Mooring in GA/SC?

Jan 30, 2021
14
Hunter 30 Cooper River Marina
I’ve got a 30 ft boat that I’m working on, currently in a slip in Charleston. I’m wondering if anyone can give me any advice about whether there are cheaper options for boat storage in the Southeast than paying $450 / mo. for a slip.

I see boats moored to buoys all the time, which I assume is a cheaper option than a slip, but I have no idea how that works. How do you find one? Are there fees involved? Legal restrictions? I don’t really know where to begin learning about this stuff.

Just trying to get a feel for the options out there and what the pros/cons are because paying over $5k a year to store a boat that I only paid about $7k for seems a little crazy in the long run.

(as far as location goes, Savannah area would be ideal, but anything between Charleston SC and Brunswick GA could work).
 
Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
There are moorings available in Beaufort SC at the Beaufort Downtown (Safe Harbor) Marina. I believe they run about $2400 per year ($200/mo). You will have to provide your own way to get to and from the boat. There is no place to conveniently tie up to work on your boat dockside so you are relgulated to working on your boat while on the mooring. Moorings are great for keeping a boat if you have a way to get to/from it and don't have to do loads of work on it on a routine basis (like it sounds the situation you may be in.)

There may be places where you can place your own mooring ball but I am not aware of those. There are privately owned docks/slips on Hilton Head Island SC and you may be able search things like Craig's list or other classifieds to find access to them. I suspect if you get creative you may be able to find a place like that in several places between Charleston and Brunswick.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
I was just in Savannah last week as a transient and I have to say it is not really a yacht friendly place. I was only there over night but I didn't see much dockage and moorings on the Savannah River didn't exist. It is a very commercial waterfront. Also, it's a fair degree down the river before you would want to sail - an hour or so. I didn't see any moorings at St Simon but the water was more open - depth subject to question. There was the charter sailing vessel Lynx, which I know from Long Island, was doing day charters from the marina. So, there was room for sailing there. I would look in that area. Next south would be Jacksonville, I guess.
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,990
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Just trying to get a feel for the options out there and what the pros/cons are because paying over $5k a year to store a boat that I only paid about $7k for seems a little crazy in the long run.
Yeah. I’ve wrestled with this issue since the beginning of boat ownership. Never found a good permanent solution. Moorings can cost less than a slip monthly but you have other issues.

But how it works is a matter of where it is, what the rules are, and what services are there, if any. In some locations one must “buy” an existing mooring but in reality you’re just “buying” the space over the bottom that it affords you. In Newport Beach, CA, I see moorings advertised for sale at $40,000:yikes:, or more. Seems like a lot, and is all at once, but I’ve spent more than twice that much for slippage in the last 16 yr of ownership of the Bavaria. Of course, you have to maintain them as well. In other places you might buy a new, custom mooring that the harbor folks make up and install if there is space. You then lease the space in the harbor that your boat and the mooring occupy. But when you leave you may have to pay to have it pulled out.

You also can lease only, the easiest thing overall, but you would still have inconvenient logistical issues; namely, managing the dinghy when off the boat for extended period, and for loading/unloading the boat from the dink. However, some harbors where there are moorings offer shore boat services; some as a courtesy, others at cost, that you might be able to take good advantage of for loading stuff.

I imagine harbors offering moorings, buy or lease, would have a dinghy dock for temporary (e.g., 48 or 72 hr) courtesy tie-ups. Longer than that you might have to pay storage. But also, there is no power & no water at the mooring site. Some harbors might provide temporary docking (few hours to overnight) to service a boat moored there (including pump-out). You might also accomplish loading/unloading then.

Depending on where it is, such as in Port San Luis, CA for me, I might get a seasonal mooring for around $350/mo during the summer months, which is custom built, with a minimum 3-month lease paid in advanced. (Permanent mooring assignments are bit more and harder to get—wait list.) But, that’s over two hundred miles from home whereas my current slip is near home. Can’t have everything but if you’re willing to “park” the boat somewhere based on a mooring cost that you are comfortable with, you might find a spot. If you are going to use the boat often, find a harbor with shore boat service to avoid the problem of where to put the dink when off the boat ashore, e.g., at home if not living aboard. But the basic formula you can expect is the more services, the higher the rent, etc.
 
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Jan 30, 2021
14
Hunter 30 Cooper River Marina
@shemander - I have heard that about Savannah before. In your experience was it just the river and city proper that are poor for yachting, or the whole region? I know there are quite a few marinas in the general vicinity (Thunderbolt, Tybee, Etc..) and seemed like quite a few sailboats out there.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Primarily I was talking about the city water front. But going up the river from the ocean I don't recall passing any marinas. Anything close to a tie up was for shipping and for loading/unloading cargo. It is around seven miles up the river. There is the Savannah Yacht Club further up the river from where we docked but I didn't get a chance to see it. I couldn't see any masts from where we were. I can't see sailing on that river with its level of shipping traffic, strong current and narrow width.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
@shaun12345
I am also in Charleston as of August and have been researching this same topic ... PM me and I can share what I’ve learned.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
@rgranger: Sorry I didn't remember you are in Charleston. We might have gathered for a beer at Salty Sam's at the Municipal Marina when we were there a the weekend before last. Or maybe found some good Shrimp 'n Grits. We were in Charleston for a lay over day before Savannah. In contrast to Savannah, Charleston has a lot of sailing. We watched some J24's, and other boats, go out Sunday for a blustery day of racing in the harbor. There is a lot of marina space. Don't know the cost or availability. Although after showing up after dark and tying up where ever we found available, we had no issues with the marina staff in the morning. Charleston seemed to be pretty sailing friendly to me. But it's a hike from the parking lot to the boats. That's true in a lot of Southeastern "Low country" areas as the water is shallow in harbors and to get enough water for marina slips they have to go out a bit. This is true in the Stuart FL area also.
 
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