Newbie Question: Definition of Liveaboard?

[Calif.Ted]

Rules here state:

Occupancy of the Vessel for periods in excess
of (a) 48 hours in any seven day period or (b) three (3) weeks of vacation per calendar year shall be regarded as “living aboard,”

Under previous management they only knew when your car entered the parking lot and this was only enforced if there were complaints. New management added RFID tags for your car so both entry and exit tracked, if you give THEM a problem they'll probably enforce. Only 3% liveaboards allowed at extra charge and their approval.

[Manateeman]

On dock. Rats both two and four legs. Boat does not point into wind. People looking into boat. Smelly boat next to you. Fire on boat next to you.
Electrical leak from boat next to you. Lightning in shore cord. Mast on boat next to you falls on you. Woman on boat next to you feeds birds. Husband barbecues birds. Daughter has big pit bull who eats birds. Someone steals passerelle, your shoes, the gun you just bought for the dog.
On anchor.
Drunk manatees heaving beer cans into dinghy at pizza delivery man.
Police boats flipping you a tsunami wake.
Someone steals your anchor and leave you a cement block.
Cruising. No wind and dead engine.
Live aboard. What you do with an ice bear in your cockpit.
Happy trails.
Mark and the manatee crew

[Zzmeyer]

As others have said it depends on marina. In our neck of the woods there are virtually no live aboard slips. I’d walk the docks and ask. Our marina technically has three night limit but we have a number of snow birds who come for three or four weeks at a time.

[Moontide]

Need to check with the specific marina. They make their own definitions.

[BNeaderthal]

Agree with others that definitions vary with the specific body of water, or marinas. If you are from Chattanooga, it is not clear which body of water you plan to sail in. We are from Nashville, retired and spend 6 months on our boat in the Chesapeake Bay, cruising the many coves and rivers that feed the bay. In the bay a liveaboard is defined as someone who does not have a permanent address on land. Since we maintain our home in Nashville 6 months of the year, we are not liveaboards, we are called stay-a-boards, and most marinas on the Chesapeake would welcome us. In the winter our sailboat is moved to a boatyard with a cover, while we live the 2nd half the year at home.
Marinas don't like to rent to liveaboards because of the extra work it takes to keep their slips in winter: have to keep snow/ice off the docks, deliver water to the slip as they usually turn off the water in winter, and pump out during winter. Electricity is also a big draw, but nowadays most slips have electricity gauges & you will be charged for extra power use. Then there is the liability costs, if someone slips off the dock on ice, is the marina liable? The person slipping off may be their employee delivering water! In the Chesapeake, IF you can find a marina that will accept a liveaboard, they charge more for these extras. You may be able to negotiate a slip if you promise to move your boat in the fall (November) south and bring it back in the spring so they won't have these costs. Bob Neaderthal, Doc Holiday

[Cynara]

I didn't read all the posts, but every answer yiu got should say call the marinas you are interested in.

Any other answers are not valid

[Cynara]

What about those who go places and return after a few days or weeks

[Gudgeon]

Originally Posted by Cynara

I didn't read all the posts, but every answer yiu got should say call the marinas you are interested in.

Any other answers are not valid

Cynara You are correct in saying to contact the marina directly. But there is always the official policy quoted by the staff and then the reality that people do live/stay aboard for outside of the official policy. Marina managemnet may look the other direction if the boat is kept in good shape and get underway and the owners keep a low profile.
All other answers are valid as it is a look in to what is really happening.

[Cynara]

All I know is that I was a (legal) liveaboard from 1972 til 1998. If you don't follow the rules it will eventually bite you

[Star Fire]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

I recommend you get the word “ liveaboard” out of your vocabulary. A number of marinas have some liveabords but if they have people inquiring about staying indefinitely, they might just say no. Reason, they don’t know you, they might not have seen your boat, they don’t even know if they like you. The idea is to rent on a week to week basis or better yet month to month and let them get to know you. If you keep a tidy boat and are not a diva, they might let you stay indefinitely.

This is most certainly true! I’ve had much better receptions at marina by using the word “cruiser” and “vagabond”. Also, showing up in the office helps a lot. You can better explain who you are and what you’re about. At least for me, the in person charm is much easier when they can see your body language helps when you’re not just a faceless voice on the phone or VHF. I explain that I’m just needing a slip temporarily and I would rather stay on a mooring or on anchor.

Also, start with a weekly/monthly slip rental and just keep extending it. Most people have a harder time saying ‘no’ when you’re standing in front of them. As a vagabond, I’m not worried about overstaying my welcome. If I get asked to leave, I know I pushed it and I don’t take it personally. Rules are rules and I’ve made a career out of breaking them. They won’t make you leave in the middle of a based storm! Boat people are decent people and that would just be dangerous.

[Star Fire]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

I recommend you get the word “ liveaboard” out of your vocabulary. A number of marinas have some liveabords but if they have people inquiring about staying indefinitely, they might just say no. Reason, they don’t know you, they might not have seen your boat, they don’t even know if they like you. The idea is to rent on a week to week basis or better yet month to month and let them get to know you. If you keep a tidy boat and are not a diva, they might let you stay indefinitely.

Agreed! We used to call ourselves “live aboard cruisers” but now we’re just cruisers. I rent slips on a transient basis which naturally implies that I will be sleeping and everything else that qualifies as liveaboard. As transient implies short stay, they welcome me in. Then they get a chance to see my boat and get to know me. When they see I’m not a degenerate with a derelict boat, extending my stay has never been a problem.

Regardless of the rules a marina has, it’s ultimately up to the owner of the marina whether they will allow you to stay or not. They made the rules and they can break them, if they choose to do so. The “no live aboard” rule is there to protect themselves from becoming a trailer park in the water.

I use Dockwa to book my transient slips so I don’t even have to talk to the staff before I arrive. Then I call them the day of, to the day before my arrival, as a courtesy, so they know I’m actually coming and to confirm my reservation. If a marina caters to transients they generally won’t have a problem with you being onboard for the duration of your stay.