liveaboard marinas between NYC & Boston???

[shai]

Hello everybody.

I am a new member of this forum and would like to briefly introduce myself before I place a couple of questions. I am a novice boater, have no boat of my own yet and may be lucky enough this year to win the ….green card lottery and move to the States, leaving behind a 17yr old job, an apartment of my own and a very landlubber lifestyle. If everything goes well for me or whenever it does – this is an old dream, I plan to move to NE US, somewhere between Boston and NYC and within a reasonable amount of time buy my own boat with a view to becoming a liveaboard and sailing. Too many reasons why, to enumerate here! Among other things, being the daughter and granddaughter of sailors (mercantile marine), loving the sea and ships and even eating the bait while fishing when I was a kid leaves me really no choice. Sad as I find it, I live in a country where people will not normally fork out $xxk to buy a sailboat, let alone live aboard one… If I am ever to make this dream come true, I have to uproot myself to another country. For those of you wondering why I just don’t go the easy way and move anywhere within the EU the answer is NY (which I “discovered” on 9/11, visited 3 times ever since and fell subsequently in love with it) and Boston – courtesy of Henry James.

What I would like to ask at t his point is this: any suggestions about liveaboard marinas anywhere between Boston and NY?

I know I have lots of reading to do with regard to pretty much everything and I look forward to this forum’s experience and insights and advice. While hoping to be …congratulated by the Dpt of State I would like to take advantage of time and educate myself on the the possibilities, the options, and the prospects out there.

FT

[sailingdog]

There are many choices for liveaboard marinas in that range, as it covers Hyannis, Buzzards Bay, Newport, Mystic, and other major sailing areas.

It would help if you gave more information, like:

do you need to be near services like grocery stores
do you need high-speed internet access
do you need to be in a major metropolitan area
what kind of boat you will be living on
what kind of draft does your boat require

[hellosailor]

That's going to be rough. You've picked a "Gold Coast" area where anything waterfront is terribly expensive and very territorial. Many areas will not allow liveaboards due to local politics. It is possible to live aboard on the sly (unofficially and illegally but with marinas turning their back) but anyplace that does allow it? Will be top dollar and typically with a long waiting list.

There's the 79th Street Boat Basin on the west side of Manhattan, probably a ten-year waiting list assuming you buy a hulk that is already in the mud there. Some of the NJ side marinas (Port Liberte & Newport?) across from Manhattan may allow liveaboards, but they have little shelter and you will roll all the time. On the North Shore of Long Island...I don't know of any legally. Possibly Capri in Port Washington, they would know if there are any around. The shore of CT and points north is out of my local knowledge, you might try looking in Soundings, a publication that is local to the area. I know Boston has/had liveaboard space but again, it will cost dearly.

It isn't impossible--but it won't be easy. And with waterfront being so dear, there is no guarantee that anything you find will remain available from year to year.

[sailingdog]

Actually, the Brewer Yatch Yard (www.byy.com) marinas offer liveaboard for a slight fee above the normal dockage fees. They have locations scattered up the coast from NY to Maine. Other marinas, like Constitution Marina in boston, also offer liveaboard dock facilities.

Price and availability are both serious issues with anything in the NY/NE stretch.

[bigreddo]

Port Washington is a city on Long Island NY that has some year-round residents in the water - mostly on house boats. Seaford and Merrick, also on Long Island, have some house boats at some marinas.

I've heard the worst part of living on a boat is dealing with water in the winter, especially when the water around your boat is freezing.

[sailingdog]

In Boston Harbor, there are several marinas, including Constitution Marina, where liveaboards are fairly common. The real problem is that most have significant waiting lists, and none are what I would call inexpensive.

[travlerbysail]

I am looking for a marina on long island that allows live aboards any ideas

[RayMetz100]

shai started this thread 04-21-2005 and hasn't posted since. You might want to start your own.