Plastic-wrapped boat getting panned by viewers

Port Washington Mayor Marty Becker said Wednesday he has received a number of complaints about a boat wrapped in shrink wrap that is being stored in the north slip marina this winter.

Becker said he’s heard from at least three people complaining about the way the boat looks in the city’s harbor.

“I don’t think it looks good to have it wrapped the way it’s wrapped,” he said. “It looks kind of tacky.”

The Harbor Commission agreed last month to allow tenant Tim Motel to keep his 38-foot power boat in the marina over winter, although some officials cautioned that the fact the vessel would be wrapped may be less than appealing.

“I’m not sure the city’s ready for something like that,” Harbormaster Dennis Cherny said.

“This is not the best look,” commission Chairman Gerry Gruen Jr. said. “We may get some calls about its appearance.”

But commission member Bill Driscoll said it shouldn’t be a problem.

“This is a boat. This is a marina. When you go to a marina, you expect to see boats,” he said. “Boats in a harbor look cool. That’s what a harbor is for.”

Motel, who has lived aboard his boat in Milwaukee for the past six years before moving to the Port marina this summer, wants to stay here due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cherny told the commission.

To keep his boat in the marina over winter, Motel will be charged $3,500 in rental fees for the season and have to cover the cost of electricity, including the cost to run the ice eaters, Cherny said.

“He has a generator in case of a power outage,” he added.

This isn’t the first time the city has allowed a boat to remain in the north slip marina over the winter, Cherny said, noting another boat overwintered in the marina about two years ago. 

A second marina tenant wanted to stay in the marina over winter as well, but it didn’t work out logistically, he said.

“This could open the door for more (boat storage), but how much do you want?” Cherny asked the commission, noting the city hasn’t been receptive to the idea of storing boats at the marina in the winter.