Sleeping on boat at Dock

[Hampton]

I'll be at work every afternoon and evening for the next 4 days. Right now, there's a huge party going on over at my squadron, but I'm manning the Air Operations Center. I'll stop by after I get out of here. Not much opportunity to take the boat out this weekend, but we'll be sleeping on it at the dock tonight. In many ways, it's a lot more relaxing and sometimes more enjoyable than going out to the island.

The only drawback is that people like to drive their vehicles by our docks and park out on the breakwater and fish. When nobody's out there, it's much more relaxing. I like to sit up top, drink a beer, and play music while watching fish/shrimp/squid in the stern lights, birds hunting at night, and whatever else is moving around.

Bored at work. Do you guys just like to get to the boat and relax, even if you can't go out?

 

[gredmer]

It appears my pier alone has 3-4 couples that spend many more weekend nights on their boat at the slip than on the water.

 

[promocop]

Luckily, my slip is within blocks of my office. I OFTEN, go there to relax and conduct a bit of business on the aft deck. It gives my mental peace of mind and no, I dont have to take her out to enjoy the serenity. Love it!

 

[tmhudson2]

I'm much more relaxed hanging at the dock than at the office, or a home if my 19-year old drama queen is there. Our dock is the most social one at our marina, and sitting on my boat reading, or watching a game on a neighbor's boat while sipping a few, is almost as good as getting out for a short cruise. And if the weather isn't cooperative for cruising, I can still hang out on the boat.

 

[Hampton]

Very nice. I feel the same way.

 

[Leedhn]

Hey , John, Susan and I were on the hook just off the island on the 5th out beside the Grand Banks; went back to TIM Sunday morn to PU my 18 year old daughter and 5 BFF's . We returned but you were gone. I spent Sunday night thru Wed. tied up at the marina working on my boat. Polished all SS , new name, cleaned engines , generator, went over all clamps, touched up some paint that had flaked. In general went over all systems looking for problems. I took the boat out once at night to get the feel of the area, check accuracy of c-map GPS and just be on the water. I love the challange of operating at night. I must say that turning North towards Panama City was intimitating , so many lights of the marina complex as well as headlights shining up the ship channel made it difficult to pick out marine craft. Will give it a go later this summer when I figure out my zoom problem on my chart plotter. But to your point/question working on the boat and just being on it for several days was like magic. I can walk on my boat stay seveal hours , take nap, power up systems to check, shut down and feel happy as hell. I am already lusting for a 320.

 

[Hampton]

Leedhn,

Sorry I missed you guys. We had been out since Thurs afternoon/evening, and the wife was anxious to get home. I had had enough myself. We were back at the dock by sunrise. From where you were parked, our dock is directly East for 2 miles where you see the light-blue roof tops. We'll catch you in a couple of weeks, if you're there. I have to work again next weekend, and my wife will be out of town. I'll probably go out Sat afternoon, though - I'll be working mornings next week.

 

[Leedhn]

John,
Have you any expericence with C-Map chips and Chart Plotters? I can,t zoom down below 3.5nm , when I do I get a grid showing my boat and an error message say no chart data. My expectation was that I would be able to blow a channel for good resolution . I am on Raymarine's web site now but thought I would ask

Lee Henderson

 

[boatrboy]

I sleep on the boat every other weekend. My wife won't sleep on the boat she doesn't stop me. Our dock is extremely friendly and we always socialize on boats or the bar at the dock. Last weekend I slept there two days. It is so relaxing. It was raining one day last weekend and we all just sat in boats yakking and snacking. Life is good.......

 

[Go Aweigh2452]

Mine sits in the driveway and once in a while, I take a snooze while its here at home!

 

[SCFinch]

Our goal is to be there every weekend, sometimes we are at the dock, sometimes at the beach. It does not matter where, just that we are! We also try to do some weekday's on the boat if the schedules work out.

 

[NorCal Boater]

We sleep on the boat most every weekend. We have covered slips but our guest dock is open. We go out to the guest dock where there is a party most weekends.

 

[dpvandy01]

With my schedule 24 hours on 48 hours off I'm at the marina 2 out of every 3 days. We live about 10 minutes from the marina so we stay aboard more often than not. My wife leaves for work from the dock in the AM and if I am off, I just sleep in. We have a fairly large park next to us so I can get up and walk the dog early before it gets too hot, then it's on about my day. I love being on the water.. I go to the boat to sit, read, listen to tunes, smoke a cigar, whatever...... I just love being down there.

 

[mrsrobinson]

We spend quite a bit of time on our boat at the dock. We have 2 homes tight now. One has a great restaurant, pool and dign access to town. The other has a concert series every other Saturday, clubhouse, pool, etc.

So, I would estimate over 50% of our boating "time" is at the slip.

 

[Hampton]

John,
Have you any expericence with C-Map chips and Chart Plotters? I can,t zoom down below 3.5nm , when I do I get a grid showing my boat and an error message say no chart data. My expectation was that I would be able to blow a channel for good resolution . I am on Raymarine's web site now but thought I would ask

Lee Henderson

I had this problem for the first year, until I learned how to zoom in. I can't remember the exact procedure, or the exact page, but you have to change your unit into or out of the plotter mode, or turn the plotter mode on or off (whichever mode it is not in). Go into the menu, chartplotter set up, or something like that. Keep searching menus for the plotter mode. Good luck.

 

[Hampton]

I'm back at work. I would love to sleep on the boat again tonight, but I probably need to go home. Maybe tomorrow night - yeah, that should work.

I asked my wife what she saw on the dock last night while I was off at work. She said she watched a big bird catch fish (I called it hunting on post above), and she watched a 4' alligator. Last year, we had 2 alligators in our marina. One was over 10'. This year, we've only seen or heard of the small one. The wildlife is awesome. I wonder if alligators scare sharks away, or the other way around or what. The one thing bad about wildlife is not being on the very top of the food chain.

 

[Kameroo]

When it's a sticky 90 degrees out, we've found that a night at the slip with the AC going can be much more relaxing than a humid night on the water. Added benefits are no anchor to worry about, no fuel burn and hardly any of the work associated with bringing the boat home. Also, in the slip everybody can enjoy the wine--no need for a designated driver in case of emergency.

 

[Hampton]

And we all wonder why so many boats in the marina have bottoms which are covered in barnacles. They're almost as good just sitting still! (And a lot cheaper)

 

[Bridog]

When it's a sticky 90 degrees out, we've found that a night at the slip with the AC going can be much more relaxing than a humid night on the water. Added benefits are no anchor to worry about, no fuel burn and hardly any of the work associated with bringing the boat home. Also, in the slip everybody can enjoy the wine--no need for a designated driver in case of emergency.

That sums it up for me as well when sleeping is concerned.

 

[Kameroo]

I think my next boat investment will look more like a waterfront house with a dock (sorry, Sea Ray). Added benefit is that it will go up in value instead of down.