After 20 yrs of sailing, this is the first time I have had my boat in a
large marina so last night when I went to tie her up for Arlene, I
walked the docks just lookin at how other boat owners do things.
The biggest surprise was how little prep there was for Arlene although
all the models have it hitting 200 miles away. I s'pose I am just
paranoid.
Second surprise is how many "trashed out" boats there are in the
marina. These boats have rotted sails hanging in tatters, mold and
fungus all over the decks, varnish peeling in sheets, frayed lines.
The owners do not appear to have visited their boats in several years
but the slips cost $225/month. Weird.
Another observation that is no surprise, smaller boats get used more.
It is obvious from the fouling at the waterlines that boats less than
30' get used far more than the big boats.
I was also surprised to see so many smaller boats kept in slips. There
are many 21-23' sailboats that are obviously trailerable but are kept
in slips. Many look as if they are used regularly.
I never paid any attention to roller furling systems intil I installed
my oversized CDI system on my 28' S2 last year. Roller furling totally
changed my sailing life. So, I took a good look at them (most boats
were bow in so I got a close look). Older RF systems look really
gawdawful. My newer CDI system seems far more robust than older
systems on bigger boats. Probably just a case of technology getting
better with time.
Most boats were hooked to shore power and I am not sure why. In 20 yrs
I have never had shore power and never needed it so am not sure why so
many people take the chance with potentially bad hookups. Somebody
enlighten me here, why so much shore power?