Boat Slip / Marina Information

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question, but was wondering what you would do in the event of a hurricane?

Hope someone can help you with more information!

Sapphire Marina by Sapphire Beach has slips you can buy. Don't know if any are available to rent but you could check. 340-690-6015.

I don't know about size restrictions at Saga Haven Marina.

Nope, it doesn't look like Sapphire can accommodate you but try calling them & asking who could or what your other options are. I noticed some of the info on marinas I found googling was a few years old so might not be completely accurate any more.

As far as hurricanes go, the boats are moved to "Hurricane holes" temporarily. On STX that would be Green Cay Marina or Salt Pond.

You might try Sapphire Marina. Don't know if they can accommodate 77 ft., but you could call. They are a "dockominium", so you might be able to buy a slip. When you say you have contacted Crown Bay and haven't heard back from them, did you send an email or call. Some places don't respond to their emails quickly. You might want to call.
Most live-a-boards here anchor out or have a mooring. Where will you be working. There is an anchorage near Crown Bay and also at Red Hook. There are still some boats in the main harbor too.

Tamara, Good question! We lived aboard for 10 years. Sometimes we took the summer (hurricane season) off and went south, out of the hurricane belt. Other years we "ran" for each individual storm. We found a couple of good "hurricane holes" and would hunker down and weather it out. If you are going to do that, you have to have an understanding boss. And the worst was after we moved off the boat, and she was sitting on a mooring in Red Hook and we were in our condo. THAT was the scary part, and that's when we decided to sell the boat.

Try Independent Boat Yard. I don't have the number handy.......you'll need to look it up in the telephone directory.

F.I.

You have already found the cheapest rates, I am sorry to say. We, and many other boats, live at moorings though there are some who live aboard in marinas (I think they all permit it - officially or unofficially). If you stay "out", then it costs about $1000 to put in a substantial mooring - once you located a suitable location, and the Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) charges $5 per foot per year as a mooring fee. Search a prior thread on "buy a mooring" for more info if that is an option you want to consider.

I think seasonal low rates at Crown Bay are around $20 per foot per month, and maybe 50% higher at YHG though there is new management who may be pricing slips more competitively. The cheapest slips are around Independent Boat Yard, but the channel in is just 7', and there are relatively few slips available at any given time.

In event of Hurricanes, boats leave the marinas. Some anchor around the island in selected coves though only one true hurricane hole is available over at St. Johns and space there is awarded by annual lottery. Other places to go are Culebra and Vieques, 20 miles east of the west end of StT. There is a protected harbor on the north side of STX, but I don't know the name or controlling depth - it is just west of Christiansted.

Hope this helps.

Cade

adamb, When you open vinow.com type marinas in the search site box (at the top of the page, center) then click on the first of the results. This will bring up a page with marina info including max boat lengths and phone numbers for each marina on each island. Hope this helps and good luck! (I have this dream also) Rick

Thanks for all the fantastic information! Very helpful.

It looks like The Reef Ecology Foundation of St. Thomas and St. John have set up 45 moorings for public access. Use is free but restricted to boats under 60' long so that leaves me out. I guess there's around 210 more in the waters around St. John, but evidently those are generally already occupied.

I gather that Mooring permits are not required for any public moorings or National Park moorings and day use is free. Public moorings are not intended for overnight use though, and the National Park has a fee for night use. I'd apply for a night permit (and paying the fee is fine) before I arrive so as to avoid any complications, but evidently applicants are required to apply in person - a minor complication I suppose.

Another question - when you liveaboard at a moored location (just fine with me) where do you put in (and leave unattended, say for work, provisioning, etc) your shore craft on St. Thomas?

adamb, Most of the areas you can moor have a dock or place nearby for dinghies to tie during the day. If you have never been to STT I would highly recommend you do a PMV (pre move visit) and talk with others in the marinas or take the job short term, if possible and rent for a while before taking your boat. Some other things to consider about living aboard on the hook is do you have a water maker (water is fairly expensive at the marinas). Do you have solar panels to keep house batteries charged. On the first page of the relocation board is a column of subjects I would read through these especially the what to expect stories. Anything else do a search on this board (using all dates) there is some really good stuff there!

The National Park moorings are $15 a night and you are limited to something like 14 nights per year. You cannot live aboard in the National Park. The main live aboard areas are Elephant Bay near Water Island, Vessup Bay/Red Hook, and The Lagoon area. You really need to come down and talk to people who are doing this to see if it is for you. If you have been offered a job, ask your employer for help. Everyone knows someone who lives on a boat. I love boats, but living on one would not be my idea of fun...

Fish Hawk marina in the lagoon is for sale - you could buy that and rent out what dockage is left over after the 70'+ boat is tied up. Finding a suitable mooring space large enough to install a mooring for a boat that size is going to be a limiting factor as well. You will need VI registration and a mooring permit from DPNR if you live here more than 60 days.Sapphire marina cannot fit a vessel that long w/o impeding traffic even if you bought a slip there. Yacht Haven Grand may give you a good price once season is over for the mega yachts - last summer it was deserted for the most part.