Harbormaster Notes

Wi-Fi Updates!

It’s my understanding that Beacon Wi-Fi’s service has been spotty, at best, this season. They failed to pay some fees that they owed to keep a T-1 service line to the marina up and running and had their service cut by the supplier.

Marina Manager Dave Suthard has announced that FREE Wi-Fi will be available to marina customers next spring through a different marina-specific Wi-Fi supplier. There will be some infrastructure changes required to install the dock repeaters necessary to maintain signal strength. Connection signal strength is promised to be excellent.

Please continue to check back here for any updates!

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Changes to the Metra Station

A new heated station has been built on the east side of the tracks and is supposed to be designed to look like existing NPM buildings. Parking has also been increased and is double what it used to be. In an agreement with Metra, the Village of Winthrop Harbor will maintain the facility and will charge parking fees to pay for their services.

The fees are as follows:
-$1.50 per day, Monday-Friday (excluding Holidays).
- Weekends and Holidays are free.
- A six month pass is available for $150.00.

The daily fee will be collected using pay-boxes located next to the lot on 7th Street. The parking space numbers correspond with the pay-box numbers, so all you have to do is deposit the $1.50 in the box with the number of your parking space.

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Slip Size

I received a number of complaints this season about boats that are too big for their slips. In most cases, the boater has purchased a larger boat and stuffed it into the slip that held his old, smaller, boat. A bow pulpit or swim platform hanging several feet over the head dock or the end of the finger dock create potential for passing vessel damage at one end and dock pedestrian injury at the other. Our Administrative Rules governing vessel size allows for a (chargeable) 3’ extension past the end of the finger dock and no overhang over the head dock.

For a boater who has made lots of friends on his current dock being told that he’ll now have to move to a different larger dock, this can be a painful and maddening experience both for him and us. Marina time is supposed to be relaxing and fun and not count against your time on Earth! Please consult us if you need us to measure the boat to assure correct slip placement.

At a marina in my past, a new boater came in and signed a 35’ slip contract for a late 1980’s vintage Cruisers 3370 Esprit, was given his keys, a copy of the contract, and welcomed to the marina. The boat was delivered a few days later, put in it’s slip, and the complaint calls started. For those of you who are familiar with this boat, it barely fits in a 45’ slip because of its huuuuuge bowsprit. The boat hung out of its slip by several feet requiring us to move it, over the boater’s strident objections, to the aforementioned 45’ slip. Not a great way to start a great boater/marina relationship!

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BZZ-ZAP!

As most of you know , the docks are held in place by galvanized steel, telescoping, spud piles. Since the docks float and water levels fluctuate, the spud piles are in up and down motion daily. Some spud piles are level with the dock surface and others protrude upward anywhere from a few inches to a couple of feet. There are about 75 spuds per dock and they look like hollow pipes attached to the head dock at various intervals.

Since just about every slip well has one, they sometimes become a "hitching post" for power cords, hoses, cable TV wires, etc. When the docks rise due to lake surge, any power cords wrapped around the spuds can be either damaged or completely severed between the spud sections creating a dangerous rupture in the power cord transferring electricity into the water. In that millisecond that it takes for the pedestal breaker to shut off the power, someone in contact with the water or a pedestrian leaning on the spud might . . . . .

Please don't wrap power cords around the spud piles or allow them to drape into the water. Our maintenance staff has had to remove some damaged power cords with pry bar equipment! We won't even address the cost of replacing power cords and vessel electrical equipment.

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FUEL PRICES

Excessively high fuel prices have encouraged us to do more walking, bicycling, and motor scooter riding. You'll also notice that marina staff frequently use electric vehicles to go about their assignments. All of these small vehicles and pedestrians require extra auto driver vigilance. Let's all look out for one another and take to heart traffic rules and signage.

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MARINA CRITTERS

What may have cinched your decision to become a North Point boater is the fact that we're gracefully laid out on 140 acres of barely molested forest, field and marsh. Our real estate is carefully monitored by the Lake County Forest Preserve (Spring Bluff) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (the marina and grounds). The Marina staff may not plant any plant material without having it approved by various state regulators. The intent, of course, is to preserve the natural flora and fauna. There's no problem regulating the flora, it's the fauna that can cause boater grief.

Discounting fish and not even considering the ubiquitous seagull, we serve as home to deer, muskrat, coyote, fox, mink, and raccoon families as well as countless bug and spider hordes. We also serve as sustenance providers to several of them. It's common to hear from boaters that some of these critters spend more time on the docks than they do! Raccoons have been seen ghosting around the docks at night, occupying vacant boats, and rifling through garbage bags in search of a meal. A boater on "H" dock spotted a coyote sniffing around his boat-mounted BBQ grill. After the larger animals are done scrounging, they are sometimes followed by a cleanup detail of smaller rodents and seagulls. Finally, the lower end of the food chain gets a chance and we find ants and flies on the docks happily occupying a greasy spot on the decking.

The common theme running through this is FOOD. The critters will go where we feed them either intentionally or otherwise. Take my word for it, there are no animals living on the docks when the marina is unoccupied! A semi-reliable food source and a nice dry place to sleep are all they seek. Remove the opportunity-remove the critters!

Please bag your garbage and use the dumpsters located in the turnaround dropoff areas near the heads of the docks. Never leave any garbage, bagged or otherwise, on the docks overnight nor any leftovers lying around when you retire for the evening. When you leave your boat after the weekend, make sure that you empty all waste containers that might contain edibles and dispose of the garbage ashore. We love all our harbor critters, we just don't want to socialize with them!