To the marina or to anchor?

[S/V Elusive]

or dive the anchor. The alarms on the gps depend on a lot of things ... first and foremost, how much of a knat's ass can it measure, and did you set it when you were over your anchor (this is especially important if you are anchoring with a single anchor), and then what range will the gps allow

[unbusted67]

"I had never thought of leaving it at anchor... don't know why... but it hadn't entered my mind. Any tricks?"

-This interests me
-I am new to sailing and am thinking of buying a boat. I live in a city and have been looking around for ways of getting a mooring but have been left high and dry by the all-mighty-interweb (the net). Can someone tell me what the deal is with getting a permanent mooring in a major american city? Do I have to sink my own? Do I rent one from someone? Is it a competitive market? What is the deal when cruising, do you have to advance a visitor's mooring or can you just pick up whatever is free in the harbour and stay there? Why is there a lack of resources on this sort of thing?

[Vasco]

Saw this thread about marinas vs anchoring and it reminded me of an email I sent home recently. What follows are some observations about our fellow cruisers from that email.

"We put the boat in a marina so that it'll be safe while we're home. Because of this some of our friends have jokingly referred to us as "marina people". This is a mild insult in the cruising community as "real cruisers" pride themselves on anchoring out all the time and never going into marinas. In reality anchoring out is a necessity as very few can afford $80 to $150 a night just to tie up the boat. For that amount you get a slip and, in many marinas, especially in the Bahamas, fresh water and electricity are extra. But there are some cruisers that spend a lot of time in marinas and are known disparagingly as marina people. Marina people are uncomfortable at anchor and prefer to pay for the security of a slip. However I think some real cruisers secretly envy the marina people when a front is coming through and it's pouring rain and blowing forty knots and boats are dragging anchor all over the place. The marina people are in a marina, snug in bed, (this always happens at four in the morning) while the real cruisers are on deck, soaking wet, looking out for dragging boats.

Cruisers are classified not so much by social class or occupation but by their cruising style or behavior. Hence the marina people. It really matters little what you did in your shoreside life; what counts in the cruising community is how resourceful and self-sufficient you are. A diesel mechanics or a refrigeration technician is worth ten successful lawyers or surgeons (unless you break a leg or need some drugs, then the surgeon comes in handy). Another group of cruisers is called "checkbook cruisers" by the Bahamians. These folks have no skills applicable to boat maintenance and pay someone to fix everything. Of course not knowing how to fix things often results in paying the wrong people to work on your boat with the result of more things going wrong than being fixed. Bahamians love these people, boatyards love these people. Real cruisers stare at these people strangely. Checkbook cruisers are closely related to marina people. Many marina people are also checkbook cruisers.

Another group is the "dog people". These folks are mainly real cruisers but tied to their dogs who need a fair amount of attention. If you're in an anchorage and you hear a dinghy going by real early in the morning you can be sure that it's a dog person taking Rover ashore. Usually Rover's hanging over the bow of the dink which I guess is like sticking its head out the window of a pickup truck. Take them ashore early in the morning, take them to play with other dogs, take them for a walk. In Georgetown there actually are designated dog beaches and the dog people arrange doggie get-togethers on these beaches so that their pets can enjoy some canine company. Strangely, there are no "cat people" although there are many boats with cats aboard. I guess the cats are self sufficient like real cruisers. Either that or these sly animals have trained their owners to discreetly serve them so that they don't get labelled like the dog people."

[Sandero]

Rick,

I think you have that pretty well pegged. I doubt that real salty crusiers with lots of $$ would live tied up to a dock in a marina even if one was handy. Cruisers like to be on the hook, under sail and like the solitude and peace which anchoring provides and docks can't. When they need company they dink over to another yacht or a quayside watering hole... and when they have had enough they escape to their secluded floating world.

Jef
sv Shiva
Contest 36s

[GordMay]

Rick I:
Great description!
Not comprehensive (as Rick knows), but absolutely accurate as far as it goes.

[Vasco]

Gord,

No it's not comprehensive but I've got a list and if there's nothing to report I write a few lines about the various groups such as kids people, non drinking people, religious people, naked people, and a group I found recently that hang out in Green Cove Springs - the porch people. The list is endless.

[josef]

In the Balearics in a marina they wanted 140 euros per day for my 14 m cat. So we dropped a 2 ton concrete block down in the bay.Cost 1000 euros approx equivalent to a week in the marina.Soon paid for and can now rent it out when not using it.