Got an email today from Mike Valentine, the manager of our summer marina, The Marina at American Wharf. It seems to reflect the new owner's updated pricing policies.
The "summer savings" deal is that if we pay for our slip in full by December 15, 2012 we get a price of $70.00 a foot. Then there's a sliding scale: Pay by February 15, 2013 to get $72.50 a foot, by April 15, $75.00 a foot and finally, pay April 16 or after and get a price of $77.50 a foot.
That's some savings considering that for summer 2012 we paid $62.70 a foot plus, for the first time, 22 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. (Our electric bill was $142 and that was with Frances living on the boat for most of the summer. No problem with that.)
If we pay in full by December 15, we are paying for a slip that we can't occupy before April. Are we in the business of lending this guy money?
There was little that would justify such a big increase in price. For summer 2012, we got a re-paved parking lot. There was some painting and now the grass is mowed by an outside contractor. Oh yes, the gas dock is back in operation. We probably spent $2,000 there. The men's room area is still flooded most of the time and we've found it best to bring our own toilet paper.
The big tent on the marina property is not something that seasonal boaters like us derive any benefit from. It is rented for weddings and other events and when that happens, we are denied entrance to the marina because there are no parking spaces left.
The one-site restaurant is just passable. It would be nice if they could employ a chef with a little more imagination. There are many out there who could make this a popular spot in Norwich. As it is, the April menu is fine for the entire summer. Sorry, that's not how you manage a truly good restaurant.
We can just bet that our owner, Gary Joval, figures that with all the marina damage from storm Sandy, he can finally have a successful marina at prices he can live with. Sorry, but we don't think that's a way to operate any business..
How about offering some free seasonal slips to those who lost their docks? God knows, you have the capacity and what great publicity. But that probably won't happen.
We'll probably send in our check to get the best price because we have friends on A-dock that we'd like to see again for another summer.
We'll also update our ActiveCaptian link so that others know what they ar facing when they dock here.
If you are on A-dock, sorry for the rant. Someone had to do it.
Bill & Frances
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