It's just disgusting...

[rwidman]

I have seen marinas that won't accept boats over a certain age except as transients. Over X years old and you're out of there.

Raising the rates is a business decision. There's nothing wrong with a business owner charging as much as he/she can for products or services. It's the American way.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

So if you don't want to pay increased marina fees, you're riff-raff or a loser?

It's the internet, so... you know, taking someone's posting and grossly misrepresenting what they said is just normal operating procedure. Still, I think you may have actually won the prize with this one.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by rwidman

I have seen marinas that won't accept boats over a certain age except as transients. Over X years old and you're out of there.

Raising the rates is a business decision. There's nothing wrong with a business owner charging as much as he/she can for products or services. It's the American way.

That is exactly how its done in the RV world too, I suppose I should just lie then, cause my ole boat cleans up well?

[Teknishn]

I hear what the OP is saying about derelict boats, boats not being used, lack of maintenance and all of the justifications posted so far (except for the bickering that has started here...senseless, that).

Anyway, bought my first boat, a 24-foot 1964 N.J. Eastern Sea Skiff (clinker built) as a project boat way back then when I was a poor broke 26-year old sailor in the USN. "Kinda knew" what I was getting into (At least I thought I did....what a wake up call THAT was!). The boat was at a private dock and was pumping out every 3 minutes or so. Sitting at the same two docks on this property were 5 other boats, 3 of which were derelict. The 2 that were well maintained were used regularly (a 21-foot fiberglass sea skiff and a 1965 35-foot Chris Craft in beautiful condition).

Well, the owner of the boat that I was about purchase came down to the dock (I had not met or spoken with him before then as a friend of mine contacted him), and this elderly gentleman worked his was down the dock using a walker. Pulled out a chair for him to sit on the dock and we sat there and had a couple of beers and he told me that he was the original owner of the boat, told me some history and sea stories with the boat and handed me an envelope with all of the builder's drawings, adverts, logs, and quite a few photos. Both he and his wife cried as I handed over the $2K in cash and he signed the title to the boat over to me.

Owner of the dock was trying to get rid of derelict boats and told me that I had 30 days to move the boat. We worked out a deal that if he didn't see me improving the boat on a daily basis then I would leave. So he gave me 60 days to take into account my time underway with the Navy.

I spent two years rebuilding/restoring that boat at that same dock, learning valuable lessons about wooden boat repair and maintenance. When she was as finished as I could afford on USN salary, I called the PO up....his wife answered and I invited them for an evening cruise along the waterfront in Norfolk, Va. Informed that the PO had passed a few months previouslsy and she was not interested in a cruise and she had always hated competing with the boat and fishing.

The other derelict boats were eventually towed across the little inlet where we were at and put on the cheapest moorings available (engine blocks) and left to rot. The sunken remains of one of them can still be seen on Google Earth.

But back to my little "derelict boat". It had become derelict due to the PO's age and declining health and I was able to save it and sold it on a couple of years later, at a loss of course (but that's not the point), not all boats that become derelict is due to intentional neglect or lack of caring. Mine is just one boat's story...every boat out there has a story, a history. And yes, I'm a romantic that way.....

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by rwidman

I have seen marinas that won't accept boats over a certain age except as transients. Over X years old and you're out of there.

Raising the rates is a business decision. There's nothing wrong with a business owner charging as much as he/she can for products or services. It's the American way.

I agree. It's supply and demand. Especially since not too many areas are building new marinas. It's totally the prerogative of the marina owner to raise the price as he feels fit as it is for the slip renters to leave if they feel the prices are out of their range.

Originally Posted by denverd0n

It's the internet, so... you know, taking someone's posting and grossly misrepresenting what they said is just normal operating procedure. Still, I think you may have actually won the prize with this one.

It's not the first or last time sadly.

[accomplice]

If marinas are private businesses, they should be run to optimize the owner profit/lifestyle/etc. If they are municipally run, they may need to serve other masters, such as attracting transient boaters to the local shops, restaurants, etc. I don't fault any marina for charging as much as the market will bear.

Marina fees are often negotiable. I have negotiated a discount to my summer mooring for the last three years. If you cannot or do not wish to pay the fee requested, you always have the option of negotiating, or moving. Loyalty works in both directions, though. I try to throw some occasional boatyard work to the marina to compensate for the lower mooring fees I pay. I know the owner appreciates this. If the relationship were all one way (one of us taking advantage of the other), it probably wouldn't last.

All boats require maintenance, and unless you're made of money, have all thumbs, or no thumbs, there's a minimum amount of time required to keep a boat seaworthy. If it takes, say, 100hours a year to maintain a boat, then if you have 1000 hours a year on the boat that can work well. When you only have 120 hours a year, the ratio of use to maintenance time doesn't look so good. And when you have only 80 hours, the boat sits unused and deteriorates. Hopefully, both for boat and for owner, that situation doesn't last long. Rather than be angry or bitter or disgusted about neglected boats, I simply feel badly for the owners. I'm sure that wasn't what they imagined and hoped for when they bought their boat.

[Hamish_ct]

With all these derelict boats at marinas would it be possible to call the harbor master on a boat you liked, contact the owner and make a low offer for a great boat.


Sounds like an opportunity to me

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Hamish_ct

With all these derelict boats at marinas would it be possible to call the harbor master on a boat you liked, contact the owner and make a low offer for a great boat.


Sounds like an opportunity to me

Sure, it is possible to buy a boat that way, but the chances of it being "a great boat" are pretty slim. Derelict vessels are usually pretty well used up, even before the neglect starts kicking in, and the results ain't often pretty.

Jim

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Hamish_ct

With all these derelict boats at marinas would it be possible to call the harbor master on a boat you liked, contact the owner and make a low offer for a great boat.


Sounds like an opportunity to me

In my fantasy life I am a millionaire who has a huge boatyard, with a huge state of the art shop, lots of skilled craftsmen, and I rescue abandoned classics and make them bristol again...
oops, better make that billionaire.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Sure, it is possible to buy a boat that way, but the chances of it being "a great boat" are pretty slim. Derelict vessels are usually pretty well used up, even before the neglect starts kicking in, and the results ain't often pretty.

Jim

Derelict boats are not like cars. There is scrap value in a car, but rarely in a boat. In most cases, you will have to pay to have a derelict boat cut up and disposed of. This is why some folks grind off the numbers and set them adrift. We have one at the public landing next to my marina and a couple more in the marsh downstream.

It would be pretty rare to find an old boat that doesn't cost more to fix up than it is worth fixed up.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Don C L

In my fantasy life I am a millionaire who has a huge boatyard, with a huge state of the art shop, lots of skilled craftsmen, and I rescue abandoned classics and make them bristol again...
oops, better make that billionaire.

I like your fantasy. :^). I think I might borrow it.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[NZGrant]

In our mooring field they won't tell you who owns anything, I tried in order to offer to purchase. Apparently our privacy laws don't allow for this information to be shared.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[GILow]

Originally Posted by NZGrant

In our mooring field they won't tell you who owns anything, I tried in order to offer to purchase. Apparently our privacy laws don't allow for this information to be shared.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Yeah, I've had the same sort of response from time to time over here in Oz. But from my reading of the privacy legislation they are either wrong, or more likely, can't be bothered.

Now, if you offered them a brokerage fee, I bet the buggers would find a way to relay your information.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Don C L

In my fantasy life I am a millionaire who has a huge boatyard, with a huge state of the art shop, lots of skilled craftsmen, and I rescue abandoned classics and make them bristol again...
oops, better make that billionaire.

If you can start that way as a billionaire, you will eventually achieve your dream of being a millionaire.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by StuM

If you can start that way as a billionaire, you will eventually achieve your dream of being a millionaire.

Hmmm, you may have a point there......