@ Draba: I discovered some of the finer points of multi-colony management you mentioned the hard way, and will probably do much what you say. I probably will get max colony skills in every game because they are so fun. I like having lots of colonies, and I like to have lots of money so I do not need to chase bounties if I do not feel like fighting.
For the moment, I have four colonies, my main 175 hazard water world which is now size 7 and still producing a little over 150k (without free port), a size 3 gas giant colony for volatiles (which I do not want to grow), a size 4 100% hazard terran eccentric much like water world minus the rare ore (wanted to freeze at size 3, but that was impossible), and a new 175% arid world much like first water world (colonized as a waypoint to find new colonies further into the fringe and inch closer to the "Red Planet" at the northeast corner of the sector), but further into the fringe. For fourth colony, I want to freeze growth, and so far, my admins are doing that job.
Another Surveying check: Found a research station in system near my fourth colony. Looted it unskilled and it gave me Tempest blueprint, corrupted nanoforge, and pristine nanoforge - great haul! Reloaded game, took Surveying 3, looted station to find... junk! Yet another Ludd blueprint. Maybe Odyssey blueprint too, except I already got that one earlier. No nanoforges at all! The rare stuff find was worse than unskilled! At this point, I will never touch Surveying, because slightly more (but not necessarily better) loot overall is not worth three skill points! 1 may be convenient for the partial survey ability, but it is better to man up and pay for full survey to save the skill point.
After few in-game months of exploring, my stolen relay is still under League control. (League expedition committing war crime by stealing my relay I built, and I cannot get it back without being insta-hostile to them? Outrageous!) I will probably sign for Hegemony commission just so I can be temporarily hostile to the League and reclaim the relay the League stole in my system, and raid their industry for blueprints while I am at it.