Why Do Marinas Seem to Hate Liveaboards?

[sneuman]

More naivete on my part here:

Doing some checking into liveaboard marinas. As I'm sure many of you already know, they are few and far between. There seems to be an active attempt to discourage liveaboards. Why is that?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Cos' the boats have a tendency (I didn't say all!) to look like floating skips and with owners to match and who generally are not big spenders and mostly do liveaboard for cost reasons (in addition to any lifetyle choices!) - this tends to put off those who are weekend sailors who usually (I didn't say all!) have more money to spend shoreside - who really would want to move into a Trailer Park as a HOBBY!

(I am excluding here those who are passing through as cruising liveaboards, whether this be for a day or a few months! - tend to keep their boats looking like boats).

This the same down in Thailand for the Farang on Boats?, or are they also viewed as always "rich" and therefore have different rules apply??

A Cruising liveaboard would perhaps make the visa runs a bit more pleasant!

[sneuman]

A farang of any kind - sailor or otherwise - is considered rich here. Kind of a reverse prejudice that carries its own set of problems, such as double pricing.

I was speaking more of the U.S. Seeing what marinas charge on the coasts, I can't imagine that anyone would truly choose liveaboard as a cost-saving measure!

[ssullivan]

Good question. Being a liveaboard, I can answer this one pretty accurately.

The marinas have told me why. They get more money by renting slips to weekenders and people who don't come to the boat often. Why? They don't need the extra staff and their facilities go unused 90% of the time, as do the boats tied up. A liveaboard needs to get mail usually, takes showers frequently, has needs of the marina from time to time, etc... All this costs money. The marina, in order to maximize profits (and attract the most wealthy clients they can screw with higher rates) does better without liveaboards.

Oddly, even with the cost of marinas in the USA (I can see Manhattan from my cockpit right now), it is about the price to rent small studio or 1 bdrm apartment to both own the boat and pay for the slip. That's how insane real estate has gotten here.

Of course, this assumes you like to live by the water. If you live inland (not on a boat), you could rent a small 1 bedroom for a fraction of what it costs to live aboard.

One thing you mention that I still find odd to this day is that actual hate for liveaboards some marinas have. I have run into this while calling to find one to winter over at. I ran into a few that yelled at me and hung up on me at the point where they found I stay on the boat. Brewer's in Glen Cove, NY was the one that sticks out in my mind most. The odd part is that I kept an O'day 302 there for 4 years and gave them plenty of business. Now that I'm a liveaboard, they literally yelled at me and hung up in frustration.

It seems, based on the other post with the fire and theft in CT, that maybe all marinas should re-think and allow a certain small number of liveaboards so they can get free security. Doing everything for maximum profit leads to a bad product/service. I don't think I have to reiterate all the horse crap I laid out about that already in other threads. ha ha

[mudnut]

Originally Posted by sneuman

More naivete on my part here:

Doing some checking into liveaboard marinas. As I'm sure many of you already know, they are few and far between. There seems to be an active attempt to discourage liveaboards. Why is that?

Thats easy,they don't want to see ya laying back having a great time on something a 1/3 of the price of their condo's and only 35ft long to boot.Mudnut.

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by sneuman

There seems to be an active attempt to discourage liveaboards. Why is that?

I also have seen the result of live aboards in a few marinas in north Florida .. not very pretty. There are floating mobile homes disguised as boats. and yes it would appear that some are there for economic reasons. maybe this is why the state of Georgia has laws against living on your boat? problem is the marinas can't seem to be able to evict questionable tenants. and so you see sad vessels that will never leave the dock alongside the ones that do.

[S/V Elusive]

I've lived aboard for the past 6 years. I have a 43' boat, that is 26 years old. I keep it in "good" condition (good being relative and related to age). I take the boat out for day sails about twice a month. Because of that, the decks are relatively clear and 'stuff' down below is secured.

Since this boat/home is also my means of eventually going cruising (one semi-failed attempt to get away under my belt), the boat serves 3 purposes for me. Home, recreational boating, and my retirement vehicle and home.

What that means is that I have TOO much 'stuff' aboard - to accomodate those three living endeavors. Then there are the projects. OYE! But, the bottom line is I could NEVER afford to live anywhere near the water - on land. I could NOT afford to live in an apartment (even away from the water) and afford to keep my boat. So, while my costs associated with having this boat are comparable to having a one-bedroom apartment (inland), the obvious additional benefits are what makes me a live-aboard.

[ssullivan]

Oh, yes... and one other thing. There are those "undesireable" liveaboards as well. Each marina I have wintered over in has one getting to that pont. They are of course, the shanty-town types who have a wooden boat that's all peeled apart, junk strewn everywhere, etc...

However, in my part of the world, they don't allow that at all and reserve the right to move your junk off the dock. They also simply wouldn't renew your contract if you were that much of an eyesore. Since I'm not a wealthy guy, but I *do* keep my boat looking like a wealthy guy's boat, I don't get hassled.

[Tnflakbait]

I have found that in my neck of the woods (southern california). Marinas don't really like any boaters. They like the rent.

[AnchorageGuy]

As a former Marina manager i can attest to the fact that a few bad apples spoil the barrel. It is the live-aboard that piles crap all over the decks, paints on the dock and leaves a mess, lives in the club house like it is his living room, parks his broken down car or truck in the parking lot and uses it for storage and leaves piles of junk on the docks that bothers most managers. Other than that most don't seem to have a problem.

[Pura Vida]

It may also be a matter of location and density. If the memory serves me Galveston Bay is the third largest concentration of recreational boats in North America, but there are stll a lot of empty slips. And while they all very in services and additional costs, many marinas around here accomodate live aboards. In some marinas, liveaboards get special privaliges with better access to the clubroom, preferred slips choices, etc. I'm thankfull for the couple living on the Triton at the end of my dock. There is nothing better for security.

[seafox]

Next to me they don't change their annodes, Boat looks like an eyesore, they leave smelly fish bait all over the place, their dog barks all day and now their new kitten craps everywhere. On top of that they are on benefits so I am paying for it all....

[ssullivan]

Wow.... now that's bad, Seafox. They would be excluded here, along with legitimate liveaboards at most marinas.

[Brent Swain]

Simple solution. hate marinas back. I've lived aboard for the best part of the last 35 years . In the last 25 I have stayed out of marinas and on the hook . In my present boat I haven't paid to tie to a dock in its entire life of 22 years . How . Stick to remote areas where millions of other people don't want to live, and live for a fraction of what it costs to tie to a dock..That's what cruising boats are for. A friend laughed when I told him what I live off. When he moved out of the city he was shocked by how much his cost of living dropped . Sure you make less but you need far less.

[Sonny]

Hi Sean,

I'm at Brewers in Brandford, CT. They stopped liveaboards a couple of years ago. Don't know why; but some of the vessels (power and sail) were nice boats and in great condition. May be all the Brewers stopped liveaboards.