live aboard priorities for a marina

[schoonerdog]

Thank you, we've had friends do that in Brisbane. You must live someplace that's more moderate than where we are. Annapolis can occasionally drop into the single digits, and friends of ours from Brazil who were anchored out one summer came swearing ashore exclaiming "People think that Brazil is hot, this is hot!". I think for several weeks it didn't drop below the low 90s, daytime temps went above 100 and humidity was so high it was like a fog. The other main thing we get from a marina is logistics, I work so need a place to safely park the car.

[schoonerdog]

OMG that IS beautiful!!! This is wonderful in that I'm seeing where people are going and using as a good home base while cruising. WHERE ARE YOU?! I soooo completely agree with you on priorities. OK, going into stalking mode to find out where you are. Love your website by the way.

Originally Posted by Sojourner

OK so this post might just be a cheap excuse to put up some pics of our winter marina/port, but I gotta do it. We spend hours each week talking incredulously how the heck we fell into this paradise, and how hard it will be to ever go to another marina again

In order of importance, from a marina to live in (over winters) I need:

1) AMBIANCE.

That was easy!

I hate new, I hate crowded, I hate modern, I hate sleek.

I LOVE decaying fortresses, meandering breakwaters whose once straight lines have shifted slowly over centuries, the smell of stones and seaweed and the sound of your own footfalls echoing in empty places. Overgrown paths leading to a secluded shore with no one on it. That feeling in the pit of your stomach that makes you feel like a kid again instead of some middle-aged, more-exhausted-by-the-day soul worrying about mortgages and health problems.

Compared to our old home port in northern Italy, surrounded by million dollar boats, pools and carparks, this crumbly paradise gives me life.

I'll trade any other inconvenience for that

[schoonerdog]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

This appears to be non-transient liveaboard. As a transient with a well equipped boat, the only things I'm really concerned with at a marina are a well built dock, high pressure clean water, and preferably screaming fast internet Oh and somewhere safe to have my shipments delivered.

Yes, for those like us who are temporarily chained to a job. Hopefully will be done with that soon.

[schoonerdog]

Originally Posted by Alawaiorion

After I read the list and picked myself off my salon floor from laughing...um...No "keyed" entry at the Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor in Waikiki. You CAN walk to the beach but no guarantee that you have working cleats on your dock or even that you have a dock that doesn't sway side to side as you walk down it...free internet???? excuse me while I wipe up the coffee that just shot out my nose...

Hawaii is gorgeous, I was offered a job there this past year, but had two things working against me. 1) the stupidly expensive housing and 2) I thought I could just bring our housing with us and cruise over but couldn't find a marina. The only one we could find was Ko Olina marina with space and the first question they asked was "are you a live aboard". I replied honestly and they basically said "no" and hung up. From what I can see Hawaii had a state run marina whose prices were ridiculously cheap, and that probably encouraged a lot of permaboards (people with derelict floating things that they called boats) which then poisoned the waters for everyone else as a live-aboard. I do understand though, Hawaii needs affordable housing.

[Neziak]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

OK so this post might just be a cheap excuse to put up some pics of our winter marina/port, but I gotta do it. We spend hours each week talking incredulously how the heck we fell into this paradise, and how hard it will be to ever go to another marina again



In order of importance, from a marina to live in (over winters) I need:



1) AMBIANCE.



That was easy!



I hate new, I hate crowded, I hate modern, I hate sleek.



I LOVE decaying fortresses, meandering breakwaters whose once straight lines have shifted slowly over centuries, the smell of stones and seaweed and the sound of your own footfalls echoing in empty places. Overgrown paths leading to a secluded shore with no one on it. That feeling in the pit of your stomach that makes you feel like a kid again instead of some middle-aged, more-exhausted-by-the-day soul worrying about mortgages and health problems.



Compared to our old home port in northern Italy, surrounded by million dollar boats, pools and carparks, this crumbly paradise gives me life.



I'll trade any other inconvenience for that

Are you still there in Mandraki?

I think maybe we saw you there the other day.

[BlackHeron]

If you just sailed over from the mainland you are NOT a livaboard, you are a cruiser. You might be there full time on your boat but that doesn't make you a livaboard.

If a marina asks if you are a liveaboard always tell them you are a cruiser but your boat is your home and goes where you go. Most marinas do not want "livaboards" who never leave and couldn't leave unless they get towed out of their marina.

If they really do not want full-time cruisers staying there then fine, find another marina. But usually when they have an issue with livaboards it is not full-time cruisers they are talking about.

[Auspicious]

The poll was for amenities but there is a fine line with priorities and characteristics. Others have already crossed that line.

1. Solid dock

For starters, I don't want the dock to shake when I walk down it. I want cleats through bolted, not lag screwed. I prefer tying up to solid pilings. I spent a winter at a small marina @schoonerdog can see from her boat (I think) and the shaky docks were really disconcerting, especially in icy conditions. Some days I crawled.

2. Protection from weather

My hurricane plan is to get out of the marina, but high winds and seas should not impact my lifestyle.

3. Dependable electricity

Think this is a given? Think again.

4. Potable water including winter water

There are some places that are just bad. Not just high salinity from ground water in the Bahamas, but high iron from wells in the US. I don't want the taste and I don't want the maintenance. Winter water should be reasonable, safe, and available without heroic measures. Winter water parties with everyone hooking hoses end-to-end can be fun but as a way of life become tedious and intrusive. I've lugged jugs all winter and wouldn't want to do that again.

5. Solid high speed WiFi with broadband backhaul at the slip

Because I need Internet for work and entertainment. I have other access means but entertainment takes a big hit.

6. Sufficient parking with dock cart access

I've been places with flights of stairs between docks and parking, including the marina where I met @schoonerdog. You have to go far around. Let's not make getting groceries to the boat more difficult. I'll put very steep ramps in the same category as steps.

I have a strong preference for estuaries as the cruising tends to be good.

Rules enforcement should be on my list somewhere near the top. How near depends on how long I'm staying. If you have rules that I sign up to with my contract then my expectation is that everyone abide by them. Rules should be enforced.

Some of the things on the poll have marginal benefit to me but I wouldn't call priorities. Storage for example.

Some I see as a detriment. Pools, beaches, and playgrounds draw weekenders and drop-bys which are disruptive. Same with bars - I can think of a number of marinas where Friday and Saturday nights were guaranteed to be sleepless. Some places every night.

Slip holders' lounge is a little different. On delivery a lounge is often a good place to regroup, make travel arrangements, and generally decompress. For liveaboard it's nice for events but mostly I stay on my boat. Certainly not a priority for me.

[contrail]

At one time, I worked in the marina business, and our company was the largest "salt water" (as opposed to lakes and rivers) on the West Coast. A very detailed survey found that the two biggest wants were 1) Security and 2) Cleanliness, which, of course, includes heads, etc.

I don't see security on this list, and neither do I see cleanliness, athough showers are mentioned. At the time, internet in marinas was being introduced, mostly in lounges, but wifi was in its infancy. So, I am guessing that the true top three items, nowadays, would be security, cleanliness, and internet.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

If you just sailed over from the mainland you are NOT a livaboard, you are a cruiser. You might be there full time on your boat but that doesn't make you a livaboard.

If a marina asks if you are a liveaboard always tell them you are a cruiser but your boat is your home and goes where you go. Most marinas do not want "livaboards" who never leave and couldn't leave unless they get towed out of their marina.

If they really do not want full-time cruisers staying there then fine, find another marina. But usually when they have an issue with livaboards it is not full-time cruisers they are talking about.

I think this is correct, an important distinction.

[Alawaiorion]

Originally Posted by schoonerdog

Hawaii is gorgeous, I was offered a job there this past year, but had two things working against me. 1) the stupidly expensive housing and 2) I thought I could just bring our housing with us and cruise over but couldn't find a marina. The only one we could find was Ko Olina marina with space and the first question they asked was "are you a live aboard". I replied honestly and they basically said "no" and hung up. From what I can see Hawaii had a state run marina whose prices were ridiculously cheap, and that probably encouraged a lot of permaboards (people with derelict floating things that they called boats) which then poisoned the waters for everyone else as a live-aboard. I do understand though, Hawaii needs affordable housing.

The first part of this is true...KoOlina no longer allows liveaboards - we lived there as liveaboards from 2003 to 2009 and it was very expensive (1400/month) and there were tons of rules - like you couldn't hang your beach towels over your rails or booms to dry and no car covers etc. -
but the state run harbors recently nearly doubled their prices - for a 55 foot slip we pay about a thousand dollars a month (up from 640) - over the past several years the state became aggressive about dealing with the derelicts - who generally were transients and not permanent, usually were behind in their moorage, and were sold from person to person in order to circumvent rules - that is no longer the case now. All boats in state harbors are inspected yearly and have to demonstrate being seaworthy by doing what's called a buoy run each year - leaving the slip, exiting the harbor, going out to sea past the last marker and returning - all this being witnessed by a harbor agent- and under their own power- and all boats must carry up to date insurance with salvage and pollution coverage that names the harbor - Yes it takes being years on the waiting list to find moorage in Hawaii- and then years after that to acquire legal liveaboard status. It is not something impulsively done here...There are other private marinas on Oahu (on Sand Island) Las Marianas, Kehei, etc... so someone wanting to liveaboard in Hawaii has to submit yearly applications, obtain a slip, buy or bring over a boat, live in Hawaii mainly on land (you can stay 90 days a year on your boat) while waiting to be a permitted liveaboard...and I will reemphasize - it is not cheaper than renting a studio apartment here - back in the day it used to be but now with the insurance requirements and inspections not so much..interestingly there are two boats that when people first see them assume they are derelicts - a large homemade "barge" with the Hawaiian sovereignty flag that is powered by two large outboard motors (this is not a liveaboard) and the antique Chinese Junk that also can move under its own power. There are over 700 boats here - the vast majority are regularly used and seaworthy...

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by contrail

I don't see security on this list, and neither do I see cleanliness, although showers are mentioned.

agree with the security requirement. security guards are nice if the marina can't offer locked gates for parking and access. also agree that clean showers and bathrooms are assumed but not always delivered