Part 3 (of 4) of ‘How Much Boat?- Marina Fees vs Length’
Captain’s Log
Star Date 201197
Bones, the worst Vet in the galaxy, has let me down entirely. No joy to be had at the vet appointment that should have cured the madness of my First Mate.
Instead I got the vaccination booster, a cold thermometer in an unmentionable place and hearty assurances that the Can Opener had never looked better.
Instead I got the vaccination booster, a cold thermometer in an unmentionable place and hearty assurances that the Can Opener had never looked better.
The fur-less collude against me.
Now, while the Can Opener bangs away over our sink trying to extract my evening smoked oysters from the tin, I scan more of his notes curiously titled Annual Marina Rates vs Lengths:
‘Is there a magical low cost region for marina rates?
Not unexpectedly, the Caribbean/Bahamas had the most expensive marina rates.
The US and the Med fees appeared similar in this small sample when compared in a base currency. If I had, however, included the traditionally more expensive shores of Spain, France and Italy in the Med calculations, I imagine the picture would quickly change.
English marina rates in this short survey seemed cheaper than in the US. I had understood that the UK is about 30% more expensive than the US, so more investigation (and a bigger sample size) will be needed later.
While looking for data, at first brush it did seem easier to find small town English marina websites that included their fees online. (I did look initially for small town US marinas too, but ultimately seemed to wind up looking at bigger cities to find sites with marina fees displayed). So this could just be a village vs big city pricing effect.
A surprise showing was the Pacific Island of Fiji with by far the lowest marina fees sampled. Sure sounds appealing to refit while already in a beautiful cruising ground!
Would Fiji be a good place to refit a boat?
This will have to be further researched versus the cost and availability of refitting materials, labour and facilities there. It sounds great, but also too good to be true!
Average annual marina rates – regional averages per m/ft for this small sample
England: £333/m ($541/m) or £102/ft ($165/ft)
Mediterranean: £413/m ($671/m) or £126/ft ($204/ft)
Bahamas: £987/m ($1600/m) or £301/ft ($488/ft)
USA: £413/m ($670/m) or £126/ft ($204/ft)
Fiji: £180/m ($292/m) or £55/ft ($86/ft) ‘
But… it looks like he might consider…Fiji for refitting? For a whole year?? A beautiful island surrounded by the endless fish supermarket of the Pacific… Hmmm.
Now that sounds like madness I can put up with.
–Captain Cat
(transcribed by the Can Opener
– who has forgiven all for the price of a few shared smoked oysters)
Previously: How Much Boat? – Daily Marina Fees vs Length, Part 2 (of 4)
N.B. Info on how the First Mate collected his data for this short survey can be found in ‘How Much Boat – Marina Rates vs Length’, Part 1 (of 4).
N.B. Info on how the First Mate collected his data for this short survey can be found in ‘How Much Boat – Marina Rates vs Length’, Part 1 (of 4).
The Cruising Kitty 
