The club answered our radio call immediately and showed us our mooring shortly thereafter. The launch driver was cheerful and accommodating. We enjoyed having a quiet evening and look forward to going there again.
When we arrived at Essex Island Marina we were quite upset to find that they had not reserved a slip for us. From experience at Essex Boatworks we knew that EIM does not offer moorings - only slips. We were especially upset because they had sent us an email two days prior to our arrival to welcome us that, in order to avoid confusion, told us about the three different locations that SafeHarbor operates in Essex and the different radio channels they monitor. Since we had requested a slip at Essex Island Marina and had gotten the welcoming email from them, we called several times on the corresponding channel and got... no reply. We circled in the rather strong river current until some dockhands appeared and we told them we were looking for our slip. They had no record of anything. A cellphone call from us finally got through to through to someone in an office who, after several minutes of investigation, advised us that we had a mooring DM 19 waiting for us "in the South Field". Essex Island Marina is at the North end of Essex. They had switched our request to their Dauntless Marina without telling us ,and given us a mooring. We then had to thread our way through the mooring field looking for DM19. No launch appeared to show us where it was among the scores of boats in the harbor that included private and yacht club moorings along with theirs. We finally found it and secured it to our bow cleats almost an hour after we arrived off the EIM docks. This introduction to Safe Harbor Essex was not a fun event. They need to communicate much more clearly to their customers and their crews about what is going on. It would help for them to answer the radio too.
We stayed on a mooring overnight and had a nice visit. The marina answered our radio call immediately. The moorings were clearly marked. The logical layout made ours easy to find. The view of the active harbor was superb. We were disappointed to learn that launch service was not included, but pleased to find out that the launch will take you pretty much wherever you want to go in the harbor, so you don't have to walk a long way to restaurants, chandleries, museums, or other places. The huge hardware/marine hardware store across the street from the marina was also convenient. We look forward to visiting again and staying longer next time.