42 vs. 48' impact on marina slips?

Greetings I'm somewhat new on the forum and currently in the market for a trawler; 2 staterooms 2heads, which puts us in the loa range of about 41' -48'.
We'll eventual be doing the great loop so visiting many different marinas.
What I'm hoping for help with is how concerned should I be about this 40-some foot threshold relating to long term expenses of getting overnight slips? For example is there a length threshold in this range that will most often push me into a larger more expensive slip?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
-David

In most cases it's more beam related, so going from say the 30-37 footers which are in the 12-13' beam vs the 40' range which is 14-15' beam. Not to say some small marina's can only accommodate max size, I would go through Active Captain website and look at some marina's and see for yourself the listings, but gut feel 42 or 48 is not much of a difference to close you out from one place to the next.

See the "finding a parking place" thread right below this one.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this thread. We always draw a line at 40' due to the many places we frequent that are can't accommodate larger boats easily. Places like the floating docks in Camden Maine's inner harbor.
I have no knowledge of the slip availability on the Great loop but we see places where it would be harder to find a place for a larger boat than a smaller boat...
Bruce

Hamrow said:

Greetings I'm somewhat new on the forum and currently in the market for a trawler; 2 staterooms 2heads, which puts us in the loa range of about 41' -48'.
We'll eventual be doing the great loop so visiting many different marinas.
What I'm hoping for help with is how concerned should I be about this 40-some foot threshold relating to long term expenses of getting overnight slips? For example is there a length threshold in this range that will most often push me into a larger more expensive slip?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
-David

Click to expand...

Actually, our 34' Aft Cabin Marine Trader met those requirements. And both heads had showers.

Your question is a good one, and I will let people in your area answer it. I can tell you if you ever bring your boat to the west coast, and in particular so-cal, bigger slips are getting hard to find, and are $. Our boat is 44', so I feel I am at the limit. When the Admiral and I retire, and another boat becomes a possibility I would limit the LOA to 40 ft. and preferably a beam of 14' or less.

Hamrow said:

Greetings I'm somewhat new on the forum and currently in the market for a trawler; 2 staterooms 2heads, which puts us in the loa range of about 41' -48'.
We'll eventual be doing the great loop so visiting many different marinas.
What I'm hoping for help with is how concerned should I be about this 40-some foot threshold relating to long term expenses of getting overnight slips? For example is there a length threshold in this range that will most often push me into a larger more expensive slip?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
-David

Click to expand...

On the Great Loop, no problem other than whatever the daily rate is times the extra length. So, figure on average for every day you dock on the loop an extra $10 or so per day. Where are you planning on keeping this boat? That's where you need to look at what is available and pricing.

Depends where you want to go. We traveled with a 48' Defever and they were blocked out of a mooring ball at Annapolis (45' max) and a couple of marinas we called about stopping in could handle our 42 but not the 48'.

All in all I don't think it is that big a deal if the extra size is useful. Seems the boats are getting bigger every year.

Or you could anchor and invest the money you save on marina fees in a nice dinghy.

I think one thing that happens is you select marinas based on the size of your boat and your need. Therefore, one with a 32' boat may well not know the marinas that can handle 60'. I've never frequented a marina outside of South Florida that can't handle a 60' boat, simply because they couldn't have handled us. One other caveat. A lot of marinas have walls or long side tie docks for transients and can often handle much larger transient boats than they can seasonal or year round. If they have 200' of transient dockage, they can handle a 200' boat if it's the only one. So, one has to be careful whether going for a slip or transient dockage. It's a place you have to be careful on Active Captain as well. The area that says "Dockage" and then puts "Size Restrictions" has some marinas putting their transient limit and some putting their regular slip limit. So, we've docked at marinas on the loop that show restrictions below our size and I'm looking right now at a marina that says 100' but they don't have a slip over 50'.

Thanks to everyone so far this is great information. We're in Texas right now so might start in Kemah or Seabrook area near Houston, but will likely do some harbor hopping later on, not sure where we will land permanently.
Yes the other "Parking spot" thread is good also. I was not aware of the possibility of using a commercial dock but i'm intrigued... since the loop takes at least six months, i'm certainly open to ideas that can save some money. Don't mind anchoring occasionally but we also enjoy the amenities of a marina fairly often.

Depending on where you want to travel Draft might be a concern.

Most places will have a fathom at low tide , but after that , some caution is needed.

And of course for the loop air draft could be a rout concern.

Bay Pelican said:

Depends where you want to go. We traveled with a 48' Defever and they were blocked out of a mooring ball at Annapolis (45' max) and a couple of marinas we called about stopping in could handle our 42 but not the 48'.

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Maybe depends on when that was. Over the last several years, the Annapolis Harbormaster has modified their mooring field so some of the balls can accommodate larger boats. Used to be 42' max for all; now it's 45' max for most but they have 12 balls for boats up to 55'.

And then expanding on Annapolis as an example... OK, so the mooring balls are full or whatever... they still have a few slips in Ego Alley for boats up to at least 48' (our declared length, including our dinghy hanging off the stern), side tie-ups along the bulkhead and these work for larger boats (largest I think I've seen was 70"), and then there are marinas all over the place too.

IOW, length isn't much of an issue, or at least there are work-arounds.

-Chris

I see size somewhat a a self correcting event.

Marinas tucked into little shallow spots don't build or cater to larger boats.

Marinas at large destination towns/cities are usually of the size to accommodate all but megayachts.

The trick is.....when you travel to these places.

During tourist season, any place might be full without advance reservations. During snowbird season, at the peak transit times, sure places might be full before arriving in the evening.

So there's 2 limiting factors when deciding boat size.....what kind of places do you want to stop at and are there lots of deep water, large dock marinas?....and will you be travelling at peak times when spots are most limited?

ranger42c said:

Maybe depends on when that was. Over the last several years, the Annapolis Harbormaster has modified their mooring field so some of the balls can accommodate larger boats. Used to be 42' max for all; now it's 45' max for most but they have 12 balls for boats up to 55'.


-Chris

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Thanks, we left the area in 2008 and didn't realize the change. Given the tendency to larger and larger boats it makes sense.

ranger42c said:

Maybe depends on when that was. Over the last several years, the Annapolis Harbormaster has modified their mooring field so some of the balls can accommodate larger boats. Used to be 42' max for all; now it's 45' max for most but they have 12 balls for boats up to 55'.

Click to expand...

Actually they updated the mooring field over the winter. Now all of the moorings outside of the Spa Creek bridge can handle 55' boats.

danderer said:

Actually they updated the mooring field over the winter. Now all of the moorings outside of the Spa Creek bridge can handle 55' boats.

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Ah, even better. Didn't see that mentioned on their website...

-Chris