How busy is it on the water East Coast?

[Kettlewell]

My 2c is that everyone and their uncle decided that the boating world was ripe for plundering....excessive marina fees, paid mooring balls, etc, ad infinitum.

Yep. My boatyard sold and the new owners raised the rates by 50%.

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

From my perspective, boating in Florida is 10% of what it used to be, both power and sail.

My 2c is that everyone and their uncle decided that the boating world was ripe for plundering....excessive marina fees, paid mooring balls, etc, ad infinitum.

My local marina is a classic example. Once filled to the brim with every slip taken, these days, the place is a desert. Even the well heeled boat owner has said...enuff is enuff..

It's been going on for a while now, won't be long now and many marina's will go belly up...

I do agree with your point, in our area out of state marina corporations have bought up most of the privately owned marinas, boosted rates and services, banned working on your own boat and insist you use their contractors.
Slip fees, service fees and any other fee they can tack on is driving prices up, while few if any improvements are done.
Public moorings are now prized possessions but there aren't enough to serve everyone. In popular ports the mooring services seem to get an outsized share of the moorings, which they charge for. We were gone for fours years cruising, when we left moorings in a very popular destination were $25 a night, in those four years those moorings went up to $75 a night with some costing more, fortunately since we live on the anchor we skipped the moorings upon our return.
Your point about empty marina slips hits the point, marinas that used to be full are now half full mid season. The few surviving owner operated marinas are full and also having to turn away winter storage customers due to a full yard.
They're killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

[MicHughV]

Yep, was going to use that term myself " killing the goose that laid the golden egg".

We have much the same deal in Florida, where big corporations have bought up area marina's, jacking up prices every which way that they could. First to go were the mom and pop cruisers, the backbone of most any marina, but now even the well heeled boater has said enuff. I should post a before and after photo which tells the story better than any word can.

I simply can't understand how they can even keep the doors open these days, but must assume they are being supported by big corporate dollars somewhere, but once the piggy bank is empty...it's empty !

[Kettlewell]

Jacking up the prices for the remaining customers works for awhile, until suddenly there are no more remaining customers. The auto industry is finding this out now.

[Dr. D]

At our marina in Deale, MD, there are still several hundred boats on the hard. Very unusual. I've mentioned this to a few others here who actually sail their boats and they agreed this is an unusual season.

[MicHughV]

I've opined on this before, but some years back, some smart arse politician thought it would be a grand idea to add a 10% " luxury" tax on boats.....y'know...those people... the "rich" boaters like you and me..

Almost overnight, the boating industry ground to a halt, and remained that way for years.
That " tax" was eventually repealed, but by then the damage had been done and it took years for the boating industry to rise from the ashes.

I see these corporate marina take overs, etc, in the same light. You can't expect to squeeze blood out of a stone unnoticed.

The end of this tale has yet to be written but it is likely to have a bad ending.

[David Mathis]

Traffic on the Hudson River and Champlain Canal is down but I don’t have the statistics to indicate the amount of decline. Lake Champlain marinas seem to have dock space with the ability to get a slip without reservations. The Burlington Independence Day fireworks show appeared to have more shore based viewers but considerably fewer boats.
I agree that the marinas squeezing every cent from the boaters is probably a major factor in the decline of boating. We need more mechanics and far fewer MBAs at the marinas. Fuel costs have stabilized or increased only slightly but the cost of a slip, repairs, and most things associated with boats has increased significantly. Reports indicate a 22% decline in boat sales this year. Supply vs demand has brought about a significant decrease in the price of used boats and great deals on new ones but the boats are staying on the lots and showrooms.
My kids were brought up living on a river and using boats on a regular basis but neither own a boat although they could comfortably afford one. The bright spot is a grandson who loves being on a boat and traveling on one.

[rognvald]

No slips available on the West Coast of Florida. Average price for a 34' boat--$750. monthly plus tax. Waiting lists are up to a year long. No one uses their boats. They become near-derelict from the sun and salt air in about a year. We first experienced the shortage during Covid when everyone looked to boating to escape reality. The bubble will burst elsewhere but Florida is still growing with 700K migrating to Florida in 2022 alone. Usually these new boaters buy and sell within 2 years since they're not committed. However, our global warming trend is already making some people think about life in Florida. Nonetheless, Florida is a very expensive place to own a boat.
Rognvald

[MicHughV]

The above post brings home some realistic thoughts.

Yearly dockage 12 x $750 = $9,000
Yearly electric =12 x $75 = $ 900
Yearly insurance (guestimate) = $2,500
Yearly maintenance(g....) = $1,200
Bi-yearly haulout and bottom job = $3,000 ( figured on half value per year)

Just some rough numbers.. $16,600/annum.....

If you take out your boat 12 times a year, not an unreasonable number = $1,383 per trip.
To which must be added fuel costs, etc.

Anyway you look at it...it's an expensive " hobby" unless you sail/live aboard for 6-9 months out of the year...

[Kettlewell]

My costs are much lower than that, but none of us are doing it to save money! Still, the costs didn't suddenly materialize this year, and if you've already paid why not use the boat? Just odd how few people are out on the water around here.

[thinwater]

Friggin' hot.


We had a good day today, even though it was over 90F, but it was blowing 15-20 knots with steep chop. Most people won't sail when it's blowing. So if they can go out in light winds because it's hot and won't go out in fresh winds because it's rough ... they don't go out.



I am right near Annapolis, and we saw two boats.

[Kettlewell]

It's not like its never been hot or windy before!

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

My costs are much lower than that, but none of us are doing it to save money! Still, the costs didn't suddenly materialize this year, and if you've already paid why not use the boat? Just odd how few people are out on the water around here.

Hi, K,
The only people who used their boats in our last marina were the sport-fishermen. In a marina with 300 plus boats: +/-100 sailboats, there were only 2 sailors that regularly used their boat. Few of the sailboats were routinely visited or washed and rotted on the dock. In the meantime, there are year-long waiting lists for these precious slips. Believe me, it's the sailors who are the culprits in this abuse. Marinas need to change their rules about maintenance and regular use and make these slips available to real sailors. We never saw this when we were on the Great Lakes.
Rognvald

[Kettlewell]

The only people who used their boats in our last marina were the sport-fishermen. In a marina with 300 plus boats: +/-100 sailboats, there were only 2 sailors that regularly used their boat.

Yep, fishermen are the champion boat users, but mostly the outboard-powered ones. The bigger ones rarely go out. In New England a lot of sailors keep their boats on mooring balls, and many marinas are probably 90% or more power only. The average power cruiser sits at the dock most of the 6-month season, with the occasional sunset cruise out and back and one or two weekend jaunts per season. Still, lots of the sailboats on moorings rarely go out. The thing about Cuttyhunk that makes it a good judge of what is happening with cruising is very few boats are based there. Most boats we see there are cruisers, and traffic is way down so far this year.

[MicHughV]

Marina fuel prices at our local marina are right at $5/gal, that's for the non-ethanol variety.
Outboard engines have a prodigious thirst..your typical 150 hp engine will use 6-7 gal/hr at cruise, double that when wide open.
A day's fishing can consume $300 worth of fuel for that size engine...even if your fishing buddies chip in a few gas dollars, it is still an expensive outing...

Naturally, if you have twin engines or bigger engines, bring a big check book.