MTOA

Before leaving home, we joined MTOA(Marine Trawler Owners Association). As a member, you can chat with other trawler owners online, to exchange info. on traveling as well as any boat repair problem you have. There are also "Port Captains" in most towns and cities. Members can call them for info. on local waters, where grocery stores, etc. are, or for recommendations on restaurants and marinas. Many times, the port captains will offer rides, dinner at their house, offer to collect mail, etc.

When we got close to the Savannah area, we called on Jim and Peggy Bullock, for help in choosing a marina. The ones in town are crazy expensive, so we needed help finding out how to get to town from the ones father out. Jim recommended one near him, and said he'd get us in, even though they were pretty full up. Upon further inspection on the charts, I realized that this marina is right down the street from Paula Dean's house! That sold me.

It's always a show when we dock the boat. With our boat being older, it doesn't turn left(for reasons I cannot informatively explain). People often get nervous when we come in, because of our crazy turning and the motor revving. It's usually the equivalent of doing 3 point turn and then parallel parking. Docking at our slip in Sail Harbor Marina went flawlessly, even though we had to back down the marina fairway to get to our spot. We later heard that everyone watching in the marina was very impressed. The marina owner was headed down to help us, saw that Scott was fine, and turned around to head back to his office.

Once we were tied up in our slip(in view of Paula's house), Jim showed up to say hello and offer us a ride downtown. He also told us that we were invited to go with him and Peggy to ride on a friend's boat for the local lighted holiday boat parade. We quickly said yes to the invitation! Jim then showed us around the marina, introduced us to people we needed to know there, and told us where to get supplies. Well worth the call to our Savannah port captain!