Anchorage verses Marina!‘A yacht in a marina is safe, but that is not what yachts are built for!’ • Anchorage ...the benefits and drawbacks! • When it may be necessary to be at a marina! • The cost factor, short and long term! • The safety of an anchorage!
Swinging at anchor as the sun sets over palm trees on sun kissed sands. Sundowners before a feast of freshly caught seafood; skin glowing from a day spent snorkeling and exploring the beach collecting shells. Peaceful sounds of gentle waves and soft music …… and I can go on but you get the picture!
Why anchor rather than berth at a marina? For long term cruisers those are some of the reasons, the other one is ... your budget ... how much will it cost! Two important considerations are power and water supply at anchor! You need to look at how you are going to take care of providing on board power, and what are you able to, or want to run on the power supply. I’m very basic with only a solar panel. When I need light I am conservative and use my oil lamp a lot, my fridge/freezer I switch off, and I like music so have the radio and CD’s. I don’t have a TV on board but I can play DVD’s from a 12 volt system I have, but I do have to watch the power supply with it.
I also run my engine to charge the batteries at regular intervals.
Other yachts with generators have TV’s, washing machines and all the other mod cons of land. It comes back once again to budget, size of your yacht and what is important to you!!
Preventive maintenance and learning to do as much as you can yourself cuts down on costs. As a female yacht owner I do what I can and it’s a continual learning process. The less complicated systems you have, the less headaches.
Boats are boats and will always need something doing!
Antifouling will put you in a marina on the hard stand at regular intervals and although a ‘yucky’ job if you can do it yourself it cuts down on costs.
If you would like to read up on antifoul, what to use and when to use it, click here. Keep a good supply of spare parts on board and have a budget put aside for any boat gear that may ‘give out’ on a trip. Yachtie’s are great at helping others and most have different skills, there is always some one around, put a call out on the radio if at anchor, and at marina check the notice boards. If your budget allows you to call into a marina, or ‘boat work’ puts you in that position, make the most of it! Time to get some more provisions, do the laundry in a Laundromat, and the social life can be pretty full! The cost of marinas for long time cruisers on a budget can take up huge chunks of money that is just one reason why most prefer to be at anchorage. If you pay by the week the cost is much higher, by the month or 6 months or more the cost goes down.
When setting out cruising for any length of time and you anticipate having to call into a marina for maintenance, or if you plan to do some traveling on land check out the cost in the area and long term rates.
I pay around a third of the price for a half year, and then can anchor or use a mooring buoy off
Airlie Beach
for the other six months. This suits me at present while I am working, and will suit me in the future when I can go cruising part of the year and leave my yacht in a safe marina while I travel and spend time with my family.
• To the boat! • Your possessions! • You personally! These vary from country to country and each could be a chapter on its own.
Put briefly ..... If you’re looking at the boat … it can drag anchor anywhere in the world, or a storm can put it on the rocks. One minute you can be looking at an amazingly tranquil setting at a perfect anchorage, and within hour’s disaster can strike ! It can be having enough chain and anchor out but often the best prevention is a well known area where you can shelter and tie up in cyclonic weather, or in a safe marina.
Your possessions can be stolen any where as much as we prefer to believe the people on the yachts around us are honest. In the Bay of Islands, New Zealand at a buoy mooring in a beautiful bay all my off shore equipment was stolen along with some personal items. On the East Coast of Australia I had some equipment stolen while I was in the shower block. Unfortunately it really doesn’t matter where you are in the world, some places could be worse than others though.
Some bays in the tropics are frequented by sharks and others by salt water crocodiles. If in doubt about where to swim ask the locals! From Anchorage verses Marina ...go to more on the budget!!
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