st thomas liveaboard

[kevsail81]

Hello everyone, I am soon moving to st. thomas for a job and want to liveaboard but slips are far out of my finacial reach, is it posible to liveaboard in the caribbean as far as rules and regulations go? any advice would be much appreciated,
thank you
kevin

[SanderO]

I know many sailors who live aboard at anchor and work ashore in the Caribbean.

Try it, you'll like it

jef
sv shiva

[kevsail81]

Thanks for your input jef, it keeps me motivated to try it.

[Giulietta]

If you work near Charlotte Amalie, you can moor at a bay called Lyndbergh Bay, its quiet, a little too near the Airport, so some planes will be noisy, but stops at 7 pm....its on the South side of the Island.

I go there once a year on work also...here a few photos of the Lyndbergh Bay. Do you have a car there??









You can also mor in front of Charlotte Amalie, but its more crowded and I don't know how long they will let you stay

[kevsail81]

Charlotte amalie would actually be perfect for me cause i got a job flying out of the airport so that will be close, Great!

Do you know if they let you moor at Lyndberg bay for long? and is charlotte amalie "dingy friendly"?

No i dont have a car down there yet and im not sure if ill get one or not at this point. I have only been to st. thomas once and only for a few hours. It was a port of call on a cruise i went on last year. Looking forward to going back though.

[Giulietta]

Then Lyndbergh is perfect..you can actually walk to the airport..really...

From downtown Charlotte to the airport is at least 15 20 minutes, a few traffic lights, and a lot of weirleft hand wheel cars driving on the left side of the road..

You're perfect at Lyndbergh.

I am sure you can moor there, I have seen many many boats stay there, some weeks in a row.

Bellow is a shot of Lyndbergh bay...see the airport??

[camaraderie]

Kev...Acually I think the only suitable place for long term liveaboard on st. thomas is on the east/seast coast with redhook and vessup being the areas where everything is centered. It is quite crowded but these are protected areas and not open roadsteads. I believe slip fees are around $10 a foot per month but there are probably electric and liveaboard fees as well. I know that some DO live on their anchors or moorings in these areas. Unfortunately, there is no easy commute to the airport area from here and as I recall, the drive is about 45 minutes.

Linbergh is fine in settled weather but is completely open to the south and swells can be quite large in the right weather. Not a long term anchorage.

[kevsail81]

Thanks for the pics, yeah lindbergh is defenetaly close to the airport but aslo very open and as cam said probably not great for long term.

$10 a foot per month seems reasonable, and probably worth it. I called a few marinas down there earlier and they were charging an average of $1.00 per foot per day WOW! too much for me but $10 a foot per month sounds good.
I'll check it out.

Thanks for all your input everyone, its been very helpful. Its gonna be a long move from michigan, and all too unformiliar. Any advice i can get will be much appreciated. Thanks!

[camaraderie]

Kev...see www.independentboatyard.com
and here:
http://www.marinas.com/search/index?...&Submit=Search

[FarCry]

Lindbergh is not an appropriate long term anchorage. As others have stated there can be some very large swells that come in from the open south. There is no place to leave a dinghy. By VI law one is not to remain in an anchorage without a permit for more than two weeks (enforcement is random). The DPNR will not issue long term anchorage or mooring permits for Lindbergh Bay. A better option may be Water Island. Permits are available there and it is a short dinghy ride to the Sub-Base dinghy dock on St Thomas.