On 28 Aug 2008 09:30:01 -0500, Dave wrote:
On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:18:01 -0400, said:
Unfortunately, Mystic
has changed along with everyone else, and the membership/dockage deal
is not such a deal any longer. It requires a higher level of
membership, and even with the dockage discount, it is just as
expensive as any commercial marina... unless you stay for a week or
so.
Even 30 years ago the membership plus dockage was significantly over dockage
at a commercial marina. However, the ability to stroll the grounds after
everyone has gone for the day was indeed a plus.
Not true, Dave. Up until about 2 years ago, the membership, plus the
dockage discount was "break-even" for a 30 foot boat if you used it
for 2 nights. We did it that way for quite a few years as it helped
the museum, and we also would visit once or twice in the off season
using the free admission that also came with the membership. The new
policy was their response to large yachts abusing the deal by bringing
10, 20, or more people with them to avoid all of them paying
admission. It was a dumb move as all it really did was send a message
to small boats and families that they were no longer welcome. It
really didn't hurt the megayacht crowd at all. They still realize a
big savings on dockage because of the size of their boats. It would
have been MUCH smarter to simply limit the free admission for boat
passengers to 4 per boat. It's the smaller boats that got squeezed
out, not the bog boats that caused the problem in the first place.
The regular dockage price without the membership discount was, and is,
similar to commercial dockage everywhere on the river.