Seeing the paucity of marina space in South FL and the extreme cost
makes me wonder what will happen as prices for slips continue to rise.
Most of you do not seem to consider $300/month for a slip to be extreme
but I consider it to be absurd. Most boats I see in marinas seem to
leave their slips no more than once a month. For power boats, there is
always storage available on land but this is rarely done with sailboats
but it might make sense. Consider that it no longer makse economic
sense to operate a marina on the water as the property is simply to
valuable to be used that way. Even here in N. FL. we see old marinas
being bought and condos being built on the land eliminating marina
space. Property values drop exponentially with distance from the water
with that only a block from the water often being a tenth the cost of
waterfront.
My suggestion probably reflects my lack of experience with marinas as I
have normally kept my boat at a private dock and rarely deal with
marinas. However, why not buy cheaper property near the water
retaining just enough to drive a forklift to the water and store the
sailboats out of the water. Of course the cost of putting in and
taking out would have to be small but perhaps this could be offset by
the safety of having the sailboats on higher land during hurricanes.
I'd anticipate that boats would be put in or taken out "on demand" and
that there may be times of high useage where there could be a backlog
but perhaps there could be a temporary mooring buoy for several waiting
boats.
I wonder what the cost of slips would have to be before such a thing
became common?