Why Marinas Hate Liveaboards - Part II

[simonmd]

Well, after reading this thread I was, interested, amused, entertained but most of all dissapointed.

To find so many people in a 'cruisers forum' that talk about liveaboards in such generalistions is surprising. Maybe the US is different but i've not seen most of the stuff you are talking about here in Europe.

My opinion is that marinas that have scruffy looking livaboard boats and stuff piled up on the dock have themselves to blame and are badly run. Here, you put stuff on the dock, it's removed, simple. There are several livaboard boats here but you'd have trouble telling which is which.

Blame the marina management not the livaboards.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by sailorman14

.................. Maybe we can start a movement????
Sailormn14

Maybe. But you are on a different topic than marina live aboards and have gone into more on the anchoring in Fl topic.

[MoonlightShadow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

But apart from that... I'm not easy to like...

Awwwwwww Boatman, I simply cannot believe that

[MoonlightShadow]

Yeah Sailorman. And Area 51 an all that. Public Open Space.

I was anchored off the harbour last summer when one of the big ships coming in lost power. That nearly gave me a hell of a movement as he drifted nonchalently past.

(OK only a 5,000 tonner, but it was big compared to me).

[JanetGroene]

It's the liveaboards who are first to turn in the fire alarm, question suspicious lurkers around the docks and rescue the boat that starts to sink after everyone else goes home. The bad apples leave a "sticky wake" for everyone else. When a boat takes on a look of dreary permanence (returnable bottles pile up on the dock, waterline grows a beard, etc.) that boater has reached Deadend Key, liveaboard or not. Remember the adage, "Until she leaves the dock a boat is simply substandard housing." Be a boater, not a squatter.

[sailorboy1]

So going back to my first post when I started this - do we really think marinas don't like live aboards, or just that they don't like low life types living in their marina?

Heck I even find disagreement with some of the trashed boats out in the same mooring field as me (and I don't mean the cruiser boats loaded down with equipment,i mean the ones you never see move that you worry are goingto break free and head your way). After all I want to enjoy my waterfront view as much as anyone.

[simonmd]

Well, if the marina here didn't like liveaboards, they wouldnt provide a satellite hook up so we can get UK tv, shower and laundry facilities and give a large discount for long term berth holders. So, all in all, so long as you act with respect for your neigbours and the surroundings, i'd say they are welcomed here in Spain.

Sure, I dare say that they wouldn't want a large percentage to be liveaboards, as it would turn it into a gloryfied caravan park (trailer park) and the facilities would be put under unfair strain, but i'm sure that they would rather have some than none for the reasons that Janet stated above.

That's a european perspective though, sounds like attitudes in the US are different.

[Morganministry]

Originally Posted by Lexam

I wonder if RV'ers have the same problem in RV parks.

Nope. I know several people who live full time in R/Vs. I used to my self for several years while chasing helicopters around the North West. Parks like "Full timers". It is a regular income. Expecially in this economy.

Scott

[sww914]

Marinas are like any neighborhood. If you choose the most visually appealing you'll find a lot of people that love to complain about anything possible. If you choose something medium, you'll find that most folks will only complain about something that inconveniences others or is dangerous. If you choose to live in the ghetto, nobody will complain unless you're splashing blood on their house.

[Bergovoy]

well, i got approved for a liveaboard slip at a marina in Ventura...they have two areas, and one has a 50% liveaboard percentage and they seperate livaboards with one boat inbetween... the other phase/side has only a 25% liveaboard number...

the 'funny' part is that phase 2 has bigger showers and laundry, then phase 1.

phase 1 cost about $30 more per month... total fees for a 30' is $450 per month...

they said they had a waiting list, but apparently not???I think I may have to move the boat to another slip, but it dont matter to me unless it is placed next to a storage holding or processing/transfer something... which i told them and they assured me it wouldnt be like that...

the marina was nice.. not in a working marina environment, not in a condominum place like marina del rey, it was perfect.. beach across the street, a little tourist type of strip mall / restaurant row thing... but not too overboard...

it is surrounded, on three sides of course, by strawberry fields, (forevever)... with fruit stands less then a mile away... perfect

but, I could be close.. now if only i can find the perfect boat...

to be continued in the appropriate thread

[toutaitom]

when i lived aboard my boat in BC 10 or so years back the rule was you had to leave the gov. dock one week out of the mo.and your dock fees stopped till you got back

[Blue Crab]

I've already discussed my past marina living in the other thread, and it mirrors what most of you have said. I'll never do it again as I luckily no longer have to work everyday due to superannuation.

On the RV park question, while Morgan's point about parks may like full-timers at the moment for the economics may be true, my experience living and working at two big and popular Florida KOAs (the big boys in the US), was right on point with the marina experience.

There was the same social stratification with the big fancy motorcoaches trailing their Humvee dinghies (I swear that's what they call them) on down to the tent campers at the bottom of the scale. Full timers were not wanted whatsoever because it starts with plants, then bikes and kayaks, and goes diectly downhill from there.

Among the paid staff, the RV park in Islamorada had most of us living together, and that section had the same rundown trailers and motorhomes as the derelict-heading boats in many marinas. I didn't ever get tired of what Islamorada had to offer but finally left because of the neighbors' noise, crap, animals, and so on and so forth.

Oh for the life on the rolling sea.

[sneuman]

There are different sorts of liveaboards and the "junk factor" is an issue in about 30 percent of the cases. Although I wouldn't fall completely into that category, I have to be vigilant not to -- it's the nature of living aboard that keeping one's "stuff" in check is a constant battle.

On the upside, however, liveaboards notice snapped lines, boats taking on water and security problems that often don't get noticed by the marina's typically small staff. I report at least one such problem nearly every week.

It also means there's usually an extra set of experienced hands to help out on those tricky docking situations.

[doug86]

Originally Posted by sneuman

On the upside, however, liveaboards notice snapped lines, boats taking on water and security problems that often don't get noticed by the marina's typically small staff. I report at least one such problem nearly every week..

I heard once from a marina manager: "I hate liveaboards because they are always coming in here to report problems."

Seems that liveaboards just created more work for the lady who really would rather just do the minimum to collect a paycheck.

It's always something.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by sneuman

There are different sorts of liveaboards and the "junk factor" is an issue in about 30 percent of the cases...............

Your 30% "junk factor" may be a good estimate, but unfortunately, those without the "junk" are often not noticed as liveaboards. This results in a perception of a 90% "junk factor"!