I know his topic should be under my FISHING category, but I thought it would be better as a feature for this reason. Most people living and/or vacationing in the Northwoods have some type of boat and at some point, will spend time on the water even if they don’t fish. Hopefully this will never happen to you, but a few weeks ago I was talking to a person at a boat ramp that was vacationing in the Northwoods for the first time as he was pulling his fishing boat out of the water. He told me there was something wrong with his motor and was taking it to a certain marina. I normally wouldn’t intervene in a situation like this but because of the experience I had with that marina in the past I thought my advice could save him some money. I was thinking about this again yesterday and I wanted to share with my subscribers or just people visiting this site of my experience with this marina.

About eight years ago, Monica and I were ready for a week of fishing with good friends on the Cisco Chain. However, our first morning at full throttle our pontoon boat started bogging down. I changed the fuel line, (IF YOU HAVE PORABLE TANKS, ALWAYS CARRY A SPARE) but that didn’t fix the problem. At this point I changed gas tanks thinking this could be a vent problem on the one tank but had the same results. That morning, we fished closer to the cabin we were staying at and later that day, I was going to take our boat to  marina I have done business with before but a person (THAT I KNOW WELL) heard I was having trouble and called the owner of another marina, and they suggested I bring my gas tanks/fuel line over to their marina and they would test them. Being closer to our location, I did as they suggested and after checking the fuel lines and both tanks for pressure, I was told it could be the carburetor and to bring the boat to the marina. So, Dave and I loaded my pontoon onto my trailer and brought it to this marina that I had never dealt with before.

I got a call about two hours later, saying it was fixed and I could come pick up my pontoon. When I arrived, I was told the fuel filter was bad and my bill was $265. I replied, $265 for changing a fuel filter. I was then informed the amount included the fuel filter and labor, but, then I was shown a small jar containing a milk-colored liquid and they said there was water in the gas and had to drain and clean both gas tanks and flush the fuel line on the motor. So, I paid (they only except cash or check) and told them, I would NEVER be back, NEVER promote their business, and in so many words, that they were not being truthful then walked out.

Was my gas contaminated with water? NO, and here is why I know this for a fact. At the end of every season, a great friend would store and winterize my boat and the last part of the winterizing consisted of running the motor out of gas and then he would empty both tanks and use the remaining fuel for whatever reason. Come spring, the day before we would arrive, he would fill both gas tanks with PREMIUM gas, put the boat in the water and made sure the boat was running well. This is why I knew the fuel was only in the tanks for one day and DID NOT have water in the gas.

Did this marina take advantage of the situation because they didn’t know me? YOU BET THEY DID. For my pontoon a fuel filter is $10, a fuel pump is $150, and a carburetor is $184. So, charging $265 and telling me, I had the water in the gas was total bullshit. When I told the friend that takes care of my boat what had happened, he said, over the years, he has heard others complain about this marina and has NEVER recommended them to anyone for that reason.

Back to the person that was on vacation and had trouble with his fishing boat. His boat motor wouldn’t idle properly and even though I told him about that marina, he took it there because, like me, this marina was closer. He was told they could look at it the next day, but sounded like THERE WAS WATER IN THE FUEL. This is when he decided to take his boat to the different marina that I had suggested. His boat had a bad spark plug.

Unfortunately, there are a few marinas in the Northwoods that can and will take advantage of vacationers, but I want to emphasize, NOT ALL marinas are like this. If you have trouble with your boat, ask TWO or THREE local people where a GOOD marina is, before experiencing what we did.