So this post starts with a slight jump back to before we were screaming IRMAGERD! On August 30, I went to Snook Bight’s ship store to request our renewal agreement. I looked it over, as it was a completely new agreement from our last one.
I noticed that our boat was listed as 56 feet, instead of 51 feet, so I went back to correct the error and was told that this is no error… We measured your boat and it is 56 feet.
Hmm… My first thought was, where was the notice for such measurement? When was I going to be told, and why wasn’t I given the opportunity to verify and approve of such measurements? All questions the store clerk can’t answer, so I told her to have the General Manager get in contact with me over this.
It’s The Principal
This extra five feet would bring about an additional $80 per month, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t terrible. In fact, every marina is going to have a rate increase every year, so we were fully prepared to pay an additional $50-75 dollars per month. However, the five extra feet wasn’t the only increase.
The live aboard fee more than doubled, the electricity became a fixed rate, and the price-per-foot rates went up too. In total we’d be paying more than $300 extra each month, or nearly $4k more a year. And who knows what they’ll pull in the months to come.
This much change in one year was ridiculous, seeing as nothing changed in terms of what they have to offer us. So that evening, I called a family meeting to discuss the situation.
The Verdict’s In
The four of us agreed that something needed to change, and we already knew the rates and our paychecks weren’t changing overnight. So, we decided we would rather move than give Snook Bight an extra $4k this year.
The next day, as I’m walking down the dock, I see the general manager conversing with a couple of guys from Suntex, which is the Texas-based corporation that owns the marina. He stopped the conversation and said, “Hey Will, did anyone get with you over the measuring?”
Of course the smart-ass response that comes to me first usually is not the one I go with… So instead, I just said, “No, but no need. We decided we no longer want to keep our boat here. We’ll be moving to Salty Sam’s at the end of September, but thanks anyways.” He stood there stunned as I turned to walk away, leaving him and his bosses asking what on earth just happened?
For The Record
I just want to say that this isn’t a Snook Bight diss blog. We have more than once acknowledged that this is one of the nicest marinas in our area. The amenities, the close proximity to the beach and the Publix grocery store makes it hard to match.
We got along with the staff very well, to include the new General Manager, who actually tries to combat a lot of the changes that he knows won’t work the way corporate intends.
But, I’ve said all that to say this, just because your offerings are hard to match doesn’t mean you don’t have competitors. In fact, Wiffersnapper was not the only boat to leave Snook Bight Marina. At least seven other boat owners have left or plan to not return for the season due to the pricing alone.
We were fine with paying a premium, but the nickel and diming over an extra couple hundred a month just cost them possibly hundreds of thousands annually among the boats who left.
So once we returned back from evacuating, there was so much to do and wrap our heads around, that we couldn’t fathom that we were actually moving.
Lucky for us, that doesn’t involve packing tape and boxes. It simply involves untying docks lines and firing up the engines! One problem though, the starboard engine (aka the little engine that could) didn’t seem to want to fire up.
The Little Engine The Couldn’t
I usually start the engines every week as a part of our weekly maintenance, but I took a week off thanks to Irma, so naturally I am blaming this on her.
But with me not being around as much due to helping with the hurricane relief effort, I called in a mechanic who services a lot of boats for my brokerage. A few days and $1,200 later, Wiffersnapp finally cooperated.
Bayfront Bistro
On the eve of the leave, we decided to actually eat at the marina’s restaurant, Bayfront Bistro. It is regarded as one of the best restaurants on Fort Myers Beach, but we were perfectly content with not trying it out, since there was no real incentive to eat at a place that charges a premium just because there are bayfront views of our boat.
However, we were given a gift card by a fellow live-aboard as “thank you” for letting her family use the jet ski, so Bayfront we ate.
So-Long Snook Bight
When we left the marina, it was her and the general manager sitting at the bar, who waved goodbye to us as we set course to our new home….. 3 miles away.
The ride was short, smooth, and enjoyable, but we pondered if we would miss our view and the seclusion we felt in that spot on the bay. After all, we are going to the waterside party spot of FMB, with tons of boat traffic, and land lubber commotion.
Well there she is, dead ahead, our new hailing port. As we pulled into the marina, we were greeted by some familiar faces awaiting Tiff to toss them a line.
There was Kim & Randy, of the Blue Turtle Trawler who left a couple months back, and George and Debby, of Fortune, who were our neighbors and left Snook Bight earlier that day. Looks like we’re still neighbors!
We arrived just before sunset, so after we tied up, we relaxed, celebrated, and decided that we approve of the new view. In fact, it is so nice, that we laughed at the fact that we were so worried about losing our “grand view” at the old marina.
Hello Salty Sam’s
With Snook Bight evacuees taking over Salty Sam’s dock, it felt like we never left at all… minus the few minor differences. Like, the massive Pirate Ship beside us, and the bigger wind and wakes hitting us now that we’re on the end of the dock.
We adjusted the lines at least four times in the course of the first hour at Salty Sam’s, and thats when it hit us… At the old marina, drifting out into the bay was almost impossible due to our slip location. But here, if the boat came untied somehow, we would certainly end up tangoing with boats in the mooring field behind us.
Que: Tiff waking up in the middle of the night checking to make sure we haven’t drifted into the abyss like she did when we first moved onboard a year ago.
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