The house and property were really quite nice. The listing indicates that a pier with electrical for charging boat batteries is available for use. Perfect.
The issue was this - this body of water experiences fluctuations in water level due to a dam controlled by an energy company. Four feet of fluctuation throughout the year is not uncommon.
I had found out that the water level when we were going to be there was two feet below full pool. When I asked if that would be a problem with the pier I was told that it could be, but that in that event I could beach our boat at the condo association boat launch - an unimproved sand beach - overnight. When I got the info for our stay it included the condo association rules which indicated that beaching one’s boat was no longer allowed, and that if a pier was unusable due to the water level, I’d have to launch and load my boat each time.
Needless to say, I couldn’t even get close to the pier (my boat is 17’-8” long), and it appeared that it’s the only pier in the area that had that issue. The kicker is that you can’t keep your trailer at the house you’re renting (where the electricity for charging the boat batteries is), but it had to be kept at the trailer parking area, which is 400-500 feet from the house. The residents are quite serious about that rule, too, even though my boat and trailer wouldn’t have blocked anyone’s driveway, and would almost not be visible from any of the homes.
I was able to talk to a few of them about my issue (when they confronted me about my offense), and they did allow me to park my boat/trailer on the concrete pad in front of the detached garage of the house (which is in full view of most of the homes).
Each launch included driving back to the house (not far at all), backing the trailer onto the pad, disconnecting the trailer and parking my truck in the driveway. Launching in the morning for a day of fishing was fine. Having to then reverse the process to load the boat back on the trailer, just to then disconnect it again on the pad to have dinner, then repeat the entire thing for fishing after dinner just became too much of a hassle to deal with.
If you enjoy fishing with your own boat at all times of the day and evening, I’d encourage you to make sure the water level is no more than one foot below full pool or you’ll be as frustrated as we were.
