Why Marinas Hate Liveaboards - Part II

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

Your 30% "junk factor" may be a good estimate, but unfortunately, those without the "junk" are often not noticed as liveaboards. This results in a perception of a 90% "junk factor"!

INDEED!
And, I'll have to admit to being a 30%er, on occasion.

[sarafina]

oh lord Gord, we ALL are 30%ers on bad days ; -)

Our marina is one of the heavily liveaboard populations in the bay area as we are a private marina and exempt from a local board statute that legally limits liveaboards to 10% of public marinas slips.

Himself is prolly a liveaboard 85% of the time, and we work hard to keep the boat tidy. The manager at our marina keeps a very low tolerance for anything on the dock, and liveaboards are required to keep the fingers and docks clear.

What goes on onboard is sometimes another story, and I haste walking past sloppy trash heap boats that are mounded with garbage. Happily they have recently gone thru the lien process on a bunch of neglected boats that had unpaid slip fees and auctioned them off and cleared the eye sores off our dock.

I wouldn't wish to live next door to someone whose yard was piled with trash and I don't like walking down the dock past ghetto boats. They both annoy me and make me sad.

That said I prefer the liveaboard community, quirky as they are, to those who keep their boats dock bound and don't hardly check on them from month to month...

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by sarafina

oh lord Gord, we ALL are 30%ers on bad days ; -)

That said I prefer the liveaboard community, quirky as they are, to those who keep their boats dock bound and don't hardly check on them from month to month...

Agreed! I often think of it as a throwback to village life ... something 95% of us will never experience other than in the liveaboard scenario. Where I'm at, the liveaboards eat communally about 50% of the time in warm weather and get together for frequent poker nights in the winter. By nature, I am not the most gregarious individual, but four years as a liveaboard have revealed a different, more sociable side of my character.

[cantxsailor]

While I was not a livaboard at Bayland Park Marina I was a regular during the week and most weekends. I found that with the exception of one family ALL the livaboards where first class working people who kept the marina clean, protected and safe.

Much better than the management who were there mostly to collect the fees and sell gas. Unfortunately the entire place floated away during hurricane IKE.

It was truely the best group of people I have ever had to spend time with and I miss them...............m.

[Hudson Force]

Hmmmm....'sounds like the lyrics to "Proud Mary". I agree concerning the character of the liveaboard community, but there's a huge difference between the liveaboard boats that are active in cruising and sailing and those that are just a platform for low income housing. I support the free existance of both populations, but the term "liveaboard" is too often used just to identify those that are not cruising or sailing.

[PeregrineSea]

We live aboard PEREGRINA year round, which to some or even many may seems an odd choice for New England.

Living aboard a small yacht in the usually very cold and sometimes very snowy winters here in Boston is unusual - but there are more than a few who do. They came from all around to winter at Constitution Marina, and then return to cruising or moorings or other marinas in summer. Parties and the temporarily covered heated pool provide diversion, for those who so choose, and the marina plows the docks so I do little shoveling of snow.

During the summer people often stay aboard their boats for extended periods - cruising or not, on a mooring, at anchor or in a slip at at a marina. There is not any limitation of the number of days you can be aboard your boat like I encountered in California. I bought TATOOSH2 out in the warm state of California and would fly out to sail and work on the boat before I brought her back here to Boston. I had to insure I didn't get caught going over the nights aboard limit.

The marina makes a lot of money from us in winter, when it would otherwise be empty. Smart people.

[UDTMIKE]

Are there open slips? What do they charge? Thanks

[captain58sailin]

So it is okay to pick on us fat people, and not okay to call a big contractor "pompous" even if they are?
The problem is some take advantage of the system and others enhance the system by their presence. I don't get the "no bicycle on deck" rule either. If you allow your vessel to consistently be a junk pile, don't expect people to appreciate it.

[sailorboy1]

What is the problem with fat people as live aboards?

[Blue Crab]

No bicycles on deck? A careful eye can spot a bike on the starboard rail of this junkheap of a liveaboard. One on the portside as well. Dat's the real problem with broad rules; far better to deal with issues on an ad hoc basis. Like the slapping halyards issue. A universal rule against them is all but ineffective compared to the application of bungee cords.

[IdoraKeeper]

When I think of fat people as live aboards, I am put in mind of a marina with a sea lion issue. Big fat noisy stinky sea lions wallowing on the dock, yelling, obstructing foot traffic, biting each other, pushing and shoving......not the most optimum situation.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

What is the problem with fat people as live aboards?

Question asked and answered.

[captain58sailin]

Life isn't easy when you are fat and greasy.

[IdoraKeeper]

Can imagine the public consternation if Orcas discovered sea lions or fat people on the docks of marinas as a food source? The only thing worse would be a sharknato.

[SVNeko]

Junkheap?

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