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Moving to Seattle


sarasetp

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I live in the Chicago area right now. I have my 2008 23' Wakesetter LSV in Wisconsin. I have a few questions.

1. Should I tow my boat to Seattle or pay someone to tow it? If the latter, what would be the cost?

2. If I want to live within 30 minutes of downtown Seattle and live close to wakeboarding water, what are the best lakes for wakeboarding in terms of flat water and water temp.

- It seems to me that Lake Sammamish would be a good bet. What do you think?

3. Should I trailer my boat to the water or keep it at a marina? (If the latter, which Marinas are the best)

Edited by sarasetp
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You can use Uship.com to get prices on shipping your boat. Osborn Transport was very accommodating when I was looking to ship, all though never ended up needing to. I would make sure that you have the boat properly winterized and covered to prevent damage in transit or at least minimize it. Make sure to watch the loading of your boat i.e. make sure it's strapped correctly...not over the window or areas to cause damage. shipping will obviously keep wear and tear off the trailer and if moving in winter...certainly a benefit.

I wouldn't keep my boat in the water for more than two weeks w/o allowing the hull to dry. Blistering can occur as gelcoat is pours to some extent.

While I've been to Seattle area many times, not enough to be of any help on location or lakes specifically. Visit Pikes Place especially the brewery...yum! Welcome to Seahawk territory. :surprised:

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I lived in Olympia so I can't help with Seattle lakes. But my wife's employer paid to move us out there. So the pickup and boat went on a flatbed, which I was nervous about but it worked out.

Getting back to the midwest was on our dime, so I drove back with boat in tow. I had the summer off so it was a no brainer, but I would recommend doing it in 2 days.

If you have the time, I would tow it myself. But there are a lot of reputable shippers people here have used.

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I haven't lived in the area for a while now but I did live on Sammamish for 7 yrs. There used to be a lot of really good talent on the lake, riders from Hyperlite, O'Brien, SkySki, & Inland Surfer to say the least. 30 min from downtown is a push.... maybe in good traffic at night. But not in rush hours. Lots of places to live & share waterfront in the area, condos at the north end, houses on the east side (town of Sammamish). But no public marinas to speak of.

There are a couple of public marinas on Lake Washington, one in particular up in Kenmore. Get a hold of the guys at Seattle Watersports (formerly SkiMasters) & ask for more info. But the lake is BIG & can get rough for a little 20' wake boat.

Plenty of other lakes to the north & south of Seattle too. Again, 30 min. is a push, maybe an hour or more in traffic (something I don't miss at all). But the further you get out of town & you'll run into better water conditions.

And when you decide to take a vacation from the wet side of the state (geeez, it's ALL wet this week), you'll probably head east to the desert. We have some really nice lakes over here, way better water but tougher to make a living nearby. Check out the 2012 NW WOW thread for more info on our Banks Lake trip in July.

Welcome to the NW. Hope your feet are webbed!

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Stop Stay where your at....Rain Rain Rain....And did I mention Rain, There are only 2 good reasons to live in the NW when you own a boat, You'll save a ton on Gas, and you will keep low Hr's on your boat...As you can see I'm Fed up. But when the weather does turn nice it's one of the most beautiful places on earth..Lakes & Rivers are awesome..Welcome, I hope I did not discourage you!!!LOL

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Sammammish is probably the lake you'll want to live on/by. It's 30 minutes from downtown (longer now that the other bridge is being tolled) but without traffic it's a breeze to get downtown. If you work in Bellevue it's even shorter. Commute times on average are not that bad out here. Not great, but no worse than what you are dealing with in Chicago.

Lake Washington is beautiful but it's not a good watersports lake. If it's not windy, it's littered with yachts and bozos when the weather is nice. I wakeboard when I can on Lk Wa., but it's very hit or miss. I'd stick to Sammammish if I could, but I live 10 blocks from Lk. Wa.

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If you are look to moving out to the sticks. Look at Long Lake in Port Orchard and Kitsap Lake in Bremerton. Your commute will be via ferry or the 60 plus mile commute through Tacoma. Lake Stevens is another nice area North of Seattle. Have a buddy up there.

Edited by CumminsBu
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