[MHml] Marina hopping - costs

[Gary Lepak]

My 30' tri is 24' wide and nonreducible beam on the water.  When we launched
last spring in Port Angeles, Washington, the one marina in town said they
just didn't have any end tie or inner spaces avialable where we wouldn't
block the channel.  I looked around the marina and had to agree.  They
offered 2 30' slips but we would have to pay for both.  I paced off the
width and it seemed that two 30' spaces were only 20' wide anyway.  We
anchored out in a shallow spot protected from prevailing westerlies all
summer, and it worked out ok, but if there hadn't been that one spot in town
we would have had to anchor at least 20 miles from home in Sequim bay, or
perhaps even 50 miles near Port Townsend.
   We lived on the boat there for 5 weeks and enjoyed it more than we would
have in the marina.  There is a sandy public beach where we left our
dinghies during the day.  In the fall we put the boat back on the trailer
and parked it in the backyard for the winter.
     Sometimes a marina just won't be able fit a wide boat in, even if they
don't charge double.

Gary