Just the other day a former CruiseMasters client asked me about a certain marina "up North". Was it easy to get into, does it have ice (let alone fuel?), how far is it from town, and how do I contact the harbor master?
Well, we've all been there; Wondering, with just a bit of anxiety, as we get close to our overnight moorage. The last thing one wants after a great, but long day of cruising is the added concern of finding the assigned slip in which to hunker.
Ta da! Enter the "Burgee", a 350-or-so-page book that is devoted to nothing else but providing you with everything you ever wanted to know about guest moorage. It covers marinas from Olympia, Washington (as far South as you can get on inland waters and which can handle 165 boats in four marinas) to way up North to Port Hardy, British Columbia (which can handle 15+ boats in two marinas ), plus state and provincial marine parks between. Lots of other cruising books have marina information, but none to the extent, or as easy to find, as the "Burgee."
The marina schematic which actually lays out the marina, complete with dock and slip initials and numbers are my biggest help. No more "Well, skipper, as you come in take a right and putter down a couple of docks and you'll see an old tug with a faded nameboard 'Susie Q', then hang a right. I think the odd numbers are on the right, yeah, on the right, I'm pretty sure."
Styled the "Premier Marina Guidebook" (and it is!) the author and mover behind the book is David Kutz, former president of the Recreational Boaters Association of Washington and now the RBAW's governmental affairs director, and Im delighted to say, fellow Kingston-ite. David first published "The Burgee" in 1994; it's now in its fifth edition, at least that's the last one I have.
The book also lists yacht club reciprocal moorage. Quite frankly, at one time I joined, the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club in Ballard, a delightful counter-culture (then) club, and later the Hidden Harbor Yacht Club, hoping to cash in on some reciprocal moorages. Pickings are slim, when you figure that the hundreds of members of the prestigious Seattle Yacht Club only have access to two slips at the Cap Sante Boat Haven, Anacortes. Forget it.
Pets? internet? repairs,? showers? amperage? pump out? laundry? even bar and pool? It's all listed there with every marina.
Perhaps my biggest rave (besides the marina schematic) is listing the marina's VHF channel and the manager's telephone number. Canadian marinas do monitor the VHF; US marinas are absolutely sloppy monitoring - - have your cell phone handy!
You can find the "Burgee" at most any boating store. Amazon has the book, but evidently only up to the fourth edition (for shame, Jeff Bezos).
And when in your slip, comfortably relaxing, you can also check out the Burgees of the Northwest (inside front and back covers) to see from whence your neighbor hails.
Before your next cruise do pick up a copy. One of the best cruising resources you'll ever own!
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