Voyaging Tips, January, 2024

Marina visit checklist, A tight spot to lose your bearings

Voyaging Tips, January, 2024 Marina visit checklist By Rob MacFarlane A marina with some non-paying customers and docks in need of repair. Rob MacFarlane photo. When I'm cruising my usual practice is to anchor out each evening. As needed, however, my Morgan 45 Tiger Beetle will spend a night in a marina, which is great for a large shore-side food shopping, meeting an arriving friend, and doing work at the yard. I've found that visiting random marinas requires a variety of relatively simple accouterments to make life at the dock proceed smoothly. > READ MORE Related articles from Ocean Navigator archives Ocean Navigator January/February 2024  Click the cover to view the articles in the January/February issue of Ocean Navigator.  Land versus water By Eric Sanford If you own a power voyaging boat, you know that one of the hardest things to do is finding somewhere to keep it. If you've just bought a boat, or are thinking of buying one, you also know that finding a slip is ridiculously difficult. And if/when you do, be prepared to pay at least $25 per foot per month and probably more. Much more. I was recently quoted $1,900 a month for my 57-foot boat. I've been on the wait list at six different marinas for more than five years…and I'm still waiting. They all have the audacity to charge me anywhere from $50 to $200 per year just to be on their waiting list. I went to one marina and asked how long their waiting list was and the woman looked me straight in the eye and said, "You'll be dead." > READ MORE A tight spot to lose your bearings By Damon and Janet Gannon Editor's note: This experience of two cruisers shows the importance of having spares aboard if at all possible.  We left Titusville, Florida bound for Vero Beach via the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). There wasn't a breath of wind, so we were motoring.   After about three hours into our expected six-hour trip, we noticed a subtle change in the sound of the engine. Janet was at the helm, so I got up to check. Before I even reached the bottom of the companionway ladder, there was a horrible shrieking and the sound of metal grinding, then the engine's overheat alarm sounded. Janet shut down the engine and used our momentum to move the boat to the edge of the ICW channel while I ran forward to drop the anchor. This section of the Indian River is quite shallow, so the channel was a very narrow strip dredged through the flats. Not much room to maneuver. This whole scene took just a minute.  > READ MORE Copyright © 2024 Maritime Publishing, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website. Our mailing address is: Maritime Publishing 3980 Sherman St Ste 100 San Diego, CA 92110-4314 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.