Perhaps the most newbie question in the history of newbie boating questions

How can one tell from the water if a dock you are approaching is a public dock available for temporary (2 hours) moorage?

Obviously when a dock is associated with someoene's house/property/real estate, that's a no-brainer. But are there any standard markings for public docks that indicate "this is an okay place to dock your boat"? For example here in Portland on the Willamette and Columbia rivers there are a handful of docks near or in the city that are clearly not private property. Perhaps there is a large dock with a boat or two moored there and the stairs away from the dock go up near a park. Perhaps there is a huge dock with tons of boats. Is it public? For slip renters only? Are parts of it available for day use? Free or paid? how will i get back through the gate on the way back down to the boat? Is there any way to tell without docking and walking around looking for signs?

Anyway, sorry for the 20 questions. I'm guessing the answer is "research beforehand", but i'm curious if there are any standard indicators or any way to be spontaneous about this. Navionics isn't super clear (and also doens't have every dock or ramp listed).

Come on now....if you're going to have a title like that you should be asking something like "is the port side on a boat the left or the right"!!!

In my area the best way to figure out the status of docks is to scope it out from your computer before you get there. Google maps, active captain, etc. I've also used my Garmin chartplotters to get phone numbers of unfamiliar docks as I approached. Sometimes if you get close enough there will be a sign, phone number or a marina name you can hale on 9/16.

I'm not aware of any standard for marking marinas and docks. It's a bit of choose your own adventure around my parts. And heck, half of our signs would be underwater at this point anyway

Stee6043 said:

Come on now....if you're going to have a title like that you should be asking something like "is the port side on a boat the left or the right"!!!

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For sure! What pegs you as a newbie is not that question, but your innocent and naive over-estimation of the knowledge general boating community. That question sounds like someone with 3-4 years of boating experience.

Stee mentioned ActiveCaptain. I'm a longtime user and fan of that resource. It began as a user-community database for long range and local cruisers. Garmin bought it and created an app with many other functions and sadly, the "community" part of it is floundering.

It still offers an incredible amount of useful data though. You can access it as a web-page right now or download the app and create an account. The website offers several different map and chart views, so I highly recommend you browse around it and look at detail/reviews/amenities.

Stee6043 said:

Come on now....if you're going to have a title like that you should be asking something like "is the port side on a boat the left or the right"!!! In my area the best way to figure out the status of docks is to scope it out from your computer before you get there. Google maps, active captain, etc.

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RollerCoastr said:

Stee mentioned ActiveCaptain. I'm a longtime user and fan of that resource. It began as a user-community database for long range and local cruisers. Garmin bought it and created an app with many other functions and sadly, the "community" part of it is floundering.

It still offers an incredible amount of useful data though. You can access it as a web-page right now or download the app and create an account. The website offers several different map and chart views, so I highly recommend you browse around it and look at detail/reviews/amenities.

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LOL! Thank you . I did subscribe to the Navionics app and I see it has an "active captain" option in the maps. I'll research more of what that gets me. Do you use it within Navionics or separately? It looks like i can add edits myself too as I find missing or incorrect stuff.

I just use ActiveCaptain. Yes, you can submit adds/edits/changes.

Can someone help identify what these items are? I found them on 350 Express Bridge. I found them under the helm but have no. idea what they are for.

Those are dinghy Caddy's.

Carver370 said:

Those are dinghy Caddy's.

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THANK YOU! it was driving me crazy, you answered two questions for me. I have two brackets on the swim platform that I had no idea for what. Now I do. Thanks again.

Stee6043 said:

And heck, half of our signs would be underwater at this point anyway

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I'm part owner of a campground (non-floating boats!!!).

Forget signs, NO ONE can read!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And if they claim they can, they suffer from comprehension problems!!!!!!!!!!)

pdxsearay said:

LOL! Thank you . I did subscribe to the Navionics app and I see it has an "active captain" option in the maps. I'll research more of what that gets me. Do you use it within Navionics or separately? It looks like i can add edits myself too as I find missing or incorrect stuff.

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Just to help sort out the confusion, "Active Captain" is an app for Garmin chart plotters as the Navionics app can not be used with Garmin chart plotters, which is strange since Garmin owns Navionics. So the "Active Captain" option in the Navionics app is for the community updates, which will in some cases explain or add to the local knowledge being displayed in the app. The Navionics app is a fantastic app and in my opinion much better then the Active Captain app. But for Garmin chart plotters that is the only option.