Is liveaboard lifestyle a dying lifestyle

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by john61ct

My point was we don't require marinas to do that.

You expressed incredulity, stating that of course all cruising boats need to use marinas.

Were you really only thinking about haulouts when you expressed that?

If so then I (and I think many others) missed that implication.

Mostly, yes. But how about replacing larger refrigerators like the one in Simi 60's galley? Does he really think he'll just plop that in the dinghy? Lol

Repower? New generator? New anchor chain? New sails?

There are dozens of things (including bottom paint) continuously wearing out on every boat. We all need marinas/boatyards to do maintenance.

I feel like those saying we don't either have never lived exclusively on the hook for years, or are just letting their boats decay. All that deferred maintenance will catch up eventually and they'll need a (guess what) marina to do an extensive refit.

It's just how boats are. They need to be taken ashore and worked on periodically to remain safe, viable platforms to travel and live on.

I mean trust me. I've tried it. I literally careened to do my bottom paint and zincs a couple times to try and be stlf sufficient with no visits to a marina.

PS:. I'm currently in Massachusetts. What are we doing up at this hour?? Ha ha ha.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Mostly, yes. But how about replacing larger refrigerators like the one in Simi 60's galley? Does he really think he'll just plop that in the dinghy? Lol

Repower? New generator? New anchor chain? New sails?

There are dozens of things (including bottom paint) continuously wearing out on every boat. We all need marinas/boatyards to do maintenance.

I feel like those saying we don't either have never lived exclusively on the hook for years, or are just letting their boats decay. All that deferred maintenance will catch up eventually and they'll need a (guess what) marina to do an extensive refit.

It's just how boats are. They need to be taken ashore and worked on periodically to remain safe, viable platforms to travel and live on.

I mean trust me. I've tried it. I literally careened to do my bottom paint and zincs a couple times to try and be stlf sufficient with no visits to a marina.

PS:. I'm currently in Massachusetts. What are we doing up at this hour?? Ha ha ha.

It sounds like people are talking two different conversations: needing a MARINA to hang out in, vs needing a yard to HAUL OUT a boat for fixin. We could easily do without marinas at all. Boat is made to go around the world, and we have everything we need to do that, even if we just sit around on anchor for 3 months (tho we enjoy marinas every week or two). Periodically, all boats need to come out of the water. If you need the fridge replaced, take care of it while you do other stuff you need to do every few years. But even going into a marina for a day to get a new fridge to me is not needing a marina in the sense of this thread.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

......Periodically, all boats need to come out of the water. .........

Thats why they invented tides.....

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Where "off the beaten path" can you find a marina with all the amenities for well less than $1000 a month, and how many months in advance would you have to pay to get that rate?

SailorBoy mentioned Gulfport, and that's a possibility, but hurricane alley and Mississippi bay depths kinda turn us off. But hey let's be open minded.

Figuera da Foz, W Portugal.. It was costing me €1800/yr for my 39ftr.. no swimming pool though..
Re live aboard as.a dying life style, beats the hell outa old folks home dying lifestyle..

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by carlwk3c

We haven’t been in a slip in 2 years. Why does a boat “need” a marina???
We anchor, only taking a mooring ball rarely when we want to go somewhere where it’s required (a marine reserve, for example, where use of a mooring is mandated to preserve the bottom, or the rare anchorage where it’s extremely deep right up to shore.and a properly maintained mooring is the safest option )
I don’t understand the “requirement” for marinas.

What he said. The last time we entered the water was January 23 2013.

The last time other than to fuel or take on/disembark passengers that we touched a dock was solely for convenience as the management of the solar panels and 125 pound batteries is easier from a fixed platform. And that was in November 2016.

And we've lived aboard full time (road trips to grandkids excepted) for 13 years, 12 days...

[OceanPilgrim]

Definitely not. A few examples of Marina fees, restricted access and unfriendly welcomes does not constitute a dying of liveaboards. The World is bigger than the areas you mention.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

But I love Northern European guest harbors, town quays, fishing harbors. An ideal cruise for me contains a mix of anchoring in beautiful spots, and tying up in nice harbors.

I think this is one of your favourites, Weymouth on the southern English coast. There has been a succession of gales and heavy rain over the past week so we took shelter alongside the harbour wall, did some jobs, a couple of laundry runs and topped up the water, its free and you can drink straight from the tap without worry. We are off on Monday ditch crawling up a favourite river 5 hours away for a few days. Life is good.

Pete

[svspirited]

They all need a marina every so often for repairs, bottom painting, etc. The difference is a boat that is highly self sufficient with things like a water maker, solar panels and/or wind generators, a sizable battery bank etc. With the right equipment and ground tackle marina visits can be infrequent. The larger issue is the ever increasing restriction on anchoring long term along the coasts of the US and access to land to deal with shoreside needs like food.

As for the OP growing old on the hook can be daunting and long term marina stays can be far more feasible.

Originally Posted by Chotu

This is a great sub topic.

Can anyone come up with a boat that doesn't need marinas?

I'm sure stumped.

[carlwk3c]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Two words: Bottom Paint

And there are about a million other things wearing out on your boat you need to replace. All on borrowed time.

The discussion was about marinas, not boat yards. We need a boatyard for haul out every 2-3 years.
That’s NOT the “needing a marina” that I was questioning.
I still don’t see any need for a marina, other than someone’s desire to make Boat life more like land life. (That is not our desire, so we have no need for a marina to park the boat in.)

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Sojourner

But even going into a marina for a day to get a new fridge to me is not needing a marina in the sense of this thread.

you know the "sense of this thread", that's impressive

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by carlwk3c

The discussion was about marinas, not boat yards. We need a boatyard for haul out every 2-3 years.
That’s NOT the “needing a marina” that I was questioning.
I still don’t see any need for a marina, other than someone’s desire to make Boat life more like land life. (That is not our desire, so we have no need for a marina to park the boat in.)

Well, I guess it's semantics?

I'm from the east coast of the USA. Here, a marina and a boat yard are the same thing. Every "marina" had a travelift and a work area. Every boat yard (or yacht yard) has docks.

My apologies for any confusion on that matter.

If by "marina" we are really talking about a dock or quay, then I agree. We never actually need those until we want to get off the boat. Even then, I guess a "boat yard" could store it just as well.

[john61ct]

There are people who liveaboard **in marinas* sometimes whose boat never leaves the dock.

And those who do "cruise" but only from one marina to the next, may not even have a dinghy, boat setup to run off shore power only.

The contrast between these, and those who live off-grid on the hook, only rarely availing themselves of a berth in a marina

is the sense of that discussion in this thread.

And yes they may well use boatyards for maintenance and repairs, more or less, but that was **not** the issue being discussed.

Clear now?

[RedFeather]

YouTube and Patreon seem to be blowing up with people living the cruising lifestyle and monetizing it. Husband and I bought our boat three years ago and do not live aboard but sail actively when weather and work permit. Can’t wait until we can quit work and cruise full time. There will always be attrition, but also new recruits.

[Franziska]

In general:

Marina=Protected harbour with pontoons, providing lots of individual slips for yachts.
Generally geared towards pleasure yachts.
Often incorporates a yard.
Typically camping site/parking lot atmosphere. Some like that, some hate it.
Needed if you want shore comfort style facilities for what ever reason.
Also useful if you want to leave the boat for extended periods as most provide security of some sort.
Tends to be expensive.


Harbour=Long dock walls to moore alongside, typically geared more to commercial ships and boats of any size.
Usually less pricey than a marina, but also with less luxurious amenities.


Boat/Shipyard=Repair facility for ships and yachts. Might be comely independent, might be part of a marina, might have a marina itself.
Needed for maintenance. Usually left once maintenance is completed.


Anchorage=Typically a protected bay where you can anchor or can take a mooring buoy.
If your boat is self sufficient you can stay there for extended periods.
A good dinghy allows you to replenish food and get rid of trash or simply get to shore.
Sometimes used by disfortunate people living on broken and unseaworthy boats who can not afford other housing.


Liveaboard=Someone living for extended periods on a boat/yacht/ship.
Can range from living in a marina and permanently staying on one spot, rarely moving. To cruising and moving every couple of days or weeks to a new spot.
Some enjoy it one way, some the other. Everyone to its own. Just as everyone pleases.


Personally I prefer cruising and exploring new places from anchorages.
Unfortunately true anchorages get less and get more and more exploited with offering commercial "services" which some might need, some might cherish and some might hate.
I prefer to have services not imposed on me, but to be free to choose those which I might want.

Do yachts with liveaboards need marinas? If your vessel is self sufficient and you are happy to live on anchor? Not really.

Do yachts need a ship/boat yard?
Yes, once in a long while almost everyone tends to need boatyard style facilities for maintenance for a limited period of time.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I'm from the east coast of the USA. Here, a marina and a boat yard are the same thing. Every "marina" had a travelift and a work area. Every boat yard (or yacht yard) has docks.

I understand because I'm from the NE and pretty much every marina becomes a winter storage location. But once south where boats aren't hauled out each year it's a lot different.

But the whole "I don't use/I use marinas" thing has nothing to do with " the live aboard lifestyle" unless only the "lifestyle" of anchoring out all the time is the only "style". There are a lot more people using marinas and/or a regular combo of anchoring/marinas than just the "I only anchor out". You don't hear about those as much because here on CF you are somehow not a cruiser unless you are an anchor out low cost type of cruiser. The majority of cruisers measure their months as being good/bad as to whether they had a good time and not whether they didn't use a marina and/or spend any money.