Pen or swing mooring?

I am moving next month, so am coming out of the marina in a few weeks. Over the past eight months, it has been great. No getting feet wet launching the dinghy, a parking space very near by (mostly). Power to do work on the boat (I don't keep mine plugged in) and water taps to fill the tanks. The admiral has made covers for various parts of the boat for sun protection (but they still work on a mooring as an afternoon NE will will always point the stern W). Plus you get strapping young marina staff to help when the conditions are less than favourable. And your insurance fees will reduce. Our marina has cameras and a nightly security guard, so minimised problems with thieves.

But I am retiring, and wont be able to afford the monthly fees. So even with all the benefits above, I am moving out.

Once you have been in a marina, its hard to go back to a swing. So your first option (cost) will always be the main determining factor.

Or put the boat on a swing mooring most of the time and throw it into a marina for a month or two at peak times of the year, or when you want to work on it.

We thought about putting the boat into a harbour where it's closer to our house, but would be in a marina. There are so many other things we could do with each year's marina fees (European trips, ski trips to America, new sails, new windsurfers, etc) that they are just too hard to justify compared to the swing mooring option.

A couple of things to add. A huge advantage of a marina to me is that seagulls don't use your boat to sh!t on and nest. I think they rightly see moorings as more cat-proof. That alone saves you a heap of time and aggravation (not to mention the infection risk identified by at least one researcher). The other is that you get to know people on the marina (just as Ramona says of swing moorings I admit), and this aids learning about maintenance. But yes, very expensive.

if our boat wants to live in a marina it will need to get a job...

For many of us, the cost difference will be a huge factor, especially here in Vic where swing moorings are mostly very cheap . But I would also place convenient and secure dinghy storage as another really big one. Having to carry along an inflatable or hard dinghy every time, or dragging one miles across the sand gets tedious very quickly, as does having things (including, for some poor buggers, the dinghy) nicked.

The ability to drop and pick up the mooring in almost all weather (once you have your system sorted) is also very handy. Getting in and out of a marina berth can be very tricky when the wind is up, especially if you're solo and/or older.

For me the privacy of my mooring is a real boon: I would spend far les time happily bludging in my cockpit if I was on public display in a marina. But of course others less misanthropic than I might welcome the company.

Cheers, Graeme

We in McCarrs Creek have a very educated Lace Monitor who climbs aboard boats with boarding platforms and looks for seagulls eggs. I've actually been aboard when it's climbed on to mine. You just have to be aware it will enter your boat through an open hatch or port.
Regarding picking up the mooring, I use the system someone posted a while ago where a line is run from cockpit to bow and back so you can hook up standing in the cockpit then haul the mooring eye to the bow and meander forward and put it on the cleat. Works every time for me regardless of wind strength.

Where the pharque do you get a marina berth for $1000 a year? Here in Port Phillip we're talking closer to 10 times that. My long-term average cost is about 600 -700 pa for my mooring including fees, maintenance and mandatory inspections.