Mooring in the Keys (and elsewhere)? The good and the bad?

o.k. dreaming a little here. Our plan is to somehow eventually get our 53 down south somewhere, like Florida, the keys or the Caribbean. Not rich, and will have a limited retirement budget.

I've been researching docominium's and/or a slip/dock to rent. Both are outrageously priced in the keys. I called on a 53 for sale down in Key West and he said his dock rent was $2500 a month.

The other issue is we really want to be able to cruise the Caribbean islands and who know were else.

So having a permanent port only partially makes sense. Short term dock fees can really add up fast too while traveling.

Just wondering how feasible it is to stay out on the hook or in mooring fields? Availability in the Caribbean or Bahamas?

What are the pro's and cons? I know we would have to do something better with invertors / possibly solar power etc. Dog's would be an issue / pain in the rear to take to land to let them do there thing too.

Just looking for your experiences in traveling / and or staying somewhere for an extended period of time?

Thank you!

We rarely tie to a dock. Anchor out and aweigh from everyone.
Also we never left our boat anywhere. It was home. Always starting and ending our vacations and trips in Jax. So a remote dock for staging we never considered.

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Originally Posted by Captain Ralph

We rarely tie to a dock. Anchor out and aweigh from everyone.
Also we never left our boat anywhere. It was home. Always starting and ending our vacations and trips in Jax. So a remote dock for staging we never considered.

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So if you go to land via a tender, do you have any issues with a place to dock your tender?
I have heard rumors that this can be a problem in some places.

-Bob

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Originally Posted by Bob Quinn

So if you go to land via a tender, do you have any issues with a place to dock your tender?
I have heard rumors that this can be a problem in some places.

-Bob

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The micro times we ever landed with a dink, Well, we used their dink docks.
Just check in with the dock master and tie up for a few hours and tip him when you leave.
Usually just to check in with customs but lately, there on the dock when we check in,

Our last deployment, we used the dink once to visit Ft Jefferson on the Dry Tortuga.
Beach exploring was the real only rare use for our dink.

We lived on our Bert. Never far away from her. Just far away from everybody else.
Why go on vacation to be around the stuff your trying to get away from.

The short answer is that it is feasible. The longer answer is that it depends on your expectations and preferences.

You will need. A good inverter and inverter bank to run the boat but that’s unlikely to run the air con. If you re fine with running the gen 3 to 4 hours a day then it s an easy set up. Solar will help obviously especially if you need to leave the boat unattended for a short while

In most places there are places to land a dinghy especially in the Bahamas. Leaving a dinghy unattended can be a little more difficult. Again it depends. Stateside some cities are more boater friendly than others. Active Captain is a good resource to research this.

A water maker will be a must if staying on a mooring or anchored out. If you re going to anchor out quite a bit, oversizing your anchor will be a must.

Moorings aren’t always easy to find especially for boats over 45/50 but anchoring is just as good.

Unfortunately, there is a vast difference between the dream and reality. Mundane things, like garbage disposal, will be difficult. At least in the Keys, dingy landings are limited unless they are accompanied by purchases and/ or fees. Many marinas don’t accept dingy or PWC landings. Holding tanks and fresh water also are issues to consider for longer term mooring. Not to dissuade you, but consider the hassles as well as the sunsets. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Pascal

The short answer is that it is feasible. The longer answer is that it depends on your expectations and preferences.

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Thank you Pascal, I was kind of thinking along those same lines. I would need to do some upgrading!

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Originally Posted by captainwjm

Unfortunately, there is a vast difference between the dream and reality. Mundane things, like garbage disposal, will be difficult. At least in the Keys, dingy landings are limited unless they are accompanied by purchases and/ or fees. Many marinas don’t accept dingy or PWC landings. Holding tanks and fresh water also are issues to consider for longer term mooring. Not to dissuade you, but consider the hassles as well as the sunsets. Good luck.

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I hadn't thought about the garbage thing at all. Good point.
I think like you said, if your not paying for something, they aren't going to let you just "come ashore" and use there resources.

So what do you do with garbage?

When we re on the hook in the Bahamas for like a week, we use the sink disposal for anything that can smell and everything like can, plastic, alum cans, paper goes in a trash compactor. Wine bottles go in a milk crate. Most islands have places to get rid of the trash for a few ranging between $5 and $10 per bag.

Statesides maybe a little more difficult unless you stay at a marina.

For black water a Lectrasan is the best solution except in NDZ

I was going to give you a list of many places in Miami and the Keys where you could find quality dockage, but the dog part nixed them all.