Moving to the greater Phoenix area from Ohio

[bgood188]

After 49 years in North Eastern Ohio we have decided to move to the greater Phoenix area. We bought a house in Queen Creek which is about 40 mins from Canyon Lake in the South East Valley.

Who else lives in the area I can get some local boating tips from? We have a 212SS and will be hauling it out late May or early June.

My 14 year old daughter cannot wait. She has pushed harder than anyone else to make this happen.

 

[CFD3Captain]

Best wishes from Ohio. I am jealous! Enjoy the beautiful weather year round

 

[leeatmg]

Welcome to the Phoenix area...I live in south Chandler and moved here from MN about a year ago. There are others who will chime in who have much more experience in the PHX area than I (we still haven't put the boat in, mostly because we are visiting and exploring the area still before making a commitment to a slip.)

We've been to Lake Saguaro the most - down river from Canyon. Absolutely beautiful and accessible. Canyon is even prettier but smaller. Have not been to Apache yet. Roosevelt is another option - highest upstream, but farther from the metro. And lastly, it'd be a hike for you, but there is Lake Pleasant - the epicenter of boating in the area, but crowded, loud, less scenic, and full of very large boats.

Word of warning - if you are still paying for your boat - AZ requires a copy of the title and a lien holder notification form before you can register the boat here. Basically, you send the form to the bank, they send a copy of the title and a notarized copy of the form to the AZ watercraft folks. Quick and easy on the AZ end, but the fine folks at Yamaha financing told us 60 days to get the form back, and it took almost that long. So if you want to go boating here when the boat arrives, and you have financing attached, you should begin the process ASAP.

Most of the info is here:

https://www.azgfd.com/Boating/Registration

but I strongly suggest you call them directly - they have newer versions of the forms that they will email you directly. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask...and good luck on your move! I think you will like it here, and the boating season is 12 months...as long as you don't mind a light jacket once in a while.

 

[bgood188]

Thanks Leeatmg for the color. I have been up to Canyon a few times and love it.

Quick question - What number did you call Yamaha finance at to get the ball rolling? I did find on the website you sent me a 90 grace period. So, I can boat 90 days without a AZ reg as along as it is registered in another state.

Do you plan to get the boat out this year? did you decide on a lake you plan to keep the boat at? We looked at Canyon butt he cost was crazy.

 

[leeatmg]

@bgood188 I called the toll free number on our statement, which may be different for you but on our statement it is 1-877-314-1507. The person I spoke to walked me through what to do, etc. and if I recall had me fax the request instead of mailing it for time purposes. If I can find that fax# I will; if not, the # above should give you what you need.

The 90 day rule is correct - we had sadly let our registration expire so that wasn't an option for us. You should be good as long as you get the ball rolling on the transfer.

We have had many plans to get the boat out, and life has intervened, but we will get back out there soon. Just talked to someone last night who had some info on slips on Saguaro, which is closest for us. Slips are expensive here compared to the midwest, but you have to remember we have a 12 month boating season, so it averages out to be cheaper monthly.

Since most of the homes down here are in an HOA, and most HOAs don't allow boat storage on your property, we've had it in a storage facility. Once you get used to paying a monthly fee just to store the boat, the slip costs don't seem as high as they used to. Plus, we have kids who like to do stuff (and we do too) and boating ends up being a reasonably priced weekend hobby compared to, say, Disney or water parks or...you know. Back in MN, we paid about $2500 a season for our slip. A season ran mid May through mid October, so that's almost $500 a month. On a per month basis, slips here are much cheaper. We've talked about just having the slip for 6 months to see if we really want to keep a slip.

I would imagine we will pull the trigger this year, probably after the height of summer, and store if not slip our boat at either Saguaro or Canyon, but we'll see. Over a year later, we are finally settled in enough to be able to think about this stuff again. Crazy how life gets in the way when you move across country...good luck with the move, and if you have any questions please ask. I got some very good advice from the Phoenix crowd when I was moving, and it seems like we've grown a bit since then so I'm sure others will have some advice too.

 

[cybuch]

Welcome to AZ!! We are usually on Saguaro every weekend. The plus side to the slip, especially at Saguaro, is the lake gets crowed in the summer and you might have to wait an hour or two in the waiting area before you can get on the lake if you are not early. If you have a slip, you are already good to go.