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019-Marina Hopping

There are a surprising number of people who follow this style of boating.  The people we’ve met who are marina hopping refer to all their favorite locations by the name of the marina and what they did there.  As for us, we prefer anchorages which I like to think of as luxury camping.  Marinas have an a la carte menu for all their many services.  For example, NYC liberty landing charges $5.50/ft/night (and they didn’t give us clean towels or make the bed), diesel at $4.49/gal, laundry at $6/load, electrical hookup for $20/nite, sewage pumpout $5/tank (the only reasonable thing about the place), bottle of beer $8, and dinner at their restaurant ~$75/plate.   Docktales from other boaters are free even if some tales are actually useful.  Of course, this was NYC and there are plenty of places with lower prices, but this is high end sampling we experienced.  The good news is it doesn’t have to be this costly if you don’t marina hop and anchor out cooking on-board.  We prefer the independence, quiet, and beauty of anchoring out and Lucy’s cooking is far preferred to restaurants.  Sadly, the Erie Canal has very few anchorages.  The good news is they make up for it with free walls at almost all the locks on the NYCS.

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