Mainland boat slip strategy for islanders
 

Does anyone have a cost effective way to maintain mainland access while spending most of your time island bound? I hate the thought of a 2-3K mainland boat slip that hardly ever has my boat in it.

Do any marinas have a pay per use valet service? Or dock space that you can rent by the day?

It all depends on the town you are in. If you are on one of the Gilford islands for instance, and plan on staying at the island for the summer you have access to the Glendale docks for up to 12 hours at a time depending on which dock you park on. You could feasibly never need a rental slip in this case. Some islanders I know valet at Fay's which is cheaper than a seasonal slip. Glendale Marine does it as well.

I cant speak much for the other towns, but think Gilford has the best town dock arragement for islanders. Meredith has a smaller dock setup, and very short docking stay hours (3hrs I think). They do have Cattle Landing as well, but it fills up fast and the parking lot is often overflowing.

Islanders pay enormous taxes to Meredith and receive very little in return. Cattle Landing is a prime example of lack of service. It has the same dock space that it did 20 years ago. Same for Shep Brown's.

Cattle landing is also only 3 hour parking.

Short term lease
 

Many marinas around the lake have empty slips due to the economy and other issues. If you asked, they may rent a slip for a weekend or a week. I know of marinas that will allow you to slip overnight if you had paid to launch your boat.

Glendale marine offers pay per use valet from the menu I see on the services list.

Does anyone on Rattlesnake just pull their boat and leave it in the association parking lot everytime they leave? It seems like this would be viable with a smaller boat. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to haul out my 23' boat for a trip to home depot.

Fay's Boat Yard has Transient Day/Overnight Slips. http://faysboatyard.com/storage.html

For eight hundred dollars I have an old 15' aluminum utility boat in excellent condition with a very nice 25hp Merc 1998 tiller handle that used to be used to go back and forth to Rattlesnake from the parking area. If you have a trailer, you could trailer it back to where you live every week and use this new old 1972 Starcraft two pedestal seater, wide-open vee hull utility w/ high sides to haul stuff like lumber, bags concrete, island debris and a refrigerator from your island!!!

Without the 25hp motor, the boat is for sale alone for $850! Boat & 25hp together goes for just $800!

The boat is embankment stored about six inches from the water at Buoy 3 in Meredith. Motor stored inside.

For just 800 buckaronies, you get yourself a real good Rattlesnake Approved utility......what-a-deal!

Yea, that was my thought... Get a 16-18 foot boston whaler or similar for a work boat and haul it and leave it in the Rattlesnake parking lot when I needed to go places. Only problem is our favorite place we've found during our property search is on Sleeper...

Not to sound overly critical, but if you can afford to buy a house on Sleeper's, is $2k a year for a slip for a smaller boat or less for a seasonal valet really that bad of an expense?

Parker always has slips available, and they are very cheap. It is further than West Alton or Minge Cove but by far the cheapest on the lake if price is a concern. You can probably get a slip for an 18' boat in the $1500 range.

Arrgh, more liberal economic theory application. :rolleye2::laugh:

We tried the launch every time from the Rattlesnake lot, if you do it enough and take the family, the $3k a year is well worth it. The lot is abused and there are non Rattlesnake people in it so it fills fast and backing down a filled lot is not a fun time after you drive to the lake to relax.

The other dock challenge is when you are at the island and need to go somewhere as a day trip (water parks, outlet shopping, etc and I know, why would you leave the lake for that, IDK but I go along :D). You need to go to the launch, get the truck and trailer, load and re park, then do it all over when you return.

Marinas come at a cost and are not without issue, but for us, having it ready when we were was worth the expense. It's just one of the island life adventures.

How can there be non Rattlesnake people in the Rattlesnake lot? I thought it was locked and I thought I heard there was always plenty of parking. I'm kind of a hermit type, so I don't think I'd leave all that often.

I see island property as an inexpensive way to enjoy the lake without all the noise and crowds. 2-3K for a slip is not an insignificant expense. Some of the condo boatslips cost 1/3 of what an decent island house can cost.

Boat Slips
 

Too bad Meredith Marina is so far from Bear Island. Imho, they have reasonable prices for slip and storage, even including clubhouse and parking space that is patrolled. And they don't act like they're doing folks a favor for service either! Some marina owners give the impression that you are in their back yard and that you had better keep quiet about others using your slip and parking space. Maybe the ongoing recession will help change their attitude.

It is locked and we all have parking passes on the dash. Our guest have to have a pass on the dash as well. We know neighbors who pull the boat in and out each weekend. They have a lot more ambition than we do.