So...Where do you dock?...>>

I saw a reference lately to one of our members in a 2000 boat marina. Yikes!

We're in a beautiful small town (population 10K) with a small waterfont population at the head of the Pamlico in NC. Lots of restaurants and town activities to keep it vibrant. We love it and it's only 25 miles from home..

Music in the streets every 3rd Friday as well as regular thursday nite and Sat. morning Music venues. Wine tasting at a small shop every Friday. This is 1/2 block from where we dock:



Occasional festivals. This just a few weeks ago shot from our boat:



and on calmer days. 1.5 mile boardwalk that extends down through the wetlands, an Estuarium and great facilities, Caring and attentive dock crew etc...



We're spoiled and lucky all for $200/Month...How bout you?

We're in a Marina in Clear Lake Shores, Tx. Population 1,000 (and more boat slips than people). Only 25 miles from Houston, but you'd never know it. We're within 2 miles of the Kemah Boardwalk with an Aquarium, Rides, over the water dining, and currently a fireworks display every Friday night which we can watch either from our slip or by motoring out into Galveston Bay. Yeah, we're a bit spoiled too!

The 2000 boat marina reference was probably me. The actual number may be a bit lower than that, but whatever it is, it's close.

In a nutshell, it's fabulous. We have a full-service boatyard right in the harbor with 35 and 150 ton Travelifts. The lift piers are less than 100 yards from our slip. We have one of the best diesel shops in the Pacific Northwest, excellent marine electric and electronics companies, and two outstanding marine supply stores (we have a West Marine, too, but nobody in their right mind goes there).

We have a decent-sized commercial fishing fleet in the middle basin with purse seiners, gillnetters, a few trollers, and crab boats. So there is always some interesting activity there and one can buy fresh seafood off the boats if they want.

The harbor is also home to a huge cold storage company with freighters in coming from Russia and other countries on the other side of the Pacific to pick up cargoes. Their pier is right outside the harbor entrance, so we get to watch the tugs and ships maneuver around.

Next to the cold storage company is a fish processor. During the season the seiners and gillnetters come in to unload their catches. This activity is a couple hundred yards from our slip and is always interesting to watch.

But the absolute best thing is the location. The shot below is the view from our flying bridge in our slip. The islands are the San Juans, the mountains in the distance are the Olympics. People who keep their boats down south in Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett get to the San Juans perhaps once or twice a year on vacation unless they have fast boats or are retired and have lots of time. For us, even at a glacial 8 knots, we can spend a weekend anywhere we want in the islands.

If we have to be in the US, there is no place else we'd rather keep our boat (British Columbia is better but we don't live there).

Ditto Marin's comments.

Marin said:

If we have to be in the US, there is no place else we'd rather keep our boat .

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City mouse, Country mouse. Sounds exciting in a different sort of way...

Take a tour for yourself.

Fort Pierce City Marina – City Marina Virtual Tour

It's not quite up to date. Floating docks have been added in front of the office.

Your marinas sound so nice it's a wonder you ever leave berth.

Mark, our stay at FPCM is coming to an end. It is a great jumping off point for the Keys and the Bahamas, but we've done enough of that for awhile. We will be moving North to Jacksonville and St. Augustine to stay a few months. We plan to explore the St. Johns River, spend some time with my grandson at St. Augustine, and do a little fishing with him. Also, Fernandina Beach and Cumberland Island are within striking distance. So, we will be there a few months before making our way North to Chesapeake Bay for a season or two. Moonstruck has no real permanent home, but several homes in various locations. We like it.

Gee, we don't dock. We have to sit out alone and lonely on a mooring in a small harbor.

We have a small private marina in our back yard. Here is a shot from this past winter. We all belong to a very exclusive yacht club
called "Rags Yacht Club". The building in the photo is the club house. There are a total of six members. Rags stands for "ragged ass group of sailors." Our rules are simple, Number one,..there are no rules, number two,..there are no dues, number three ..there no officers, and most important, number four,..enjoy the water and companionship. Everyone pays a small contribution each month for the upkeep on the docks an parking lot.
I own the place and all members are my old sailing buddy's. Two of us have crossed the line to power from sail, but all still get along great. It has been a wonderful experience having this place. I do have a slip usually open for transient friends. So,
you all are welcome to come up the New River and see us here in North Carolina.

Heron said:

City mouse, Country mouse. Sounds exciting in a different sort of way...

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Perhaps it's more a case of city mouse, country scruffy, unkempt, rude and crude rat.

Fortunately most of us like different things, otherwise we'd all be in the same place doing the same thing and it would be crowded.

I don't like cities. Well, I don't like US cities. I like London and some cities in France and Vancouver, BC. I've been in a fair number of US cities and I can't find a redeeming quality in any of them other than the fact they aren't where I am. I would be a happy man if we blew Seattle off the face of the earth and replaced it with something useful, like a wetlands or a coal mine. Seattle is by far the worst city I have ever been in on the planet but I haven't been to Detroit (except the airport which absolutely sucks) or East St. Louis. Perhaps they're worse than Seattle.

I like living here because it's very easy and quick to get to Not Here which, if one goes northwest is the best part of the planet in my book. So it's worth it (so far) to put up with living in the best example in the universe of how not to make a city.

Is that why lots of crime drama movies are based in WA / Seattle?

stubones99 said:

Is that why lots of crime drama movies are based in WA / Seattle?

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I don't know. Seattle doesn't suck in my opinion because of its crime rate, which I think is actually fairly low as US cities go. I think it sucks because it's just an incredibly stupid, inept city.

It has a nice view, across the Sound to the Olympics on the days when the air pollution doesn't block it off and the ferry boats are cool, although the (state) ferry system itself is the poster child for taking something that could be well run and profitable and making it as far from that as possible.

So, nice setting but the setting doesn't make a city. Drive around in Seattle for an hour or so and at the end of it you'll wonder why everyone in the city isn't locked up in an asylum somewhere with the key tossed into the Sound.

Paris Landing State Park Marina . TN River/KY Lake mm 66.1

dwhatty said:

Gee, we don't dock. We have to sit out alone and lonely on a mooring in a small harbor.

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Too bad about you David. I am crying sympathy tears here.

Ronald said:

I own the place and all members are my old sailing buddy's. Two of us have crossed the line to power from sail, but all still get along great. It has been a wonderful experience having this place. I do have a slip usually open for transient friends. So,
you all are welcome to come up the New River and see us here in North Carolina.

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You are a lucky Gentleman! Terrific situation..

Marin said:

Fortunately most of us like different things, otherwise we'd all be in the same place doing the same thing and it would be crowded.

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2000 boats Vs the 18 or so where I am... I'll stick with Country Mouse...

I keep my boats at Dysarts Marina in Southwest Harbor, ME. Boating here is quite difficult. When you head out you have to decide which of the over 100 great destination harbors you want to visit on day 1. It gets harder after that. There are dozens of islands withing a day's run.

From the perspective of service, there are only two world class boat builders that run full service yards locally, but there are at least half a dozen smaller operations that can handle any problem you might have. Several of them also build high quality boats. If you are willing to travel 50 miles there are at least a dozen top quality yards.

Overall the Maine coast is an OK boating location except for the winters.

We dock our boat in a condo slip in The Village of Toms River NJ. Toms River is a quaint town with shops and eating places. It is also the county seat of Ocean County NJ with the courthouse and other government offices. Our Marina is called Spinnakers Cove and we have about 60 privately owned slips. We are across the street from the Toms River Seaport Society who has an annual wooden boat show at Huddy Park a 3 minute walk from our dock. Also Food,Art , and Ice Cream festivals are ran all Summer. Every Weds is a big open air Farmers Market. We are a 10 minute drive from Island Beach State Park and some of the best beaches in the East.
The slip owners are a great crowd and look out for one another. Our slips are well protected, I rode out Sandy right in my slip with no damage, while many marinas in the area were wrecked.
The Toms River fireworks are right outside our dock and we have a front row view of a fantastic show set to music.
New Jersey may not be glamorous but it is a good Home port and the head of the ICW heading south-- or New York harbor and points north and west.


It works for Us.


John and Miri "Adagio" 32 Island Gypsy

Haven't docked in over a year. Scott's Cove Marina, Chance MD.



Ted

Lewis & Clark Marina on the Missouri River, where the South Dakota/ Nebraska border roughly runs down the middle of the river, just above Gavins Point Dam, the first dam going upriver on the Missouri. Lewis & Clark is about 400 slips (with a hefty waiting list). After buying our boat in Massachusetts and sailing Long Island Sound and the Hudson River in May, Lewis & Clark is a little sedate, but then the zincs and bottom jobs last about 10 years. The lake is about a mile and a half wide at the dam and they say the lake is 26 miles long, but only about 14 or 15 miles is navigable. It's a beautiful place to be for now, but someday we'll drop Xanadu into salt water again.

Lewis & Clark Marina Dakota Yachts

O C Diver said:

Haven't docked in over a year. Scott's Cove Marina, Chance Marine...Ted

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Your time will come...but wait...you won't want to stay in a marina because you'll be out using your boat.

MK Bay Marina in Kitimat on BC's north coast. Kitimat is about 50 miles up Douglas Channel from the Inside Passage treadmill, so it's a quiet place to explore. Being isolated and away from the madding herds is great, but services and supplies are hard to find, or non-existent.

$74.00 per foot annual moorage...about $185.00 per month for Badger.

Grizzly, black, and spirit bears, wolves, cougars, humpback and fin whales, orca...all the apex species are still here

Photo #1 MK Bay Marina.
Photo #2 Badger in Douglas Channel on a typically busy day

http://www.mkbaymarina.ca/

Summer: Home
Winter: Welcome to Sunset Bay Marina & Anchorage.

Dock at Sanford Boat Works and Marina. Old school Florida. Kept my SJ23 sailboat there before buying Bold Eagle. Lots of gators, turtles, manatees and such. When someone asks where I live I can tell them "I live on a yacht on the St. Johns" or I can say "I live in a tin shed down by the river in Sanford.

My boat is in my back yard. Boring but free I miss marinas.

Oh...I should add that Kitamaat means 'People of the Snow' in the language of the Haisla First Nation, on who's traditional territory Kitimat is situated.

This winter it snowed 5.5 feet in a day and a half;

Elliott Bay Marina on the corner of the Seattle city waterfront.
This is a fairly large (1200 ish?) marina and pretty new (1991) so it is modern and clean with nice upscale amenities. Very cool views of the Seattle skyline to the East and the Olympic Mountains to the West. It is a pretty protected area of the Sound and the facility provides good additional protection so even rookies like me can get in a slip without much heartburn on most days. It is a bit upscale and a lot pricey for the likes of me, but given that my work has required me to spend 4-6 days a month in Seattle, it has been the convenience of the location that has been compelling for me. The setting in terms of views and watching the activity of the very bustling Port of Seattle has been a very nice experience for me and usually takes my mind off of the cost. I have not ventured into any marina so far that has higher moorage rates than this. With the Seattle work behind me it may be time to look further North as I have a business between Bellingham and Blaine Harbor and both would be convenient to that business.
But about Seattle...
I certainly grew up as a city hater being very rural growing up and even now primarily an agriculturist. I have spent considerable time in the Mpls/St. Paul metro, Chicago metro, LA metro and brief exposure to quite a few others. Disagreeing with Marin here seems forbidden territory so lets just say he is right about Seattle, but that I hold a different view. If you must live in or near a city and 80% of Americans do, Seattle is a wonderful city. Compared to others I have seen it is clean, has some spectacular vistas, cultured, relatively law abiding, and easy to escape as cities go. Many of the downtown businesses sit perched on a side hill with views across the Sound over the Olympics to the West. Freshwater Lake Washington to the East. Like most cities it has politics a little liberal for my tastes and I find it ceaselessly irritating that they think they need to run my Eastern Washington life from there, but don't most city dwellers fancy themselves more enlightened than they really are?
I expect I will move Klee Wyck north before long, but there are things I will miss about Seattle. In the pictures you can see a bit of the city skyline which can be spectacular, especially in early morning and evening, Mt Rainier, and the Olympics at sunset behind some shipping traffic.

Okay...one more thing & then I'll shut up already!

Twenty foot or more tides can make for interesting effects with wind and bottom/shoreline contours, especially in the marina where back eddies swirl around mysteriously

So...Where do you dock?...>>

Heron said:

2000 boats Vs the 18 or so where I am... I'll stick with Country Mouse..

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Oh, I see what you mean. I thought you meant you were the city mouse and I was the country mouse given my dislike of cities. So my rat comment was applying to me, not you. Sorry.....

Despite the fact there are well over 1,000 boats in our harbor, it's actually very quiet. Boats come and go but the activity in the marina is pretty minimal. Probably a good 80 percent of the recreational boats never move and haven't in the 17 years we've been in the harbor. Or at least it seems like it. And it's not one giant harbor. There are three basin: west, middle , and east. The west and east basins are unconnected, so whatever activity goes on there is totally separate from the other basins. The middle basin is mostly commercial fishing boats. The west basin, where we are, has docks but also has all the private boathouses that are in the harbor.

There's been times in the late fall, winter, and early spring where it seems like my wife and I are the only people in the whole place. So while the harbor has a lot of boats in it, it doesn't seem like it at all.

And for the most part, the boaters in the marina stick to themselves. There is very little "dock socializing." People come to their boats and go out or work on them and go home. They say hi to the other folks on their dock if they're there when they walk by but that's about the extent of it.

So for us, this is great because we are not social boaters. We boat to get away from people, not to hang out with them. We get enough of that during the week.

Now if this was some super-busy Florida or SoCal marina I'm sure I would totally agree with you that few is way better than many.

Below is a Google grab of our harbor.