Last season and part of the prior season after I purchased my Carver I was berthed at Trouts Yacht Basin in Bolles Harbor (Monroe MI.) Trouts is a first class family run marina and I totally enjoyed my time there. I summer docked there last year without any problems. Last year I winter stored at another marina because I had rack stored my previous boats there from 1996 through 2011. They were also a bit less expensive on their storage and winterization expenses. Like many people I like to save a dollar whenever I can.

Last January 2016 I received an invoice from Trouts. I immediately sent in my check paying for my 2016 season dockage. Nothing was said and I figured that the same process would work for this coming season. Last season my port side transmission broke down. I asked Trouts if they could work on it. They did not seem like they were interested in the repair. That meant that I would have to find a transmission repair guy and winter store at another facility.

Fast forward to this year. January comes and goes and I did not receive an invoice for my 2017 seasonal dockage. By mid February I was beginning to get concerned so I called them. I got their voice mail or answering machine. I left a message inquiring about my missing invoice.

Fast forward to yesterday. I decided, since they had not gotten back to me to drive there and inquire about my invoice and summer dockage. I get there and I look up the owner and make my inquiry. He told me that he thought that I was not interested in returning. I am not sure where he came to that conclusion. He did imply that my not winter storing there was part of the reason he did not send out an invoice. He then said that he has already rented out the slip I was in for the season and that the new customer was going to winter there, at least that is what he implied.

Now, I know for a fact that I am not the only customer there who winter stores at other marinas. I wonder if any of them got the boot too. I have one good friend who summers there and he stores every winter elsewhere and he was invoiced and will be there again this season. I kind of wonder why I got the boot. I caused no problems and enjoyed my time there.

If they did not want me back I would have appreciated either a letter or phone call stating that they were going to rent my slip out to another customer. Oh well.

Once I was told I was not returning I went to my dock and removed all my pre-fixed dock lines. I was not going to leave them for the new customer. I will also be renting a truck so I can move my dockbox to my new marina. I'm not leaving that there either.

On my drive home I decided to stop at some marinas to check out dock availability. I stopped at Lakepoint Marina on the Huron River in South Rockwood MI. They have an OK marina and really low rates. The problem there is it's a slow winding channel out to Lake Erie and I decided not to try there.

Next I stopped at Humbug Marina where I am currently stored and they fixed my transmission. They were double Lakepoints rates but are a nice marina. They have docks on the Detroit River and the canal coming off the river. The inside docks were really pricey for me. The docks out on the Detroit River are OK but when winds are out of the right direction it can get pretty rough in those docks. Part of the problem is that the seawall is missing in many areas there. I decided to pass there too.

I left Humbug and driving by Gibraltar Boat Yard I thought that I would stop. They generally are full and sometimes have a waiting list to get in. I spoke with the marina manager and he said he has two slips open. He showed me on the marina map where they were. I walked over to check them out. One of the slips was out at the end of one of the finger docks. There is wide and easy ingress and egress to this slip. I decided I would take it. I walked back to the office and told the manager I wanted that slip and I would be back either today or Saturday to pay for it. I plan to drop off a check later today and pay for the slip. This is a very nice marina too and the nice thing is it is a protected harbor. No matter how rough and windy it is out on the lake and river it will be nice and calm there.

Bolles Harbor is a protected harbor too and I wanted to find another protected marina for my boat. The price for my summer dockage is $1675, that's a bit more than the $1200 I paid last season at Trouts. Also, I will be a lot closer to my boat. Trouts was a 25 mile drive from home. I will find out later today the driving distance to GBY. It will be a lot closer and that's not a bad thing.

Here is a link to Gibraltar Boat Yard: http://gbymi.com/

It is a full service facility and I think I am going to be happy there.