Dreaming of long term Marina hopping...

It depends on the size. But generally speaking 60' and under, in most marina's you can secure a long term slip a month or two out...…..some of the highly sought after marina's do have long waiting lists. Keep in mind that a house would be a much better investment...…..

Finding slips for extended stays won't be a problem. In most cases two to three months before you intend to move to them but in some cases longer in advance. There will be a few prime marinas not available but plenty of others.

Some marina's have pools. Some have a vibrant dock community and nightlife. One option is to get a house on the water and a fast center console like a 39' Nortech or Seavee and rent places to stay. You can cover lots of ground quickly and just as flexible for fishing, diving, and going to the local restaurant for dinner without huge operating costs.

It's tough to say what size, figure out what amenities you need, space constraints, and cruising distances and we might be able to make recommendations.

Stern drives do ok on a lift. That is an option.

CZ and I had that same "tickle" with our Post - we scratched it pretty quickly when we started t0 put together a realistic budget - and we own the boat already. When we divided the real cost by the projected actual days of use, we found that we could have a plush room at the Breakers and rent a center console with change to spare. We still have business interests in NY so it would be long weekends at best for us. The travel costs, to say, the Exumas are significant. Maybe if we could take weeks at a time....

I don't mean to throw cold water on your thoughts, and if your pocketbook is well fortified and easily replenished go for it.

We do a lot of traveling and living board here in the NE near home. Personally I'd look for something with a salon, and stay away from the express. There are plenty of good used boats out there, but watch out for the one's that may have had salt water in spots where it never belongs.

Good luck with your adventures!

I couldn't recommend a stern drive for salt water unless one designed and equipped for it and even then not a huge fan.

I think you would benefit by doing some chartering in the area. Two charter companies on the west coast that could help you. Also, some rentals on the east coast and larger charters.

Nothing at all wrong with your thoughts on the floating, relocatable condo. Others do similar. In each area there are "country club" or "resort" marinas that have all the amenities.

Well gas inboards have fallen out of favor as outboards are just better all of the way around. The inboards you have to change the manifolds and risers every 5-7 years. Outdrives take a real beating on boats that sit in saltwater. But they do ok if kept on a lift and serviced annually like you're supposed to. if the boat meets your needs, go for it. It should work out ok.

I have a customer with an older 34' express with twin mercruiser gas stern drives. He ships it down for 5-6 months every year and it sits in saltwater for the 5-6 months. We keep zincs on the drives and them and the bottom clean...….so far no issues and it's year 2......and he maintains them once a year. He happens to own 2 Mercury/Mercruiser platinum boat/engine dealerships. But he took it on trade and figures for the money he has in it, why not.

We have many, many sterndrives up here in the NE that sit in the water 5-7 months a year. With proper maintenance, I have not heard of any special concern? When the boat comes out of the water for the winter, the drive comes off and is serviced, the bellows inspected and the metal is repainted with the appropriate bottom paint. In the spring the support bearings and gimbals are re-inspected and greased and in she goes. Is the experience different down south?

How many of those are Ocean-X or Seacore models though? There's a difference in stern drives purchased for coastal use and those purchased for inland use.

Lots of sailors around here use anchors and launches, however you might have to pay for anchorage rights in some ports.

Yeah, I live in the False Creek part of Vancouver Canada. We have multiple very full marinas here and several sailboats that are moored to buoys. Some of the Super-Yachts appear to just drop anchor and wait to see if anyone challenges them, some sailors do the same.

The easiest way to stay on the right side of the law is to fly the flag of the country where your boat is registered. Relevant port authorities can search registration databases for your contact info then call you and advise you of your rights and responsibilities while in their area of influence. Or you can be more pro-active and contact those port authorities and find out what your options are. There is usually somewhere you can anchor for free and there are usually public docks where you can tie up a launch while you go ashore. Another thing that comes to mind is piloting, some ports require that you have a certain type of boat pilot license. You might have to get some extra training to sail into certain areas, or just hire a local pilot to get you through those waters.