Got a call Wed from the Martin County marina that I needed to move my
boat by Friday cuz they had my space reserved for a big boat and I had
only reserved my spot for a month. CRAP it's a six hour drive to
Stuart from Tallahassee but I got online and immediately found a slip
nearby.
So, Thur drove down and moved Ragtime over to the Harborage Marina.
Talking to the dockmaster woman (is a female dockmaster a
dockmistress), I learned that until two weeks ago, they had no
vacancies but many insurance policies say that unless a boat is north
of a certain point by May 1 then their insurance goes waaaaaaay up.
Half the marina was empty. I've never encountered this on the Gulf
Coast probably because the enclosed Gulf has nowhere far enough north
to go to get out of the way of hurricanes.
I was told that it is expected that boats get hauled out for hurricane
season. What a radical change for me because where I normally keep my
boat I'd have to go 70 miles to find a haul-out facility. In Stuart,
there are at least 8 within 5 miles.