Marina renting out slip when gone

[Jerry Woodward]

I have a slip in a SW Florida marina. I have an annual deal which means I pay for the slip even when I'm gone. Currently I'm out cruising for 2 months and I know that the marina is renting my slip to transient boaters in my absence.

It seems to me that it would be fair/proper for the marina to negotiate a deal with the slipholder (me) to compensate me some percentage if they rent out my slip. I would be happy with 50%. So they would simply reduce my slip fee based on the amount of income they receive renting out my slip for a given month.

I would be curious if anyone has such a deal with their marina.

[Bill O]

Not uncommon. If you read your contract, I'm certain they spell it out that they can do it w/o paying you anything.

[sailingunity]

Would be nice, but most marinas are out to make money.

I've contemplated starting a marina that really understands and caters to boaters. It seems like most of them these days don't understand that especially as they get bought up by large corporations.

[rslifkin]

Marinas renting out empty slips to transients without compensating the slipholder is pretty much normal. I don't think I've seen a marina that doesn't do it.

[sailorboy1]

The deal I have with my marina is I pay $100/mo when gone a long time and they can do anything they want with my slip. The $100/mo holds me a slip plus I get to park/store my car in the parking garage.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

The deal I have with my marina is I pay $100/mo when gone a long time and they can do anything they want with my slip. The $100/mo holds me a slip plus I get to park/store my car in the parking garage.

That seems reasonable. Is that a reduced rate from normal?

[CaptTom]

Well, yeah. It's whatever the contract terms state.

It's not uncommon to give the "owner" of a seasonal or docominium-type slip a cut of the transient income, but it's not uncommon not to, either. For those who do, I'd say 50% would be at the high end of the scale.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Bill O

That seems reasonable. Is that a reduced rate from normal?

Yes, it is $385/mo when I am there.

[SV_FlyingTigress]

It is an income stream against costs of doing business for the marina. If they didn't do that your annual slip rental gets more expensive than you are currently paying because they have to pass costs and margins on to customers via price. So... its probably not a problem it is probably a feature...but you can always try to negotiate.

[Shrew]

I was in a marina recently where every time I took off I'd tell them when I was leaving and when I'd be back. Every single time I came back on or after the date I had notified them I'd be back, there was a transient boat in my slip.

I'm no longer at that marina.

[Mike OReilly]

Normal in my limited experience. But the answer will be found in your contract. What does it say?

It's certainly double-dipping on the marina's part, but on the flip side, it provides additional transient dockage that wouldn't exist otherwise. So I say, get over it. It's not like you are losing anything.

But the dock better be empty and available to you when you get back. If not, THEN I think you have a case for a reduced rate, or compensation.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Shrew

I was in a marina recently where every time I took off I'd tell them when I was leaving and when I'd be back. Every single time I came back on or after the date I had notified them I'd be back, there was a transient boat in my slip.

That would be the only thing that I would care about that you could get back into your slip when you came back (especially after giving them a return date).

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Yes, it is $385/mo when I am there.

Wow, that is really a good deal and nice they hold your slip for you. Imagine slips in FL are at a premium these days.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Jerry Woodward

I would be curious if anyone has such a deal with their marina.

At present, no, but it depends on the marina.


The marina I'm at now doesn't accept transients. This is also true of my previous marina, who changed their policy the last year I was there. Prior to that they accepted transients but had separate slips for them.

But many marinas do have a contract provision that allows them to rent out the slip to transients when it isn't in use by the seasonal leaseholder. Most of these require notification when you'll be out of the slip to facilitate this. I would say that the majority of marinas in my area, including all of the largest ones, are like this.

There are pros and cons. I think it's great that marinas support transient boaters -- after all, there have been many times when I've rented a slip as a transient, and many trips that would have been far more difficult to plan and transient slips been unavailable. The ability to rent out unused seasonal slips makes transient business far more profitable for the marina than setting aside slips and foregoing the annual revenue they would otherwise generate.

Of course, it's an inconvenience to the seasonal leaseholder because whatever stuff they leave in the slip -- mooring lines, shore power cords, bumpers -- can be damaged, moved, etc. but that's pretty small beer.

Sadly, the trend is towards marinas getting out of the transient slip business because they see it as a nuisance disproportionate to the profit it produces, particularly in locations where there are waiting lists for seasonal slips. Smaller marinas without a fuel dock that get out of the transient business no longer need to keep regular business hours at all and don't need to have someone to answer the phone or the VHF.

[fstbttms]

You don't own the slip. It's not your property, it's the marina's. Why should you get anything from the marina if someone else is using their property? And it seems very likely that you agreed to this arrangement when you signed your lease (whether you are aware of it or not.) If you don't want them to rent it out while you are away, don't tell them you are going to be away.