"Martin Baxter" wrote in message
...


"''One of my discoveries,'' Mr. Crimmins said, ''is that boat owners in
this area spend more time aboard their boats at the dock than they do
aboard their boats out on the water, so they want pleasant facilities
near at hand ashore.''

Funny you should mention that. The other day I was out on the lake. There is
a largish marina, about 1/3 to 1/2 full of sailboats. Yet I never see more
than 4 sailboats out on the lake at any time. I went into the marina to get
a nice close at the boats and there were a good number of sailboats 30+ feet
long. Pacific Seacrafts, Hunters, Benetaus, Catalinas, Hans Christians, etc,
etc. Remember this is a lake. I noticed that the larger boats had their
owners aboard, all sitting and talking to each other across the dock. I even
saw a few swimming off of the swim platforms of their boats -while tied to
the dock! BBQ's on the dock, electricity, storage boxes, running water,
lights and a convenience store! The whole thing was some sort of
sub-culture, a type of social affair. The people were soft. The dock
princesses were a bit too plump, the men had guts and wore their socks
pulled all the way up.