Anchoring Out vs Marina Life

We are in Gulfport, FL, very close to St. Petersburg.  We arrived around lunch and got into our slip all by ourselves.  This is a municipal marina with good services.  I am happy to meet Tony, the dock master, to whom I have spoken several times.  We are paying for a month here because it's cheaper than the two weeks we need.  We can leave the boat here while we go off for Thanksgiving visits, but we can only live on the boat for two weeks.  There are rules to keep people from moving into the municipal marinas full time.  We haven't explored the town yet.  Just had lunch and nap.  Guess who is still napping?

As we started our trip today, just 30 miles or 4 hours of boating, I felt anxious.  Why?  Because we stayed in a marina for three days.  (A body at rest tends to stay at rest.)  It's easier for me to keep moving than to relax on land and then get going again.  So I was thinking about the advantages of anchoring vs. marina life.

Anchoring -
1.  When we drop an anchor, we can do it by ourselves. We don't need help from others.  We just pull slowly into the anchorage, find a spot that's less than 10 feet deep if possible, and drop the anchor.  
1.5  When George turns off the motor, the quiet is a gift.
2.  In the morning we just pull it up and move back out onto the ICW.
3.  Anchorages are remote and beautiful.  Sometimes we see/hear fishermen, but they don't bother us.
4.  Often we see dolphins and birds.
5.  George fishes.
6.  We have sunsets and sunrises and starry skies that make us feel rich.
7.  It is easy to move the next day because staying in the anchorage is not an option.
8.  Anchoring is free.

One big drawback with anchoring is the weather.  The weather must be good, which means winds under 10 mph, and no storms predicted.

Marina Life - 
1.  It feels good to pull into a marina and have helpful dock hands take our lines.
2.  They often hook up the electricity too.  
3.  From the marina we can often walk into town, which is entertaining.
4.  We get more exercise when we are in a marina since we take walks.
5.   Sometimes we need a marina for a pump-out, laundry, water, or groceries.
6.  It's fun to walk around the marina and find loopers.
7.  We can have happy hour or dinner with other boaters.
8.  Marinas are important when a storm is coming.  
9.  We almost always can find a spot in the marina we want.  Marina managers are helpful and flexible about how many days we are staying.  We can add days or leave after one.

The big drawback for marinas is the cost.  They are $1 - $2 per foot, so for Aunt Aggie that is $35 - $70/ night.  

Now I just surprised myself with those lists.  I thought anchoring was preferable, but both choices have lots of positives.  

News Flash - We saw our first manatees today.  Couldn't grab the camera fast enough to get a picture.
Time to wake up George and explore Gulfport.