What do I do with my boat?

[y6e29x7]

I'm preparing for my first boat purchase and expect to live-aboard.

What do I do if I want to visit some landlocked country, like inner-franceghanistan?

What do I do with my boat?

Do I leave it at anchor, moor it at a paid mooring, put it in a marina or on-the-hards?

Can I rent it out, or put it under contract? If I do that, what is the minimum term, if my boat even qualifies?

As a stay away, I'm thinking from 30 - 90 days.

[Epicurean]

Where are you? Ask around for safe places. People do that all the time. Only the heavy metal thing at the end of the chain should be an anchor.

[grantmc]

Leave at anchor and pay a local to keep an eye on it.
He/she can also run motor periodically and charge batteries.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by y6e29x7

.....?

Do I leave it at anchor, moor it at a paid mooring, put it in a marina or on-the-hards?

.....

We've done all of the above over the years. At anchor only for a day or so, usually with a another cruiser keeping an eye on it. Planning for an extended period of time away from the boat takes planning. Finding a place that is safe weatherwise, cyclone/hurricane, safe security wise and reasonably priced along with access to transportation to get out and back, and that allows the vessel to stay without importation and taxes.

[y6e29x7]

Originally Posted by Epicurean

Where are you?

SE Asia, Oceania, Sometimes Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan.

[y6e29x7]

Originally Posted by Paul L

We've done all of the above over the years. At anchor only for a day or so, usually with a another cruiser keeping an eye on it. Planning for an extended period of time away from the boat takes planning. Finding a place that is safe weatherwise, cyclone/hurricane, safe security wise and reasonably priced along with access to transportation to get out and back, and that allows the vessel to stay without importation and taxes.

I'm usually hopping around SE Asia, Oceania, Sometimes Japan and Hong Kong.

What places would you recommend?

I hate to be so forward; but, do you have a list?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by y6e29x7

I'm usually hopping around SE Asia, Oceania, Sometimes Japan and Hong Kong.

What places would you recommend?

I hate to be so forward; but, do you have a list?

That's a huge area with a number of countries that all have different and usually somewhat strict customs and immigration requirements. The time of year you want to lay the boat up is important. Hard to have insurance while cruising in the cyclone season.
We've left the boat on the hard in southern Queensland and in New Zealand for reasonable prices. Plan to leave it in a berth in Malaysia for a few months at the end of the year.
.

[y6e29x7]

Originally Posted by Paul L

That's a huge area with a number of countries that all have different and usually somewhat strict customs and immigration requirements. The time of year you want to lay the boat up is important. Hard to have insurance while cruising in the cyclone season.
We've left the boat on the hard in southern Queensland and in New Zealand for reasonable prices. Plan to leave it in a berth in Malaysia for a few months at the end of the year.
.

I've been looking at Australia and New Zealand, because you can find good bargains there on used boats. There are so many there, the market is very competitive. The same is true in honolulu. In Australia the used boat market seems to be centered in Queensland. I'm not sure about New Zealand. I've been to Malaysia several times. Residential rentals are a great deal there. Perhaps, this will translate to the yachting industry as well.

Cheers

[y6e29x7]

How much should I pay someone like this; and how do I keep them honest?

Whether it be desperation or psychopathy, if I seem like a free lunch I'll get eaten.

[NahanniV]

I would recommend that you leave your boat on land while you are away from it for any extended time.
Try to schedule it with painting or other maintenance.

I left my last boat on a mooring once:

[Peregrine1983]

Why not dock it in a nice marina in Oz? You’ll pay for it, but it will likely be there when you get back. For a nominal extra fee many marinas will also check the boat periodically.

[Dooglas]

Everybody who owns a cruising boat leaves it somewhere every so often - for days, for weeks, for months. The safe choices will depend on the location. Evaluate the options available, assess your insurance coverage, and choose. For months, I personally would store it on the hard.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by y6e29x7

How much should I pay someone like this; and how do I keep them honest?

Whether it be desperation or psychopathy, if I seem like a free lunch I'll get eaten.

We’ve left our boat for months at a time in the water on moorings in Fiji and Tonga. We look for professionally maintained and certified cyclone moorings and we hire a separate person to check the boat and start the engines every three weeks. For proof we ask for photos of each visit showing the engine hours and the battery status screen. We pay in arrears after every boat visit. We check with local yacht service managers about what is a reasonable rate in that place. It’s worked for us so far.

Less risk than in the water is on the hard. More expensive and if you aren’t due for any bottom work then may not be worth it, but you will be sure that your boat won’t sink and if there is power your batteries won’t go low.

Check for marinas and boat yards in the area you want to leave your boat. There are services like this everywhere cruising yachts go - use Google search, then verify cruising boat suitable with noonsite.

[JOHNMARDALL]

I live in South Florida with the possibility of a hurricane striking ten months of the year and have seen staggering scenes of hundreds of wrecked boats right here in our sunny, peaceful waters. The statistics from these disasters make the answer to your question quite clear - put the boat in a secure yard on the dry. The only reason not to do that is if there is no such yard available or you've left it too late to get hauled out before you depart, in which case a spider web of dock lines in your marina is second best. The only reason I can think of to leave the boat on a mooring or at anchor is to save money, and IMHO the risk to the boat makes doing that a bad decision.

Good luck with your new boat. From personal experience I can tell you that the boating and people of Queensland are great and that New Zealand, also with great people and boating, is beautiful beyond words but a long way from anywhere and quite cool. (Full disclosure, Maxwell, maker of the world's best windlasses, is based in New Zealand)



John Mardall
Vetus Maxwell Boat Equipment

[wingssail]

Last night myself and two other cruisers rescued a beautiful classic yacht, probably 60', which had gone adrift. Owner out of the country, person supposedly watching it, off somewhere at a bar I suppose.

Just before dark one of the guys noticed it was adrift, fortunately towards the distant shore. We raced out to it in the dink and put a tow line on it and towed it back to the marina. (That was a chore for a 15hp motor, fortunately it was a Merc). We found a broken anchor shackle. Another hour and it would have been fully dark and this boat would have been lost on the shore of Nuevo Vallarta. By the way, the surf was up (hurricane IVO).

The owner has spent a ton on this boat, it was in the boatyard for two years I hear, and totally refurbished. Why would you spend many thousands on a beautiful boat and then leave it on an anchor or moorage?

If you love your boat, do not leave it at anchor or on a mooring.

If you don't love your boat, sell it now.