Big Yacht "parking" - Australia and international

[Cryptonomicon]

Silly question but where does one moor/berth/anchor large yachts.

I am thinking along the lines of a
100 foot Schooner particularly for Australia but am curious how people do it elsewhere.

Marinas are obviously out - any marina big enough for a 100 footer comes with billionaire prices and probably a heliport....

Wharves seem to be commercial - big ships pay by the hour, come in unload-reload and move on.

I just can't get my mind around what people do with boats that are too big to be really called yachts - but too small and **cough** cheap **cough** to be classed as ships.

There seem to be a few of them around - often used for corporate cruises - dive trips - whale watching. None of which are really the sort of business that is regular or reliable enough to pay regular expensive mooring fees.

Fishing fleets as well - they certainly don't pay marina fees, costs of fuel and licenses are high enough as it is - they would certainly want to keep mooring fees down.

I am stumped.

And yes I admit I am doing the "throw it all in and live on a yacht dream" thing but found even a 50 foot yacht too claustrophobic to realistically live and work from.

[puddinlegs]

Locally, guest moorage is 1.50 per foot per day for boats over 65'. 150amp 3ph 450v hookup is $150 per day. Helped deliver a 120' motoryacht about a year ago. Anchoring was free. The fuel however wasn't. 4500 gallons of diesel on the owner's card, burned 80-90 gallons per hour at 13-15kts. The price of moorage is the least of your worries!

[Ilenart]

Just spent a week in the Witsunday's and most of the +100ft plus yachts anchored as they were to big for the marinas. However Puddinlegs is right, for a 100ft plus yacht mooring costs a minor compared to crew costs, r&m, fuel, etc, etc. Assume a 20% annual running costs for a $1m yacht and you are talking at least $200,000 per year.

The cheapest +100ft yacht we saw was worth $20m and the majority was worth a lot more. Here is a 136ft yacht that was anchored behind us, I don't think the owner would be too concerned with mooring costs.

Ilenart

[Cryptonomicon]

Ilenart's photo sure is pretty - not even sure I can afford to dream of something that sexy.

I am thinking more along the lines of the nautical equivalent of a converted second hand schoolbus rather than the hand built custom luxury Winnebago

I seem to be finding lots for sale -well perhaps the word lots a stretch - baltic traders mainly at less than $1m. Over that and they seem to go up in price proportional to the amount of varnish, brass and stained glass on display.

but perhaps they are for sale because of the running costs - someones good ideas that didn't work as expected.

[Zanshin]

Most of the non-commercial moorings that I've seen are limited to 60 feet boats, and a boat in the size range you are looking for will weigh enough that I'd always opt for anchor and chain over an unknown mooring. You'll find lots of dockage in the Caribbean for 100 foot boats, but the pricing is quite steep at over $1.10 per foot per day.
The volume and surface area alone on a boat that size will ensure that maintenance costs are going to be quite high and that dockage/mooring costs will be a mere drop in the bucket.

[CaptainForce]

We see vessels this size docked at marinas in numerous places along the East US coast at the same cost/foot as all the others. They are common in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Thunderbolt (Savannah), Portsmouth, Annapolis,.....and more.

[St Anna]

get in touch with the sail training ship 'South Passage'. It is a well travelled 100' schooner!

[Hartley18]

There's plenty of wharf-side parking for a ship like that in the commercial area of the Yarra River, Docklands, Melbourne - a short walk from the city. You'd need to negotiate some kind of fee with the local council - but there is certainly plenty of long-term berthing here, probably in Sydney also although further from the city - for you if you look around.

Just don't expect marina facilities for a ship that size - not that you really need it.

We look forward to welcoming you to Australia.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by St Anna

get in touch with the sail training ship 'South Passage'. It is a well travelled 100' schooner!

and ask them about maintenance costs and how many crew they need ...

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by tdw

and ask them about maintenance costs and how many crew they need ...

Shhhh!!... You'll scare him off!