Absolutely!

"Phil" wrote in message
...
Doug,
I'll second that, Bucksport was great. We stopped there in January on the
way home to NC from FL. The dockage was cheap and so was the fuel. The
meal
we had at the restaraunt was the best one we have had yet and we were the
only ones there. They treated us like part of the family.
Phil

"Doug Dotson" wrote in message
...
Check out Bucksport Plantation Marina, SC. $0.50 foot and
very friendly. Nice restaurant as well. Got stuck there for 7
days because our 62' mast couldn't get under the 65' fixed
bridge just north of there.

Doug
s/v Callista

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
x-no-archive:yes
"Jack Rye" .# wrote:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a total of
$4,395,115
in
grants to eight States to help improve docking facilities for
transient,
non-trailerable boats along the navigable waterways of the United
States.

Following the competitive process, the Service announced the
following
BIG
grants:

That's good news - I think.

I have not been on the Gulf Coast, the West Coast, the Great Lakes or
on any fresh water at all. I have no experience of any of the marinas
on the list except that I did stay once at the York River marina (if
that is the one on Sarah Creek) and thought it was way overpriced,
especially the restaurant. I would not have thought that they needed
any extra money for anything - a very yuppie place.

I have stayed at some municipal marinas - Crisfield, MD, Titusville,
Ft. Pierce, St. Augustine, Fernandina Beach, and New Smyrna Beach
Florida, Beaufort SC, and I think Miamarina in Miami is also a
municipal or county marina. Some of them (most of them) are
wonderful. I don't think much of the St. Augustine one. None of them
charged as little as 50 cents a foot.

I've also stayed at some really cheap marinas and even some places
that were free. The Visitor's Center in the Dismal Swamp, Elizabeth
City NC, Barefoot Landing and while it is for sale apparently Robb's
in Belhaven are free but have no electricity or other services. Ross
Marine in SC, and the docks at McClellanville are very cheap. Some
places you can get moorings for less, and usually (but not always)
anchoring is free.

Florida

Tampa Convention Center, Tampa Bay, for new transient docking
facilities
($250,000)

Louisiana

Bucktown Harbor Marina, Lake Pontchartrain, for new transient
docking
facilities ($407,000)
Cypress Cove Marina, Mississippi River, for new transient docking
facilities ($200,000)

Mississippi

Coleman State Park, Tennessee River, for repairing harbor dike and
adding
safety features for transient boaters ($224,000)

Ohio

Middle Bass Island State Park, to install 60 transient slips,
completing
work initiated with BIG program funds in 2001 ($861,383)

Oregon

Port of Astoria, Columbia River, construct and renovate transient
docking
facilities ($354,750)

South Carolina

Charleston City Dock, Ashley River, for new transient docking
facilities
($1,198,000)

Virginia

Yorktown Harbor, York River, Chesapeake Bay, for new transient
docking
facilities ($600,000)

Washington

Hanford Reach Gateway Dock, Columbia River, for new transient
docking
facilities ($299,982)

Jack
"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
(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
th
ink
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
http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/