Island living - Transportation for you and guests?
 

My wife and I our looking at the Winni area and we're both drawn to the islands for some reason but the logistics of getting us and family/friends there gives us pause. There isn't a lot of info on how people do this so hopefully someone can provide some insight into where you can park you cars, where you can leave your boat (on mainland) etc. Since it would be a weekend/vacation spot we'd be driving up weekly so we'd have to leave our cars somewhere close to where our boat is parked on the lake. I'm assuming we'd have to rent a slip (or buy?) what's a typical cost for this? Are there easy (maybe not cheap) ways to get cars or large items to the islands? What about if guests want to come, is there a normal spot they park to be picked up?

Also, what if we want guests to go without us. Are there easy ways to get to the islands without your own boat?

Thanks!

Let's start with the easy one ......... what part of the Lake / What Islands are of greatest interest ??


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Cow, Bear, Rattlesnake. The larger ones.

Island living
 

I live on the mainland, so my comments are basically what I have read on this site, and learned from talking with others who actually live on an island.

I think that a very important concern is your Realtor. There are realtors around the Lakes Region who specialize in island real estate, and there may be some significant advantages to using one of them. Also, my guess is that they will know the answers to your questions.

In brief, yes, you will need a shore base for transportation purposes for you and for any guests. You will need a substantial boat, and probably others, too, for routine getting around.

Island living is hugely mental, and the rest physical. I think you might consider renting on an island to experience the conditions before you jump in and buy property.

Good luck.

The answers will vary significantly depending on island and town.

Gilford islanders have use of the Glendale town docks and auto parking. The Rattlesnake Island Assoc had an auto parking area, someone from that island can speak to that. As already suggested. a realtor that knows about the islands can help a lot.

You will need an island boat, one than can carry passengers and lots of "stuff" in a variety of lake conditions. You will need to own or rent a slip, not easy as demand and prices are high. You should be able to park at least your auto at the slip site.

Island Support Service for one can get large items to the islands.
http://islandsupportservice.com/

You would be well served if you knew how to make basic repairs to plumbing and electrical systems as well as having basic carpentry skills and tools.

I have a place on Cow. You will need to either rent or purchase a slip. You can tow your boat every weekend. That gets old quickly. There are no roads on any island, except the bridged islands, so there is no need for a car. Tuftonboro has a town parking lot for guests. It does require a parking pass. Most slips come with one or two parking spots. There are barges for hire to get large items to the islands. Everything is carry in, carry out. It is a total different lifestyle compared to living on the mainland. As mentioned, it is best to start with an island realtor. They are the experts on island living.

Having been an islander in the past and speaking from experience Gilford is the easiest town to be in for an islander, however that doesn't come without its costs. Property prices are a bit higher and so are taxes. Properties with $4k tax bills in Tuftonboro will be $9-10k in Gilford.

We are starting to shop for another island home, we sold 2 years ago and can't wait to get back out there. I am having a bit of an internal conflict myself over where to be. We love Gilford, but the taxes are stiff for seasonal use only and the inventory is low. I am thinking of doing something over near or on Cow, but commuting over from Gilford. We wont get the use of Glendale, but will keep a mainland slip in a marina.

We come up from the seacoast, so I would not want to have to drive out around the lake to Pier 19 or Harilla. Where are you coming from? That should play into your decision.

Island Living
 

One of the best suggestions above is the recommendation to rent a place on an island to see if you and yours like living on an island. It is not for everyone, but we have loved being on East Bear Island since 1967. 🐻

Go get them
 

Guests are like groceries. You want them, you have to go get them. They can't just drop in the way people do on the mainland. Same for tradesmen who may not have their own boat, and want you to provide transportation. Slickcraft is right. A few handyman skills are a good thing, but if you don't have them, your neighbor on the island will teach you.

Big rule: Don't be the only one in the family who can drive the boat solo.
Little rule: Many islanders have a second smaller boat ("for the kids"). LOL. Little boats are fun for big people too.

If Rattlesnake
 

If you buy on Rattlesnake Island you'll join the Rattlesnake Island Assoc (req'd) which gives you access to their private parking area, boat ramp (quite steep), and enclosed compound (for storing boat/trailer).

In lieu of renting or buying a slip somewhere, alot of marinas offer 'valet' service as an alternative. If you are only up for weekends, this may suit your needs (at least to start).

As posted above, the best idea would probably be to rent a place on an island to see how you like it. It is not for everyone. Talk with a realtor.

Happy hunting!

Weather?
 

I've never lived on an island but have friends that don't show up to gatherings because the weather was stormy (heavy rain and/or/wind and/or thunder). I would also think that the timing of getting on or off the island could be affected i.e. you might need to wait until a storm blows through and if you had a time sensitive appointment you could be late?

I'm not saying this is a disqualifier, just something to be aware of. I live here and during the summer I always have to remind myself to add 10 minutes to travel times to allow for traffic, especially going anywhere around Meredith and other high traffic areas.

Um ever wonder if that was just an excuse not to leave their island paradise? I use that excuse all the time, yeah sorry but on island time... I mean it's stormy as hell out here just can't make it. All the while you are sitting on the porch feet up adult beverage in hand with a killer 2 MPH summer breeze creating a 1MM chop on the water. Simply to dangerous to face those conditions I mean somebody could get killed out there! ;)

Delayed Departures
 

In the forty-nine years that we have been on East Bear Island, there have been times when we decided to remain at our cottage until we thought that lake conditions would allow a safe trip back to the mainland. We would leave the island frequently before dawn io order to get to work on time. Island living is worth it!!! 🐻

Delayed Arrivals
 

There have been times when we came to the lake, only to arrive at the same time a storm was moving through. On several occasions, we slept in our car until dawn before going out to East Bear Island. 🐻

Delayed Departures
 

In 8 years on Rattlesnake I had to call in to work only once due to lake conditions (we're on the Broads). I could have made it but what the hey, I was planning on quiting that job anyways!

Heading out to the island we have been delayed a couple times due to TStorms moving through. A temporary delay but hey, Patrick's has cold beer!

Advice from a mainlander
 

I would think being an islander would require one to be very organized. We considered buying an island property but ended up with a fixer upper on the mainland. I think the first season, multiple trips to the hardware store or lumber yard were a staple of every weekend. I quickly and gratefully realized that I would need to be much more organized had we bought on an island. The upside I guess would be that every trip means a boat ride.

Good luck on your search for a place on this beautiful lake.

schedules
 

On an island, you learn to say "Put that on the list for next week".

Bad Weather blues...

Remember, that only works on folks who don't know about all the web cams on the lake. ;)

Lists.....yaaaa
 

Oh, there are lists.......

To bring to island
To bring home
Groceries
Hardware store
Closing
Opening

......and they get much more useful as you get older. :)

This was the first year in memory where we didn't have to take a quick boat ride to Heaths Hardware in Center Harbor to get a replacement plumbing fitting when we put the water in. And for all those other trips we always got two of whatever it was that was being replaced.

Parking is our biggest problem. We use the lot next to Shep Browns and it can be impossible to park on weekends. And for that reason we don't go out by car on weekends. We arrived last Friday night around 9-9:30 and had to park in the upper dirt lot as all the spots in the paved lot were taken. Arrive on Saturday afternoon and you may not even be able to park in the dirt lot. Then you just have to wait until a spot opens up. We trailer a boat so we need to park the trailer too. The solution to both is getting a slip with parking.

Not for all but we love it!
 

Island life is different, and not for everyone. We looked and bought on an island because we got a great view, lots of waterfrontage for almost 1/3 of what something similar would have cost on the mainland. We wouldn't trade it now for anything.
The island is an escape. It is more effort to run out to do x/y or z so we don't always do it. We make do without. We relax and enjoy our family. We have projects that we work on together.
We have certainly altered plans due to the weather - we bought a boat with a camper top so we will boat in the rain, but obviously not during storms, etc. So we leave earlier, or later.
We rent a slip at Shep Browns and have parking with it. Guests can park in the lot, or at Cattle Landing. Frankly, we are in the middle of the lake so we can boat to wherever they park - downtown Meredith near the old Aubuchon is a great lot, and we live on a Gilford Island so there is parking at Glendale as well. If we are planning a party, I tend to try for weekdays - when parking is a non-issue.
I do have friends with mainland homes who go up in the winter - while you could go to the island in winter, we have not as yet as it is an unheated camp that draws water from the lake. If you want year-round access mainland is obviously easier. Others have mentioned getting workmen to come out can be challenging, but there are at least 2 companies that will do repairs, bring people out for you, etc.
I love sitting out watching the Sophie C go by, kayaking the islands around us in the morning when the water is like glass, chatting with our neighbors. We get on the boat and everyone's stress levels drop. Our island is definitely my happy place! :)

I agree on the Shep Brown's dirt lot being a ****...I thought, being a lot for boaters using the "public ramp" for the town of Meredith, that only vehicles with trailers using the ramp, were allowed to park there.
Not so... The dirt lot was so packed with cars without trailers, most vehicles with trailers were blocked from leaving the lot by parked cars. Very discourteous of people to knowingly, block a trailer vehicle which needs a lot more clearance to swing out of a space...not sure why this is allowed to happen but I will stay away from that area from now on.

Sorry...didn't mean to hijack the thread...

As a former fellow Mark Islander the statement above couldn't be more true. As soon as we came out of Glendale and rounded Lockes I could always feel the stress just fade away.

I rarely found a time that I was scared to boat in or out- I was always up for the adventure. A few rides were very sketchy (the worst being the trip that December we moved out) but I lived to tell about it.

Yeah but that is only a problem in the middle of tourist season. Parking is never a problem till the 4th of July and by the third week in august it's fine again as well.

I do the same thing you do, trailer up every trip, this time of year I roll in Thursday night after work and don't leave till Sunday evening or even Monday morning.

And thats when it matters most.

Dunno never ran into this problem nor have any of my guests. At times I have had to park in the upper lot, but that is unusual. Once I'm parked I don't move till I leave the lake everything is done by boat.

During the week this is never a problem no matter what time of the year it is.

Wolfeboro Corinthian Yacht Club
 

If you are looking at island property near Wolfeboro, may I suggest checking out the Wolfeboro Corinthian Yacht Club. They have parking, valet service and an island shuttle service, not to mention a whole lot of other fun things. I belong to the WCYC and can answer any questions you have. OR you can check out www.wcycnh.com About 1/3 of the memership are island owners.

Hope this helps.

Wow, great info, thanks! So it looks like the answers is it depends on what island and what town? So, my next question might have the same answer but what about high speed internet, wells and septic? My wife and I need high speed to work from home so that would be a deal breaker and a proper septic and non lake water would be nice too.

Some people mentioned valet, is this basically water taxi if you don't have a boat? Do most islands have public docks so we could visit them? Anything that's hard/unusual about living on an island?

Valet is when you rent a "rack" on land at a marina for your boat, as often as not, under a roof or inside a storage building, and the marina launches the boat when you call ahead. After you're done with the boat, the marina hauls the boat out (usually with a fork lift) and puts it back in the rack. The service is a seasonal contract. NB

Island life
 

Valet service is when you have a boat, but not a slip. You call ahead of time, and the marina will put the boat in the water and have it waiting for you, and then they take it out of the water when you are done. We did that our first summer, but find having a slip much better. I would not want to have an island home without having a boat!
Well water and septic will also depend on which island and which property on that island - certainly they exist but not everywhere. An agent who does a lot of island real estate would be your best bet to be able to help you.
I believe there is now high-speed internet to the islands near Bear, not sure about elsewhere. We have not wanted it/don't have it.
Most islands do not have any sort of public dock.
Island life is carry-in/carry out. Groceries, paint, tools, etc all come over on the boat. Trash, recycling, stuff that can't stay over the winter all comes off the island on our boat. Larger items you may need to have barged over (ie appliances, furniture).
There are a number of island homes for rent - you might want to try that before committing to purchase

On Welch internet is phone co DSL, about 1.5 Mbps down and 0.4 up. Only other option is satellite and that is not a good option. I suspect other islands are about the same.

Many (maybe most) island camps have modern septic. Most use lake water, fine for seasonal. Sediment and taste filters and UV purifier. Many threads on this, Do an advanced search of the home cottage maintenance forum. Also threads on island internet.

Variable Internet.
 

Some islands (i.e. Cow) get 3 Mbps to 10 Mbps DSL depending on which side of the island you're on (proximity to incoming underwater cable). Other islands have better wireless broadband access available. I imagine there are some with none, but if there is phone service, you should be able to get something.

I guess I missed an important question. How are island for kids? What's the average age on the islands, we have three kids <5 so ideally there would be other kids for them to play with. I heard rattlesnake has two "public" beaches which I would assume attached people even though they might have their own beach? My wife is worried about "dragging" three kids out to an island every weekend. :rolleye1: :)

Some more questions:

1. Are the building/renovation requirements more strict on the islands?
2. Do owners visit in the winter or do you lock it up until spring? We're unsure if we'll want to use it in the winter but having the option to use it would be nice. Since there are no roads I'm assuming the only way out there would be snow mobile?

2 public beaches? Never heard that....

There are plenty of kids on the islands, as far as average age I don't think that can be answered. It all depends on where you buy. Some islands are more kid-friendly than others. I would not suggest the broads side of Rattlesnake for small kids for instance.

Building codes are the same as on the mainland. I think on the islands you can get away with doing a bit more work without it going noticed.

Most islanders lock up and shut down. A few hearty souls do get year round use. Travel over the lake in the winter can be dangerous if you do not know where to go, what to look for, etc. Some winters you can put a truck on the ice, other years you cant even walk it- again, depending on where you are headed.

Island life
 

There are no public beaches on Rattlesnake. There are some island owned lots that may look like beaches. If you buy a house that has close neighbors you may get other kids. An island As steep as Rattlesnake means a lot of people are somewhat isolated. Little kids on the Broads side of Rattlesnake will need a kiddie pool and a heap of sand as it is often too windy to play shoreside. There are some properties with perched beaches that would be good for them.

Some of the flatter islands would be more kid friendly. I have no issues when our grandkids come. They play with a hose and large buckets of water. We keep tons of craft supplies available. They love to go out on the jetskiis with us. Our teenage grandkids don't mind the waves. They fish a lot.

The serenity on this side of Rattlesnake is second to none! Nothing like it.

I rented for two years and bought late summer the second year. We only sort of knew what we were getting into. I strongly suggest doing that. You can cruise arounfpd the lake and find areas you like. Often we go for long rides and discover a new area. Many time I think... This would be great for little kids.

Septic is a blessing. Well water much rarer. We pull from the lake and carry in drinking water.

Good luck
IG

I think I have have video of my pontoon boat involved in that "ride"..

The video did it no justice...It was a lot worse!