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[mike37909]

This is a somewhat general question but where would be a good place to moor a yacht. When I say good I mean a combination of relatively cheap to fly to, close to an airport, relatively cheap and safe to moor a yacht, also a good cruising destination. I was looking up airfare and started getting overwhelmed. I live in TN so would fly from knoxville, nashville or atlanta. I wonder what a mooring would cost per month or year.

[MMNETSEA]

Hi Mike,

Delving into my data base on Marinas in the Carib and Bahamas - found a huge range of slip charges - when taking a 40ft yacht and extrapolating monthly fees to a year :-
US $ 6240 >>>>> US 18615 . Even electricity when annualized in a marina US $ 3650.

A place I would start off with, would be the Venice Marina @ $ 2880 for a year. (but that's me)
http://members.aol.com/americacruising/mis...ippi-lower.html

We have a number of members with first hand experience and knowledge of the area, who can provide specific info.

Richard

[bottleinamessage]

I've cruised both and am partial to the Bahamas. As I write this, we're preparing to cross from Fl today or tomorrow. It will be our third , and longest, trip. We had planned to do the 1500 this fall, but after last years visit, decided to return again. The couple we were moored with in Vero Beach are going back for the 18th year! The Abaco's are very nice. Flying into Marsh Harbor is pretty easy. Check out Marsh Harbor Marina for their rates. Our first year we stayed there. Nice place, reasonable and well run. The Exumas are also very nice. There are literally hundreds of places/islands to visit. The locals (unlike the Caribbean) actually like us! There are a lot of flights into Nassau, with many shuttle flights to the smaller islands. So you have a wide choice where to visit and leave your boat. Just my 2 cents.

[MMNETSEA]

Check out Marsh Harbor Marina for their rates.

Would $7300 US for a 40ft yacht for a year be close to the mark ??

Richard

[imagine2frolic]

I started out in St. Maarten with the purchase of Imagine. We went to Anquilla, and St. Barts. Then went over to the BVI for a couple of weeks. Culebra in the Spanish Virgins, and then El Fajardo on the eastern tip of Puerto Rico. From there we went to San Salvador, Abacos, and off to Daytona.

Previously I have chartered a half a dozen times from Miami to Bimini. Then Freeport, and back to Bimini. One time I included Abaco on this route. Then I found the Exumas, and it is where I have returned for several months at a time for 4 seasons. Endless anchorages for protection from weather. The Exuma Park is a treasure, and the farther south down to Georgetown it just gets better. Georgetown being a real social hot spot if you want to meet with people.

Farther south down to Acklin, and along the way the people seriously thin out, and you find yourself alone a lot. The fishing, snorkeling, privacy, and social life are all HUGE pluses. I am not a diver, but can only imagine it has to be fantastic too.

What little I saw of the northern Caribbean was like being in Mexico to me. It was pretty, but I find the Exumas to be paradise. If you can find reasonable rates to leave your vessel. Then Nassau would be the ticket as far as my way of thinking goes. No matter where you go though you will have to consider there you are! Out exploring, and fulfilling what others only dream about. Oh yes one last thing about the Bahamas. The Explorer Charts are extremely delightful, and if you go with the electronic charts you will think you are reading a road map. Enjoy which ever destination you choose, and keep us posted....................

[JeanneP]

A friend of ours left his catamaran in Georgetown, the Exumas, for a bit over a year. He said that there were plenty of places to leave the boat. He's away right now so I can't get more information, such as cost, whether it's on the hard or on a mooring - I'll try next week when he returns.

My only concern, whether the Caribbean or the Bahamas, is hurricane season. File a hurricane plan with your insurer and then not follow it, and I believe you will have some problems settling a claim satisfactorily. Insurers are understandably leery of insuring boats left unattended in a hurricane zone. That is something you need to investigate as well.

He also stayed in Nassau to wait out a tropical storm recently, and he said it was ridiculously expensive. More than that I can't tell you right now.

more later.
Jeanne

[mike37909]

Thanks everyone for the info. Richard, thank you for the numbers. You are quite efficient with data bases and information gathering . I was really thinking a mooring would be more suitable than a slip, due to the limited use. Someone mentioned the hard which I hadn't considered and may be the way to go. I have heard so much good about the exumas I think I will start my research there. Just trying to get my plan together, I cant do it full time yet so I have some issues to overcome. One of the big problems is I dont live on the coast. I have also been researching the charter ownership programs and what I find is that if you put 25 percent down after 5 years you will still have a big balance due on the boat. At that point it is possible to charter it for up to 3 years in a used fleet if they need your boat. So if you decide to sell it you may be able to pay off the loan but will be left with no boat and 50 grand lighter in the pockets. (although you will the memories of up to 40 weeks of chartering which is real spendy around 150K). Probably not for me.
Thanks!

[imagine2frolic]

If you are willing to leave the boat on the hard, and in Florida. Then you have many more options. I am in northern Florida on the St. John's River just out of Jacksonville. There a several facilities here. Probably the cheapest being GREEN COVE SPRINGS MARINA.

If you will be on the boat for months at a time. You may find this a reasonable area to keep the boat. For a vessel that can maintain 6 knots you would be in Miami in 3 days. From Miami it is about 200 miles to the Exumas.

[mike37909]

If you are willing to leave the boat on the hard, and in Florida. Then you have many more options. I am in northern Florida on the St. John's River just out of Jacksonville. There a several facilities here. Probably the cheapest being GREEN COVE SPRINGS MARINA.

If you will be on the boat for months at a time. You may find this a reasonable area to keep the boat. For a vessel that can maintain 6 knots you would be in Miami in 3 days. From Miami it is about 200 miles to the Exumas.

Interesting. Are you talking intercoastal at 6 knots motoring? I may be on the boat all next summer, which would give me time to pick good weather to cross the gulf stream. Is it miserablely hot in the bahamas in the summer?

[imagine2frolic]

Mike,
I am talking about going outside. Especially in the fall when the northern winds start. The ICW is a good trip once, and maybe twice, but it triples the time of progress, and I would rather set the autopliot, and keep an eye out for the occassional encounter.

If you don't have a/c like us. Then get a good windscoop, or 2. If you have opening ports that's a big plus. Shade is the secret to surviving no a/c. In August while anchored in South Beach Miami I can still take my afternoon nap with no problem.

[mike37909]

I was encouraged last night when the wife found round trip tickets from Atlanta to the bahamas (nassau) for $200. Stop in ft lauderdale . I can see the plan coming together!
Rebecca (wife) is good at finding deals on travel. For this one you have to fly on a tuesday or wednesday. Has anyone heard of the bahamas reimbursing the cost of passports if you vacation there. Some sort of credit towards a hotel room?

[imagine2frolic]

I do know it is, or at least was $300.00 to enter on a private boat for 6 months. It is $30 for the cab ride from the airport, so make some friends, and get them in the cab too.

If you find it reasonable take the FAST powerboats over to Allen Cay to feed the iguanas. That is the northern end of the Exumas, and it will give you a little taste for the Exumas. Remember it only gets prettier, and lonlier the farther south you go. Allen Cay is only 36 miles away from Nassau.