[jeffk]

I would note that NOT ALL ROCKS ARE MARKED by navigational buoys. Bizer makes a big effort to mark all dangerous rocks on their charts. If you are in a "shoal" (shallow) area, there may be unmarked rocks. Melvin Village, for example, has large rocks along the shore. Assume shoals are NOT safe unless you KNOW otherwise.

Further, while some areas are properly marked, the navigation space (between islands close together) may be tight and it can be confusing as to exactly where you should be. The Witches and Graveyard are easy to navigate. You can also go between Melvin and Chases islands to totally avoid the Graveyard. Further, the Graveyard channel is narrow. If there is a boat coming from each direction, I don't think that you can legally be going faster than 6 mph when you pass each other. That is not a problem when you go around Melvin Island.

The biggest challenge in dealing with dangerous places is to KEEP YOUR FOCUS. It is easy, while happily cruising and talking and watching your kids, to lose your attention on navigation and you find yourself coming in on a bad approach. I have done that a couple times with the Witches. This is especially true if you go out at night, even with GPS.

As to getting dock space, plan to arrive a couple hours before the meal time (10:30 for lunch, 3:30 for dinner) and before everyone else is getting there. If the docks are full, you have time to wait for an opening. If you want, you can sneak to the end of the dock and drop off passengers and wait in the boat by yourself for a spot. Then you can wander around the town, browse the shops, or just hang out. Hitting the restaurants at the very beginning of their service time for the meal is usually better for getting a table. These strategies almost always work on weekdays, even in the summer. Weekends for breakfast as well. Weekend lunches or dinner success is so so.