Here's my tip for the day....what's yours?

On Florida summer days, time your movement such that you can duck under a bridge span when all hell breaks loose. I have kept a cockpit full of guests dry and carrying on as usual under the bridge from SRQ to St Armands many a time. (can't say Ringling bridge anymore, because, it's not).
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Lived in SRQ for 15 years.

what happened to the new Ringling bridge?
 
Do a thorough check of you boat before you leave your house double check everything. Got to the ramp once and didn't have dock lines. I always watch other boat going in to the ramp to see how there boat acts with wind and current it lets me know to go on right or left side of ramp
 
Here's one that started a debate at our marina. Many of the captains won't let their wives drive the boat, but I insisted that my wife not only drive, but learn to dock the boat. I like to know if anything happened to me that she would be able to get us back in.
My wife can drive ours and knows how to maneuver it but has never docked it but I told her if things go bad just get it back to the dock however she can. There are usually at least a few empty slips on nice days so just pull into one of those in an emergency
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lived in SRQ for 15 years.

what happened to the new Ringling bridge?
It is technically renamed the "Gil Waters" bridge, after the Commissioner that spearheaded the replacement with the current span, against many a resident. Here's a snip from the paper back in 2018.
There is effectively no one calling it anything but the Ringling bridge.....

Article:
The most recent John Ringling Bridge, now greatly admired for its beauty and people-friendly design, began as a years-long battle royal pitting the City Commission and concerned citizens who thought the span was too imposing against the state Department of Transportation.

Thanks in no small measure to the effort of former City Commissioner Gil Waters, the DOT won. Which brings us to another controversy: Should the bridge’s name have been changed?

I say no. For over 80 years, the name John Ringling Causeway Bridge has become part of our heritage. It attests that not only did John Ringling build the first bridge to link our out-island jewels to the mainland; it also reaffirms that Sarasota is in no small measure what it is today because of his vision, money and effort.

It has been proposed that a plaque be placed on the bridge. It could read: “This John Ringling Causeway Bridge is dedicated to Gil Waters.”

That wouldn’t be too controversial.

Jeff LaHurd is a Sarasota author and historian.
 
I never thought about having a few totally extra dock lines….. being a trailer boater, I have 4 dock lines and 2 backups. However, now I’ve seen someone pull up next to me totally unprepared and when asking if they wanted me to grab a line for them I got a ski tow rope with handle handed to me, or a wire clothes line. His boat was also smoking from a shorted alternator and taking on water, so he was donated a fire extinguisher.
 
In the process of moving to new slip. Have 5 on old slip, 5 on new slip, head out today to go to place with floating piers, all good, only need my 3 remaining lines. Wrong. Plans changed, went to place with fixed piers and poles. So I have 2 crossed at transom and 1 side tied to finger pier. Fortunately no wind so it’s working. No matter how many lines you have it’s never enough.
 
My wife can drive ours and knows how to maneuver it but has never docked it but I told her if things go bad just get it back to the dock however she can. There are usually at least a few empty slips on nice days so just pull into one of those in an emergency
A couple years ago my wife and I were out on Lake Superior. I ate a marijuana gummy that my friend gave me. I never ate one before and didn’t think it would be a big deal. It rendered me completely incapable of operating the boat. Thankfully my wife was able to follow the chart plotter and get us back into a calm bay where we could spend the night. Never again!!
 
Never spend ventured capital on a limited partnership without a detailed analytical fiduciary prospectus.
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Pay attention at the fuel dock and do not let the dock staff rush you you. Watch them take the gas caps off and put them inside the boat so they don’t end up in the water. Reinstall the caps yourself so you don’t need a breaker bar to get them off the next time. Turn the blowers on when you go in to pay the bill. Do a sniff test before turning the keys to leave.
Also, DO THE MAINTENANCE by the book or pay someone who knows how to do it. This includes things like changing out belts and hoses at the proper time. We’ve boated for 50 plus years without a mechanical failure that spoiled a trip. No secret to that, just routine preventive maintenance done when the boat is in storage or just before it goes inside for the winter. Too many people do things on the cheap or wait for things to break. That is unsafe and costs you enjoyment and more money in the long run.
 
When selecting a boat name, I always spend time thinking about how it will sound when repeated on the radio for years.

I apply the syllable test, 1 or 2 syllables is great. 3 is pushing it.

I make sure it is not a tongue twister saying it 3 times is rapid succession.
 
When selecting a boat name, I always spend time thinking about how it will sound when repeated on the radio for years.

I apply the syllable test, 1 or 2 syllables is great. 3 is pushing it.

I make sure it is not a tongue twister saying it 3 times is rapid succession.

I was at a fuel dock in northern Michigan two weeks ago. As I was fueling I heard someone call in for help getting into a transient slip, didn't quite catch the name, but heard the three dock hands start laughing after they talked to him.

I asked what the guys boat name was, assuming it was funny.

They chuckle and say "his boat is named tight fit". Those guys got a pretty good laugh about the whole thing. I can only imagine calling a draw bridge as "tight fit".
 

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