Mission Impossible: getting a mooring on the North Shore

I would like to get a new mooring or better yet slip on the North shore so house my new project boat. Ok, sounds simple enough, the only parameters are it should be within reasonable distance of Swampscott and shouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Ok, so I start calling mooring companies. The first thing is a surpirse. All moorings are actually owned by the local towns who have a wide leeway in setting terms and prices. Actually it is only half true, the ACTUAL mooring, defined as a few thousand pound blob of concrete and attached to it chain, called a pennant is owned by you, the customer. But location on a sea bed on which the said concrete lays is owned by the town. The real valuable thing here is of course the location, I don't care for the concrete in any shape or form. You can't sell the mooring. You can't swap it. If you don't want it you give it back (the location that is, not the concrete). In most of the cases the mooring is actually tied up to the boat, when you sell the boat you are supposed to give it back. The only possible way for you to keep it is to give it to someone in a immediate family, and even then it is a special permit.

The administration of locations is done through something called harbormasters, a loosely organized cooperative on the North Shore.

Now, the findings:

1. Swampscott: The cheapest available moorings on the North Shore. There is a small wait list for the sailboats, may be 6 boats long as of this writing. The harbor is very small unfortunately and not the best protection compared to Salem and Marblehead. Also, the parking situation is very tight.
   
   Harbormaster is Larry Bithell, a quite decent guy. The dock is populated by a bunch of guys who look exactly like him so it is a bit of challenge to identify him from distance. The facilities are open Saturday and Sunday, 10 to noon, phone is useless, it is better to show up and talk to him. The club facilities are disgusting, the operation is run off the "Fish house", which to much of my surprise is a actual fish house. Commercial fisherman store their staff there, and it literally stinks so bad I was surprised people could use the offices or other facilities. I had to evacuate within 15 minutes and I had to wash down my car to get rid of the smell. I seriously considered burning the t-shirt, but it was salvaged by couple of wash cycles with bleach.
   
   
2. Lynn: Hands down the best option for slips. Harbormaster is Jim Perry. The operation is smooth, facilities are in good shape. The wait list status is unknown, they don't keep one. People give up their slips with the last 2 weeks of November so I've been told that is the only realistic time to inquire about a slot.
   
   
3. Marblehead: The most arrogant town in terms of mooring that I know of. First of there is a bunch of yacht clubs that I can't figure out the purpose of. Ok, I get it that they have socials, dinners, some have tennis courts and pools, its a good place to hang out etc. But they don't have their own mooring or parking. That pretty much invalidates the whole purpose of a club for me, it is nice to have a place for transient storage with a hotel and a tennis court but whats the use if you can't park your boat or car ?
   
   Moving to harbor masters. They informed me with a glee that the wait list is 12 to 15 years. Excuse me ? no, you heard it right, 12 to 15, with 15 being most realistic. Because it is so hard to get a mooring people just don't want to give them up, so they get a little dinghy to tie up to a mooring and keep it in the family forever. There is no free market so you can't buy one either. Ouch.
   
   
4. Salem: A bunch of B-rated yacht clubs (again with no mooring of their own) that provide launches in and out of Salem harbor. Some spaces could be available, I haven't figured that out yet. This is their page on the moorings in the harbor, they claim there is availability but I haven't verified that yet.
   
   
5. Beverly: Not very realistic for me, a bit too far, but I did ask. It looks like the waterfront is totally dominated by one large marina called Beverly Port Marina. I haven't really investigated much further other than visiting them couple of times, but from what I understood there is also no mooring available. There are also quite expensive, meaning closer to Ft. Lauderdale/Stuart than North East.
   

Next, mooring companies and fees ...