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Post by Rob on Dec 8, 2019 16:37:17 GMT -5
Hi everyone. I’m sure we all are getting in gear for holiday celebrations, and here in northeast PA, this time of year is just another reminder how short our boating season really is! My wife and I are beginning to consider options for retirement, or if the ideal were possible, staying in the Finger Lakes region for summer and then extending our season with a winter place in the southeast. Big dreams, but we have 5-10 years, unless our employer has plans we don’t know about yet!
I was hoping I might get some pros/cons discussion going of the lakes in the northern GA, SC, NC region. Of course, if there are other areas people love, and don’t mind one more boater moving in, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I was reading all the posts about Lake Lanier and how clear it is and all, but someone told me that it is a reservoir for Atlanta and that the water level varies quite a bit and that it can be difficult to boat some seasons. No idea if that’s true.
The only things we are specifically looking to avoid is gators; they’re just creepy. Not sure whether we will stick with our 2300 for now, or move up in size. Again, this is really very early exploration.
Thanks for any information you can share. Happy holidays!
Rob
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Post by gofast24 on Dec 9, 2019 11:53:07 GMT -5
Yes. Lake Lanier goes up and down with the +/- seasonal rainfall but assume most lakes do whether or not there reservoirs for a city drinking water supply or not ? Where we are docked (Holiday Marina GA) the docks float up and down with the lake level but marina has to adjust anchoring wire ropes to the 2000# cement anchors holding the dock in place (storm/high winds, etc). When lake was down about 8' a few years ago the marina (harbor) is deep enough that we never had a problem sailing, just have to pay attention to depth finder and stay away from peninsules where bottom isn't naturally deep regardless of lake level. We have been happy with the quality of the water in the lake and after about 18 years no bottom fowling to speak of. I previously posted a picture of our boat on dry dock having props repaired (damage from previous owner!). on a second note if you are over 65 and not a millionaire property taxes in Gwinnett county (just on the bottom edge of Lake Lanier) we no longer have to pay school taxes or school bond taxes, my taxes went down about 60%. Current property tax the last 6 years around $900 / year, pre 65 about $2400. Being originally from MKE we were paying about $2400/ year in 1986 when we sold house for $45k, 33 years ago! We do get some freezing temps but lake never freezes, just Jan / Feb when we can light a fire in the fireplace and kill off a few bugs outside  Good luck and hope you can retire sooner (the 5 years vs. 10 years)! |
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Post by Rob on Dec 9, 2019 12:17:50 GMT -5
Great info! Thanks so much.
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Post by gofast24 on Dec 10, 2019 12:03:31 GMT -5
Great info! Thanks so much. Your welcome, just wanted to give my experience with moving from WI to GA. Hope that helped! On another note, cant remember the last time anybody honked their car horn, amazing (especially in the suburbs (not downtown ATL) In my 40 years working life I traveled all over the states and many other countries. Very happy that the German Diesel engine company I worked for moved from MKE to GA in 1986. Just my thoughts! Merry christmas or Happy Holidays to you and family! |
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Post by matts19 on Dec 13, 2019 14:33:00 GMT -5
You should check out Tellico and Norris lakes in East TN. Tellico would be my pick as the water level stays constant from about April until November and then drops for the winter. It is a beautiful lake with a lot of nice places to live and is connected to the Tennessee river so your boating options are almost endless.
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Post by gofast24 on Dec 14, 2019 11:17:38 GMT -5
You should check out Tellico and Norris lakes in East TN. Tellico would be my pick as the water level stays constant from about April until November and then drops for the winter. It is a beautiful lake with a lot of nice places to live and is connected to the Tennessee river so your boating options are almost endless. Good info. Just FYI my oldest son has a 38 (39?) ' Sea Ray on Percy Priest lake outside of nashville, water is so bad that most year round wet docked folks have to have bottom cleaned at least once per year, some twice depending on where on the lake they are docked. Any idea about that problem on the lakes you mentioned? positive point about TN is no state income taxes (oldest son is a M.D., glad no state income tax) but sales tax is around 10%. GA sales tax 6% or so for what that is worth? |
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Post by Rob on Dec 14, 2019 15:16:22 GMT -5
Really good information. Thank you.
Taxes and cost of living will all be a part of the discussion. We are looking forward to taking some micro vacations to check out these areas and then once we have a list of two or three finalists, take boating vacations in those spots. Should be able to turn something up in a five year period so we could find a property while still working and able to earn toward it. Recently been thinking about some of those condo like communities where you are close to the water and have pools and tennis and all that; not sure though, we still have a lot of stuff for a condo.
I’m really learning how widely disparate water quality can be. We were boating on a small 1200 acre lake in MA, and I hated the thing layer of green brown slime that wiped off effortlessly after a season of wet docking. Now that we are on the Finger Lakes, after about a month at the dock, we have zebra mussels galore and what looks like shag carpet on the bottom. I’d never thought I’d need to think about bottom paint for a small trailer boat like our 2300, but I’m beginning to think it is just plain required.
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Post by matts19 on Dec 17, 2019 9:19:24 GMT -5
You should check out Tellico and Norris lakes in East TN. Tellico would be my pick as the water level stays constant from about April until November and then drops for the winter. It is a beautiful lake with a lot of nice places to live and is connected to the Tennessee river so your boating options are almost endless. Good info. Just FYI my oldest son has a 38 (39?) ' Sea Ray on Percy Priest lake outside of nashville, water is so bad that most year round wet docked folks have to have bottom cleaned at least once per year, some twice depending on where on the lake they are docked. Any idea about that problem on the lakes you mentioned? positive point about TN is no state income taxes (oldest son is a M.D., glad no state income tax) but sales tax is around 10%. GA sales tax 6% or so for what that is worth? I have never heard great things about the Nashville area lakes. Boating is a big part of living in East TN and I highly recommend a visit. Norris lake and Tellico lake are both very clean lakes. Tellico is connected to and flows into the Tennessee River (Ft. Loudon Lake), which ultimately flows down through Chattanooga and Alabama and back up through Tennessee into the Ohio river. We boat on Ft. Loudon primarily but like to take rides down to Tellico (about 1 hour from our dock) and have even taken a ride all the way from Knoxville to Chattanooga by water. Ft. Loudon is a relatively shallow muddy bottom river so the water tends to look pretty cloudy depending upon how much rain we get. Norris and Tellico are both deep and clear. If you kept your boat in the water on Ft. Loudon you would get a layer of scum pretty quick. Norris had a problem with zebra mussels a few years ago but that seems to have gone away. Check out a development on Tellico lake called Tellico Village. |
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Post by Rob on Dec 21, 2019 20:59:59 GMT -5
Great tips. I will look into Tellico Village, and we are looking forward to planning some visits.
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Post by gofast24 on Dec 24, 2019 11:17:20 GMT -5
I looked it up, looks great! Only about 3 hours or so north of Lake Lanier! Have to wonder what the annual wet slip/covered dock fees are, we are paying about $600/month for a 40' covered dock, city water n/c, shore power at about 10 cents / kw-hr.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all!
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Post by matts19 on Dec 26, 2019 14:16:12 GMT -5
I have never looked into slips of that size, but the going rate for a covered slip and lift on Tellico/Ft. Loudon for a boat up to about 26ft is probably in the $300/month range. The two main marinas on Tellico that are not specifically affiliated with a community that I am familiar with is Ft. Loudon Marina and Sequoyah Landing. A quick google search leads me to believe Sequoyah Landing would be quite a bit cheaper for a 40' covered slip than what you are paying on Lake Lanier.
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Post by gofast24 on Dec 27, 2019 11:33:04 GMT -5
Situation is Holiday Marina is on the south end of Lake Lanier, too close to ATL metro area and too many doctors/lawyers/stock brokers/business owners/Delta Air Line Pilots/etc. who can afford these dock fees.We, (myself and two older sons) all chip in on dock fees so not too bad and the dock is about 15 minutes from my house, convenient. Guess we cant have that large beautiful lake and close proximity to our homes on the cheap.
Anyway, Happy New Year and thanks for posting your thoughts!
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Post by Rob on Jul 18, 2020 9:56:49 GMT -5
Does anyone have information on Clark Hill Lake also known as Lake Thurmond, along the GA/SC line? I recently was invited to look at an opportunity in the Augusta area, and that seems to be a good sized body of water that is very close to town. Imagine, great job, great weather, live in a house on the lake with an awesome dock setup... OK, back to reality. A job is a job, and lakefront costs, but the weather part is true and it seems like plenty of lake to explore!
Thanks.
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Post by gofast24 on Jul 18, 2020 10:12:47 GMT -5
Gosh, nice you are posting to a 6 month old post Additional advantage to living in Gwinnett Co GA (where I am) is after 65 or older no more school taxes on your property tax bill. My tax this year will be $938. About $340k home, before 65 tax about $3100/year.. |
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Post by squidwd on Jul 18, 2020 21:50:45 GMT -5
You can not beat Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee in SC and Lake Burton in GA
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