It used to be that just about every marina would have a courtesy car; heck, I know of a whole town that used to keep a car free to use for boats visiting at anchor. These days, though, having a courtesy car available is a rarity. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first, what is a courtesy car? Simply put, it’s just a free-to-use car for guests at the marina, or in the case of that one town in North Carolina, in days past, just random visitors to the town.

I’m not sure where they went, was it when Oasis started buying up marinas? Was it because the insurance companies started saying no? Or was it the rise of Uber? Grocery delivery?

It used to be that you could take for granted that a car would be available; these days, I can think of just a handful of marinas that still offer a car.

In Casco Bay Maine there is Spring Point Marina. If you’re staying there you can walk into the dockmaster’s office and ask to use the car. Trips to pick up supplies, propane, groceries, whatever you need. And if the car is being used by someone else or if you are going for something large you just might be given one of the service pickup trucks.

In Charleston, SC, at the Safe Harbor Charleston City Marina, instead of a car, you can take a shuttle that will take you to where you need to go. They also organized weekly runs to the grocery store & West Marine, which can be a great way to meet other cruisers.

We spent some time in Cape Charles, VA, where there was both a van you could just take at any time, day or night, as well as a golf cart for closer to the boatyard runs.

In Belhaven NC both TJ’s Boat Yard and Belhaven Marina have golf carts that you can use to get around.

And in Oriental NC the local grocery store will come pick you up at any dock, let you provision, then drive you back. And we’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover Whittaker Point Marina still offers a courtesy car that can be signed out at the marina’s clubhouse.

In our time in Oriental, we’ve spent a whole lot of time in the car. The school where Liam took his captain’s license course was only 3 miles away, but it would have been a dark bike ride on less than bike-friendly roads. And of course, with access to a car, you can take a ride outside of Oriental to the larger grocery store, Walmart, hardware stores, etc.

While I’m quite sure courtesy cars are fading. It’s something I always check for, and it usually is the deciding factor when choosing between marinas.