Dock Queens

D

Doc Garrett

New Member
Jun 22, 2012
24
Georgia
Boat Info
2007 260DA
Engines
Merc 350 Bravo III Drive
Every marina has them - boats that never seem to leave their slip. I am sure the reasons are many - not enough time, too expensive, lost interest, too much effort, etc.

How often are you on the water and what keeps you away from enjoying the open water on your pride and joy?

Just curious...

Doc
 
mine is more a trailer queen this summer
what keeps me off the water ??
fuel prices (boat and truck)
available time ...60+ hours a week at work for she and I and sometimes not the same days off
this year..mechanical issues in the spring when I had time to go boating
and the list goes on....
 
It seems like I'm surrounded by them. I know of boats that are carrying fuel that's more than 5 years old. I'm surprised when they make it to the hoist for haulout under their own power.

IMO, it's all based on fear. The owners either don't trust the boat, or they lack confidence in themselves to handle it. Our marina is a destination anyway, so I think we have more than the typical amount of "floating cottages".
 
No “Dock Queen” here, we use our boat often. So much so she now has over 550 hours and she is a 06 model. In fact we are having a beautiful day here today, so after work the Admiral and I will take Sandy’s Beach for an evening Dinner Cruise to one of the Middle River restaurants. Time is too valuable to waste not being out enjoying my favorite hobby of boating!
 
We take our boat out at least one day every weekend during the boating season weather permitting. In the begining of the season and end of the season it gets alittle harder as school ends and starts and we are getting them to their sports events.
 
We go out every weekend, Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, during our short season. There are the occasional dock party's Friday evenings, but when that happens, we go out on the hook for Saturday evening.

The ones that want to stay on the docks... we call them "dock lizards".
 
We were on the water 155 days last year, probably more this year...........the boat beside me still has a 2010 registration sticker and has not left the slip in 2 years. Thankfully, he does keep it washed so it isn't too much of an eye sore.....Oh, its a 1999 380DA with diesel engines 66 hours on them and the owner won't sell it.
 
We're out every weekend weather permitting. When we're on holidays we're on the boat and out for our time off.

Frank...we have a 380 beside us that rarely goes out. The owner has had electrical issues and just hasn't come back for about a month now. It's pretty dirty....

Mark
 
In our short season we have been out every weekend Friday through monday since April 25th and we will be on the hard nov 1 we average 120 hrs a year weather permitting. I have my eyes on a 09 43 sundance with zues that has 36 hrs on it owner wants a 450 sedan bridge he never leaves dock.
 
We take our boat out once or twice a week in the late spring, summer, early fall and then as weather permits the rest of the year. The only time she sits idle for very long is if I'm traveling.

Living only 5 minutes from the boat we are also guilty of spending lots of time at our "floating cottage" at the dock. We do dinner and movies a couple times a week on the boat year round. Many of our friends are also in our marina so we do a lot of socializing and entertaining on our boats.
 
We run two days a week most of the time.....at 1mpg, not hard to use the fuel and replenish with fresh!
 
We went when ever Dee had time off of work.

Since Dan & Barb bought our Sea Ray 21ft'er a few weeks ago.

We are borrowing my brother Keith's pontoon boat for now. :smt089
 
I see a lot of sailboats by the marina I use that never move except putting them in in the spring & taking them out in the fall.

We are on ours every nice weekend if possible.

LK
 
We are on the water 1-2 days per week April through September then 3-4 days per month during the offseason.

There is a 2008 330DA across the way from us that has not been out of the slip in three years. The owners are there most weekends and its one of the cleanest boats in the marina. I think he is afraid to dock it.
 
hack4alivin said:
No “Dock Queen” here, we use our boat often. So much so she now has over 550 hours and she is a 06 model. In fact we are having a beautiful day here today, so after work the Admiral and I will take Sandy’s Beach for an evening Dinner Cruise to one of the Middle River restaurants. Time is too valuable to waste not being out enjoying my favorite hobby of boating!
Click to expand...

That is the beauty of living and boating in a more populated, and boat-friendly area. I would love to go out in the evening just for a dinner cruise to a local restaurant. Unfortunately, I have one run-down bar and only one other decent restaurant within an hour's cruise speed of me. There are some things to love about the lower Potomac (big water, no traffic), but things to wish for too (restaurants and other destinations).

We're way down on the boat use this year. Some of it has to do with just being busy, and some has to do with the awfully hot weather that kept some of us (not me!) indoors moreso than usual. Bu now is when we usually ramp it up, so I hope the weather stays nice now!
 
As for the weather, heat keeps us home more often than cold. Without a genny in July/August, we have been known to leave the slip early morning anchor & float for a while & be back on land by 1pm.

Fuel costs don't bother us. It has been at or near $5/gal. for four years now. Our travels at speed are not that long.

An extra busy home life has taken its toll this summer. But we boat more often in September/October. So again, heat keeps us home as much as anything else.
 
You can tell a Dock Queen in the PNW; It has stuff growing out of it. There is this old Chris Craft, wood boat that has plants with leaves!

Gas prices are starting to hurt us. We try to go out everyweekend, but only for short trips. At the begining of the summer we took two longer trips but when it costs over $400 in gas to do 61 miles on step, we had to cut back.....
 
I am lucky if I get 40 hours on the boat. 3 kids (17, 15,12), lots of sports, camps, and too much work. Relying on two days per week, having to be somewhere Sunday to drop off someone, inconsistent weather. I think of selling and the wife scolds me....
 
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