I'm not sure what you think is bad about being up a river vs. inside a bay or on the shore of an island in the middle of a
hurricane zone, but if it is referring to the river
boatyards themselves being low-quality, that is not the case.
We hauled out in RAM Marina, where they have a modern large and new travelift, paved yard, West
Marine store, waste filtering and reclamation system,
paint shed, nice bathroom/shower facilities, a convenience store and restaurant,
fuel dock, etc.
If you are concerned about
security, they have a gated facility with an armed guard posted at the gate. They also have the yard covered with
security cameras that feed into a website so you can even watch your boat the entire time you are gone. I am not aware of any
boats having been vandalized there.
And prices are 2-3x less than Shelter Bay Marina, which has suffered yard and boat break-ins in the recent past (how this has happened is unclear, since they are on a military base with great security).
Mark