Marina Fees (Tuesday 01/12/10)

Marina slip fees are expensive... even by Mexican standards. At Marina Mazatlan, we're paying .93 cents per foot. Once we hit our 30 days, the fee goes down to .60 per foot. If we stay 3 months or more, the rates are .43 cents per foot. However, many of the marinas charge you for electricity usage and pump out service... even if you don't use it. Tax has gone up from 15% to 16% as of Jan 1st. For a 35' boat, this means the monthly rate will be approximately $550USD. This is much lower than California marina fees, but $550 is a huge chunk out of a cruiser's pocket!

I did a little research and discovered a marina nearby that charges .35 cents per foot, regardless of the time you spend in their marina and regardless of the boat size... and that is ALL INCLUSIVE! That means no tax or electricity or water charges on top of the slip fee... unbelievable! I talked with current boat owners that are living aboard and staying there and they have nothing negative to say about the marina. I made a reservation for WINDFALL to be moved there on the 19th.

Now that we're purchasing another boat, we'll be looking at quite a bit more in marina slip fee charges. The first thing we'll look into will be do we need to get HOTSPUR on the hard immediately or can we do her immediate repairs in the water... if so, she'll be moved to the cheaper marina as well.