Slips in south florida are expensive

[copperwood]

Been peaking around here for years. I figured it was time to create an account and beg for some sage advice.

We are looking to purchase a cruiser in the next 6 months. Year 2005 or later. Mainly for weekend and daysails. We are located in Palm Beach Gardens Florida. The boats we have been looking at are 34-38' monohull but we are trying to stay closer to 34'. It was suggested we look for a slip at the same time. "Nothing worse than buying a boat with no home" or so we have been told.

The question

Any advice on getting our slip fees down? We are looking to purchase a boat in the 80k-120k range, but the slip fees we have seen are outrageous. $18-$25 per foot. With the already high cost of insurance in FL, a $650-$900 slip fee puts this on the outskirts of making it fit our budget. We have called some of the local marinas and looked on craigslist. Are there any good resources for searching private lease on a doc? We don't need any frills and we are not liveaboards.

Some criteria

We want easy access to the boat from home. We think going as high as Stuart and as low as Boynton Beach is fine. Staying south is better for our social life. Also, we plan on upgrading solar and watermaker, so hookups are not a necessity. I know people list private docs on canals off the ICW but we haven't seen any with reasonable prices. Maybe it's impossible to get it down to $10? Mast and draft are unknown at this point but as you probably suspected our options for 2005+ aged cruisers have mainly been Catalina, Beneteau, and Jeanneau.


thanks in advance
Eric

[Cheechako]

There are many private docks in S Fl. You have to connect with owners somehow. You might talk with Brokers, they often have names of people looking to rent space. They have set me up a couple times. Stan Dabney in West Palm might be one to try. In Fort Lauderdale, Las Olas area etc, you dingy around in the canals and property owners have signs facing the water advertising moorage.
Caution: Not all back canal docks have good depth. Nail down any problems. Even if the dock is deep enough sometimes the entry point to a canal off the main canal may have bottom build up and be shallow. Local knowledge helps. Always advantageous to buy a shoal draft boat in FL.

[wsmac]

While I'm not in Florida, I did do some looking up and down the California coast and saw quite a wide range of slip pricing.
Not just the initial cost for the slip, but the extra some Marinas charge for liveaboards as well!

I feel pretty lucky for what I'm paying up here for a 30' slip, only paying for any electricity used and not water.
.
Possibly more inline with your question here... being new to all this myself... I wonder how 'appropriate' it would be to Google Map areas to find private docks that are possibly empty and not listed... then contacting the property owner.. cold-calling them about it?

I just wonder if there are private docks a boat your size would fit easily in and out of, that people have never thought of renting out, yet don't even own a boat of any sort themselves?

Then again... I hear there are no original ideas... and someone has likely canvassed the area already...

[a64pilot]

Your South Fl, your going to need power to run the AC, your going to want AC to keep the heat down so it doesn't ruin the interior and prevent mold and mildew.
Or are you a Snow Bird that is only down for the Winter?
FWIW I pay about $300 for a 50' slip in the Panhandle, that is about the going rate for a good Marina with all the amenities.
Your in a high dollar area, I'd search private slips, you may get lucky

[Cheechako]

I don't feel you need AC to store the boat in Florida. You do need ventilation though.

[copperwood]

shoal-draft would be nice! Haven't seen many with this option in Florida. I would think it would be the norm.

BTW, I really appreciate the quick reply. Google Maps and riding around on a dinghy, and taking to more brokers is a great idea! We knew we needed to start getting creative after the slip price sticker shock.I must admit I hoped someone would say save you looked at XYZ marina? They are cheap... lol

[copperwood]

Hearing the A/C is interesting. My uncle sailed from San Diego to Marathon with no A/C and as I recall they used DampRid when they would leave their cruiser here for weeks.

Also we are here full time.

[Scot McPherson]

when you talk about slip fees, that are fees for what? A day, a week, a month?


Unless you are talking about slip fees per day I WISH I could pay those fees. Up here in the south of maine, the _cheapest_ marina is $165/ft for the 6 month summer season. May 1 to Oct 31. So that'd be $27.50 per ft per month.


I said that's the cheapest marina!!!

[copperwood]

Sorry, I should have clarified. That is $18-$25 per foot for the month. Not including Water/Electric/Trash fees.

for no liveaboard.

[Scot McPherson]

Originally Posted by copperwood

Sorry, I should have clarified. That is $18-$25 per foot for the month. Not including Water/Electric/Trash fees.

for no liveaboard.

From my perspective Portsmouth NH/Kittery ME. That's pretty cheap.

In Connecticut it's probably about the prices you are talking about.

I envy your slip fees..

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by copperwood

Hearing the A/C is interesting. My uncle sailed from San Diego to Marathon with no A/C and as I recall they used DampRid when they would leave their cruiser here for weeks.

Also we are here full time.

Think about closing your house up for say a week without any power in July / August, maybe leave a window or two cracked open.
DampRid is a salt, that of course does absorb some moisture, better off with ventilation I believe.
Newer boats have a whole lot of plastic, and adhesives, that don't do well in elevated temperatures and moisture.
So while you do not have to have AC, Getting onto a nice cool boat for the weekend and keeping it cool and dry on the inside makes stuff last longer and is more pleasant.
You don't have to have AC in a house in S Fl either, but its a whole lot nicer.

[Scot McPherson]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Think about closing your house up for say a week without any power in July / August, maybe leave a window or two cracked open.
DampRid is a salt, that of course does absorb some moisture, better off with ventilation I believe.
Newer boats have a whole lot of plastic, and adhesives, that don't do well in elevated temperatures and moisture.
So while you do not have to have AC, Getting onto a nice cool boat for the weekend and keeping it cool and dry on the inside makes stuff last longer and is more pleasant.
You don't have to have AC in a house in S Fl either, but its a whole lot nicer.

I lived in florida for 15 years. a house without A/C would be brutal to say the least. It's different if you are on the water and can open the whole house up to an open breeze, but if you are inland by even less than a mile and your house is not one that opens all the way up, then good luck.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by copperwood

Sorry, I should have clarified. That is $18-$25 per foot for the month. Not including Water/Electric/Trash fees.

for no liveaboard.

I am in a similar situation except I already have my FL boat here in New England and am planning to find a slip before I sail her down the ICW. I haven't started heavy duty looking yet, just did some light prelim looksees centering around Ft Laud and spreading up to Boca Raton and down to about NMB. I don't want to be in a marina proper as I find it PITA and more of a hassle than I'd like it to be. Been contemplating mostly private docks in smaller condo buildings or private houses.

Here are my prelim findings. Quite a few spots are available but not all meet my criteria which are at least - 5' depth in low tide (I draw 4.5'), NFBs or if fixed bridges - clearances of at least 42' and less than 20-25 mins motoring to the ocean. While there are ads for $10-12/ft no liveaboards, in reality it's more like $15-18 at least. These are mostly in condos. Some are priced at $1/sq. ft meaning my 28X9.5 boat will be under $270/mo (my ideal would be to keep the cost under $300/mo). Yours at 34X11 will be about $375/mo but these may require ownership of a unit in the building. I am actually contemplating this arrangement as a win-win since the unit rental itself may cover the monthly costs incl. mortgage, etc. and I'll end up with a unit I can live in when I retire. Some condos have very low cost dockage for unit owners but in those cases the waiting list may be long. I hear that in 55+ buildings the dockage wait lists are considerably shorter for obvious reasons. So that may be an option as well.

I can't imagine that Boynton and up to Stuart (except may be PB) is more expensive than down at around Ft.Laud.

[Cheechako]

How "south"? Things would get better north of Lauderdale fast I would think.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

How "south"? Things would get better north of Lauderdale fast I would think.

Some spots are too far from inlets and thus are less desirable and also being farther away from the ocean are more stuffy in hot weather. But if the use is intermittent perhaps that would be a good compromise. But I would find it very inconvenient and burdensome to shlep daily 1+hr or longer each way for a day sail. But if I come down to the boat once a month or two and do a multi-day sail to the Bahamas or Keys then such longish shlep to an inlet would be OK. Not ideal but OK. I would still get myself on a waiting list for a more convenient dock.