On Todd wrote:
1) Approximate cost of living aboard full time in a
marina (slip, cable, electricity, etc). Are the
marine slips cheaper if you are there long term?

Few Marinas provide much in the way of provision for
liveaboards. The Marina I'm in (Pasadena) had a $150/mo
surcharge over and above the slip rent, which seems to
cover water. Power will require you to deal w/ the
local power company. AFAIK they've got a cap on how
many liveaboards they'll allow. I do not know if the
surcharge has gone up in the last year.

My slip rent is a LOT better than anything I got quoted
on the Anclote River (Tarpon Springs).

AFAIK none of the municipal marinas will allow liveaboards.
I'm told some folks get around that by anchoring/mooring
and using a tender to get to/from.

2) What would be a good boat to start off with for use
in the Tampa Bay area and costal islands. Something
that a newby could handle after some lessons, but
will be adequate for this type of sailing. It also
needs to handle 2-4 passengers.

Almost anything small (and shallow) enough. I've got an
Ericson 25 w/ a fixed keel (needing 3'10" of water) but I
can see that a centreboard arrangement might not have been
too bad (though the full keel gives me (and, more importantly,
my wife) more confidence that a knock-down is unlikely.

2-4 passengers does push up the minimum size to comfortably
carry the load. My 25' Ericson gets crowded with two adults
in the cockpit which makes populating the foredeck a
foregone conclusion.

--
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"Grace is sufficient so Joy was let go." - Heather L. Campbell
"Faith manages ... even though she didn't get promoted" - me
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