subject: Finding The Right Florida Marina [print this page] There is nothing like being out on a lake or the ocean on a good sunny, calm day. It is particularly nice when you have your own boat and you are not really constrained by time. The idea of owning a larger boat that needs to be housed in a marina is nice, but actually finding a good Florida marina to house the boat is sometimes an after thought. Below you'll find a few things that you should probably think about when choosing a marina.
Location
Unfortunately for a lot of people, they live five miles from the coast but a really nice marina that you like is about a hundred miles away. While having your boat in your preferred marina is nice, if it is more than about thirty miles away statistics show that you are less likely to take the boat onto the water as often as you would if it was close by. Therefore, keep this in mind when looking for a marina. How easy is it to get there? How frequently would you realistically be able to get down there to take the boat out? Is it close enough where on an odd weekend when you have nothing else to do you might get the boat onto the water? These are all things that deal with the location of the marina and it shows the importance of choosing a marina nearby to you in Florida.
Good Maintenance
With your boat going to be spending the vast majority of its time in water, it is important to make sure that there is a regular maintenance crew nearby at all times. If the water is simply sitting there at the dock and no one is taking the time to keep it clean or ensuring that the boat stays safe, then you are much more likely to come across problems. Simply doing regular routine maintenance, which is sometimes figured into your bill for housing the boat, will be a huge value to you. Also, if you do happen to run into any problems, the maintenance crew will be available to assist you so you do not have a weekend wasted. A lot of times it can be very expensive and even a huge hassle to get someone out to a Florida marina that doesn't have someone available there consistently.
Fueling Station
Lastly, look for a good fueling station. There are some marinas that do not have good fueling stations available. The problem you will run into is that it puts the whole marina at a bigger risk of fires, because in return they have to bring out portable vessels to refill the boats. The easiest way is to find a good Florida marina that will have stationary refueling stations where you can fill up your boat. This also saves time and sometimes even money when refueling.
