Before leaving on my trip, I spent considerable time on the web
looking over slip prices in various areas. My impression was that
Tarpon Springs was extremely overpriced but I intended to go there as
a backup plan so that is where i ended up. I only found the slip at
Port Tarpon Marina because I had a six year old marina guide with me
(turns out I stayed at Port tarpon marina six years ago and that is
where I got the guide) and called them on the cell phone as I was
arriving at Tarpon Springs..
I know there must be a lot of slips available these days but they are
not on the web. All I see are these bizarro expensive places with
swimming pools and jacuzzis etc. All I want is a place to legally
park the boat and do not need any facilities. I do not even need a
pump out, I'll pay for that at the expensive marinas when I buy fuel
there. The cheapo falling down dock type places would do well to post
availability on the web and could easily alter the web site on a daily
basis.
The availability of inexpensive parking places would greatly
facilitate cruising by more people. Right now, cruising my way by
going a short distance and then returning to work and then going to do
more is financially out of reach for many people due to the high cost
of maintaining a slip at home and paying for at least a month for a
slip you may use for only two weeks.
I think State parks and municipalities could attract a lot of cruisers
by installing mooring buoys with a 2 week limit. You'd have to work
out the "park it and run off" derelict boat types problem. The buoys
could have a slot for inserting money to pay along with a small
plastic bag on which you write the date you start. This would be
similar to the car parking spaces you pay for in a big box but would
be on each buoy or on a central buoy.
Advertise these mooring buoys on the web and you'd attract boating
people who do not mind spending money in your community.