Moorings Fees Going up 700%

[seacap]

News just in from the water police here in St. Thomas, VI (DPNR). They want to increase our mooring fees by as much as 700%.


One of the fees they sight is the fact that a 40 foot boat pays a mooring fee of $390/month in Florida. Now obviously Florida is a fairly big place. Are there areas that charge this much?

They also sight the fact that people get a mooring for $350 per year and then rent them out for $500 a month. Of course this is crap. Never known anyone to do that. And I have lived here for 25 years.

They also charge for anchoring here.

Here is a link to the proposed increases.
Public Notice Detail

Meeting is tomorrow night. Any insights would be welcome.

[mbianka]

Here in the northeast U.S. I pay $125 to the town for a six month season on the mooring. But, I also have to provide my own mooring, have it inspected and pay for dropping and picking it up. Looking at how much space the mooring actually takes up on the harbor bottom I feel we boaters are paying some of the highest real estate taxes around.

[zeehag]

san diego mooring fees are 130 r month. 260 for sublet, and those are ONLY thru the mooring company.

[seacap]

Originally Posted by zeehag

san diego mooring fees are 130 r month. 260 for sublet, and those are ONLY thru the mooring company.

Zeehag, is that for the mooring itself, or just a permit to put your own down? In other words does the mooring company install and maintain the mooring? Then charge 130/mnth?

[zeehag]

there are 440 moorings in san diego bay and all are run by san diego mooring co--there are wait lists for "permanent" moorings, but transients can moor with sdmc permission for double the permanence rate....they are already placed and maintained yearly..dont know of a wait list for those temps.

[zeehag]

please forgive the post whoring--i dont usually do that--but wifi willnot allow me to edit today fro some rwason---the moorings were placed by sport authority of san diego many many years ago--- dont know which exact year--but before they were privatized they were also run by port auth of sd--now, no more are allowed to be placed without permission from port, and they are run by sdmc.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by zeehag

please forgive the post whoring--i dont usually do that--but wifi willnot allow me to edit today fro some rwason---the moorings were placed by sport authority of san diego many many years ago--- dont know which exact year--but before they were privatized they were also run by port auth of sd--now, no more are allowed to be placed without permission from port, and they are run by sdmc.

What kind of maintenance do they do on them? I have a friend who lives on a mooring he made. He pulls it periodically for rigorous maintenance.

[hellosailor]

Gary, it sounds like your authorities have discovered "market pricing" aka "gouge the bastards till they bleed".

The case can easily be made to charge market price for anything, that's a "social" decision to be made by the folks in charge, and if the rubes, ergh, voters, don't disagree and run 'em out of town on a rail, that's what they're going to do in order to raise revenues these days.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Gary, it sounds like your authorities have discovered "market pricing" aka "gouge the bastards till they bleed".

The case can easily be made to charge market price for anything, that's a "social" decision to be made by the folks in charge, and if the rubes, ergh, voters, don't disagree and run 'em out of town on a rail, that's what they're going to do in order to raise revenues these days.

Visits from sailboats will drop off, and they will either care, or not.

[zeehag]

san diego moorings are maintained every year by the mooring company coming around in their crane barge and lifting block and chain out of water and micrometer-ing the remaining chain and replacing that which has worn too far for safety.
they supply the tag lines also and inspect those before every storm in winter--those can get winds to 40-90+ kts wind with appropriate accompanying seas(lots if fetch)--is fun to sit on a mooring in a ferocious winter pacific storm and wonder if you are gonna break way-- there are some that do--usually the fault of the lines or cleats holding same. unfortunately they use yacht braid, not 3 strand--sometimes the lines snap.
there has not been a broken chain since 1999 easter sunday when a hudson force 50 broke a chain link and cruised thru downtown moorings and took out 4 others. biig problem-china chain.
the moorings(as installed by port of san diego) use 1/2 in chain and a 2840 pound block of concrete--there are some heavier moorings in a protected area for large boats.

when i was in st thomas, dec 2008, at water island, there were many many moored and anchore boats--we didnt pay for anchoring, but there was precious little room for it.

[Noname1]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Gary, it sounds like your authorities have discovered "market pricing" aka "gouge the bastards till they bleed".

The case can easily be made to charge market price for anything, that's a "social" decision to be made by the folks in charge, and if the rubes, ergh, voters, don't disagree and run 'em out of town on a rail, that's what they're going to do in order to raise revenues these days.

This IS the USVI . The voters vote the same crooks in year after year. It is very unlikely anyone cares about rich yachtees. Prolly most will just ignore the regs and no one will come to enforce

Here in the northeast U.S. I pay $125 to the town for a six month season on the mooring. But, I also have to provide my own mooring, have it inspected and pay for dropping and picking it up. Looking at how much space the mooring actually takes up on the harbor bottom I feel we boaters are paying some of the highest real estate taxes around.

I must remember this philosophy next time someone wants to tell me how easy it is to live on a boat in Flawda! Thanks

[seacap]

The DPNR argues that Florida gets $360 month for a 40' boat. Well as far as I can see this is in St. Augustine. Most people seem to be bypassing it because of these fees. Also for these rates across Florida it includes the mooring that is maintained yearly. Plus amenities like pump out, dinghy dock, shore side showers etc. The VI government wants this for a little bit of mud on the bottom of the ocean.

[jeremiason]

Wow...

I would be happy to pay those rates after Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama were charging us $30 per night on mooring balls, but I also understand you outrage of the fees going up so quickly.

We had the same problem in San Francisco Bay when Angel Island State Park went from $10 per night to $30 for a mooring and from $3 day use to $15.

[GaryMayo]

The country is going broke, and every agency is figuring out ways to make ends meet.

[David M]

Originally Posted by jeremiason

Wow...

I would be happy to pay those rates after Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama were charging us $30 per night on mooring balls, but I also understand you outrage of the fees going up so quickly.

We had the same problem in San Francisco Bay when Angel Island State Park went from $10 per night to $30 for a mooring and from $3 day use to $15.

I actually don't mind paying those fees if it helps to keep Angel Island open. California is billions of dollars in debt and the first thing they will do is to start shutting down the state parks if it gets worse.