Anyone know of a marina in the Sarasota area where I can place my boat as a live-aboard and use it as an AirBnB. This concept seems to be difficult for the marinas i have talked with to comprehend.
AirBnB for boats
- Thread starter Paul and Judy
- Start date
Live -aboard marinas are kind of scarce in the area and there is no incentive for them to accommodate the added complications of allowing rental units on their premises.
Are you really comfortable with complete strangers and more than likely folks who know nothing about boats, cooking, maybe smoking (legal or otherwise) and sleeping on your boat? Seems a losing proposition to me. Liability insurance would be astronomical!
Do you have any idea how folks treat things that aren't theirs, say rental cars?
Do you have any idea how folks treat things that aren't theirs, say rental cars?
There was one at Friday Harbor, one of the San Juan Islands. We did a land version instead.
Here it is
http://thewharfside.com/
Here it is
http://thewharfside.com/
I hope that the marina I use would never allow live-aboard rentals. I don't want to give non-owners access to my barely secured property.
If I were you I wouldn't engage any marina staff on your intention to Air'bnb your boat, just inviting them to say no and ban the practice. Your criteria should simply be find a marina that allows live-aboard, has the amenities that you would expect (bathrooms, showers minimum, but maybe pool, laundry, spa etc), but the most import things would be secure entry access to the dock and parking. If you have only one key card you'd have to meet each guest personally upon arrival and that might not work for you. A coded gate is better, but its not wise to give out a common code. You'll have to figure out how it will work. If parking is restricted by numbered spaces or dash displayed passes you'll have to figure that out too.
I've met a few sailors in San Diego who do this. Doing an Air'bnb for just a few night a month can either pay for slip fees all together or at least take a serious bite out of it. People are willing to pay the same as hotel rates ($100 to $150 per night) just for the experience of staying on a Sailboat. We have Marinas in S.D bay that also have resorts that are part of the Marina so they strictly forbid the competition.
I've met a few sailors in San Diego who do this. Doing an Air'bnb for just a few night a month can either pay for slip fees all together or at least take a serious bite out of it. People are willing to pay the same as hotel rates ($100 to $150 per night) just for the experience of staying on a Sailboat. We have Marinas in S.D bay that also have resorts that are part of the Marina so they strictly forbid the competition.
Most marina contracts prohibit commercial use without a permit, doing it on the sly may only get you evicted. Not allowed in my marina and I don't want your customers to have access to my locked dock, and I don't want them on your boat next to mine. Nobody wants a boat BnB next door, just like no one wants a motel 6 next door.
http://www.thelog.com/local/santa-barbara-harbor-commission-terminates-slip-license-for-boatel-use/
http://www.thelog.com/local/santa-barbara-harbor-commission-terminates-slip-license-for-boatel-use/
This a perfect example of rich people using Gov't to have their way... Hotels don't want the competition, municipalities want the permit fees, and insurance companies want their cut. An Average Joe just isn't allowed to leverage his property to reduce costs or God forbid, make a profit.
Just goes to show, if you aren't rich or privileged you can't own a nice boat.
There's one of those sitting in the slip right next to my sailing partners boat in Southport.
I'm down there most days.
I've never seen a soul on it..
I'm down there most days.
I've never seen a soul on it..
Friends of ours rented a power boat in a slip in Muskegon MI last summer and they loved it. Well, all but the part of riding out a severe thunderstorm with 100 mph wind gust but that wasn't the boat's fault. They said they would love to do it again.
Sam
Sam
I wore a short sleeve blue shirt with name tag to work for 30 years, I love it when people call me "a member of the privileged elite ".
I'm neither rich nor privileged, yet Skipping Stone isn't all that un-nice, I don't think. We all make choices in life; you chose a dirt dwelling and I a modest boat. You support your boat, ours supports us. The paths we choose.......
Is Clearwater Beach to far away? The municipal marina allowed live-aboards at one time. I think they still do and there is no gate. Also Naples. There use to be Snead Island Marina where George Luzier had a shop. I think he's in Sarasota now, if he's still alive. The Gulf Coast is much better for that kind of endeavor than the East Coast.
Paul and Judy, I hope you go through with your plans. I might want to stay there some day.
- Will (Dragonfly)
Linda and I are closing on the house next door to rent as an AirBnB. We decided to name the property "Stones Throw" because there are a few large boulders on the lawn and it's right next door.
Paul and Judy, I hope you go through with your plans. I might want to stay there some day.
- Will (Dragonfly)
I don't think this has anything to do with being rich or the government. It has to do with the marina being private property and a business that someone owns and runs to provide for themselves and their families.
As owners of the property which you as a slip holder are merely renting space in they have a right to control the activities that take place on their property. I would suspect their exposure to accident/ injury liability would increase as a result of you running a business on their property and this would likely affect their insurance premiums.
If you are making money by running your rental business on their property it would be perfectly reasonable that they should share in that revenue.
You worked for 30 years and earned your retirement. You are not part of the equation I am talking about. If you live on your boat full-time, that is one thing. But if you can afford to slip your boat in Dana Point and you still maintain a land based residence, that puts you in an economic position that most middle class people can't touch right now. Other variables come into play as well... if you do own a home you probably bought it at a time when they much more affordable even in So Cal than they are today. I'm not judging your hard work or that fact that you earned what you have, but I am saying implicitly that today's dollar cannot buy what it did only 15 years ago.
I am just under 40 and I make just a shade over $100K a year. If you could meet me in my college days and tell me that I would be making that much before my 40th birthday I would be pretty excited about it. The reality today is that no matter how hard the middle class tries to come up the forces at work continually keep things out of reach. I have several friends that are equally educated and successful in careers as I am and still can't afford to buy a house here, let alone boats or other luxuries. I have very little debt, very low student loan balances compared to today's students, no car loan, and I bought my house after the market crashed and have a 3.25% rate... yet with an over $100K income I still cannot afford $800 per month in slip fees even though I can afford to buy a boat big enough to put in it. Probably a dozen people are scoffing reading this and some may reply "you need to leave California!"... well maybe, but its all relative. If I move to Texas my cost of living will potentially be lower, real estate more affordable, but my salary will be also lower proportionally. If you don't see the writing on the wall that younger generations, although making excellent salaries at face value, can't afford the same things that our parents could in relative dollars.
BTW, I am also not married and have no children. If I'm barley getting by single, I can't imagine what it would be like having to also support a family. For those of you that do, I don't know how you pull it off (except that your spouse probably has a career too, but do you ever question why that is a necessity in today's world?).
There are a number of economic indices that look at just what you are talking about. It isn't pay rate or housing costs or gdp that's important to the individual it's how many hours does one need to work to get the things they need to live and still save enough to cover luxuries or emergencies. NH is a relatively low cost state to live in but the earnings rate is low too. Those who are able to live in NH and commute to work in Massachusetts have the best of both worlds. However, MA still collects income tax on NH residences who work in MA. NH doesn't do that. We make MA residents pay for our tax-base by selling them cheaper alcohol and taxing their hotels and prepared meals at restaurants. Otherwise, we are pretty close to tax free. As long as the really high paying jobs stay in Massachusetts, we won't have to worry too much about them moving up here and deciding they could make more by taxing everyone.
- Will (Dragonfly)
I had a boat neighbor that advertised his boat as an AirBnB. It bothered the hell out of me having a steady stream of strangers on his boat next to mine. Part of what appeals to me about renting a slip is getting to know my neighbors and looking out for each other. As a matter of course they left when marina management smelled them out (no I didn't say anything) by looking at ads on AirBnB and they were asked to vacate immediately. The slip lease strictly forbids such activities so you will want to check not just your lease but I would suggest even if it isn't forbidden, ask your slip neighbors if they don't mind. again that's my 2 cents worth as well.
1+
Florida is pretty good COL & tax wise, and there are some high paying jobs. depending on skills.
At one time I thought I was going to be relocated to LA working for a fortune 500 company. I was only earning 30k a year at that time, and knew I would probably never be able to afford a house. (2/2 condos are around 200k in the late 80' IIRC).
I stayed in so fla, bought a 3/2 2000 sf house for 130k in the 1990's, had boats, and toys. (with a salary in the 40's).
I also have a brother and a sister living in SF.
I can't believe what they pay for housing. (I don't know what they pay in taxes, but sure its a lot more than me).
I don't see how living in CA is sustainable for average people.