In case you haven’t noticed, the cost of cruising is going up in the U.S.  Not only that, but it is getting to where there are less and less anchorages, and they are making the ones there are either: A. More difficult to stay there, B. More expensive to stay there or (as in most cases), C. Both.
After much cogitation and thought, the reason this is happening started to come clear in my alleged mind.  It’s because we live in a democracy.
No, really, that’s the reason you can’t stay anchored for very long in any one place that’s free, and/or the reason they are charging more and more for what used to be free anchorages.  It’s because in a democracy the majority rules, and in case you haven’t noticed, boaters are definitely NOT a majority.
So Joe the Plumber (hey, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried) takes his annual trip to the seashore and sees a bunch of boats anchored off the beach.  The thought that “those people” (that’d be us!) own yachts and are able to enjoy the seashore all year long starts to get his panties into a wad.  How come rich folks get to be there for free?  After all, he had to pay to park, right?  So they should have to pay.  Maritime law be damned!  Boaters are rich, so they should pay!
And so, on his return to his tract home in Dullsville, he contacts his local legislator, and before long there is a measure on the ballot saying all rich yacht owners should pay through the gills to “park” off the beach.
And so the call goes out to all who will listen.  Rich boaters need to pay!  Why should they enjoy their lives?  If Joe the Plumber can’t live that lifestyle, they should have to pay through the nose!
Voting day comes and the folks line up.  Since 95% of the folks who live in the U.S. don’t own boats, it only makes it easier.  “Vote to make the rich yacht owners pay!”
So here are we, the poor slobs who actually own boats.  We all know the truth.  The truth is, rich people may buy boats, but it’s us poor folk who OWN boats.  Because of some freak of nature, it turns out that we enjoy pouring vast quantities of cold, hard cash into the hole in the water we call our boat.
I can remember when I first started sailing, I could anchor pretty much anywhere I wanted to for free!  Pick a pretty beach, and as long as I stayed at least 300 feet off the beach, no problem.  I could sit at anchor for days, weeks, and even months.  If the Coast Guard did stop by it was for a cup of coffee.  We were part of a society: the society of the sea.
Try it today and you will get inundated with unwanted attention.  First of all, I know that laws vary by country, state, county and even city.  Each one works hard at figuring a way to get their hands deep into your pocket.  After all, you ARE the rich yachtie.  You can afford a yacht, so you can afford to pay.  Never mind if it’s right, or even against maritime law.  The majority believe we be the rich folk, so that makes it so.
In my favored local cruising grounds where I used to love going out and anchoring off the beach for a week or so, it is now illegal to anchor in the same spot for more than 36 hours.  If you pull in behind the breakwater, then not only are you restricted to a small area, but you must register, and in most cases, pay a fee.  Why?  Because they can make you.  Majority rules!
And as with most things that start in the good old US of A, this practice is spreading faster than an STD in the local high school.  Some of the best cruising grounds in the world, like Greece and the Virgin Islands, are starting to “regulate by dollars” as well.  They learn fast.
But you know what, they can’t stop us.  What they have done is to actually help people like me make up my mind.  I don’t wanna be where the world is controlled by the almighty dollar.  I want to be where other things are important: quality of life, peace, serenity.
And guess what?  It still exists.  Yes, it’s harder to find than it used to be, but it is still out there.  And a large part of the fun is finding just where “there” is.  The search is the thing.  It’s like I have always said, it’s not where you start your voyage, nor where you end it.  The important thing is the ad
Bravo!!!
We are on the Eastern Seaboard this last couple of years and fortunately we have had great luck finding places to anchor out, whether it be in the back creeks near Annapolis, behind the Statue of Liberty in NYC, Even in Washington DC & Boston, we have had great luck being on the Hook 90% of the time. However to tie up to a dock with a 49′ sailboat, a whole different story. $125 to $800 a night. In Washington DC the dock fee would have been $400 a night, whereas the dinghy fee at the same marina is $10 a day and allows use of the showers, laundry and captains lounge….
Marinas here in fiji are developing “super yacht”mindset as well. All of them seem to forget that they made their bones to start with us 40 foot guys. Now us locals getting priced out during ” high season” as they stick it to tourist boats.
You may be right on….Dam it!!!!!
Same in land yacht camping world
price fixing everywhere 80 90 $ a night and over 1000 a month
Safe Harbor and others buying up mom and pop marinas and pricing small boat working and pleasure out
No Spitt Bob Bichin, You be RIGHT over the Target Mate 🎯 TRUETHAT 🚀🤙
Rocket Man 🚀😎