Cost of Liveaboard Dockage?

[motion30]

Hollywood fl at city marina $.68 per ft per day nice place, laundry and security

[Rayallyn]

Sea Wolf
I can find with the help of some locals a mooring or two for a decent enough price but all the boat yards except one in Kittery ME won't let you work on your own boat. I have quite a bit of work to do cleaning and restoring the interior. In fact, now that I have met some of the past owners this boat's history interesting. The first traceable owners found her in an over grown field with small tree growing in the cockpit. There was no keel as it had been removed. They found a solid lead keel that would fit and moved everything to a boatyard. Cleaned up the hull and interior and discovered that the hull was in good condition. The hull was picked up with a crane and lowered over the Keel. The guys then drilled and tapped the lead and installed stainless keelboats. They cleaned up the sails and rigged the boat. Installed a skeg rudder and outboard motor mount on the transom. Once she back in the water they discovered that she could use a lot more sail than OME so they purchased some used sails from various classes and started to win races. She is a Hunter 25 but not really. She draws 5 ft. and has a bit more ballast then factory 1978 model. I have pictures of her sailing in 25 to 30 mile winds under full sail. The next owner only sailed her and did little work on her. I plan to put roller reefing on the jib and 6hp Tohatsu outboard with 12volt a generator. Also maybe a dodger so I have full head room over the galley plus a TP-10 Simrad tiller pilot.
I wouldn't care if I got down to southern Florida and had to scout around for a slip but my retirement from General Dynamics will stop if my check payment notice is returned for no address and being single with no family to use as permanent address makes things a bit more complicated. Let me clarify that - The check notice is only that a direct deposit is being made into my bank account.

[Sea Wolf]

Rayallyn,
Wow! Interesting boat story! We bought SeaWolf out of Venezuela in 2000. She was very dated, but the hulls were sound (she's a tank, actually), the price was better than right so we decided to buy her and rebuild her to our liking. You can see what we did on our website, www.cruisersLife.com on the SeaWolf page. We did about 50% of the work ourselves while still employed full time, so it took quite awhile to complete everything. Plus there were the normal stops and starts when we became 'work saturated' or needed to build up the 'kitty,' so it took quite awhile to get everything as we had wanted.

There are quite a few yards here that will let you work on your boat, but again, that's part of the local knowledge that I was referring to.

Good Luck with your 'not really' a Hunter. Even though we're multihull sailors, we've always liked the Hunters.

Hope to see you out there.

Loree
Aboard SeaWolf
CruisersLife.com

[Rayallyn]

Sea Wolf,
I am not a big catamaran fan or tri-hull either but you guys did a fantastic job. I was saving back in the early 2000's for a bigger boat but after 911 my new steel erection business took a dive. I reduced size and started to work smaller prefabed buildings but the competition coming up from down south always seemed to outbid the jobs. In fact several of the companies that won bids caused me to do a bit of investigating and I found several were working with either lapsed or no workman's compensation insurance. The state didn't really care because they were out of state contractors. I couldn't out bid them because I'd have been in deep legal troubles if I got caught without the insurance that ran about .78 cents on the dollar per worker.
In 2004 couldn't work the steel anymore so went back to school got a degree in photography and I already had a degree in English. Went into the photojournalism and news photography business and was just starting to do very well when the stock market and economy fell. Barely made through the winter. I decided to get out do some sailing cruising while I still can before the Vietnam injuries got to the point that I have to spend the rest of my days in the Veterans Home. Besides not having all the amenities on a boat will keep me moving and maybe help delay some of the upcoming problems the VA Hospital expects to start seeing in the next 3 to 5 years.
When kids ask me about becoming an airborne ranger I tell me it's great but expect to pay for it later in life.

[Sea Wolf]

Thanks for the positive feedback on SeaWolf. We cruised for 5 years and pretty much knew what did and did not work for us, so she's exactly what we want.. well almost. She's a great live aboard boat and sails quite well. After all was said and done, there were only one or two things I'd change... mostly cosmetic... fiddles being one of them. I caved in and let our monohuller GC talk me into fiddles on some of the counter tops. On a monohull, they're very beneficial, but on a cat, all they are is dirt catchers! On one of our haulouts, we're going to get rid of the bloody things and put in bull noses... something to look forward to!

We're docked at the best kept secret in Miami. We're 50 feet and only average about $900 per month (varies due to electric charges) and have great amenities - free internet and cable tv, pool, gym, 24 hr security, captains lounge, party galley, picnic area and great neighbors. Two years ago we were at Miami Beach Marina and paid almost twice what we're paying today and had almost no amentities, so we're very happy with our location. You can see the place on line at Premiere Miami Marina: Palm Bay Club and Marina, luxury, waterfront condominiums and 50-slip marina on Biscayne Bay, Miami, Florida. if you're looking for a good marina in the Miami area.

Loree
Aboard SeaWolf
CruisersLife.com

[Maggie-K]

I'm in Victoria BC and pay $11.40 per foot/mo $45 for power $60 live aboard fee and $60 parking , pay showers. 50 year old wood docks and that's the best deal in town.

[Sailnoob]

Can you just arrive at a marina or do you have to call in advance.

[Sea Wolf]

You can just arrive at a marina and ask for a slip, but you run the risk of them not having dockage space for you. It's always best to call firs.

Loree
Aboard SeaWolf
CruisersLife.com

[Tropic Cat]

Time to revisit this thread.

Has the recession impacted dockage or live aboard fees?

[sneuman]

If anything, it's pushing them up from what I can tell. As the slips are left empty, marinas are raising the rates in an effort to compensate.

[Islandmike]

In JAX Beach, FL for a 40 foot sailboat we pay 650 per month, this includes everything...We have a great party at the end of each month with free food, beer and wine and are close enough to walk to the beach.. It is really a nice place...

[Tropic Cat]

Here in Melbourne FL it's $140 a month live aboard which includes the unmetered electricity and $10 a foot dockage. Lots of empty slips yet they are holding the dockage and live aboard fees about where they were 2 years ago.

Oh...and no free beer or free food......

[Livia]

~$600CND for a 35-40' slip at various places around the south part of Vancouver Island (Sidney, Victoria)

[s/v Geneve]

In NW Florida just outside of Destin, I am paying $450/month taxes and all for a 40' sailboat with unmetered 50 amp power, water, and liveaboard fee. The marina has showers, pump out, good parking, haul out and there are still many open slips. Owners were willing to negotiate, their posted rates were much higher.

DB

[Hudson Force]

We usually spend two to four months at a time at Fleming Island Marina on the St. Johns River in NE Florida. It's our "homebase" with family, doctor, dentist, veterinarian, banking.... We're fulltime cruisers, but enjoy this place as easy access to all amenities, good rates, live-aboard friendly, open day sailing (not tucked in a ditch) .....'take care and joy, Aythya crew