Moorage Madness

Phil Herring

Alien
Mar 25, 1997
4,918
- - Bainbridge Island
How has the increased value of real estate, higher insurance premiums, and more frequent storm repair changed the cost of your moorage?

Quote some numbers and some history, let's see if the trend is what we might suspect.

marina.jpg
 

nat55

.
Feb 11, 2017
210
Gulfstar 1979 Gulfstar 37 BELFAST
Here in Belfast Maine my annual mooring fee is $104, because I am a resident when I pay the state excise tax I get $25 dinghy dockage for the season. There is an require inspection every 2 years and at the end of the season I pay to have the ball removed and the chain dropped to the bottom, that costs $90. Other than that the mooring cost is the least of the cost of boating for us.

MAIA stack pack.jpg
 
Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
I think our 32-foot slip is around $325/month including water, power, nearby restrooms, laundry, and all the amenities.
They do turn off the water when it gets really cold. No moving boats when Ice is present on the water in the marina (brackish water).
I think it increased around $20 in the last 5 or 6 years.
 
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Feb 8, 2014
1,300
Columbia 36 Muskegon
Here in Belfast Maine my annual mooring fee is $104, because I am a resident when I pay the state excise tax I get $25 dinghy dockage for the season. There is an require inspection every 2 years and at the end of the season I pay to have the ball removed and the chain dropped to the bottom, that costs $90. Other than that the mooring cost is the least of the cost of boating for us.

View attachment 172678
That's a great deal. Here in Muskegon my city owned mooring costs $580 for the season. And it's Michigan so of course that's only for six months. Winter storage for a 36 footer goes $900 to $1500 haul and launch included, depending on which yard you use. Storage seems to go up every year but the mooring hasn't changed recently.
 
Mar 2, 2019
433
Oday 25 Milwaukee
Here in Lake Michigan (Milwaukee) we pay a one time fee to have our mooring registered with the harbor
master . After that you are responsible for cost and upkeep. After 15 plus years I've paid nothing to moor our boat. I'm also a diver and frequently inspect our mooring chain along with those of my closest neighbors for free. The other mooring field "asks" 90 dollars a season to inspect your mooring. You don't pay it ,you aren't allowed to use it . For about $150 a season they ,a private contractor will change out your summer mooring ball for your winter stick and vice versa come spring. If in the fall your winter stick is not to be found ,you will be paying a diver somewhere in excess of $100.00 to find it.
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,917
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
In Bristol, RI my mooring cost would typically go up $100-200 every other year. Except for 2018 when they jumped $400 to almost $3000/year. That was my last year there. Now I am at another yard but the price is almost the same but the harbor is much nicer. As for winter storage, Bristol was $2000 and that price would go up $100 every other year too. Now I am at a different yard and I store my 40' sailboat for under $1700. My mooring and storage together are a major part of my boating costs.
 
Dec 27, 2012
587
Precision Precision 28 St Augustine
No mooring in my area of NJ. I pay for a slip at a well accommodating marina. My boat is 28 foot which is the max for my slip size. I pay $3,500 which covers from April to December. I winter store at a different marina which costs $950 for my boat. Last season was my first year at my summer slip. I sure hope it doesn’t go up.
 
Feb 8, 2014
1,300
Columbia 36 Muskegon
City of Muskegon owns and maintains the moorings here, you pay the rent of $580 every year. Last year they pulled all the moorings out and replaced the anchors and chain, last time they did that was probably 25 years ago. Fresh water so corrosion isn't the issue it would be in the salt. Costs more this way but all the liability is on them. There is another private field on the lake that I think works more like Timm R's in Milwaukee.
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
The seasonal mooring fee is $100 in my harbor, for residents ($250 for non-residents). Dinghy space is available at an extra charge.

It costs $1 to launch a skiff -or 80 footer - at the public ramp; honor system cash slot.

The docks on the right side in photo (there are 200' additional today) are publicly owned and free to use for a couple hours (locals use them spring and fall longer, overnight, for free).

We own our mooring tackle and have to inspect it annually.

Our boat spends the off season on the public landing along the river (lower right in photo). This storage has gone up significantly the last decade to $800. Still a good deal for 38' boat in the area.

We're lucky today; more than a century of smokey industry (Lime production-ice houses) and fishing kept our town/harbor in a preserved state of poverty until a half century ago. By the time our harbor front became valuable, the had town realized that value, and wouldn't sell.

We're still a working harbor with most of the shorefront publicly owned. It's changing quite a bit around me these days, but our public access (and reasonable cost) to the water is secure for the future.

Rockport Harbor aerial .jpg
 
Sep 26, 2008
546
Hunter 340 0 Wickford, RI
Rich,
You’ll love being in Greenwich, RI. It‘s central to Narragansett Bay and nice sails both North, South and East. We’re in Wickford and love the location for the same reasons. Cost wise, we‘re at about $4000 for combined winter and summer and the boat stays right there. No hassles involved.
You’ll get beautiful early morning breezes and just nice sailing. Enjoy and welcome to the area.
 

Tom J

.
Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
I'm in a Yacht Club in Quincy, Mass., so the only way to increase slip fees is by a vote of the membership. MY slip fee is less than $600 for the season, which hasn't changed in years. We are dealing with erosion issues along our water front, and have voted to assess members to install a new sea wall.
 
Apr 8, 2010
1,942
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
I'm in a Yacht Club in Quincy, Mass., so the only way to increase slip fees is by a vote of the membership. MY slip fee is less than $600 for the season, which hasn't changed in years. We are dealing with erosion issues along our water front, and have voted to assess members to install a new sea wall.
I am also in a member-owned all volunteer-labor yacht club. Rather than erosion we have sand accumulation after each spring high water season in the Columbia River. We own our own dredge and operate it two months a year -- with an all volunteer crew. There are work hour requirements for all member families, but the minimum is only 12 hours a year.
I dock in one of the groups of longer and slightly more expensive slips and my total billing for all dues, fees, and moorage is a shade under $500. per Quarter. It's a heck of a deal, albeit we are sort of a casual "blue collar yacht club" compared to other fancier ones in the area that have paid employees and triple the cost to belong to them.
The one thing we do not have on our river is (anchor out) moorings. I believe that they do in some harbors up north in Puget Sound, however.
Web presence: Welcome - Rose City Yacht Club
 
Jan 2, 2017
765
O'Day & Islander 322 & 37 Scottsdale, AZ & Owls Head, ME
My 40’ slip costs $452/mo. For which I get water, power, showers, and a free gourmet Christmas dinner. :)
There are only two marinas on Lake Pleasant, AZ, no mooring, and demand exceeds supply, so prices are high. Motor boats, which are in the majority, opt for covered slips to reduce summer heat, and they cost even more. Most hardly ever go out.
 
Jan 7, 2011
4,723
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
I am in a slip in a municipal marina south of Chicago (in Indiana) on Lake Michigan.

I pay $2,290 for a 30 foot slip, and about $1,190 for winter storage. The marina has held prices for “regulars“ even after the reduced the number Of slips by close to 50%. New folks pay more I think.

Way cheaper than a slip or can in Chicago.

Greg
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,807
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
This year more of the marinas we’ve stopped at have been nearly full because more boaters are renting slips or moorings long term (insert watch my stuff I’m leaving). Whatever the price is, it tends to get paid. One place we stayed there were only a half dozen transients, the rest were vacant barnacle farms.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
In the USVI a liveaboard mooring costs you $15/foot for the year. The hard part is getting them legal. The local agency, Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR), has a messed up fee schedule. If you are there longer than 14 days you are supposed to get an anchoring permit at $2/foot per month. So they made more money on anchoring permits if people get them every month. As a result the default state is they never approve mooring permits and people will either never get anchoring permits or just get them a few times a year. The fine is $50 for not having a permit. So people install illegal moorings that never get permitted. We had our mooring for 3 years before I finally got DPNR to issue a permit with me harassing them every other month or more.

The other odd part is that the mooring belongs to the boat. So if you sell the boat you have to either include the mooring or start all over again trying to get your new boat permitted.
 

Bob J.

.
Apr 14, 2009
773
Sabre 28 NH
Winter storage costs are the majority of my boating budget which includes haul & launch, this year $815.00. Luckily I have a mooring in Belfast also & as a non-resident sets me back $200+- including use of the dingy dock. Personally if I had to pay 3K a "season" for a slip plus winter storage costs, would probably give this up or find a place down south to keep the boat in the water year round.
 

Rick D

.
Jun 14, 2008
7,131
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
Our mooring in Catalina Island id $3000 annually. That includes maintenance. It is rented while we are not there. There is no revenue sharing; we get no income. Our annual cost for a slip in Long Beach, CA is $9600. I understand Newport Beach slips run about $24000 annually for the same size.