The repositioning went well yesterday. It took a little over three hours to motor from my old slip in Fort Myers Beach, up the Caloosahatchee river, to downtown Fort Myers. The boat ran perfectly – Thank You!!
As usual, I forgot my camera – phone to the rescue. They are not great nor of anything in particular.
I am now safely slipped at Legacy Harbor Marina. It is a very nice place with many friendly people – feels good.
Speaking of friendly people, I had an interesting experience while leaving the old slip. A few days back I talked to a gentleman who I thought was the next door neighbor. He offered to let me use power and water at his place before I even asked. I was very appreciative and told him so. Today, the “jerk” that was at that house was apparently the actual homeowner. He was not the least bit pleased that I plugged into his power without asking. I attempted to explain a couple times, being very thankful all the while, that I had asked and received permission form the fellow that was there at the time. He would not hear of it. Kept asking dumb questions like “Did you ask him if he was the homeowner?” and “Did you ask if he had authority to grant permission?” Seriously!?!? He was sitting on the back porch reading a paper and drinking coffee. He acted as if he owned the place. Why would I ask such questions?? I dunno… another case of me just being an irresponsible punk, I guess. I’m starting to get used to it. I thanked him profusely, admited my guilt, and apologized.
Crazy story. I think I would have thought the same thing.
Question: What’s it like to have a boat so far from where you lived? What problems or worries seem to be common with the long distant?
Thanks
Hi Don. It was miserable. Since it was at a private slip, there was nobody keeping an eye on it. I worried about the condition of the boat all the time. I had a company check on it every few weeks but they didn’t really do anything (check lines, excercise seacocks, check bildge, etc…). I worried that a line would chafe thru/break and the boat would be damaged in the weeks before this company would check on it.
The appearance of the boat suffered too. The buildup of mildrew and grime was substantial. I scrubbed the bulk of it off but now have lots of line and small stuff to clean.
I suspect one would worry a lot less with the boat at a marina where a harbormaster/staff is regularly keeping an eye out for potential problems.