retire to Marin County, California.

Race a Knarr for the best tactical, small boat one design available. I will crew for you.

You can crew on my boat weekends and offshore. 

We can joint charter in the Caribbean for the winter.

Problem solved.

Having sold our house in Alameda years ago and moved to the hinterlands,  the california equity bonus is blown.   Moving back .... especially to Marin .... becomes problematic.   That said ... I have maintained my Richmond YC membership for 20 years.  You never know if you might win the Powerball and can move back.   (All that said ... given the current situation  - at this moment in history .... I am glad to be on eight acres surrounded by wheat fields!)

[jerseyguy 1,167]

Vancouver if I could afford it.

I’ll just stay where I am. House is long since paid for. Yacht club is a 7 minute drive from the house. Youngest granddaughters are only 90 minutes away.

[Alan H 424]

14 hours ago, The Q said:

Well if not somewhere on the West Coast of Scotland in that cruising yachts paradise, , then.

Where I am now, The Norfolk Broads, at Horning,  sailing all year round, there's three pubs in the village to choose from, one next to the club. Sailing can be on a Broad, on the river, or if you wish you can go down river to the sea..

And if you don't fancy our club then there's around 30 in a fifty mile radius.

Cost's? Membership for a family £130, Moorings for a 27ft motorboat £600 (half that for a sailing boat)

This.

Honestly, I'd have two boats....the Piper for day racing on the Clyde, and maybe something like an old Van de Stadt Invicta or a Cutlass 27 (one for sale in Dunoon right now)...or a Contessa 28 to cruise the west coast and maybe down to the Isle of Man.    Whatever it is just has to fit under the bridge at the Falls of Lora and get into Loch Etive, and have enough room so that two patient people on board won't kill each other over a rainy weekend.

[Livia 651]

Somewhere without Covid 19!

 

[The Q 420]

11 hours ago, Alan H said:

This.

Honestly, I'd have two boats....the Piper for day racing on the Clyde, and maybe something like an old Van de Stadt Invicta or a Cutlass 27 (one for sale in Dunoon right now)...or a Contessa 28 to cruise the west coast and maybe down to the Isle of Man.    Whatever it is just has to fit under the bridge at the Falls of Lora and get into Loch Etive, and have enough room so that two patient people on board won't kill each other over a rainy weekend.

The famous Connel Bridge originally opened for the Callender and Oban Railway, then altered to allow cars, in between trains, Now only cars, but it's one way controlled by traffic lights, I've been over it once..

The normal Airdraft is 50ft..

[DrWatson 32]

France. Brittany. Not sure what the French Med is like.

Auckland's nice but expensive and you're not going to get +20 once design boats on a startline.

[Matagi 721]

Vannes, Morbihan

[On The Hard 340]

I'm sure I could be quite happy in the south of Spain. Smallish town with a nice view and breeze. Not sure about one design fleets, but that would be a bonus

[kent_island_sailor 3,414]

For the USA East Coast - where to go for climate?

We think about maybe moving from Maryland one day, but it seems like every step north you lose on the cold end and every step south you lose on the hot end. My wife loves Maine but we have never been there outside of July and August.

[carcrash 361]

Maine for summer -- as you know its wonderful in the summer!!

Then someplace south, like the Caribbean, on a boat, in the winter. Not a fan of the concept of owning property there. That would be a nice "orbit" bouncing between the two.

The reason I have not bought in Maine is this story I saw unfolding over the past 5 years: In Bath, went from among the lowest property taxes in the US to among the highest due to the town council taking out a huge loan, to be repaid by the townspeople, to restore waterfront that was then basically given to a very wealthy developer from Manhattan to build condos that no townsperson could possibly afford.

In California, we have Prop-13 that prevents real estate taxes from increasing beyond what they were when you buy. This allows retirement in place, which is pretty unique in the USA. So if you can buy outright, then CA is very nice for retirement. Everything besides real estate and gasoline is pretty cheap here due to the largest port in the USA by far (LA biggest, LB second biggest, so combined more than twice the size of any other US port).

Another option is that being followed by the ex-owner of Latitude 38: own a boat and condo in Puerto Vallarta, another couple of boats in the Virgin Islands, and another on a canal in Paris. If no covid, this works well. If we get a vaccine as fast as the fastest vaccine ever developed -- 4 years for the mumps -- then in a few more years, this plan will work again.

[Guvacine 17]

Really carcrash - prop 13? It has been a benefit for exactly one group (old Boomers) and completely fucked everyone else.

[Sail4beer 2,010]

Like Carcrash said, buy a couple of cheap boats and live on them in different locations throughout the year. I’m going to buy something in Maine to keep a boat up there for summer and float the rest of the time on a ball or in a slip down South- maybe Charleston on another so I can race locally or go cruise to the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

[shaggy 732]

On 8/10/2020 at 9:27 PM, JimBowie said:

Dillon Colorado.  Active fleets nice sailing sorta cheap.  Year round sports although you gotta wanna do more than sail.  Ski.  Biking.  Hike.

Bonus is everything can be trailered and big fleets of cheapish boats abound...  Dillon is awesome, Aspen is insane, Cherry Creek  is close for Wed(8-10ish s20's regularly), alcova, Chatfield, etc. etc. etc... Houses are cheapish between here and Dillon depending, so a retirement of skiing, sailing, and all around dumfuckery can be had relatively cheap.  slip fees are like 2g for the whole year.  Less at carter or points west.  The sailing community is one of the best I have ever been involved in and the racing is top notch.  If you want to winter in phoenix or other points west, just drag the boat and bob's your uncle... 

[wal' 129]

Here

[Movable Ballast 166]

Working on being right here in SoCal... 

[Raz'r 3,248]

Wife wants to stay in this house. I don't like the idea, but I'd rather she be happy.

[AnotherSailor 252]

25 minutes ago, wal' said:

Here

Or not here

[Navig8tor 1,138]

43 minutes ago, wal' said:

Here

 

17 minutes ago, AnotherSailor said:

Or not here

Herein lies the question.

 

I prefer here.

[Black Jack 270]

What would you chose: San Diego or Alameda?

Property taxes are transferrable after age 55 between Alameda and San Diego Counties if property is sold for more than the next family residence. Making plans for either when the time comes. Housing is 30 percent less in SD, food is 1/4 to 1/3 cheaper and gas is nearly the same. Boat slips in SD are more per foot.

^ this is being weighed seriously - currently. If we buy at or more than our house sold in Alameda, our property taxes in San Diego could still be lower. Crazy.

 

[some dude 162]

Newport Beach is nice. Expecting 20ish Harbor 20s on the line tonight

San Diego is nice but loooong transit to the racecourse from SDYC.   OD action is Finns or Etchells. Mission Bay is great.  Finns and Snipes. 

Alameda is great but the Mercs are only a few times a year, cold in winter, and the EYC pool isn't headed.  And cost of living is pricey.  5.5 fleet is fun but not many boats. 

[sail2win 12]

All of you recommending California - why haven't you said anything about the exorbitant income taxes??!! That makes it an automatic non-starter for me since taxes only go in one direction and that is up! Plus the government employee pension plans are severely underfunded so that money is eventually going to come from you as well. I will visit though LOL!!

[jerseyguy 1,167]

1 hour ago, Raz'r said:

Wife wants to stay in this house. I don't like the idea, but I'd rather she be happy.

When I bought this place 30 years ago I did not realize that it would be my last residence other than In an urn on a closet shelf.  House is right-sized but the damn yard is killing me.  My wife is a serious gardener (landscaping, not veggies) and she loves playing in the dirt.  So until she is no longer willing to do that I’m going nowhere.  And I’m too cheap and fussy to turn the lawn maintenance over to a commercial outfit.

[apophenia 148]

In reverse priority order:

1. Outskirts of Reno/Tahoe, NV side: cheap, low taxes, plenty of desert, mountains, forest and lakes to explore. Not ideal, but relatively cheap on a fixed income.
2. Lisbon - easy/cheap immigration, low cost of living, great food. Atlantic sailing. Disadvantage, language.
3. Various other Mediterranean locales depending on real estate costs and immigration policy when the time comes
4. SF Bay area - expensive, but SF has enough of it's own infrastructure and rich nerds who enjoy fixing things that it should be relatively safe and stable. Biggest advantage is that you can have a quasi-urban lifestyle with world class sailing nearby. Biggest disadvantage is daily traversal through human excrement and unexpected heroin. The last item may actually be a benefit as you get into your eighth decade. The coffee also sucks in this town, but I can pull an acceptable shot in my cheap lever machine, so that's not a showstopper.
5. Sydney - as expensive as SF, but you probably have to go to a scat fetish club and spend a lot of money to be able to step in human excrement. Great sailing, great weather, but far from everything. Good if the only travel you want to do is on your boat. Immigration is difficult and expensive, but the quality of life is much better than SF.

Off the list:

1. Japan - wonderful place to visit, but almost no sailing culture and a complex web of marine regulations and a dangerous coastline. Nice place to visit, but not a place for sailors to retire to.
2. Singapore - who wants to live in a mall with heavily armed mall cops? Vegas is much cheaper and weed is legal.
3. HK - RIP
4. London - Love the city, but I feel like it now has many of the same risks of 3rd world or developing cities without the advantages of low cost. Also, cold. Seattle would be cheaper with more accessible sailing and comparable or slightly better food.
5. Latvia / Lithuania / Estonia - I wish them the best, but the Russians just have to get bored with their current fuckery before they steamroll those countries. Same deal with Poland, whose expatriates seem to be great sailing enthusiasts.

[MauiPunter 667]

On my boat.

[Navig8tor 1,138]

16 minutes ago, jerseyguy said:

did not realize that it would be my last residence other than In an urn on a closet shelf.

So we’ll  put you down as retiring to a urn then.......

[jerseyguy 1,167]

8 minutes ago, Navig8tor said:

So we’ll  put you down as retiring to a urn then.......

Have to ask my wife about that. She might just put me out with the trash 

[Alan H 424]

I've also driven over the Connel bridge, once. It about killed me that I didn't have a way to get up into Loch Etive and the Mrs. was not about to stand for driving all the way 'round, driving down the Glen and then hiking all day long.

[Raz'r 3,248]

2 hours ago, Black Jack said:

What would you chose: San Diego or Alameda?

Property taxes are transferrable after age 55 between Alameda and San Diego Counties if property is sold for more than the next family residence. Making plans for either when the time comes. Housing is 30 percent less in SD, food is 1/4 to 1/3 cheaper and gas is nearly the same. Boat slips in SD are more per foot.

^ this is being weighed seriously - currently. If we buy at or more than our house sold in Alameda, our property taxes in San Diego could still be lower. Crazy.

 

San Diego is pretty fucking nice.

[Raz'r 3,248]

1 hour ago, jerseyguy said:

When I bought this place 30 years ago I did not realize that it would be my last residence other than In an urn on a closet shelf.  House is right-sized but the damn yard is killing me.  My wife is a serious gardener (landscaping, not veggies) and she loves playing in the dirt.  So until she is no longer willing to do that I’m going nowhere.  And I’m too cheap and fussy to turn the lawn maintenance over to a commercial outfit.

Yeah, I've been on this "activity tracking" challenge the last 80 days. I average 30 minutes of gardening "a day"

it's a small place compared to the midwest, only 1/3 an acre, but no grass. All perennials, and once we started planting only cal-natives, the things grow like weeds. I have a large green container hauled off of debris every week.

[sunseeker 138]

2 hours ago, Black Jack said:

What would you chose: San Diego or Alameda?

Property taxes are transferrable after age 55 between Alameda and San Diego Counties if property is sold for more than the next family residence. Making plans for either when the time comes. Housing is 30 percent less in SD, food is 1/4 to 1/3 cheaper and gas is nearly the same. Boat slips in SD are more per foot.

^ this is being weighed seriously - currently. If we buy at or more than our house sold in Alameda, our property taxes in San Diego could still be lower. Crazy.

 

San Diego. Not even a close decision. 

[jerseyguy 1,167]

21 minutes ago, Raz'r said:

Yeah, I've been on this "activity tracking" challenge the last 80 days. I average 30 minutes of gardening "a day"

it's a small place compared to the midwest, only 1/3 an acre, but no grass. All perennials, and once we started planting only cal-natives, the things grow like weeds. I have a large green container hauled off of debris every week.

Our yard debris get hauled off in 30gal brown bags affixed with a sticker we buy from village hall.  Every week it is 1 to 3 bags. Spring cleanup is 10-12 bags a week for several weeks. Fortunately I mulch tree leaves and turn it into compost.  Otherwise I’d go broke bagging leaves.

[Raz'r 3,248]

4 minutes ago, jerseyguy said:

Our yard debris get hauled off in 30gal brown bags affixed with a sticker we buy from village hall.  Every week it is 1 to 3 bags. Spring cleanup is 10-12 bags a week for several weeks. Fortunately I mulch tree leaves and turn it into compost.  Otherwise I’d go broke bagging leaves.

yeah, all leaf debris gets tossed under the perennials and around the trees. We used to have a mow/blow guy, and he would take it all away every week. Nothing would grow. Now that we let the leaves do the normal thing leaves would do? Everything grows like crazy.

[The Dark Knight 679]

17 hours ago, lydia said:

Somewhere without Covid 19!

 

To take it there with you?

[cyclone 273]

Very happy where I am. Ice boating provides justification for winter. 

[SF Woody Sailor 310]

7 hours ago, Guvacine said:

Really carcrash - prop 13? It has been a benefit for exactly one group (old Boomers) and completely fucked everyone else.

Not true. My father was not a boomer, and he benefited. I am not a boomer, and I have benefited. My kids will too.

Prop 13 for commercial property makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 

[SF Woody Sailor 310]

2 hours ago, apophenia said:

In reverse priority order:

1. SF Bay area - expensive, but SF has enough of it's own infrastructure and rich nerds who enjoy fixing things that it should be relatively safe and stable. Biggest advantage is that you can have a quasi-urban lifestyle with world class sailing nearby. Biggest disadvantage is daily traversal through human excrement and unexpected heroin. The last item may actually be a benefit as you get into your eighth decade. The coffee also sucks in this town, but I can pull an acceptable shot in my cheap lever machine, so that's not a showstopper.

If you live in Sausalito you are 6 minutes from all of the benefits of SF without the excrement and needles but with a better climate and better views.

[solosailor 354]

Quote

In California, we have Prop-13 that prevents real estate taxes from increasing beyond what they were when you buy. This allows retirement in place, which is pretty unique in the USA. So if you can buy outright, then CA is very nice for retirement.

I bought my last house in Oakland for $875k 16 years ago.   My assessed property (1.3m) tax when we sold a few months ago was over 13k a year.   Prop 13 helped those that kept the same home since the 70s-90s.    My parents now pay $2k yearly for a comparable property VS the $13k+ we paid.   Horseshit.

[Not for nothing 225]

Retired to Florida, big mistake, hind sight is always 20/20,

Do it over , NZ, Australia, Vietnam, canada, island in the carribean  to name some, maybe on a 40+ cat/tri and try them all out

[hobot 1,859]

Friday Harbor and down shift to daysailing/cruising mode.

[nlmasopust 18]

Jomtien, Thailand.

Okay, we only have 13 Platu 25s now and only 3-5 come out for monthly racing... But 10+ years ago 10-20 boats on the line was apparently normal.  There are 600 Platus in Europe, 2 fit in a 40' container.   The fleet can be built again.  Brilliant racing boat for around the cans.  This past weekend I sailed against (and got my ass handed to me by) the first woman in Thailand's history to qualify for Olympics (2016, Laser radial)

Your dollar goes a LOT further in SE Asia.  Look up Eastern Economic Corridor in Thailand.  They are pumping billions of Baht into this place.  Roads are getting better every day.  I'm buying a condo overlooking the marina.  I will almost certainly retire and die here.

Sailing is awesome here.  Nice islands, good wind.  It is hot here, but not SE USA summertime hot.  Normally about 85-90f every day, 365 per year.  Cloudy days are awesome.

Crazy amounts of Golf.  Scuba diving.  Kitesurfing/Foiling.  PATTAYA.  What more do you need?  Okay, a quick flight to Hokkaido once or twice a winter for snow fix.

More sailing in Phuket, but shittier wind and not a great place to get around, roads are awful.

[slug zitski 239]

50 minutes ago, nlmasopust said:

Jomtien, Thailand.

Okay, we only have 13 Platu 25s now and only 3-5 come out for monthly racing... But 10+ years ago 10-20 boats on the line was apparently normal.  There are 600 Platus in Europe, 2 fit in a 40' container.   The fleet can be built again.  Brilliant racing boat for around the cans.  This past weekend I sailed against (and got my ass handed to me by) the first woman in Thailand's history to qualify for Olympics (2016, Laser radial)

Your dollar goes a LOT further in SE Asia.  Look up Eastern Economic Corridor in Thailand.  They are pumping billions of Baht into this place.  Roads are getting better every day.  I'm buying a condo overlooking the marina.  I will almost certainly retire and die here.

Sailing is awesome here.  Nice islands, good wind.  It is hot here, but not SE USA summertime hot.  Normally about 85-90f every day, 365 per year.  Cloudy days are awesome.

Crazy amounts of Golf.  Scuba diving.  Kitesurfing/Foiling.  PATTAYA.  What more do you need?  Okay, a quick flight to Hokkaido once or twice a winter for snow fix.

More sailing in Phuket, but shittier wind and not a great place to get around, roads are awful.

 

Might be e 

[slug zitski 239]

Just now, slug zitski said:

Might be a good choice 

20 years ago I spent a season  in Thailand ... good fun , good sailing , nice people 

 

[apophenia 148]

3 hours ago, nlmasopust said:

Jomtien, Thailand.

Okay, we only have 13 Platu 25s now and only 3-5 come out for monthly racing... But 10+ years ago 10-20 boats on the line was apparently normal.  There are 600 Platus in Europe, 2 fit in a 40' container.   The fleet can be built again.  Brilliant racing boat for around the cans.  This past weekend I sailed against (and got my ass handed to me by) the first woman in Thailand's history to qualify for Olympics (2016, Laser radial)

Your dollar goes a LOT further in SE Asia.  Look up Eastern Economic Corridor in Thailand.  They are pumping billions of Baht into this place.  Roads are getting better every day.  I'm buying a condo overlooking the marina.  I will almost certainly retire and die here.

Sailing is awesome here.  Nice islands, good wind.  It is hot here, but not SE USA summertime hot.  Normally about 85-90f every day, 365 per year.  Cloudy days are awesome.

Crazy amounts of Golf.  Scuba diving.  Kitesurfing/Foiling.  PATTAYA.  What more do you need?  Okay, a quick flight to Hokkaido once or twice a winter for snow fix.

More sailing in Phuket, but shittier wind and not a great place to get around, roads are awful.

 

How safe is coastal cruising / exploring in SE Asia?

[El Borracho 1,655]

24 minutes ago, apophenia said:

How safe is coastal cruising / exploring in SE Asia?

The couple of trouble spots are easily avoidable. Amounts to around 1% of the coastline. Elsewhere the biggest danger is the vortex of unending fun.

I didn't know there were such active racing fleets in Thailand. Great news.

[Grande Mastere Dreade 2,026]

5 hours ago, nlmasopust said:

Jomtien, Thailand.

Okay, we only have 13 Platu 25s now and only 3-5 come out for monthly racing... But 10+ years ago 10-20 boats on the line was apparently normal.  There are 600 Platus in Europe, 2 fit in a 40' container.   The fleet can be built again.  Brilliant racing boat for around the cans.  This past weekend I sailed against (and got my ass handed to me by) the first woman in Thailand's history to qualify for Olympics (2016, Laser radial)

Your dollar goes a LOT further in SE Asia.  Look up Eastern Economic Corridor in Thailand.  They are pumping billions of Baht into this place.  Roads are getting better every day.  I'm buying a condo overlooking the marina.  I will almost certainly retire and die here.

Sailing is awesome here.  Nice islands, good wind.  It is hot here, but not SE USA summertime hot.  Normally about 85-90f every day, 365 per year.  Cloudy days are awesome.

Crazy amounts of Golf.  Scuba diving.  Kitesurfing/Foiling.  PATTAYA.  What more do you need?  Okay, a quick flight to Hokkaido once or twice a winter for snow fix.

More sailing in Phuket, but shittier wind and not a great place to get around, roads are awful.

 

PATTAYA  still the red light district?   was there before any of that happened..

 

[JimBowie 328]

I hear the Thai women give wonderful frontal massage.

[nlmasopust 18]

10 hours ago, Grande Mastere Dreade said:

PATTAYA  still the red light district?   was there before any of that happened..

 

Sure, but things are dying quickly now.  Bars are allowed to open again, but there's no tourists.  My guess is about 30-40% of bars are shuttered and won't be opened ever again.  Fark COVID!

You must have been here a LONG time ago if it was before Pattaya was a red light district.  Pattaya began its conversion from dirt-road fishing village to its current state in the late 1960's with the construction of Utapao airport by the US military for the Vietnam War.  The GIs coming for R&R from the front lines in 'Nam had to blow off steam somehow...   and Thais are keen 'entrepreneurs' :)  I have a few acquaintances here that were around during those times (though that age group is perishing quickly now...)   They said it was much more fun back then before it was all commercialized.

[nlmasopust 18]

11 hours ago, El Boracho said:

The couple of trouble spots are easily avoidable. Amounts to around 1% of the coastline. Elsewhere the biggest danger is the vortex of unending fun.

I didn't know there were such active racing fleets in Thailand. Great news.

It was much much bigger when Oil and Gas industry was booming.  Royal Varuna has a pretty active dinghy sailing fleet as well, about 7km away.

This is generally a very safe place to cruise.  Of course there is no Coast Guard, just the Navy, who are fairly inept, so you are mostly on your own, which IMHO, you should be able to deal with on the water anyways.  But Thais are generally very nice people with true Buddhist "live and let live" mentality.   Avoid the far South of Thailand on Malaysian border where the violent separatist Muslims are.

+1 on 'Vortex of unending fun' 

[The Q 420]

On 8/12/2020 at 11:48 PM, apophenia said:

In reverse priority order:

1. Outskirts of Reno/Tahoe, NV side: cheap, low taxes, plenty of desert, mountains, forest and lakes to explore. Not ideal, but relatively cheap on a fixed income.
2. Lisbon - easy/cheap immigration, low cost of living, great food. Atlantic sailing. Disadvantage, language.
3. Various other Mediterranean locales depending on real estate costs and immigration policy when the time comes
4. SF Bay area - expensive, but SF has enough of it's own infrastructure and rich nerds who enjoy fixing things that it should be relatively safe and stable. Biggest advantage is that you can have a quasi-urban lifestyle with world class sailing nearby. Biggest disadvantage is daily traversal through human excrement and unexpected heroin. The last item may actually be a benefit as you get into your eighth decade. The coffee also sucks in this town, but I can pull an acceptable shot in my cheap lever machine, so that's not a showstopper.
5. Sydney - as expensive as SF, but you probably have to go to a scat fetish club and spend a lot of money to be able to step in human excrement. Great sailing, great weather, but far from everything. Good if the only travel you want to do is on your boat. Immigration is difficult and expensive, but the quality of life is much better than SF.

Off the list:

1. Japan - wonderful place to visit, but almost no sailing culture and a complex web of marine regulations and a dangerous coastline. Nice place to visit, but not a place for sailors to retire to.
2. Singapore - who wants to live in a mall with heavily armed mall cops? Vegas is much cheaper and weed is legal.
3. HK - RIP
4. London - Love the city, but I feel like it now has many of the same risks of 3rd world or developing cities without the advantages of low cost. Also, cold. Seattle would be cheaper with more accessible sailing and comparable or slightly better food.
5. Latvia / Lithuania / Estonia - I wish them the best, but the Russians just have to get bored with their current fuckery before they steamroll those countries. Same deal with Poland, whose expatriates seem to be great sailing enthusiasts.

London is in No  way the place to retire, a population of 9 million in a small area.  Very expensive housing average price £700,000, for a terraced house!! And a high crime rate for Britain 

But there are many better places in Britain, both cheaper and having better sailing. 

The afore mentioned, west coast of Scotland,  house prices are less than 1/3 of London.  And much better sailing. 

In Norfolk,  house prices again less than 1/3 of London,  my 3 bedroom, detached house with 1.5 acres of land about £350,000 to £ 400,000. Plenty of sailing,  and,   like in the  west coast of Scotland some of the lowest crime rates in the country. 

Note on UK house terminology, 

Flat = apartment, 

Terraced,  line of houses joined to each other side by side

Link detached,  line of houses only joined to each other by the garage/s, 

Semi detached,  two houses joined to each other 

Detached,  no building joined to a neighbour. 

Quattro house,  four houses joined together each having one face of the building. 

Bungalow,  single story house,  can be detached or semi detached, 

Chalet,  single main story but with rooms built into roof. 

[Alan H 424]

9 hours ago, The Q said:

London is in No  way the place to retire, a population of 9 million in a small area.  Very expensive housing average price £700,000, for a terraced house!! And a high crime rate for Britain 

But there are many better places in Britain, both cheaper and having better sailing. 

The afore mentioned, west coast of Scotland,  house prices are less than 1/3 of London.  And much better sailing. 

In Norfolk,  house prices again less than 1/3 of London,  my 3 bedroom, detached house with 1.5 acres of land about £350,000 to £ 400,000. Plenty of sailing,  and,   like in the  west coast of Scotland some of the lowest crime rates in the country. 

Note on UK house terminology, 

Flat = apartment, 

Terraced,  line of houses joined to each other side by side

Link detached,  line of houses only joined to each other by the garage/s, 

Semi detached,  two houses joined to each other 

Detached,  no building joined to a neighbour. 

Quattro house,  four houses joined together each having one face of the building. 

Bungalow,  single story house,  can be detached or semi detached, 

Chalet,  single main story but with rooms built into roof. 

Having stared at Rightmove UK, for Scotland for about two years, now...I figured that list out a while ago. I haven't come across Quattro Houses, though.  Normally in the USA, "apartment" means rental.  "Townhouse"...at least around here, is very roughly the equivalent of "flat", though what is, and is not a "townhouse" seems pretty variable.  It seems that most flats are on one level, whereas townhouses here can be anything from a flat to what's called a "terraced house" in the UK.

 

If for some reason I didn't move to the Dunoon / Helensburgh / Rosneath area, the east side of Inverness, maybe up to Tain,  anyway somewhere around the Moray Firth is the second choice.  I have a friend who lives in Culloden.  Third choice; Dundee, up to Carnoustie (I have friends that live in Carnoustie), Tayport, Saint Andrews.  That choice would likely be the wifes #1 pick, as it rains less on that side of the country, and there's the cultural stuff available at the University. Also, Dundee has a symphony that she'd actually have some sort of chance of getting into.  There's nothing around Helensburgh or Dunoon, unless you go into Glasgow, though being in striking distance of Glasgow means access to the BBC Symphony in the City, which would be really nice.

[The Q 420]

I went to school in Inverness,  so I used to know the area well, 45+ years ago,  I played cricket for the High  school against all the secondary schools from Dingwall  to Elgin.  it is an area I wouldn't mind living in. 

I've also spent six years of working,  about a month a year,  in weekly parts at RAF Leuchars,  while staying in St Andrews.  I like that area too,  but would prefer Inverness or as you say the area to the east . 

Quattro houses,  have been around for about 50 years, but are mostly in the new towns and city's,  for the first home market. 

A great Aunt,  was a violin player,  in one of the Glasgow orchestras before through and after WW1. My great niece has been getting well learning the violin,  should she continue,  she will be given the Great Aunts Violin,  which my dad is looking after. When my father took it in for some maintenance,  when he inherited it,  the shop tried quite hard to buy it off of him... 

[Innocent Bystander 841]

On 8/12/2020 at 12:24 PM, kent_island_sailor said:

For the USA East Coast - where to go for climate?

We think about maybe moving from Maryland one day, but it seems like every step north you lose on the cold end and every step south you lose on the hot end. My wife loves Maine but we have never been there outside of July and August.

We look at it the same way. 3 kids and a grandson in Florida but no desire to move there. Have lived in Maine. Great summers but brutal winters. NW is a great option but wild have to go to Kitsap or OP to dodge the I-5 corridor and it’s a long way to visit grandkid(S).  We are pretty set on the Patuxent.  View of the creek from the deck is unmatched. Putting in a new pier next winter/spring (marine construction permits take 3-6 months and builders backed up 6-9) is a big nut but will last longer than me. House is almost 70 so consumes upkeep $$ on a regular basis but cheaper than knocking it down and starting over. 4 acres is mostly natural but still a lot of maintenance. Will have to hire someone eventually. Shifting as much landscaping as we can  to native and perennials to ease that a bit. 10 min by powerboat to waterfront restaurants and plenty of sailing space without crowns really does make this the “land of pleasant living” if you can hide from the mid summer heat and humidity. 

Biggest  concern is that taxes will absolutely rise in the future and poor retirement planning means taxable pensions, SS and some residual income will all be ripe for the tax monsters in Annapolis. We could sell this place and “live up” in a no tax location as many friends have done but really like where we are. Spent too many years in big cities to tolerate little suburban boxes and traffic jams again. 
 

 

[Ignatius J. Reilly 19]

OK … so here’s we got so far:

• Sarasota Florida – Race Flying Scots, E or MC scows, Vipers or VX
• Malchesine on Lake Garda – Not sure about the fleets … just a gorgeous place to sail
• Anywhere on the coast of Spain – again … not sure about fleets – more amazingly beautiful places to sail
• King Harbor California – Looks like mostly a PHRF based racing scene
• Annapolis MD – Obvious contender from May to September.   But having grown up on the Chesapeake, I know there’s not a lot of breeze in the summer … except for fronts coming through.
• Dunoon Scotland – Definitely intriguing place to investigate.
• Dillon Colorado – With a son in school in Colorado … would love to get in-state tuition break!
• Cascais Portugal – checking a lot of boxes!  Racing Dragons would be very cool!
• Maine or Norway - ???
• Mahone Bay Nova Scotia – not sure about racing … but beautiful place to cruise
• Marin County California – winner! (when I win the lottery!)
• Burlington Vermont – Another beautiful part of the world.  Not sure about active racing fleets.
• Southern France – Malta – Capetown – Auckland – Morbihan/Vannes: ????
• Sex Island – I got nothing!
• Vancouver BC – currently living near the border … I know it will be awhile before we are welcomed by our northern neighbor!
• San Diego or Newport Beach or Santa Barbara – Like Marin County … definite contender when I win the lottery or discover my long lost trust fund!
• Jomtien Thailand – Might be hard to convince my wife on this one.  But hope springs eternal!
• “Here!”

Still a little light on what I truly want to find .... great sailors,  racing one designs on a regular basis .... in a place with reasonable weather.   

I just read about the Harbor 20 and their racing scene.   Honestly that is pretty much the model I was wondering about. 

Just wondering what else is out there in the big world  ....  

[kotick 8]

Corsica or Sardinia, depending on your language capabilities. Not sure about one-design racing but life is beautiful there. 

[JimBowie 328]

Glad Dillon made the list.  If you can cross reference with other hobbies like cycling or outdoors, Dillon wins hands down.  It's a limited offer however.  75% of the surface land is owned by us...US Forest Service, meaning once the build-out is done, there ain't no more to build on.  Meaning prices gonna UP!  So make the move, soon and don't look back.  Better yet show up there in August and drive from Denver and check out Frisco and Dillon marinas.  Sail it couple time.  Stay couple days.

[Jono 41]

Auckland, New Zealand is still pretty cool. Rates well in liveable cities

Adult dinghy is mainly Laser or an NZ design called Zephyr. Pockets of Flying 15 and Elliot 5.9

Keel boat one design is NZ Young 88, Stewart 34 or the Squadron fleets - MRX and Elliot 7.Otherwise similar but different in the 30-42 feet range. Most boats can overnight as there is really good cruising close by. Even (most) NZ cruisers are fast. Think Farr, Townson or Beale

Aucklanders tend to migrate north to Whangarei or Bay of Islands, or down to Tauranga when they cash up or the commute gets too hard.

[JimBowie 328]

2 minutes ago, Jono said:

Auckland, New Zealand is still pretty cool. Rates well in liveable cities

Adult dinghy is mainly Laser or an NZ design called Zephyr. Pockets of Flying 15 and Elliot 5.9

Keel boat one design is NZ Young 88, Stewart 34 or the Squadron fleets - MRX and Elliot 7.Otherwise similar but different in the 30-42 feet range. Most boats can overnight as there is really good cruising close by. Even (most) NZ cruisers are fast. Think Farr, Townson or Beale

Aucklanders tend to migrate north to Whangarei or Bay of Islands, or down to Tauranga when they cash up or the commute gets too hard.

Q: What did the sheep says when their Kiwi owner drove by in his Subaru? 

A: "Daaaaaddddddyyyy".

[no shoes 42]

Currently house hunting in Kelowna, BC. Keep our San Diego program and winter in California and summer in Canada. 

[Ignatius J. Reilly 19]

50 minutes ago, no shoes said:

Currently house hunting in Kelowna, BC. Keep our San Diego program and winter in California and summer in Canada. 

I didn't think amuricans were very welcome in BC these days?

[no shoes 42]

7 minutes ago, Ignatius J. Reilly said:

I didn't think amuricans were very welcome in BC these days?

Yeah. They are called real estate agents. Sheesh. 

[JimBowie 328]

2 hours ago, no shoes said:

Currently house hunting in Kelowna, BC. Keep our San Diego program and winter in California and summer in Canada. 

Hello.  Friend!  Need a deck hand there north of the border?  I'm really handy in cooler climes.  GET ME THE HELL OUTTA HOTTER-N-HELL TEXASS!

[no shoes 42]

 

11 minutes ago, JimBowie said:

Hello.  Friend!  Need a deck hand there north of the border?  I'm really handy in cooler climes.  GET ME THE HELL OUTTA HOTTER-N-HELL TEXASS!

I don’t think so partner. I’m having a tough enough time getting to my home in Canada without a Texan. 

Sometimes I regret posting here. Carry on. 

[Streetwise 64]

6 hours ago, Ignatius J. Reilly said:

Burlington Vermont – Another beautiful part of the world.  Not sure about active racing fleets.

https://lcyc.info/

PHRF, Etchells, J/105, Sportboats, Viper 640 Regatta, mixed dinghy racing

https://mbbc-vt.org/

PHRF, Lightning, J/24, Laser

https://rsyc.org/

PHRF

LCYC is $3000 to join, $850/year with mooring/dry-sail fees about $100-150/year.

Here is our list of registered racers including from the other clubs:

https://lcyc.info/racing/registration

PHRF certificates are free on Lake Champlain.

Cheers

[JimBowie 328]

1 minute ago, Streetwise said:

https://lcyc.info/

PHRF, Etchells, J/105, Sportboats, Viper 640 Regatta, mixed dinghy racing

https://mbbc-vt.org/

PHRF, Lightning, J/24, Laser

https://rsyc.org/

PHRF

LCYC is $3000 to join, $850/year with mooring/dry-sail fees about $100-150/year.

Here is our list of registered racers including from the other clubs:

https://lcyc.info/racing/registration

PHRF certificates are free on Lake Champlain.

Cheers

Calendars look inviting.  Might have to put this on summer bucket list

[Sail4beer 2,010]

On 8/10/2020 at 4:11 PM, Ignatius J. Reilly said:

This is a completely unscientific poll ….

Question …. If you were an aging guy that wants to live/retire someplace in the world with a busy one design racing calendar, where would that be?   I know about places like Annapolis, Newport or Miami in the winter …. But I am wondering about other North American  or international locations that might not be regularly thought of. 

Specifically, I would love to find areas (winter and summer) that get 20+ boats on the line on a regular basis for midweek evening series …. as well as local regattas on the weekend.   Don’t really care about the class …. Just needs to be one-design (hate rating politics)  

Honestly the best racing I have ever been part of was the Mercury fleet in California.   Slow  pokey boat ... great sailors!  So … high performance/speed is not important.

OK … suggestions?

PS:  Not interested in frostbite sailing … been there – done that.

So where do you live now to give us some reference to your question posed? 
 

I also think that the quantifying reason for moving to sail one design lacks a mutual team goal (wife) unless you sail together, so you should include the other factors involved. A single 65 year old guy is one thing, a lady, dog and a home...

[Grande Mastere Dreade 2,026]

6 hours ago, JimBowie said:

Hello.  Friend!  Need a deck hand there north of the border?  I'm really handy in cooler climes.  GET ME THE HELL OUTTA HOTTER-N-HELL TEXASS!

I'm north of Jimmy there..

[Latadjust 103]

5 hours ago, Streetwise said:

https://lcyc.info/

PHRF, Etchells, J/105, Sportboats, Viper 640 Regatta, mixed dinghy racing

https://mbbc-vt.org/

PHRF, Lightning, J/24, Laser

https://rsyc.org/

PHRF

LCYC is $3000 to join, $850/year with mooring/dry-sail fees about $100-150/year.

Here is our list of registered racers including from the other clubs:

https://lcyc.info/racing/registration

PHRF certificates are free on Lake Champlain.

Cheers

Oooh, on the radar!

[Black Jack 270]

Antibes, France - Stilling working on how I can swing it. It would be an awesome place to spend 9 months out of the year. The rest would be in Lanikai, Oahu with a Hobie 16.

I still need to play the lottery and work until that happens.

[kotick 8]

OMG, this is becoming interesting. How about Portofino? Would need more than one lottery win. 

[See Level 667]

23 hours ago, no shoes said:

Currently house hunting in Kelowna, BC. Keep our San Diego program and winter in California and summer in Canada. 

You should get tested, it sounds like you have the Kelowna virus