The Cowesett yard has 240 slips and 14 moorings. Black says there are about 60 boat owners on a waiting list, and about 10 more call each day seeking space. She has stopped taking names for the waiting list. Harbor masters throughout the state also have lists of boat owners waiting for moorings. The demand for dock berths is equally high south of Rhode Island.
Brewer runs marinas throughout New England.
Michael Keyworth, manager of Brewer Cove Haven Marina in Barrington, says he has received calls from Brewer managers as far away as Stamford, Conn. seeking space here. Dockage is especially scarce in Rhode Island because the state is a sales-tax haven for boat buyers, many of them from Connecticut and New York, Keyworth says. Rhode Island eliminated its sales tax on used or new boats in 1993, joining only a few other states such as New Hampshire and Delaware. Massachusetts and Connecticut both still have taxes on boat sales. But to avoid paying sales tax on a boat in the state, a buyer must purchase, register, and keep the vessel here.