Live aboard marina resource? Newbie

[JoJoLady]

It is importantto k=Dave22q;2272309]The East coast is not real specific. You might think about your tolerance for winter. I'm told some live aboard in Boston or Portland Me but they must be pretty tough. South of Jacksonville Fl winter is a few weeks below 60 deg., etc. Next think hard about where you want to sail. Deep draft rules out much of the Keys and Bahamas. As for airports, they are everywhere but most of the smaller ones offer limited flights and destinations. Living aboard in a city like Savannah or Miami solves that but you pay city prices.
I suspect weather and flight availability will limit your choices a lot. Then you can investigate marinas. Best of luck with your plans.[/QUOTE]

[JoJoLady]

It is important to know where you want to to be and where you need to go?

[Sidney777]

Well done,well spoken.(to the Aussie)

[Jetmex]

Originally Posted by Sidney777

Yep, floating docks are great. Your draft & height off water & size boat may tell where you want to be. (Or have to dock). A marina that really wants your business & doesn't like disruptive noises,dogs,people. If you are going to be away from boat for weeks or months, a floating dock will keep boat tied without tide adjustments & possible scratches, etc. What is draft of boat & length & height above water ??

62' up, 8' below, and 47 along.

[Jetmex]

Originally Posted by JoJoLady

It is important to know where you want to to be and where you need to go?

The where to go, is exploring but the first year will probably be spent in the marina. Maybe less but will need some time to down size our lives. We considered the Norfolk area. Lots of commercial airports and family wouldn't be too far if needed.

[Sidney777]

Wow @ 8ft draft. Very difficult or impossible for some travel. --62 ft height. Very difficult, or should I say very special in order to be positive. Some navigation of intracoastal waterway possible, but you would mostly have to go on the outside ocean/Gulf.
......NOW, you are going to get different opinions of where to dock your boat & where you can travel around Florida and the Bahamas. What type of sailing ? One or two Overnights ? Condo on the water & occasional out of marina ? Coastal or round the world sailing ? "People say the bigger the boat, the less it is taken out". Don't know of your sailing experience. Can you elaborate ? ... I'll bet you will get sailors on the forum with "local knowledge" who can help you with depths & bridge heights !! My knowledge is in the Florida panhandle.

[Jetmex]

Originally Posted by Sidney777

Wow @ 8ft draft. Very difficult or impossible for some travel. --62 ft height. Very difficult, or should I say very special in order to be positive. Some navigation of intracoastal waterway possible, but you would mostly have to go on the outside ocean/Gulf.
......NOW, you are going to get different opinions of where to dock your boat & where you can travel around Florida and the Bahamas. What type of sailing ? One or two Overnights ? Condo on the water & occasional out of marina ? Coastal or round the world sailing ? "People say the bigger the boat, the less it is taken out". Don't know of your sailing experience. Can you elaborate ? ... I'll bet you will get sailors on the forum with "local knowledge" who can help you with depths & bridge heights !! My knowledge is in the Florida panhandle.

While we are in downsizing mode we will be staying put and working to bank away more money while relieving ourselves of the things we don't need. We live and work in Atlanta and Memphis right now.

The 7'+ draft is starting to worry us but love the layout and since it's gonna be home, we want to be comfortable. I really wish it were 6 or less but everything is a compromise. We are still looking though... Gonna start in the Bahamas though and I know the draft is gonna be an issue there.

[rwells36]

Originally Posted by Jetmex

While we are in downsizing mode we will be staying put and working to bank away more money while relieving ourselves of the things we don't need. We live and work in Atlanta and Memphis right now.

The 7'+ draft is starting to worry us but love the layout and since it's gonna be home, we want to be comfortable. I really wish it were 6 or less but everything is a compromise. We are still looking though... Gonna start in the Bahamas though and I know the draft is gonna be an issue there.

You can write off the bay side of the keys in terms of passable depths too.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Jetmex

62' up, 8' below, and 47 along.

I might not have seen all the options, but I noticed a 66'2" mast height and a 67' air draft listed on Dephia's site. This may be limiting as well, but not as much of a problem as the 8' draft; however, the same site listed three draft options as 7'6", 6'4" & 4'2"(minimum) for the swing keel model.

I'm aware that you stated that you loved the interior layout as your comfortable live-aboard boat, but there's nothing particularly unique with the Delphia at 47' except maybe that 5 cabin 4 head layout. How big a family are you planning to accommodate?

[rwells36]

Originally Posted by Jetmex

Hello All,



I'm new to all this and looking to buy our first water home. The question is now where to keep it while we finish wrapping up land lives? We would like to be on the east or gulf coast of the US and near an airport so that we can commute to work for a bit. Is there a resource to find suitable live aboard marinas or do you guys have some good suggestions? I wouldn't even mind someones private dock if that was an option. I seems like having enough water to get in and out may also be an issue as one of the boats we are considering is a Delphia with a pretty deep draft.



Thanks and I'm all ears,



Greg

Greg,

I left my land based domicile to live and work aboard 3 years ago.

After reading all these posts and looking back over the past 3 years there is one single piece of advice that made my transition HIGHLY successful; that was hiring an experienced yacht broker to represent me as the buyer. It's cost me nothing and proved to be priceless at the same time.

Do yourself and family a momentous favor and do what I did for my family of six.

Regards,

Rick

PS too many critical decisions are at risk without better resources.

[Scout 30]

If you have any intention of cruising in Florida or the Bahamas or ever running the ICW buying a boat with an 8' draft is crazy.

[Sailon1]

Second vote for St. Petersburg municipal Marina. I lived aboard there several years ago and really enjoyed the experience. Great waterfront parks, Shakespeare in the park, and shopping downtown

[Jetmex]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

I might not have seen all the options, but I noticed a 66'2" mast height and a 67' air draft listed on Dephia's site. This may be limiting as well, but not as much of a problem as the 8' draft; however, the same site listed three draft options as 7'6", 6'4" & 4'2"(minimum) for the swing keel model.

I'm aware that you stated that you loved the interior layout as your comfortable live-aboard boat, but there's nothing particularly unique with the Delphia at 47' except maybe that 5 cabin 4 head layout. How big a family are you planning to accommodate?

It's just the wife and I. We are looking at a three cabin layout. We like that both main cabins are equally nice. We really are shying away from this deep a draft though for the very reasons mentioned. I know we are going to want to stay in the Bahamas some initially and the almost 8' draft would be an issue in a lot of places.

[rwells36]

If you aren't decided yet, consider a trawler.

[teveau169]

Dear Alan,
Check out Clearwater, Fl. They have two municipal docks: one is on Clearwater Beach and the other is across the bridge at Clearwater itself. I spent a month at the C beach Marina. The good: they accept live aboard folks and have good showers, a really good little restaurant inside and behind the Tackle shack Baithouse. The bad until they build the new floating docks their Marina is built of fixed wooden piers the planks. And being run by city workers they don't volunteer any information such as the pumpout boat for which you can get on the List at the Marina office. Also if you rent a car the meter maids will ticket you every two hours BUT YOU CAN BUY A DAILY PASS FOR $8.00 or a much more reasonable monthly window sticker for $28. There are several good to excellent restaurants nearby and the fabulous beach is also nearby. The other municipal dock is more modern and has a floating concrete and steel set of dock slips.
The Tampa regional international airport is about 25 miles away.
Oh one other bad mark is parking on the island is a real premium.
There are also private marinas in that area with live aboard slips available ( at least they were in March/April)
Sailors seem to love this area because Tampa Bay is really large and almost always windy.