Extended Anchoring Out

[PennBruce]

Hi,

After two years of refitting my Ta Chiao MV, I am finally ready to motor off into the sunset. However, it seems that marinas have decided that liveaboards are undesirable.

My objective is to winter in South Carolina. Non of the many marinas I've contacted in SC are taking liveaboards. I am wait listed on one marina in NC and one in GA. There are several others in GA that I am waiting for a response.

An alternative would be to anchor out while I am waiting for a berth to open up at a marina. Is it likely that I will be moved on by the marine police because of complaints by homeowners that object to a boat permanently bobbing in their view? Are there other issues that I have not considered?

Bruce

 

[O C Diver]

Whether you will be pushed away by marine police will probably be determined by location. The first consideration is pumping the holding tank and will probably be brought up by the marine police if they see you staying too long in one spot.

Considerations for me would include:
Pumping the holding tank
Replenishing fresh water
Shopping
Heating the boat

If it were me, I would consider changing anchorages every week or 2. Maybe spend an evening between anchorages in a marina as a transient to completely recharge the batteries, pump the holding tank, refill the water tanks, grocery shop, and have a record of pumping the holding tank should the marine police ask.

Ted

 

[PennBruce]

I had planned on being in a marina one night a week to cover the first four of your considerations. Heat is provided by two diesel heaters.

Thanks for your input,

Bruce

Considerations for me would include:
Pumping the holding tank
Replenishing fresh water
Shopping
Heating the boat
Ted

 

[Comodave]

Whether you will be pushed away by marine police will probably be determined by location. The first consideration is pumping the holding tank and will probably be brought up by the marine police if they see you staying too long in one spot.

Considerations for me would include:
Pumping the holding tank
Replenishing fresh water
Shopping
Heating the boat

If it were me, I would consider changing anchorages every week or 2. Maybe spend an evening between anchorages in a marina as a transient to completely recharge the batteries, pump the holding tank, refill the water tanks, grocery shop, and have a record of pumping the holding tank should the marine police ask.

Ted

That is what I would do.

 

[psneeld]

Georgia came out with some very strict anchoring laws...especially long term ones...they eased up on transiting boats.

May want to search Ga dept of Nat Resources or whatever their equivalent and review.

Did you check Isle of Hope Marina in Ga and Myrtle Beach yacht Club in N Myrtle or Little River, SC? Lots of Ga marinas do have liveaboards, but I have no idea about accepting new ones.

 

[O C Diver]

If your spread (NC to GA) of locations is that broad, I would think you could find several anchorages around a convenient (to shopping) marina that would keep you from bothering land owners and offer winter storm protection. Might even be worth moving mid week to charge the batteries, make hot water, and only be in the same spot for 3 nights. Lots of places come to mind if you're looking for suggestions.

Ted

 

[PennBruce]

I am on the waiting list at Isle of Hope.

Myrtle Beach Yacht Club is a good suggestion. Their by-laws permit liveaboards. I will call their dockmaster on Tuesday.

Thanks for your input,

Bruce

Did you check Isle of Hope Marina in Ga and Myrtle Beach yacht Club in N Myrtle or Little River, SC? Lots of Ga marinas do have liveaboards, but I have no idea about accepting new ones.

 

[PennBruce]

Suggestions are always welcome!

Bruce

Lots of places come to mind if you're looking for suggestions. Ted

 

[Hippocampus]

Yup things have gotten very tight. I start looking 6+ months in advance for sc, a year for FL and now will change to a year for Naragansett as well.
Problem is people are willing to pay for a year just to have a berth. Even when they will be there just seasonally and in and out during that season. Dockmasters send out their contracts and then wait a month or so for their return. So for the summer they have no idea if they have open berths until October or even December. For winter in warm climes winter berth contracts and open space seems all over the place. Often have a waiting list and some need to clear with condo or resort before giving you a shot at it. Very stressful as you don’t know if you have a berth locked up until a short interval of when you’ll need it.
I’m likely going to suck it up and if I find a place I like I’ll reserve for the following year right off. Will miss the flexibility of berthing in different places within a region which allowed more exploring and new experiences.
Only hope is it drives enough of out of boating there’s more supply then demand which would be unfortunate. Fewer boaters mean less voice and more likelihood marinas would be repurposed to condos and such. Vicious circle driving costs up as well.
Ty to avoid pots. Find a single engine behind a keel helps some. Knock on wood haven’t pick one up YET.

 

[psneeld]

3 years ago in Myrtle beach, the demand for slips was so high because of the skyrocketing building going on, one dockmaster told me they were no longer taking anything less than seasonal rentals.

I asked about all the empty slips and he said people having houses built had already paid for slips seasons in advance and hadn't even bought boats yet but wanted a slip "in case they did". I guess their rules didn't allow renting a paid for slip out temporarily.

 

[hmason]

The marina I'm at in FL now requires annual rental even if you are only there seasonal. I'm hearing more and more of this requirement.

 

[O C Diver]

Suggestions are always welcome!

Bruce

Carolina Beach has a nice mooring field (10 day maximum at $20 per night) with an anchorage just above the mooring field. Easy access to dinghy docks and grocery stores. Would be nice to hang on a mooring for a storm.

Waccamaw river North of Wachesaw Landing and below the Socastee swing bridge. Lots of anchorages and several marinas. Several protected anchorages deep in the forest.

Based out of Charleston there are numerous anchorages East and West with many in well protected anchorages.

South of Beaufort, SC there are a number of good well protected anchorages with a few marinas to pick from.

East of Savannah on Turner Creek, Hogan's marina is good with lots of shopping near by and some anchorages in the area.

Ted

 

[Patemey]

Become familiar with the state-level and marina definition of "liveaboard". Where I am, it's 30 days in one location before you're technically a liveaboard. With that definition, you could sublease a slip from a tenant for <30 days, then repeat at the next marina.

 

[Don L]

Unless you plan to get a job and not leave the marina never call yourself a live aboard!!!!

You are a cruiser in transient

 

[DBG8492]

Unless you plan to get a job and not leave the marina never call yourself a live aboard!!!!

You are a cruiser in transient

This.

I hate lying and don't like doing it. However, I have found in my travels through the Southeast that many marinas have a "strict no liveaboard policy," but as long as you don't claim to be a liveaboard up front, they will, in many cases, just let you ride month-to-month. So tell them you're a transient.

It should go without saying in these cases that it's best not to do anything that might piss them off or they will use the aforementioned policy to kick you to the curb.

I know that it gets easier to find places once you cross into North Carolina that not only allow liveaboards, but do so at much cheaper rates than either GA or SC.

However, I still call myself a transient no matter where I go. And once we splash next spring, we plan to spend almost all of our time at anchor or on a mooring with short stints at marinas to do maintenance, get mail,...etc.

Oh - and even harder to find than a liveaboard marina is a liveaboard DIY boat yard...

 

[SteveK]

I only needed to live aboard once in a boatyard. For a fee they showed me where to park, where the shower and washroom was and the code to the gates.
Since I have not had to since, I find it amazing that a boatyard does not allow it. There must be a lot of theft when a liveaboard was locked behind the gates.

 

[DBG8492]

I only needed to live aboard once in a boatyard. For a fee they showed me where to park, where the shower and washroom was and the code to the gates.
Since I have not had to since, I find it amazing that a boatyard does not allow it. There must be a lot of theft when a liveaboard was locked behind the gates.

We bought our new boat in South Florida and due to circumstances beyond our control, decided to stay in the general area to do the work that requires a yard.

There are many DIY yards down there, but only one we could find that would allow us to actually live on the boat. Some would allow you to bring a camper or RV, but of course, then you're also paying rent and power for that space. And besides, we don't own an RV - we live on a damned boat...

Oddly enough, the place we found is less than half the monthly cost of any other yard in the area. Probably because it's at least 20 miles from pretty much everything. But it has a nice shower and restroom facility, a nice common area, and based on the folks we met and talked with, a pretty cool community.

If we had decided to go north, there is a DIY yard in Saint Mary's GA that used to allow living aboard, but apparently not anymore. The next yard I am aware of that allows it is in North Carolina.

 

[Don L]

Lots of Florida DIY liveaboard boatyards have people "working on the boat" who I have been there years and will still be there when they die

 

[hollywood8118]

I think the situation changes from the outward appearance of the boat to the impact you project. Have a clean well kept boat in good condition without a bunch of crap laying around and often you can skate by. staying low impact helps.
Hollywood

 

[mvweebles]

Whether you will be pushed away by marine police will probably be determined by location.

I recently attended town council meeting at Madeira Beach. Marine sheriff's deputies gave a presentation on why they cannot eradicate long term anchor-outs. Florida code defines a livesboard as someone who lives on their boat to the exclusion of a land based address. So as long as the anchor-out is smart enough to say they have a land based address, not much can be done. Sure, a police investigator could track down the voracity of the claim, but that's a reaource-intensive process.

No idea how other states deal with this, but apparently in Florida, enforcement of anchor-outs for nothing other than long term livesboard infractions is difficult. Deputies said they can enforce certain marine items such as having an anchor light, but that's it.

Peter

 

[O C Diver]

I recently attended town council meeting at Madeira Beach. Marine sheriff's deputies gave a presentation on why they cannot eradicate long term anchor-outs. Florida code defines a livesboard as someone who lives on their boat to the exclusion of a land based address. So as long as the anchor-out is smart enough to say they have a land based address, not much can be done. Sure, a police investigator could track down the voracity of the claim, but that's a reaource-intensive process.

No idea how other states deal with this, but apparently in Florida, enforcement of anchor-outs for nothing other than long term livesboard infractions is difficult. Deputies said they can enforce certain marine items such as having an anchor light, but that's it.

Peter

My response was more based on whether land owners wanted the police to get you to move on. Marine police tend to be more sympathetic to voting land owners than transient boaters.

Ted

 

[mvweebles]

My response was more based on whether land owners wanted the police to get you to move on. Marine police tend to be more sympathetic to voting land owners than transient boaters.



Ted

Understood. Madeira Beach, on the ICW, is wall-to-wall homes and condos, many of whom have been vocal about the anchor-outs. A few years ago Madeira Beach passed an ordnance requiring anchor-outs to register, limited their stay to 72-hours and required a pump-out (which was free). This was enforced for a while but turns out it was not enforceable due to definition of a liveaboard in confunction with some peculiarities in the definitions in Floridas Code. At least this is what the Pinellas County Sheriff described to the Madeira Beach Board of Comisssioners, the elected body who field complaints from property owners. Pinellas County Sheriff is the marine enforcement LEO from north of Clearwater Beach though Passe a Grille, about 30-miles of ICW which is 100% developed.

I suppose other Florida jurisdictions may interpret the Codes differently, but the Deputies who presented the night I was in attendance seemed pretty frustrated at their inability to have a cause of action against long term anchor out boats.

Peter

 

[Mako]

Sure, a police investigator could track down the voracity of the claim, but that's a reaource-intensive process.

Hmm, is it "voracity" or "veracity"??? I had to look this one up. The first one sounds like a man-eating dinosaur

 

[Don L]

No idea how other states deal with this, but apparently in Florida, enforcement of anchor-outs for nothing other than long term livesboard infractions is difficult. Deputies said they can enforce certain marine items such as having an anchor light, but that's it.

Peter

Florida boat laws are "special" . The rest of the east coast pretty much every town on water controls themselves. This IS why Florida has such an abandoned boat problem and they don't. Everyone other than Florida boats never understand when Florida anchoring etc come up (I never did back in my northeast days)

 

[psneeld]

When Florida and Georgia came up with restrictive anchoring laws the 2 things I remember is....

1. In Florida, ultimately the waterways are generally state waterways and the state law ultimately prevails over towns. Georgia really only had the state interested in passing anchoring laws.

2. That if boaters claim to be transient or long term cruisers they are not liveaboards because they are intending to move on in a reasonable amount of time.

Those don't mean that towns can't have restrictions on places to anchor in their towns as any that participated in the pilot "mooring" field like St Augustine of for other particular reasons.

 

[fgarriso]

Try Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA. they take liveaboards.
https://brunswicklandingmarina.com/
Most of their business is liveaboards,

 

[Osprey69]

Hi,

After two years of refitting my Ta Chiao MV, I am finally ready to motor off into the sunset. However, it seems that marinas have decided that liveaboards are undesirable.

My objective is to winter in South Carolina. Non of the many marinas I've contacted in SC are taking liveaboards. I am wait listed on one marina in NC and one in GA. There are several others in GA that I am waiting for a response.

An alternative would be to anchor out while I am waiting for a berth to open up at a marina. Is it likely that I will be moved on by the marine police because of complaints by homeowners that object to a boat permanently bobbing in their view? Are there other issues that I have not considered?

Bruce

Back in the good ole' days (2021), when we bought our boat My Better Half went on a 3 week junket visiting marinas in person. IMHO by showing up in person it gives the marina a chance to determine if your addition would be positive or negative to "The Community". I believe inquiries by phone/email get put to the bottom of the list. In addition, it allowed us to chose the marina based on much more on-site information (proximity to towns etc.).

Another tactic I heard was to go in as a month long transient and blend your way into a long-termer.

 

[PennBruce]

Good info, I do have a land address where I keep my MH.

Bruce

Florida code defines a livesboard as someone who lives on their boat to the exclusion of a land based address.

 

[PennBruce]

I'm on their wait list.

Thanks,

Bruce

Try Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA. they take liveaboards.

 

[PennBruce]

Good suggestion, when I get south, I will visit the marinas that I am wait listed on.

Thanks,

Bruce

Back in the good ole' days (2021), when we bought our boat My Better Half went on a 3 week junket visiting marinas in person. IMHO by showing up in person it gives the marina a chance to determine if your addition would be positive or negative to "The Community".