What's with it with Bay Area Marinas?

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by oleman

There is nothing at all boring about entering or exiting the Golden Gate into the open pacific in the dark of night on a moving tide in a 35' wind driven vessel.

Yes, you keep going back and forth and back and forth with the occasional repose of sailing down past Angel Island and shooting the gap, then returning to the gate and shooting back and forth and back and forth and hoping some jumper doesn't land in your drink.

BO-RING!

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by gamayun

You're one funny monkey, SM.

I'm going to hold off on my opinion (for once) of SF Bay marinas. There's too much tongue in cheekiness going on right now.

You go ahead and give your advice. Monkey won't bite and the information is on par for the OP.

[rwidman]

Not too long ago I requested a slip in a municipal marina and paid in advance by credit card. I've also done this with private marinas if there's a chance I would arrive after closing time.


The answer is, just deal with it. You're not likely to find these places opening or staying late just for you.

[muttskie]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Background: my home-base marina is operated by the City of Vallejo. They are closed on weekends (no fuel service, guest registration, or whatever).

Requested a guest berth this coming Sunday night at the Berkeley Marina. They're closed on Sundays! What about Saturday night? The staff can't accept monies on the weekend, can you bring money Friday? We also need a copy of your boat registration and photo ID.

Just forget about it! Maybe some future weekday night.

Have scheduled a land cruise to Bodega Bay, staying overnight at a hotel Monday.

Geez, talk about thread drift! Regarding the OP"s post, I am a slip holder at Berkeley. I recently received, included with my monthly bill, the City of Berkeley Marina Newsletter. In it was an introduction of the new "Waterfront Manager" (not sure what that means, but I suspect bureaucratic expansion), news about the long awaited (years) internet wifi replacement, fee increases for live aboards, notification that inspections of electrical connections of slip holder's vessels will be conduction by the "Electrical Maintenance Team" with warnings that suspect cords and adapters may be confiscated, and, by the way, Marina office hours are being reduced. Sundays they are now closed. Now, I am no rocket scientist, but I play one on TV. As 95% of marina activity is on weekends, Why isn't it Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday that was chosen as a day to close, as opposed to one of the busiest days at any marina?
At least the newsletter mentions an effort to keep the bathrooms cleaner. It can only get better in that regard.

[donradcliffe]

I sailed under the Golden Gate yesterday morning (delivery up the coast), and again I was struck by how great a place it is to sail into. Tried to get a slip at the St Francis, but they were in their ultra-snotty mode, so at their suggestion I called the SF muni marina 100 yards away. They didn't answer their phone at 11 in the morning. Tied up in an empty slip and walked down to the office, where there were two employees staring at computer screens. They were nice enough to rent me the open slip for one night at $2/ft, and apologized for charging so much. I didn't tell them that on my last delivery (Florida to Maine) I would have been really happy to pay only $2/ft.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Background: my home-base marina is operated by the City of Vallejo. They are closed on weekends (no fuel service, guest registration, or whatever).

Requested a guest berth this coming Sunday night at the Berkeley Marina. They're closed on Sundays! What about Saturday night? The staff can't accept monies on the weekend, can you bring money Friday? We also need a copy of your boat registration and photo ID.

Just forget about it! Maybe some future weekday night.

Have scheduled a land cruise to Bodega Bay, staying overnight at a hotel Monday.

"Municipal Marinas" are governmental agencies. The staff can't be fired unless the marina is run by a private contractor employed by the City and often not then. They don't have to make money to justify their existence and so, although many are somewhat less costly than commercial operations, they have no need to provide good service to their customers. In some areas, the muni-marinas are very good, in others, not so much. I found the Long Beach Marina to be very good after we moved south and brought our boat down there. I missed the sailing in SF and our friends at Richmond YC and in Sausalito but not the lack of service we endured whenever we tried to visit many Bay area muni-marinas.

S'part of living in California...which we don't miss!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

"You9 have no idea how many I've crewed; nor how many I've looked at to BUY in the bay area."

Now that's funny. 'You upset that you couldn't get a mooring in Richardson Bay?

We purchsed our Hunter in Sausalito, it's a great area to buy a boat and spend some quality time on the water out sailing. Six years ago I lived on the Hunter there for two months, a fantastic experience.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Now that's funny.

Not really, Ken. Get back on your $$$ bike and say "hello" to the hand You'll be late for your manicure and tow rub appointment in Italy.

[fatherchronica]

We all have different wants, needs and things we like, and even different boredom triggers. On some other website, maybe even this one, some folks would get riled by things that I find boring ( televised sports(( although I did watch a little Olympics)) golf, TV or actual) thankfully beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Which is good, otherwise all men would've been chasing one woman for eternity, and vice versa. On a different note, I read a book a few years ago wherein the observation was made that a pet/helper monkey on a boat was quite useful for two days, then on the third day it would begin throwing everything it could get it's hands on overboard. Are they hands or paws?

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Now that's funny.

We purchsed our Hunter in Sausalito, it's a great area to buy a boat and spend some quality time on the water out sailing. Six years ago I lived on the Hunter there for two months, a fantastic experience.

Fantasick. Try finding a livaboard slot these days. Sausalito is great if you can...but horrible commute even with ferry. Of course you didn't stick around long and prolly got a deal because you purchased the thing there.

Bezerkleye marina has gotten a lot worse over the last 10 years. Too many lookie lou's too much pollution.

Delta is a lot better place to live. Nice folks living up that way.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by oleman

There is nothing at all boring about entering or exiting the Golden Gate into the open pacific in the dark of night on a moving tide in a 35' wind driven vessel.

You forgot to add shipping traffic, heavy fog, floating tree stumps, and the occasional horny whale that thinks you are his long lost love.
Personally we love to sail big harbors like SFB. Lots to see(assuming no fog).