Why Do Marinas Seem to Hate Liveaboards?

[CSY Man]

It is the live-aboard that piles crap all over the decks, paints on the dock and leaves a mess, lives in the club house like it is his living room, parks his broken down car or truck in the parking lot and uses it for storage and leaves piles of junk on the docks that bothers most managers.

Hmm, that was me 20 years ago living aboard @ Salt River Marina in St. Croix....
I had the broken down car, I was always leaving stuff on the dock, doing the painting, etc, etc.

The manager was nice and kept reminding me about the junker car that stopped running 3 months ago.
Finally I had somebody tow it away, cleared my stuff from the docks and straightened up..Been there, done that.

We left plenty of money at marina however, mainly at the bar.

Anybody else lived in Salt River?

[ssullivan]

Brent... nooooo!!!!!! The secret is out!!

This is exactly what I do, except in the winter when the dock becomes a semi-reasonable price. The wife likes having power and not cutting wood from the tender with the possibility of a frozen harbor. I tend to agree with her on that frozen harbor and wood cutting combo. ha ha

What do you do in the winter? You said you use a wood stove to heat with. Do you feel comfortable with all that weight up on your deck while at anchor, or do you store it below? The thought of that weight up in my deck in a bouncy anchorage makes me a little nervous, so we don't put much wood out when at anchor in the fall or spring waiting for the weather to change.

Sonny: You are probably right. I know things aren't consistent across Brewer's different yards, but that's one thing they are becoming more and more consistent about.

Originally Posted by Louis Riel

Simple solution. hate marinas back. I've lived aboard for the best part of the last 35 years . In the last 25 I have stayed out of marinas and on the hook . In my present boat I haven't paid to tie to a dock in its entire life of 22 years . How . Stick to remote areas where millions of other people don't want to live, and live for a fraction of what it costs to tie to a dock..That's what cruising boats are for. A friend laughed when I told him what I live off. When he moved out of the city he was shocked by how much his cost of living dropped . Sure you make less but you need far less.

[seafox]

Yeah Sean, we have a liveaboard both sides. I don't know how "Kia Ora Bro" who I talked about above lives in his boat. It must pong from the dog and cat being shut in all day.Last year they did some painting and left the bucket of paint brushes in the paint water by our power/tap pillar. I went away for three weeks and when I returned it was still there overflowing in the rain and staining the concrete.Yesterday they had a harpuka carcus in a cray pot sitting on the deck. You could smell it from the carpark. As if they are going to catch crays in the Marina!!

[chuckr]

i tried to send this before so let's see what happens this time - in miami we have a couple of liveaboard marina's left - i am in that not only is my marina a pretty fair hurricane hole - but the liveaboards here are really kinda appreciated by management - or at least mgt appears that way - first we do not have any "junk boats" well not really - second we take care of everyones boat in the marina specially when we get those nasty blows each summer - during the blows of 05 (except wilma which was a tad to big) we all worked together to replace broken lines or improperly secured boats for owners did not have a clue or care and most were not there and of course we all take security seriously - we share we care and take care of our marina - but sadly the rates keep going up and we just lost one liveaboard who lived a boat since early 90s and now is a condo owner and moved his boat to a mooring in another area - someday this one too will be gone but for now it is great
chuck and soulmates

[coot]

Originally Posted by gonesail

maybe this is why the state of Georgia has laws against living on your boat?

Can you give a citation for this law? I've heard this story several times, but I could never find the actual law that makes it illegal.

There is a law that makes it illegal to build a building over navigable waters. Like too many laws, it is written obtusely. If you don't read it carefully, you might construe this law to mean you can't live on a boat, but in fact it means you can't build a house on pilings that blocks the navigable waterway.

I'm still looking for anyone to show me the actual law that proves this isn't just an urban legend.

[N.M.I.ke]

my lexis search came up with:

O.C.G.A. § 12-5-288(b)(8) which lists, as being an activity "considered contrary to public interest":

(8) Occupying a live-aboard for more than 30 days during any calendar year; provided, however, that the commissioner may grant extensions of time beyond 30 days to persons making a request in writing stating the reasons for such extension. Owners of docks where live-aboards are moored as well as owners and occupants of live-aboards are responsible under this part.


Now, I'm not a Georgia lawyer, so I'm not gonna hazzard a guess at what the above code section means.

[coot]

Originally Posted by N.M.I.ke

Now, I'm not a Georgia lawyer, so I'm not gonna hazzard a guess at what the above code section means.

Yeah, laws really should be clear enough for just anybody to understand them, but far too many laws are poorly written.

I think you've probably found the specific section people are thinking of. My congratulations, since you are the first person who has been able show me anything at all about it. Mostly I hear "well, a friend of a friend told me..."

12-5-280 through 12-5-297 are about protecting marshland. 12-5-286 requires a permit to build in a marshland. 12-5-288 lists reasons to deny a permit. The live-aboard thing in (8) is part of:

(b) The amount of marshlands to be altered must be minimum in size. The following activities and structures are normally considered to be contrary to the public interest when located in coastal marshlands but the final decision as to whether any activity or structure is considered to be in the public interest shall be in the sound discretion of the committee:

(emphasis mine)

I also note "42-1-12. State Sexual Offender Registry", (a)(16) defines "Required registration information" to include:

(F) If the place of residence is a vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat, provide the hull identification number; the manufacturer's serial number; the name of the vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat; the registration number; and a description, including color scheme, of the vessel, live-aboard vessel, or houseboat;

(emphasis provided by the search results - I tried un-bolding the word live-aboard in this quote, but every time I do, the editor boogers up the text.)

At least we know the state thinks sex offenders may live on boats.

p.s. I found all this by googling "georgia state law" and following a link to some university, which was a page that said it had all been moved to lexis, where there is a Georgia state law search. I've never heard of a state copyrighting the law before -- that's pretty brain-damaged to say you can't make a copy of the laws that you are supposed to know and obey while in their state...

[ssullivan]

Mark, usually (and I don't know about Georgia), I have been able to find state and municipal laws right on the official website for the given government entity.

Of course, Lexis is more ideal.

[swagman]

Guess the marina / livaboard relationship varies from town to town and certainly coutry to country.
In West Oz most marinas are run by Yacht Clubs, who in turn mostly lease their water space from local councils for peppercorn rental. The club puts in all facilities and maintains them.
Most clubs are prohibited under terms of their lease from allowing permanent 'livaboards', but many do allow it for security purposes.
Having a livaboard on a yacht at the end of each jetty is a cheap way of discouraging overnight lightfingered visitors who might otherwise come in by dinghy ..........
We always felt good having such a livaboard close to our boat for just this reason.
JOHN

[seafox]

You are welcome to my neighbour John

[ess105]

Is your neighbour agreeable to this?

[seafox]

I haven't told him. I will just quietly tow him to the highest bidder on a dark night.

[camaraderie]

One thing I have noticed is that most marinas will reject new liveaboard requests out of hand since they don't know you and the results of saying "yes" can be less than ideal as has already been pointed out. I have found that going into a marina for a month stay and then trying to extend from that point once they know you and the boat and that you will be a good citizen is far more productive.

[Razman23]

Originally Posted by Pura Vida

It may also be a matter of location and density. If the memory serves me Galveston Bay is the third largest concentration of recreational boats in North America, but there are stll a lot of empty slips. And while they all very in services and additional costs, many marinas around here accomodate live aboards. In some marinas, liveaboards get special privaliges with better access to the clubroom, preferred slips choices, etc. I'm thankfull for the couple living on the Triton at the end of my dock. There is nothing better for security.

I agree. Watergate, Seabrook Shipyards, and the other over by Kemah (cant recall its name since it changes every six months) really like to have liveaboards. When I had my boat at SS, I made friends with some of them. there is nothing better than having someone walking the slips at night for security reasons.

However I do recall one liveaboard at SS who was kind of a slob. He had a Chey Lee boat. Real nice boat if he had taken care of it. Later I found out a person buy the boat and redone her. He actually put up for sale now because he wants a bigger boat.

[schoonerdog]

I think that everyone here summed it up quite well, people think of live-aboards as individuals who would otherwise be living in a trailer park, and typically they don't have to walk far to find someone who lives down to their expectations. The reality is that in the live-aboard community I find a community more cosmopolitan and accepting than anywhere else, and I find the golden rule seems to be law. The certain knowledge of so many shared vulnerabilities makes the thought of leaving a fellow boater in a time of crises to their own devices an absolute sin.