I bet I get flamed for this. We all know the situation - the local policymakers are POed that cruisers are glomming free services and not paying for anything. In their mind, a source of taxation/revenue that is not being tapped is a travesty. And regardless of what socioeconomic class you think you belong (or at least used to), a cruiser looking for 'free' is not as desirable as a high roller in a 60' Express/Convertible/Sport Fisherman lighting cigars with $100 bills that doesn't blink an eye at a $100 dock fee. Retired trawler/cruisers on a budget are not usually the target demographic (except at Elizabeth City, NC - great place). The flip side is that it sometimes doesn't take too much of an incentive to patronize an entity, such as the $4 off bar burger special 8 of us did the other night at the Hilton (it resulted in a $200 table for them - smart deal on their part). Hard to quantify for the 'profit and loss' guys, but if given time they will get it. So - this group (and Claiborne's cruiser site) will 'help' the mayor think this through a little better. I can tell you that the cruiser community CAN have an impact - the aforementioned Hilton (formerly a Sheraton franchise - but still the same owners) - got the message and is having to lower dock rates to lure boats back to a half empty marina. But the occupancy in New Bern's 4 marinas is way under 50% - so market pressure is even worse now. It will play out. Would be great if another location threw in with free dockage and sucked all the cruising energy away from Venice. Jim In a message dated 2/28/2010 12:00:30 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, trawlers-and-trawlering-request@lists.samurai.com writes: What makes these bureaucrats think several dollars for docking will not be a deterrent.