Living Aboard in QLD, Australia

[Dame.n.Jess]

Hi

Does anyone know if the Queensland Govt allows liveaboards in that state? Its fairly clear the NSW is very anti living on board legally, does anyone know of other states that are more open minded in Australia?

Regards
Damien

[chrome dome]

have a look at Tradeaboat magazine, they have a Qld liveabord writer,
there would be plenty of LA's up there,
kwmarina.com.au is just one l found,

[matauwhi]

G'day, mate. N.Z. is very liveaboard friendly. Most marina charge a daily fee to liveaboard and some of the marinas have time limits. Lots of possibilities to live both on the hook, mooring or berth. Cheers.

[maxingout]

We used to live aboard in Mooloolaba at Lowry's Marina.

[bill good]

live aboard is ok in qld but the numbers are restricted to about 10% of the number of boats that could be moored & there is a fee on top. clubs will normally want membership for long term.

[SurferShane]

None of the marinas I stayed in at Queensland had any dramas with liveaboards and I was lucky to never have to pay a surcharge for my short-term stays.

I just had a bit of a look at the situation in over the net in Darwin and one thing I did notice was one marina charged more than double for living on board. I suppose you could take the opposite argument that it is cheaper just to moor the boat? Another marina charged a similar rate, but limited the stay to a month.

Likewise some marinas around Hobart seen to welcome liveaboards. Whether it is “legal” or not might be a different question. Kind of like when I went to the MSB in NSW and asked about a swing mooring and was told they “frown” on people living aboard at the same. “frown” is a lot different to “fine” so whether or not they enforce the regulations can be up to the individual officer, your behaviour or maybe even sheer luck?

[SurferShane]

Originally Posted by matauwhi

G'day, mate. N.Z. is very liveaboard friendly. Most marina charge a daily fee to liveaboard and some of the marinas have time limits. Lots of possibilities to live both on the hook, mooring or berth. Cheers.

Mate – for me that's a serious option and might be on the cards yet! Just need to get past that Tasman Sea after a bit of work on the boat and I might sail over and sample the well-known hospitality and beauty NZ has to offer.

[jpemb7]

My boat is on a Government pile mooring at Mooloolaba but living aboard is not permitted. Visiting boats are allowed to anchor and live aboard in the river for 11 days maximum. But in reality it takes the govment awhile to chase you away.

What's the situation in other ports/harbours along the Qld coast re: anchoring and living aboard ?

[Pelagic]

I am curious…. Why are live aboard cruisers charged extra at marinas? What is their stated justification?

[Factor]

There would be the extra costs of water, electricity, insurance, higher duty cycles on infrastructure - eg laundries toilets and etc.

[Pelagic]

Most marinas have individual power/water meters for each slip, cruising boats usually shower, do laundry and toilet on board if a pump out station is handy, so that would just leave wear and tear walking on the dock.

I have never been charged a premium as a live aboard anywhere in the world, so this seems a pretty light justification to me, that we should resist.

[Talbot]

In UK, a lot of push back from marinas about liveaboards is due to some ocean gypsies ruining it for everyone. Some of the legislation/rules are there to enable such marinas to force less desirable inhabitants to go elsewhere.

Provided you leave the marina and sail , stay overnight elsewhere and return on a reasonably frequent basis. Maintain a neat and clean upperdeck, and thus blend in with the rest of the marina, most of them in UK are quite happy to effectively have additional security staff! The key is to not officially ask!

[SurferShane]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I am curious…. Why are live aboard cruisers charged extra at marinas? What is their stated justification?

Here are links to the marinas in Darwin I mentioned above. Although there are extra costs involved with liveaboard I am still not sure how the first justifies the extraordinary difference? The second seems to have no surcharge, but genuine visitors can only stay a month.

Marina

Cullen Bay Marina | Breaking News

[Jim Cate]

G'Day all,

We've been charged liveaaboard fees at many Qld marinas over the past decade. They started as innocuous additions, but have gradually crept up to serious money for the budget-minded cruiser. I have asked the staff at many of them why they feel it necessary to make the charge, and the answer has always been "we have to because all the other marinas do". They don't even try to justify it with arguments about extra costs to the marina. What BS!! The answer is simple: greed, coupled with a capive audience of folks who have no other homes, plus a chronic shortage of marina berths along the coast.

I suspect that we're stuffed...

As to the legality, it seems to be vague, but who can afford to challenge hte rulings in court?

For cruisers the obvious answer is to avoid marinas whenever possible. We tend to only use them when we need shore facilities to do some job on the boat, ar when we need to leave the boat for a while (when the liveaboard fees are not an issue).

This past season we've noted a larger number of empty berths in many marinas. Perhaps this trend may invite more considerate treatment for us... who knows?

Cheers,

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Hook Island Qld, northbound

[Pelagic]

I think you have nailed it Jim, but I do disagree, that we are powerless to change it.

Individually no, but collectively as a cruising association yes!

As a super yacht captain, I have dealt with unscrupulous marinas trying to only allow specific vetted service companies access.. (meaning that only tradesmen who paid the marina a percentage, were allowed to access our yacht)

Most famously at the Auckland Americas Cup Village in 2000.

Upon arrival and finding out the score, I organized a quick meeting with the management and about 20 super yacht captains to ask them to justify their reason.



Of course they tried the public safety - insurance red herring, which was easy to discount, so after we all said that we would specifically not use any companies that are in cahoots with them, they quickly dropped that rule and we captains were able to negotiate on an even playing field with all the available businesses in Auckland.

Cruiser’s unite and do not allow this disease to spread!