Bob, I grew up on Cape Cod, spent ten years working in Groton, CT and living in Westerly, RI (which straddle Mystic), then relocated to Mattapoisett, MA for nine years to work in Newport, RI, then recently relocated to Dartmouth, MA. I sail a C&C 25 which I've owned and kept in Mattapoisett since 2007.
At the risk of being beheaded by other listers, here are my thoughts: Yes, there are tax differences between the states and the pros / cons depends on your specific situation, everything from income taxes on federal pensions to excise taxes on cars and boats. However, MA, RI and CT are relatively similar in comparison to, say, NH. Housing prices and property taxes can vary quite a bit from town to town with the quality or reputation of the school system. As of a year ago, my realtor, who serves both MA and RI, said the real estate markets between the two states were like night and day. MA was recovering, RI was still depressed. I suspect not much has changed. There is plenty of wind on either Narragansett Bay or Buzzards Bay, but Buzzards Bay probably has a nastier reputation for its chop. Family commitments require me to be on the Cape frequently. Other than family, there is nothing on Cape Cod that is worth fighting the bridge traffic. While the largest traffic volume is between Memorial Day and Columbus Day, they maintain the two 80 year old bridges from around March 1st to Thanksgiving and that often requires lane closures. If you are not dissuaded, there are some nice harbors and yards in Bourne and Falmouth along the eastern shore of Buzzards Bay - Kingman, Red Brook Harbor, Barlow's. Aquidneck Island (Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, RI) is also accessible only by bridges but bridge traffic is not much of an issue. The boat destruction of Hurricane Bob in 1990 drove a lot of changes to moorings around here, but I don't believe that every town made the recommendations into firm requirements. The place that actually had the most boat destruction over the last few years was New Bedford, which is protected by a multi-million dollar sea wall and hurricane gate. The north shore of Buzzards Bay is known as the South Coast, not to be confused with the South Shore, which extends along Cape Cod Bay from Boston to Plymouth. Mattapoisett is definitely an alternative to Marion worth considering. The yards in Marion, Bardens and Burr Brothers, are much bigger operations than Mattapoisett Boatyard, where I and at least one other lister keep our boats. Mattapoisett Boatyard is surprisingly friendly to do-it-yourself boatowners. This site has a pretty good video overview of Mattapoisett, as well as some other local harbors: http://newenglandboating.com/news/new-england-boating-tv-mattapoisett-dec-16.html The South Shore of MA isn't really known for sailing. I have done some sailing in this area, from Boston down to Cohasset or so, and you don't get the winds that you get on Buzzards Bay and Narragansett Bay. There are some nice sailing towns on the North Shore of MA, such as Marblehead. There are long (10+ year) waiting lists to get town moorings at most harbors I am familiar with on Cape Cod and the South Coast. To clear names off the mooring list, many towns now charge an annual fee just to remain on the list. However, unlike a few years ago, private moorings are readily available (either rented from someone, or through a boatyard). Of course, you pay market rate for these. As for airports, Logan (Boston) and Hartford are not nearly as easy to get to as TF Green in Warwick, RI. From Dartmouth, MA or Westerly, RI, you can be at TF Green in 30-35 minutes. Marion and Mattapoisett are much pricier than the adjacent towns of Wareham, Fairhaven, Dartmouth and Rochester. Newton, MA is very accessible from anywhere on the South Coast - an hour up RT 24 or 495, as is the rest of the Boston area. From Stonington, CT to Newton, MA would be a little less than two hours but it's not a difficult drive. Providence has come a long way in the last 10 to 15 years and has a lot of nice restaurants and small theatres. While pricey, even used, this book is a pretty good reference: http://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Guide-Narragansett-South-Massachusetts/dp/0070163049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388723525&sr=8-1&keywords=cruising+guide+buzzards+bay . Melville located in Middletown, RI is just a few miles north of Newport but is very accessible from the north without having to venture into the crowds, traffic and parking of Newport itself. Mystic, CT and Bristol, RI also very nice places to live and sail. Mark ----- Original Message -----From: Bob McLaughlin <rmclaughli...@gmail.com>To: cnc-list@cnc-list.comSent: Tue, 31 Dec 2013 23:09:04 -0000 (UTC)Subject: Stus-List So New England retirement/harbor perspectives I’m interested in locals’ opinions of good towns to retire to and good harbor suggestions to move my C&C to in the So New England area. We sailed our C&C 33-II for the past 22 years and last year moved up to a C&C 110 (6.5’ draft) with the intent of moving from the Midwest “back” in the next ~2-3 years to the southern New England area to retire and do more sailing. (I say “back” since I grew up sailing in NJ with many summers out to Nantucket. My parents lived in Newport for awhile too, so the area from ~Block I to Nantucket became the center of my interest and we’ve chartered there many times in the years since moving to St Louis.) Any thoughts of CT, RI or MA preferences? This may be mostly an issue of tax differences but are there some other state-wide issues someone might suggest for consideration? Our thinking regarding towns from afar is either the Narragansett Bay area or the northeastern shore of Buzzard’s Bay. It would be ideal to spend less than $500k for a 3-4 BR house or condo near the water/boat. Reasonable access to a major airport would be a plus too but not under the approach/departure flight path (an issue for the Providence airport/Greenwich area?), as well as nice shore activities such as theater etc. The early short-list to explore is below, though I’m curious what gem we’re overlooking or perhaps areas to eliminate. At one point moorings in some harbors had long wait lists. Is that still the case? What about the moorings themselves, are some harbors know for good facilities/better holding ground? Are helical screw mooring fields the way to go? I thought I read some towns were installing them. (Our family lost one boat to a hurricane when she dragged her mushroom anchor up onto a sea wall....). In RI: Bristol or the East Greenwich/Warwick area, though I wonder if it’s a bit far up the bay to get out to the islands quickly (though I like the idea of some protected sailing for the more blustery days). Bristol appears open to storms but I like the town and harbor area. Newport would be great but I fear I’d grow weary of the summer crowds. Jamestown seems too open. Anyone know about Melville? Wickford? In MA: Marion or Padanaram seem possibly idea, and I love insight to these. What about Mattapoisett? Is my thinking that getting onto the Cape is asking for traffic and crowd headaches correct? In CT: Stonington (though getting a bit east, our daughter lives in Newton MA- but right on I-95 maybe no further away by car than say, Marion...) I’d welcome any thoughts and opinions from the List. Bob McLaughlin Blue Devil C&C 110
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