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(Mike) wrote:

I'm thinking of buying a cruiser in the near future and have some
questions on Marina use.

If you're just stopping for gas, can you discharge your grey water and
fill with fresh water at the gas stop. Is there a charge for it above
the price of gas?

Depending on the type of boat - diesel is really the fuel of choice.

Is $1.50 per foot the average price for transient berthing? Can you or
should you make reservations ahead of time?

Having read this thread, I'm going to answer the questions others have
brought up all at once.

1) Pumpout as Peggy says is black water and not grey water. I don't think
you'd put even grey water in your fresh water tanks, so you don't refill
the tanks BTW. People charge for pumpout regardless of whether you have
stopped for gas or are spending the night. Sometimes it is as little as
$5. Sometimes it is much more. Sometimes it is not even available.

2) Filling up with fresh water - yes Peggy there are places in the US that
charge for that - Marathon in the Florida Keys charges for water.

3) Small gasoline powered boats can and do go to the Bahamas from Florida
all the time. It is only 42 miles from Miami.

Many places in the Bahamas have R/O water at to the docks and it is almost
always charged for. Many places have a mandatory water charge. That's
because people will say - no I won't need water - and then they'll sneak
out at night and wash the salt off their boat. Sometimes the water at the
docks is brackish and not suitable for drinking. In Nassau it is trucked
in from Andros and tastes like swimming pool water - it isn't suitable for
making coffee or tea.

4) I find the average price for a transient slip along the ICW is $1.00/ft
plus electricity and taxes. Some places are free - some charge less and
some charge more. That's from Virginia down to Florida. I would regard
$1.50/foot as too much to pay and wouldn't go there.

5) There are very few yacht clubs that do the exchange thing anymore, and
IMHO it is way more expensive to join a club where you could do that than
it is just to pay for a slip. I've only been a few places where I could
not get any slip except at a yacht club which only took other yacht club
members. Transient slips at marinas are NOT generally run by the local
government and are NOT only 50cents /ft including water and electric.

6) Some places with transient docking do not take reservations - it is
first come first serve. In other places you can make reservations but they
don't always honor them. Or you can guarantee them with a credit card.
But I've made a reservation and done that, and ended up on the gas dock
because people that were going to leave - didn't.

7) Most of the time if you pay for dockage you get trash disposal as a part
of the fee. However if you anchor out and come into the dinghy dock you
may be charged for trash disposal and also for used of the showers and
other facilities. This varies according to the area.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156