Military Marinas

[jimL]

Hi there,

We're planning on transitioning to becoming live-aboards within the next two years. We are military retirees and have visited several Navy bases with marinas.

The question we have is do any veterans have experience with military marinas from transient perspective. What are your favorite military marinas and what restrictions have you encountered? We're planning to acquire a 52' trawler with a ~16' beam and a ~5' draft.

We're interesting in knowing the military marina environment. Do you know of a centralized place to learn of these options? So far our favorite from 10 years ago was Boco Chico near Key West. Newport, RI has a nice, but limited marina as well.

Our experience is that the Navy has the best ocean front real estate!

Jim
US Army (Ret)

 

[markpierce]

No, but there has been a a marina for military personnel near the foot of the northern end of San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge.

 

[SoWhat]

I don't think you would fit into a slip at Newport RI but they might have space on the long piers. Transient space is limited. (Note that Newport is closed to transients at the moment)
I don't think you would fit into Portsmouth NH. Small slips as I recall and limited transient slips.
Agree though that Newport and Key West have great facilities.

 

[HiDHo]

IMO most of the base marinas are not setup for transients. In Florida Patrick AFB has a very nice marina but dockage is limited. We stopped at Manatee Cove Marina at Pensacola Naval Station but it’s really designed as most are for small fishing and sailing rental recreation use.
Rving is a much better option, most all military bases have rv parks, with excellent rates and availability with Air Force Bases being our favorite when we rv’ed.

 

[mvweebles]

I kept a boat at Treasure Island from 1995 through 2018. The first few years was part of MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) dept of Naval Station Treasure Island. BRAC closed the base in 1998 and slowly transitioned to the City and County if San Francisco.

MWR is tasked with providing recreational outlets did military personnel. They had various equipment available such as ski rentals, travel trailers, and a few boats for rent.

My sense is that it would be unusual for a MWR marina to have large slips, and facilities for transients or liveaboard are bleak, though I did liveaboard at Treasure Island for over 5 years, including during the NSTI years.

Markpierce: the marina at the base of the GG Bridge is operated by MWR out of Travis AFB. But the small restaurant - the Presidio Yacht Club - is open to the public (not a yacht club at all). It was originally the officers club for Fort Baker, a detachment of the Presidio until it was closed in the early 1990s. There used to be a marine railway where you could haul a boat all the way I to a warehouse beneath the restaurant. I'm pretty sure I hauled the last boat on that railway when I took a Newport 28 sailboat I'd purchased from MWR in Treasure Island over to do a bottom job in 1998 or so.

As beautiful as Horseshoe Cove is, it's not a great transient stop. I doubt the marina has open slips, and access to anywhere is awful. But it does have an iconic view of the GG Bridge that has been used as the backdrop of many TV commercials.

Peter

 

[psneeld]

My experience is hit or miss.

There are lists of military marinas posted on the web, some by organizations like the Great Loop Association....but you have to join some.

Better off just calling the Morale or Outdoor Recreation office at the base you are going near for info. I too would say they are not transient oriented, but usually accommodating or helpful with other local info.

Any of the ones in touristy areas are going to be tough to get transient space in during the "season" of when events happen. Then too, slip space including transient has not kept up with the sheer number of boats....so transient spaces are becoming harder to come by.

 

[Keysdisease]

The marina at Boca Chica NAS just outside Key West meets this description:

" the Navy has the best ocean front real estate!"

All I can help you with, have only driven past it

 

[DonW28]

Boca Chica is an interesting study in the downfall of using an MWR facility. I had a slip in Boca Chica and had upgraded boats specifically to stay there long term in 2023 when my wife retired. The new commander changed a decades long policy to limit the time anyone can stay in the marina to 4 years. We turned in our slip and went back on the waiting list. He also required that you keep your vessel in the slip for greater than 6 months each year. A lot of northern based retirees gave up their slips rather than stop cruising and having to pay the additional Florida insurance to stay into hurricane season.



On the plus side IF you can get a slip the price is awesome. With a 52 foot boat you are looking at a 5 plus year wait minimum. For you the price would be around 475 month including electric. Waterfront and a great airshow most days. Just be prepared for rules to change when commanders change. If you are military then you know the deal.



Don

 

[psneeld]

Personally, I like the idea of limiting time and encouraging transients.

Its the lifestyle we enjoyed (hopefully) when active duty and probably bought boats to be cruisers and not squatters. Might as well own a dirt dwelling.

Other marinas I know of have been kicking around the idea of charging all year round to ensure a snowbird slip. Not full price ....but way more than a deposit

With anchoring restrictions and full anchorages popping up all over....and probably getting worse..... some sort of changes are needed.

 

[ranger58sb]

Our limited experience has been hit or miss, too. Mostly miss.

The obstacles have been MWR marinas usually have only limited number of slips (if any) for our size (and 50A shorepower), and then there's that pesky competition (we're way further down the totem pole compared to active duty troops). IOW, they just haven't worked out for us, so far. Not a problem.

-Chris

 

[Keysdisease]

Waterfront and a great airshow most days.

I can attest to that. There was a beach at the end of the runway where pre-911 where there was public access. You could almost feel the heat of the Tomcats taking off. Back in my time in the Southern end we saw just about everything the military flew come through NAS Boca Chica, including A-10's and even an SR71.

 

[slowgoesit]

IMO most of the base marinas are not setup for transients. In Florida Patrick AFB has a very nice marina but dockage is limited. We stopped at Manatee Cove Marina at Pensacola Naval Station but it’s really designed as most are for small fishing and sailing rental recreation use.
Rving is a much better option, most all military bases have rv parks, with excellent rates and availability with Air Force Bases being our favorite when we rv’ed.

Not sure where you are speaking of. There is a Manatee Cove Marina at Patrick AFB. Note that they will only accept a MAXIMUM of 45' boats . . . and that is including bowsprit, and swim step . . .unless you are the retired Admiral with the ~55' Hatteras that hasn't moved for years . . .

Pensacola NAS has two marinas, Sherman Cove Marina, which is near the mouth of the bay, but only set up for smaller boats, maybe 26' maximum (don't quote me on that), and Bayou Grande Sailing Marina, which has a LOT of slips, not sure maximum length, but probably 60' or so. Sheltered, and deep water. If you want long term moorage, you are REQUIRED to live within 100 miles of the marina due to hurricane plan . . . No absentee moorage, and no live aboards . . .

We sold the house, now are seriously looking for our next boat . . . .but can't find the one we want . . . . .

Anyone know of a nice DeFever 48 or 49 for sale, or maybe a ~47' Marine trader or similar for a reasonable price, not listed on Yachtworld? If so, please PM me! Good luck!

 

[SoWhat]

Note that MWR has no incentive to offer transient slips. If someone has left their slip for a long cruise, MWR will rent it out. MWR must be self-supporting, with user fees covering all costs and overhead.

 

[psneeld]

Note that MWR has no incentive to offer transient slips. If someone has left their slip for a long cruise, MWR will rent it out. MWR must be self-supporting, with user fees covering all costs and overhead.

They have incentive if a transient slip can make more money than a permanent one.


Regular marinas do it and MWR marinas have to be self supporting but I am not sure their overhead is exactly like a private marina.

 

[SoWhat]

They have incentive if a transient slip can make more money than a permanent one.
Regular marinas do it and MWR marinas have to be self supporting but I am not sure their overhead is exactly like a private marina.

They rent all of their slips in the spring. There is typically a waiting list. They do not hold back any transient slips. Marina is simply a part of MWR. It's not a separate cost center. All of MWR must be self supporting. So the marina may subsidize the commissary or the auto repair shop.

 

[slowgoesit]

They rent all of their slips in the spring. There is typically a waiting list. They do not hold back any transient slips. Marina is simply a part of MWR. It's not a separate cost center. All of MWR must be self supporting. So the marina may subsidize the commissary or the auto repair shop.

The Commissary has nothing to do with MWR. Totally different agencies, and not a part of MWR. . .

 

[HiDHo]

Not sure where you are speaking of. There is a Manatee Cove Marina at Patrick AFB. Note that they will only accept a MAXIMUM of 45' boats . . .

Pensacola NAS has two marinas, Sherman Cove Marina, which is near the mouth of the bay, but only set up for smaller boats, maybe 26' maximum (don't quote me on that), and Bayou Grande Sailing Marina, which has a LOT of slips, not sure maximum length, but probably 60' or so. Sheltered, and deep water. If you want long term moorage, you are REQUIRED to live within 100 miles of the marina due to hurricane plan . . . No absentee moorage, and no live aboards . . .

It was Sherman Cove Marina not Manatee Cove, we stayed there two days tricky entrance and shallow depths in the marina but well marked channel. The marina manager never mentioned a 26’ maximum length. Our Manatee was the only boat that size there and I would agree with the 26’ limit, The young lady who checked us in and cleared our dockage by phone may have erred. I would not use that marina again unless I had a much smaller boat.

 

[SoWhat]

The Commissary has nothing to do with MWR. Totally different agencies, and not a part of MWR. . .

True, but they all must be self sustaining so the great marina services we received are probably history.

 

[CaptCurt72]

Eglin AFB, FL

Eglin has a very nice Marina, our 44’ Cat was too wide 18.5’. Just past the Marina is the Eglin Yacht Club. We stayed there several nights after we joined the club. The annual membership is only $100 and no slip fees. This includes electricity, water and ice. They are a great group of people to be around.

 

[SailorGreg]

Eglin has a very nice Marina, our 44’ Cat was too wide 18.5’. Just past the Marina is the Eglin Yacht Club. We stayed there several nights after we joined the club. The annual membership is only $100 and no slip fees. This includes electricity, water and ice. They are a great group of people to be around.

NAS Pax river often has space for transient and can handle larger boats on the older, fixed, docks. We are based at Newport Naval Station. No slips held back for transients but they will rent out slips while members are gone. Only two T heads can handle larger boats, and we live on one of them in the summer. One long dock with no power also often available. They also have mooring balls, but not for larger boats. The local Navy Yacht Club, Coasters Harbor, has a couple of moorings as well. Plenty of swing room but not strong enough for a large boat in a blow. Transients slips are $2-3/‘ or so.
All that said, location can’t be beat. Short dinghy ride to town and city dinghy docks.

 

[rgano]

When I bought my GB42 in 1986 in San Diego, I was an active duty US Navy Commander. The Navy Marina was run by a retired USMC Gunnery Sergeant. The marina slips were all full, so we went on the waiting list for a non-live-aboard slip mooring to one of the marina's bouys in the meantime. I was able to frequently use a temporarily vacated slip to charge up and water the boat. After a few months we got a slip, and I was the senior military person there by a number of ranks (which meant nothing as to priority on any list). A year after we bought the boat, we elected to live aboard and thus lost our slip as we went on the active duty liveaboard waiting list (liveaboards were limited in San Diego, including the Navy Marina at 10%). Living a year at the buoy was interesting. Finally, we bubbled up to the top of the active duty live-aboard list for a slip and enjoyed a nice life in our slip until I retired from the Navy in 1989. You guessed it, back to the buoy we went as we were now placed on the RETIRED liveaboard list. Surprisingly, we bubbled to the top of that list after some months and once again were granted a liveaboard slip until I trucked the boat out of there in 1990. The liveaboards there were a tightly knit community, and our impromptu Sunday evening pot lucks after all the weekenders had gone home were legend.

Of the four Navy marinas I have lived in or just visited (San Diego, Pensacola, Eglin, and Boca Chica) I would evaluate them as usually clean, orderly, and secure and except for Boca Chica, set up for the size of boats that active duty people might afford (lots smaller than my GB 42). Except for San Diego where the marina is not protected from public access by the base guarded gates, military marinas are IMHO a pain in the rear to use as a transient due to the lack of land transportation and nearby shopping for essentials, you are basically trapped on base, and with anti-terrorist security these days probably really difficult to impossible to get relatives or friends aboard the base to pick you up.

I no longer give them consideration for my transient needs and would NEVER want my board kept permanently at one with all the regulation.

 

[psneeld]

Getting friends or relatives on base is not an issue if you can meet them at the gate...as long as they have a real ID drivers license.

 

[rgano]

Getting friends or relatives on base is not an issue if you can meet them at the gate...as long as they have a real ID drivers license.

Therein is the problem, the gate as in Boca Chica can be a LONG walk. My parents are buried on the base in Pensacola, and my non-military brother cannot get aboard the base to visit their grave.

 

[rgano]

Getting friends or relatives on base is not an issue if you can meet them at the gate...as long as they have a real ID drivers license.

NOT all that simple anymore. The gate, as in Boca Chica, can be a LONG walk. My parents are buried on the base in Pensacola, and my non-military brother has given up trying to visit due to the obstacles that base has placed in the way. There is a way for civilians to enter a specific gate to get to the Naval Aviation Museum, but the new fencing system cuts access from that gate to other areas of the base including Barrancas National cemetery. Getting through the gate from which he can access the cemetery has proven impossible. I will have to take him in my personal vehicle when I visit him and present my retired O-5 ID card to the gate guard, get a snappy salute, and told to have a nice day.

 

[catalinajack]

As is usual in this country, consistency in policy cannot be found. Anyone with a driver's license can get on board the Naval Academy grounds by entering through a specific portal with belongings subject to search and x-ray. On football games days at West Point, fans can enter several different gates with only the driver required to show a driver's license but vehicles are randomly searched but not many.

 

[Crusty Chief]

On our way down the west coast last year, we ran into similar problems. Most if not all “Military Marinas” are just not set up to accommodate a boat of our size. The exception to this was Coronado in San Diego, but we got lucky there, and did save a substantial amount for the few weeks we stayed.
Otherwise in most cases, we just stayed in the marinas that everyone else did, and we had a ball!

 

[Bryant]

Military marinas

Hi there,

We're planning on transitioning to becoming live-aboards within the next two years. We are military retirees and have visited several Navy bases with marinas.

The question we have is do any veterans have experience with military marinas from transient perspective. What are your favorite military marinas and what restrictions have you encountered? We're planning to acquire a 52' trawler with a ~16' beam and a ~5' draft.

We're interesting in knowing the military marina environment. Do you know of a centralized place to learn of these options? So far our favorite from 10 years ago was Boco Chico near Key West. Newport, RI has a nice, but limited marina as well.

Our experience is that the Navy has the best ocean front real estate!

Jim
US Army (Ret)

NAS Pensacola, Fl has a very nice and very protected marina that is favorable towards transients.

 

[markpierce]

...
Markpierce: the marina at the base of the GG Bridge is operated by MWR out of Travis AFB. But the small restaurant - the Presidio Yacht Club - is open to the public (not a yacht club at all). It was originally the officers club for Fort Baker, a detachment of the Presidio until it was closed in the early 1990s. There used to be a marine railway where you could haul a boat all the way I to a warehouse beneath the restaurant. I'm pretty sure I hauled the last boat on that railway when I took a Newport 28 sailboat I'd purchased from MWR in Treasure Island over to do a bottom job in 1998 or so.

As beautiful as Horseshoe Cove is, it's not a great transient stop. I doubt the marina has open slips, and access to anywhere is awful. But it does have an iconic view of the GG Bridge that has been used as the backdrop of many TV commercials.

Peter

Friends of Travis Marina - Save Travis Marina!

https://www.travismarina.com/

http://presidioyachtclub.org/

 

[psneeld]

NOT all that simple anymore. The gate, as in Boca Chica, can be a LONG walk. My parents are buried on the base in Pensacola, and my non-military brother has given up trying to visit due to the obstacles that base has placed in the way. There is a way for civilians to enter a specific gate to get to the Naval Aviation Museum, but the new fencing system cuts access from that gate to other areas of the base including Barrancas National cemetery. Getting through the gate from which he can access the cemetery has proven impossible. I will have to take him in my personal vehicle when I visit him and present my retired O-5 ID card to the gate guard, get a snappy salute, and told to have a nice day.

So is the problem for a non- retiree or not active duty getting on base without a authorized member the problem?

 

[Tomas]

It's been three years since we stayed at NAS Pensacola. On that visit we had no problem getting picked up by an off base Enterprise rental. They were letting people aboard to go the the Aviation Museum and I don't recall any restrictions on base, it appeared as though once you were aboard the base to go to the museum, you could go anywhere you wanted. Surprised to hear it is now so restrictive.