"Scott Vernon" wrote in message

Does 'A' dock mean something special at your marina? At mine, it seems
the bigger ($$$$) boats are on A dock and get smaller as the letter
gets higher. Is this the norm.

Our marina, Crosswinds, at Whitehall, MI, has three docks: A, B, and C. We
are a nice marina with modest boats and very regular folks. No big
gold-plated yachts, at least not during the season. A few stop in for
haulout (Crosswind's service work is second to none in the Great Lakes) etc.
but we apparently appear too proletarian a group for them to soil their
hands in our presence.

A-dock is the reputed party dock. The term is somewhat deserved, but mostly
we are a group of weekenders that are almost more like family than friends.
We stay close throughout the winter months as well. B-dock is similar to
A-dock but much quieter. While A-dock is still partying into the wee hours,
B-dock has been dead for hours. The B-dockers like it that way. C-dock
slips mostly charter fishing boats and a few of the larger sailboats being
prepared for the time when their owners shuck their landlocked ways and go
cruising for an extended period. All in all its a great marina with more
camaraderie than one typically finds elsewhere. The marina owners are like
family to us as well, and they treat us extremely equitably. Some of the
folks in this marina have been slip holders for decades. One other aspect
is that we have floating docks, which renders the low water levels in the
GLs irrelevant. We don't need ladders to get aboard our boats, not to
mention that the docks act as breakwaters for the ubiquitous waves that have
the entire fetch of White Lake to build during a sou'wester. A-dock 101;
there will be a test.


My wife asked me one time if A dock meant something. Seems this woman,
wearing tons of jewelry (powerboater?) struck up a conversation with
her and repeatedly mentioned , with emphasis, that they were on A
dock.

Nothing like that here. The people in our marina, while often of
substantial means, find no value in pretension. Occasionally a transient
gold-plater makes an overnight stay, but generally finds us to be too
unwashed for their tastes. There is a marina at the end of the narrows,
Ellenwood Landing, where the big boats (floating condos) and the big egos
roost. We politely suggest that they might be more comfortable there on
their next visit. Of course we never see them again. But every now and
then one of them takes a transient slip, gets caught up in the friendliness,
the general joviality, and the night life on A-dock, and becomes an annual
visitor and a close friend. I won't say that A-dock is unique, but what we
have is rare. I haven't found anything else quite like it, and I've been in
every port on the sunset coast and in the straits of Lake Michigan.

Max

I'll fess up, the coordinates I gave are really Scotty's house.
Scout

"Maxprop" wrote in message
k.net...

"Scout" wrote in message

My little piece of heaven is called N39.63778 W74.21002.

Not any more. I'm entering those coordinates into my GPS as we speak.
See
ya soon. Oh, and I'm bringing friends--lots of friends. Like powerboats
and gensets, do ya? Loud stereos and people communicating via hailers?
Sorry.

When I reach the good Captain's age, I hope to have a boat large enough
for
extended voyages.

If you plan to sail solo, a Pacific Seacraft Flicka is large enough for
extended voyages. Many have done so on less. How big a boat do you
envision you'll require?

Max

Nope..I don't....the past two summers we've done a lot of sailing with our
granddaughters, exploring, and in general, not having to deal with dock
life...the switch to a mooring was not just a financial consideration....

"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

"katysails" wrote in message

A dock had a pair of mink several years running...they were cute but you
had
to be careful not to get too close...

One scurried down the dock this year, headed for land. Ran right between
Reggie and Niki. Took all we could do to restrain the dogs, lest the
toothy
bugger rip 'em to shreds.

Don't have an hurricanes here and they pick up the docks before hard
winter
sets in...

Actually they don't pick them up. At least not at any of the marinas on
White Lake. Occasionally the ice does some damage, but the cost of
pulling
docks each year would be far greater than periodic repairs.

Docks are noisy and uncivilized.

I'll give you that one...

Yeah, and I'll bet you miss the hell outta that, doncha?

Max

You need to come down and visit MYC....I don't think you have us in quite
the right perspective...there are no gold ankle bracelets, the guys drink
inferior beer, and for the most part the kids run around free as
jaybirds....I think you're thinking of the other yacht club up by the
channel...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
k.net...

"katysails" wrote in message

I don't drink rum drinks

Yes, I recall that now. Isn't that why you were banished from A-dock?

Except for rum and diet coke they're full of
sugar...)

Nay, nay, sister. Rum and diet tonic. Dark and Stormy, made with diet
ginger beer. Sipping rum, neat. I could go on for hours. You're talking
to a rumophile here.

and I have a fine cockpit where I can sit if I want...if I want a
lounge chair, I have a POOL WITH LOUNGE CHAIRAS that I can row to if I so
desire (nyah-nyah you don't have a pool)

Well, perhaps not in the same sense as YOU YACHTIES, AT YOUR YACHT
CLUB!!!!
But Luke's cockpit scuppers plug up now and then, affording us a nice warm
hot tub, at least until his littlist daughter pees in it and sends us
scrambling.

and she has no
immediately-available neighbors with whom to party while drinking

I belong to a yacht club...get real...

Oh yeah, I forgot. But having an afternoon sherry in Waterford crystal in
the lanai with fellow yachties, all wearing your Bretton Reds and blue
serge
blazers, just ain't the same as sloshing rum with buds.

the
aforementioned rum drinks. Those stipulations, alone, qualify her as a
second-class citizen.

Only if you're using the citizenship requirements for A dock...

Requirements? Requirements? We don't need no stinking requirements.

Sailing? Who gives a **** about sailing.

I do...

Please don't tell Neal this, but I really prefer to be on the hook or on a
mooring. And much prefer to be under way, going somewhere. So does
Clover.
But I'd hate to disappoint him, he's having such a good time trolling for
dock inhabitants.

Max

M. B. ...before you arrived, he sailed ALL the time...over the years, and as
the boats got bigger, he began to take on the "boat as cottage"
attitude...many of the people who were originally on the dock that were
sailors have left for other parts.. a few are down here in Muskegon...
"Maxprop" wrote in message
nk.net...

"katysails" wrote in message

You're right, Scout. What we saw happen over the years was people who
were
sailors turn into people who weren't. (Max is not included in that
group...he does sail...a lot...) The dock lifestyle took over the
sailing
lifestyle.

I disagree, Katy. (not about the part about me, however) I think A-dock
has been rife with non-sailors who own sailboats from the get-go. Most
women don't like to sail at all. You and my better half are exceptions to
that rule. And many of the men would never consider throwing the lines in
anything over 15kts. of wind. Most are distinctly fair-weather sailors,
and
always have been. There's more interest in keeping one's decks spotless
and
adding all the latest electronics and go-fasts than in actually sailing
their boats.

I honestly can't recall anyone who formerly sailed a lot and then mutated
into a dock-bound hound. I'll stand corrected if you can give me an
example.

Max

CN,

I know you are aware of your ties to the land and other people. Far be
it for me to past a judgement of good or bad on it. It is the way it is.
To think you don't need others; that is wrong!

You, my friend have many,many ties that you can't do without. Your
E-mail, a PO Box, a K-mart or such, a grocery store. a marine store, the
CG, Corp of Engineers, Weather forecasters, even the inland farmers and
factory workers, your elected officials which you vote for, the Gov that
mails you the check,etc. The list is long. Right or wrong it is there. I
know you are aware of it. It is OK.

It is wrong, however, to damn other's list while forgetting your own!
That is your own opinion. CN, you have given us more than enough
examples of " You being wrong" as well as being correct.

CN, enjoy the life you have chosen but remember; " You are not an Island
unto yourself.

Good morning from

Ole Thom
P/S I'll be pointing out where you are wrong about boats. Even if it
does "**** you off!"

"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
Does 'A' dock mean something special at your marina? At mine, it seems
the bigger ($$$$) boats are on A dock and get smaller as the letter
gets higher. Is this the norm.

My wife asked me one time if A dock meant something. Seems this woman,
wearing tons of jewelry (powerboater?) struck up a conversation with
her and repeatedly mentioned , with emphasis, that they were on A
dock.

Scotty ( E- docker )

Yeah, A dock is where they keep the biggest boats in our marina but no one
brags about it, we are the least expensive marina in this area. What I find
hilarious is the "commodore" thing, you know, they wear the uniform and the
hat, blah, blah. I know what you're talking about, I have heard women
mention the size of their boat, etc. You would think that this would be a
guy thing, talking about how big it is :)
The women with the excess jewelry was probably a powerboater. Really funny
also, listening to folks talk about their experience on the lake as if they
had been sailing in the roaring forties.
John Cairns





"Maxprop" wrote in message
ink.net...

My entire life isn't defined by a dock with a letter designation.
Well,
okay, maybe it is.

Dave, hate to tell you, but we have yet to see Crapton sailing or anyone
with him sailing. In fact, the only proof that we have that he actually has
a boat, is a picture of him half strangling a cat to keep it from moving.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 22:42:43 -0500, Capt. Neal®
said:

You people just will never know how pathetic your silly ramblings
sound to a real sailor who knows deep in his heart that a dock
equals a slum for wannabe sailors.

Neal, a real sailor doesn't have to tell people he's a real sailor. He
demonstrates it.

Dave

"katysails" wrote in message
...
You need to come down and visit MYC....
...there are no gold ankle bracelets, the guys drink
inferior beer, and us women run around naked as
jaybirds....

Sounds like my kind of place.

Scotty

"Maxprop" wrote in message

Cane sugar. But properly-distilled rum is extremely dry, meaning
the sugar
is completely fermented and any residual sugar is cooked off. Some
rums,
like those horrible flavored or "spiced" rums have a dosage, or
sugar and
flavors added, but only a complete imbecile would deign to drink
them.


Just opened a bottle of Barcadi Select last night. mmmmmmm!

Scotty