Florida Dock Rant

[READY2GO]

It amazes me what people will put up with. We are from up north. All the docks are floating, they have to be. Rivers go up and down as much as 20 or 25 feet. No big deal. You make your docks to float, and you put CLEATS on them for people to tie up to. The fingers go out 15 or 20 feet, sometimes longer. In our travels in Florida so far we have found one place that had floating docks.

It is so much easier to put fenders on and have real protection from jerks leaving big wakes when tied to a dock that stays at the same place on your hull no matter the tide.

You would think for the amount of money you have to pay here for dockage that they would put a little more into construction. "Hey bubba let's go sink six telephone poles in the mud, put a 3' long finger pier in and charge em $600 a month"

Yeah, yeah, I know if you don't like it go back where you came from. No it's too cold there. I will continue on south though.

Okay, rant over.

[ShipShape]

Whoa - $600/month is cheap! Where did you find such a good deal? Maybe you have a really small boat....

I'm looking forward to your rant when you pull into one of the marinas without any finger piers at all. The ones I've been to charge a lot more than $600/month.

[denverd0n]

The tidal range is a foot or two in most of Florida. Floating docks are EXPENSIVE! I sure wouldn't waste my money on a floating dock if I had a place where I could actually build a dock. You think $600/month is expensive? Imagine how much they would charge if they had spent all that money for a floating dock!

Here's a clue, though. If you want everywhere you go to be just like back home, then you need to stay back home. If you're going to travel, then you have to accept that everywhere you go things will be done differently than they were at home, and probably differently than wherever you were last.

Variety truly is the spice of life.

[capttman]

A fender board works the nuts and rides nicely up and down the pilings

[capngeo]

Yup it's tourist season!

Ya know tourists remind me of hemorrhoids.... They come down, hang around for a while, are a big pain in the butt while down, then they go back up!


Disclaimer... Before y'all go hitting the report button, it is meant in jest... Florida LOVES tourists!

[Ram]

Originally Posted by capngeo

Yup it's tourist season!

Ya know tourists remind me of hemorrhoids.... They come down, hang around for a while, are a big pain in the butt while down, then they go back up!


Disclaimer... Before y'all go hitting the report button, it is meant in jest... Florida LOVES tourists!

i have to remember that one!

[skipmac]

Well considering you pay $600/month in FL for a non floating dock vs double or triple that in the northeast for a floating dock I think the minor hassle of rigging a fender board is worth the difference.

I spent 2009 in RI and CT but on a mooring or at anchor. Was getting ready to head south and meeting crew at the airport so thought it would be nice to get a slip and a room for a couple of days for departure planning. Best deal I could find for a slip was $135/night. For a slip. Just a place to tie my dock lines. For $100/night I had a hotel with HBO and a minibar.

Bottom line, I'll take FL rates and non floating docks any day.

That $600/month by the way would not be in south FL or around any of the high falutin tourist towns. In fact, I am looking at dock space in north FL for $400/month with electric included for a 42' boat and don't care that the docks don't float.

No I'm not telling where because it's a small marina and only have a couple of slips left and I want one for me when I launch this winter.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by capttman

A fender board works the nuts and rides nicely up and down the pilings

Of course. While you will occasionally find floating docks in Florida, there's not much need for them. They're expensive and I don't know if our critic has noticed, but when hurricanes hit here, the docks can get smashed up. To put a lot of money into an expensive option that has very limited usefulness doesn't make a lot of sense here.

There are a variety of solutions. Sail to new waters and you'll probably have to learn some new skills in there somewhere.

[tropicalescape]

That backwood country f%@k took your money and didnt give you a floating dock?I bet he talked funny too..shame on him..yall done kicked our ass one time what was he thanking...shame on ya Bubba...next time come to my dock I wont do that to ya..I promise...thank ya,Leroy and Lulabell Gizzard DBA/ Fancy docks for fancy people....LoL

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

That backwood country f%@k took your money and didnt give you a floating dock?I bet he talked funny too..shame on him..yall done kicked our ass one time what was he thanking...shame on ya Bubba...next time come to my dock I wont do that to ya..I promise...thank ya,Leroy and Lulabell Gizzard DBA/ Fancy docks for fancy people....LoL

Yeah that Bubba he's a hoot. $600 bucks a month for a few telephone poles stuck in the mud. What's even more of a knee slapper is those pesky paper holders a wantin their monthly due, Bubbas sure thems Yankees, along with that ol tax man and his pot bellied beer drinking buddies over to the insurantz cumpanies. $600 dollars, you ain't a just whistlin Dixie.

[HopCar]

Whoa Fellas! Lay off the tourists. I love tourists, especially tourists in boats. Ready2go has a point, floating docks are very nice. Take a look at the docks at Bahia Mar. Those are really nice. Notice how tall the concrete pilings are? That's so the dock won't float off the piling in a hurricane. Of course $600 wouldn't last very long at Bahia Mar.

[JusDreaming]

we are paying approx. 600. +/- for floating docks in Stuart, should I consider myself lucky. But it's true I do speak "Bubba" language

[mjwarner]

Yes, floating docks are nice. But so are piling/fixed docks when one compares them to shoving your 12-13ft. behind into a med- moor concrete bulkhead when there is only 10ft between adjacent boats. But then look at the places you will get to visit if you dare the med- moor. It's all about putting it in the proper perspective, and going with the local flow. Adventure is always worth the minor inconvenience.

[smj]

We paid a little over $200 per month for floating docks in Texas.....guess that says a lot about the quality of cruising here!

[READY2GO]

First off, I'm not saying the docks here are wrong. I'm saying you don't get much for your money. We were at one of the finest marinas on Kentucky Lake for two years, floating docks, had to be the lake had about a 20' differnce in low and high levels. We paid $1,000 a YEAR. You can't tell me for the money that is charged here that the docks could not be better.

I also didn't say I couldn't deal with it. Agin just don't think you get much for the amount of money you are paying. But it all goes back to supply and demand. When the demand is great you can charge alot and give a little, when the demand is low, you charge less and give more.

As far people in Florida not liking tourists, if it weren't for tourists Florida would probably have 60% unemployement and be begging to borrow money from California.

Okay let the civil war resume.