How we Wound Up in New Seabury
We, Jerry and his wife, Gail, live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where we have boated for 45 years in the Nantucket Sound, usually to Martha’s Vineyard.
Alto I
We started visiting Florida regularly in 01/2011 after we bought and installed a Ranger Tugs R25 (a small diesel trawler, shown below) in Sanford, FL (yes, that “Sanford” where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed not long after we arrived) on the St. John River. We named it Alto, for my wife – who sang as an alto in the Back Bay Chorale in Cambridge, Mass for years.
Alto I
We started visiting Florida regularly in 01/2011 after we bought and installed a Ranger Tugs R25 (a small diesel trawler, shown below) in Sanford, FL (yes, that “Sanford” where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed not long after we arrived) on the St. John River. We named it Alto, for my wife – who sang as an alto in the Back Bay Chorale in Cambridge, Mass for years.
The Keys
We next moved Alto to the Keys where we stored her on a rack and had it dropped into the water when we visited. We had a home base in Key Largo for ~$400/month. Here’s a blog, AltosAdventures.com, telling the story of our R25 on the St. John River and then in the Keys.
We also had part-ownership in a houseboat in Key Largo for several years but while successful, renting it out was onerous and Hurricane Irma in 2017 (a direct hit on the Keys) wore us out, even though the houseboat survived.
Friends recommended Sarasota, FL. Googling, I discovered Marina Jack was actually downtown. We could fly direct from Providence to Sarasota in 2.5 hours. Once there it was just a 12-minute Uber to the marina! In 2019 we sold the houseboat and moved Alto to Marina Jack on a floating dock.
Alto II
Eventually, we moved up to a diesel Ranger Tugs R31 with room for guests. We stayed on Alto II during winter visits and occasionally in the summer when it gets very hot. That’s Sarasota behind the boat:
However Gail, who doesn’t swim, never enjoyed living on the boat and came less often, so I looked for an affordable condo downtown, because Sarasota is all about walking. Eventually we found one and renovated it.
Alto III
With a condo in town, we no longer needed a big boat to live on. After worrying about five named storms in 2024, we were ready to downsize. We sold Alto II and bought a new Ranger Tugs outboard R25, Alto III, with a trailer. We could
pull her out of the water in an hour in bad weather.
Eventually, even getting to the condo in Sarasota grew difficult as we aged, so we bought a vacation condo in Tidewatch just 18 minutes from our house in Cotuit, MA. So the Sarasota condos are for sale, and we’re now full-time on Cape Cod.
Cape Cod
We keep Alto in a slip in Fairhaven, MA at a working marina for $3500 per season. It’s an hour from Cape Cod, but close to Martha’s Vineyard by sea.
We go to Menemsha, Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs, but mostly to Edgartown and attach Alto to a mooring ball in the harbor ($40/night) and radio for a tender to pick us up ($4)
and deliver us to the town dock.
Photo from Facebook
Photo bt Martha’s Vineyard Auto Rental
Edgartown, like all towns on the Vineyard, is tiny and walkable. Quaint with many restaurants, but no happy hours,
Photo from Svadore.com
it exudes charm. During Christmas only white lights are permitted by town ordinance. In season, the average price for a hotel for three days is $1675, or $4000 for a week. Then
there’s airfare or ferry cost, and car rental, etc. So visiting by boat for $40/night is pretty affordable! The tender is $4pp each way, and with a tip $10 round trip – not bad.
BTW, mooring in Oak Bluffs is $50/night and Vineyard Haven is $70. Dock space anywhere is expensive and by the foot so for Alto, about 32’ long, it would cost $125–$160/night, but bathrooms and showers come with it and that’s a fraction of a hotel room in-season.
Staying on a mooring in Edgartown for $280 per week is
BTW, mooring in Oak Bluffs is $50/night and Vineyard Haven is $70. Dock space anywhere is expensive and by the foot so for Alto, about 32’ long, it would cost $125–$160/night, but bathrooms and showers come with it and that’s a fraction of a hotel room in-season.
Staying on a mooring in Edgartown for $280 per week is
cheap. You can bring and use your own dinghy to go into town for free. But in July and August a two-week mooring stay is the max. So you just anchor for free in the Vineyard Haven lagoon
Edgartown Dinghy Dock, The Hull Truth
for a few days. Then you can go back, or to Oak Bluffs, etc. I’ll have to do another blog/website on affordable Martha’s Vineyard. BTW, I’ve already done that for the St. John River area and the Florida Keys, see the AltosAdventures blog.
The Plan
June, 2025 update: We’re selling both Sarasota downtown condos, they’re the cheapest in the city but also among the nicest. Check out the website describing them.
Maybe parts of our story will inspire and help you to “do stuff” and attempt living your dream; e.g. living on a boat in a marina, or enjoying the intimacy and charm of small city-living on a budget. My remote working friends now go for months on their boats with a Star Link antenna, allowing high speed internet anywhere. What’s your excuse for not getting on-board?
