# Marinas have length requirements for Liveaboard?!



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

A friend told me most marinas have a minimum requirments of 35' for a liveaboard vessel!? Santa Barbara, California does not either does West Marina down in Ventura. What is the policy for other marinas on the West Coast?


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## NCC320 (Dec 23, 2008)

I don't know about a minimum size, but about 4 years ago, I looked into live aboard slips in the SF bay area when my son took a job in that area. The idea was to beat the high cost of buying a house by purchasing a good size sailboat and keeping it in a slip as a live aboard. What we found was that most marinas in the area limited live aboards to about 10% of the slips and there was a 2-5 year waiting list typically. So in addition to size, you need to check availability.


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## sailortjk1 (Dec 20, 2005)

Talk (politely) with the harbor master or the port authority.
We, just last weekend, were looking at a marina with the possibility of relocating in the next couple of years. They too have a no live-aboard policy, but the bottom line was, don't advertise your intentions and we won't ask questions. You _MIGHT _find that although there is a no live-aboard policy, the policy is not enforced. I have no idea how So Cal works, this was just my personal experience from the past weekend.


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

No length requirements for liveaboard anywhere around here either BUT...some marinas have minimum length requirements for ANY boat designed to maximize slip rental income. i.e. you may OWN a 25' boat and put it in the slip but if the minimum is 35' then you will PAY the "rent" of a 35 footer. We have a 25 foot minimum here.


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## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

Dana Point has 35' requirement and additional fees, but it works as Sailortjk has said. If you are not a problem your dockmates will be happy you are there as security, become a PITA and you will have a problem.


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## LittleWingCA (Jul 17, 2008)

I know a few in San Diego that require 35' minimum, a working head, and weekly pump outs. They also charge an extra monthly fee on top of normal per foot slip fees.


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## poopdeckpappy (Jul 25, 2006)

Dana Point, Oceanside and most all of SD has a 35-36' min. LA fees are around 350.00 over & above std slip fees


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## Fstbttms (Feb 25, 2003)

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which is the ruling authority on liveaboards in the Bay Area has a 24' minimum. I suspect that the individual marinas may be likely to enforce their own, longer minimum length.


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

You have to see some of the stuff that has showed up in this area

At one of the clubs there is and older person that lives on board over the summer and the boat has reached the it gets towed in and out of the slip ONCE a year


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

tommays said:


> You have to see some of the stuff that has showed up in this area
> 
> At one of the clubs there is and older person that lives on board over the summer and the boat has reached the it gets towed in and out of the slip ONCE a year


I apologize, but I'm getting a little pissed about this ridicules policy. I don't think that living a board a boat causes the boat to be a POS. I know may POS boats that have not been visited for 5, even 10, years!!! And if they are attempting to regulate the quality of a boat, and it's occupants, by adopting a minimum lenght policy then they are simly asking people to park a bigger POS boat in the slip!!! Many people have crossed major oceans in boats smaller that 35'. Who's it say when they get to the other side they can live a board there boat that brought them there.


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## danjarch (Jun 18, 2007)

Around central Florida, the usual was a 35' minimum price for live-aboards, they don't care if your trying to live on a 8' rowboat. The simplest explanation is that people who live aboard use the shore facilities a lot more then weekenders. So they charge a minimum to cover the additional cost of everything from toilet paper in the shore head to water and cleaning. Most marinas I know have a time limit, my last marina put the cut off at 11 days, more then that and you were a live-aboard. With a wink and a nudge, I was told the same as cam, don't advertise and stay somewhere else every now and then, don't cause a fuss and they would't really care how many nights a month I stayed.


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## Cruisingdad (Jul 21, 2006)

40 foot minimum for many marinas in S Texas. It is all over.

- CD


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## Janssen (Jan 27, 2009)

*Any Length goes on the Chesapeake Bay!*

At my marina near Baltimore, they allow liveaboards on any size boat. Several years ago - a fellow was living on a 25' Sailboat - even in the dead of winter!

Dr. George C&C 35 Nordic Nights - Old Bay Marina Baltimore


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## isleofrum (Apr 3, 2018)

It is my understanding that it is a California state code. Some marinas may choose to enforce more strictly than others.


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