Is liveaboard lifestyle a dying lifestyle

[resoluute]

Been out of cruising for a few years , and we are seriously contemplating buying another boat, however before investing tens of thousands of dollars in boat and more equipping the boat, I wonder what you folks out there now doing it think we lived aboard, worked, went to Bahamas in winter, moved around a bit in us. noticed many places restricting liveaboards, detaville,va went from very open to hard to find, oriental, nc getting tougher, solomons,md passed ordinance 1 liveaboard per hundred slips,daytona Halifax harbor florida moratorium on liveabords for now, Georgia and so on ,what is your opinion I would like to retire on a boat but how tough is it in your area?

[resoluute]

sorry keyboard is freezing up

[boatman61]

US specific question but.. here in Portugal still no problem in the main in the South.. West coast the same apart from Lisbon and Porto.. but marinas in the main due to few anchorages.. but up rivers its cheaper and available.
Mainly foreigners..
The Med is also viable but some places are closing anchorages and laying moorings for the revenue.

[Arthurwg]

I'm wondering the same thing. Would need a slip for 40'. Contacted one Florida marina and they said the wait list has 130 boats, the first place can expect a two-year wait.

[sailorchic34]

In the US, that wait list is what's going to bite you in the butt. I have not seen a drop in liveaboards in the SF Bay area (USA west coast), It's more that pretty much all marina's are 100% full up.

The option then is to take a transient slip (pay by day), which can get spendy. Though when factoring in liveaboard fees may not too high.

I would take a transient slip for a few days, then go anchor hither and yon for a few weeks, then rinse and repeat. I myself enjoy that far more then just being tied to a dock, 24/7

I have found that taking a transient slip for a week or so, allows the harbor master to get to know you. Sometimes slips open up for you then.

For a liveaboard slip, calling rarely works. You pretty much must show up. Ideally with the boat.

Finding a liveaboard slip is much like a job interview. Both you and your boat have to look good.. Many liveaboard boats tend to look a bit Appalachian after a time. That is a bit too lived in.

Also watch out for minimum length requirements as many marinas are starting to require 35 to 40 foot boats for liveaboard. I've seen 30' boats kicked out then. Varies by marina.

[jmorrison146]

California limits liveaboards to 10% of the marina slips.

[sailorboy1]

Sometimes it’s just in the wording. The marina I’m currently at doesn’t allow liveaboards. But I’ve been there 2.5 months and there are even houseboats there, because we all are cruisers in transiet.

[Mike OReilly]

So far in my experience (Canada), it’s mostly a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach. I always live aboard during the non-winter season. Even when we’re on the hard, we’re living aboard. I ain’t got no other house after all.

Our pattern is to spend a month or so getting the boat ready, then taking off until it starts getting cold. We usually end up living at the dock, and on the hard, for a couple of months each season.

The only time I’ve run into trouble is when I asked the marina. Then they said ‘no' to living on the hard (didn’t care about in the water). Since then I don’t ask, and so far no one seems to care. But I also don’t cruise in highly populated areas.

[Davy J]

I don't know if it's dying.............. But it is much more difficult to find a live-aboard slip here on the west coast of Florida. Actually, it's becoming difficult to find any slip.............

When we sold our house we intended to live-aboard. The few marinas we liked had long waiting lists. The couple of marinas that had slips, we didn't like for one reason or another. And we discovered the extra fees for living aboard made the slip fairly expensive. Our work around was to purchase an RV. Put it on an RV site annually and get a "non live-aboard slip" for the boat. With the exception of the cost of the RV, the monthly expense to do this is actually less than the live-aboard slips that were available at the time.

Our marina does not seem to care how much "time" you spend on your boat, just make sure you don't mention "live-aboard". This is not always the case though. The City of Clearwater only allows you to "stay" on your boat at the municipal marina two nights a week.

The only negative to this arrangement is that we have to pay for both the slip and the RV site when we take off on cruises. Not so bad for a month or two, but next winter we are contemplating four to six months in the Bahamas. We will decide what to do with everything when we get to that time.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by jmorrison146

California limits liveaboards to 10% of the marina slips.

Please cite your source. AFAIK, there is no such State law or regulation. There are some LOCAL jurisdictional limits, Marina del Rey supposedly has a 5% restriction, and of course many marinas, either privately or publicly owned, don't allow any liveaboards at all. But most of the restrictions are simply rules established by the management of the individual marina, be it privately or municipally owned.

[JPA Cate]

I think you'll find that what jmorrison is referring to is the BCDC's ruling that affects SF Bay Area Marinas. I don't know how far up the river BCDC's ruling goes. The funny thing is that liveaboards have been shown time and time again to be good for marinas, they notice potential thieves, learn who's supposed to be around, spot problems with neighboring boats and inform management, etc. But everyone's terrified of the marinas turning into a floating ghetto if not tightly regulated. Life in today's world.

Ann

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

I think you'll find that what jmorrison is referring to is the BCDC's ruling that affects SF Bay Area Marinas. I don't know how far up the river BCDC's ruling goes. The funny thing is that liveaboards have been shown time and time again to be good for marinas, they notice potential thieves, learn who's supposed to be around, spot problems with neighboring boats and inform management, etc. But everyone's terrified of the marinas turning into a floating ghetto if not tightly regulated. Life in today's world.

Ann

Ann is 100% correct, The state founded the BCDC to control infill of the bay. As part of that, they limit liveaboard slips to 10% of capacity in the SF bay and delta. Pretty much all the way to Stockton and Sacramento. Southern California does not have that limit. Anchor outs are concidered infill of the bays as well.

Interestingly enough Conta Coasta county got their knickers twisted a year or so ago when one of the county supervisors found out people were living on boats in Contra Costa Marina's. (East Bay) They even sent police to several marina's to try to kick folks out.

Mind you, the cities were charging a liveaboard fee for a really long time. Plus the county does allow you to claim a homeowners exemption on liveaboard property taxes, as does the IRS with interest on a liveaboard mortgage.

So it is getting harder and harder to liveaboard as the bay area gets gentrified.

[a64pilot]

I’ve yet to find any issue with finding a marina that we can stay in full time, but I’ve not tried down in South Fl in the big cities either.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by resoluute

SNIP

what is your opinion I would like to retire on a boat but how tough is it in your area?

Disclaimer I am assuming by liveaboard lifestyle you mean living at a dock and not at anchor away from towns.


I can only speak for the Florida Keys and the West Coast of Florida; but I would guess what I know applies to lots of other places.


The first thing I would add that in addition to the area the season is also a big factor. In the Keys prices drop in the off season and slips are easy to find; but in season it is often not possible to find a slip at any price.


There is also an issue of what I will call local government issues. In many high end places which I am defining as big cities it is more cost effective to tear down a marina to build a big condo. The result is even if the condo does have docks you almost have to buy a condo (or rent from a condo owner) to dock there. In addition many local governments add restriction that seem to come out of the blue.


If you are retired and able to provision for something like three weeks at anchor and then maybe take a transient dock or dinghy in to reprovision it is possible. On the other hand if you want to dock with shore power and water connection you can expect increased demand for fewer places and more governmental restrictions.

[Kenomac]

I don’t think that a “liveaboard lifestyle” was ever as popular as some think, and is probably getting less popular over time.