I’m a 66 year old guy who wants to practice foiling every day. I’ve lived in BCS Mexico and briefly on Maui. I am most interested in downwind foiling and dock start foil pumping. I want to try life in Florida. i want to live without a lot of stress on my income of $2,300 per month. I could just live out of a van. I tend to think I would like a rental better than van life if it wasn’t too expensive. I’m looking for water that is l good for foil practice. Downwind foiling potentials would be good. Any advice from people who know the Florida Coast will be appreciated.
Lots of docks in Florida but not a ton of wind (esp. if you’re from Maui). Windy season starts in November and lasts until May but it’s frontal, not thermal so you go to a lot of different places as it’s always blowing from a different direction.
On the west coast St. Petersburg is nice because you can get out no matter where the wind is coming from and Fort DeSoto is just beautiful. I grew up a bit south of there but when I’m in town and there’s wind I always seem to make the drive up.
On the east coast I’m not sure where’s best.
At 66 you’ll be a bit young for FL btw
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Any prone spots in Miami area?
No good prone spots in Miami. As you progress north the surf generally gets better and better but Miami is essentially a novelty wave during strong North swells. If you like to do multidisciplinary foiling (wing/prone/DW) you will want to be based anywhere between Jupiter up to Jacksonville. Jupiter to around Vero is tropical water, rarely need a wetsuit, but smaller lower quality surf. Housing costs and restaurants are also more expensive in this area due to tons of NYers willing to pay any price. It’s also more congested and full of NYers.
The cape area (melbourne, cocoa, etc) the water starts to get slightly colder in the winter but can be good surf and good wind, cost of living is cheaper. North of the cape the water gets fully cold in the winter (60’s) but the waves are good for foiling regularly and cost of living stays relatively cheap.
I live near Jupiter and it’s good here. My sister lives in St. Aug and I go there frequently and it’s also good there. Just don’t go too far south or you won’t be doing much prone.
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I’m sorry everyone. I changed my mind and decided to stay in Maui. I think this thread should continue for the benefit of someone of limited resources thinking about moving to FL.
Sorry about the ridiculous number of typos that Wes here. I think I fixed most of them. Most people head off to the hills. Van life is another common way. I think those ways work for a lot of people.
I just have a bicycle and live In Kahului. I have hammocked in the woods every night after I paid a friend $75 to use a spare bedroom the first night. I have a storage space. I have outfitted it very nicely. I have respected the rule of no sleeping in it.
I made a few mistakes and suffered as a result.
I had my bike and backpack stolen while using a toilet for 45 seconds at Kanaha. The have meth addicts who work as a team. They zip tie the door of the portable toilet. In my case, when I saw the zip tie I immediately kicked the door open. I wasn’t fast enough. The pickup truck was pulling out as I exited the toilet.
I had tiny wounds turn into large infected wounds due to the flies which head for any open wound to have a feast or an egg laying contest. It’s a big concern if you are outside all day. I was very afraid to go to an ER then as I knew there would be huge bills to pay if I went. Thank goodness my immune system sent out white blood cells like a garden hose and beat my infections. I was assaulted by addicts.
I have told my story at Facebook where I am littleboxturtle@facebook.com. I wrote this yesterday. I guess one can’t include a link at the PP Forum.I have little Forum experience.
Morning 10/11/22
I had a very good sleep session last night. This morning, with thoughts about all the crap required to move to Florida whirring in my brain, it occurred to me I should just try to find housing here.
It was a beautiful morning at Kanaha with big NW swell coming in.
I made the realization that I truly love this place. I have everything I need and more. I am a very lucky human being to have this situation. In fact I might be the richest human being on planet Earth. Maui is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It’s some of the human beings here that make it very hard to be here if you expose yourself to them up close.
Wherever beautiful land and ocean meet the humans compete and cost of housing rises until it is unattainable for many. People who work here at low paying jobs have a struggle on their hands. They are here but they don’t live here. They just work here. The seaside places have a fair number of miserable people. The most unfortunate people are the drug dealers and addicts. The existence of these factors is a constant around the planet wherever beautiful lands and water collide.
I had an emotional experience this morning. To me, it was like the Universe gave me a good shaking this morning. It gave me all the input I needed to make the right decision. It was now up to me.
I decided I am staying. I am staying here until I die. This morning I graduated Maui Boot Camp and received my diploma. It’s time to move on. It was a great program at the Maui School of Life. I now know what I need to know. I’ve experienced the theft of my belongings, infection because I gave flies access to my wounds, and I had addicts scream at me and spit on me. I understand that some humans will always be self destructing and I need to stay away from them. I’m ready to move on and thrive.
What a relief. I’m so glad I made the grade and graduated.
It sucks that I bought a non refundable airline ticket to Florida.
(As it turned out I got a full refund from Expedia.)