Yacht Club Rant

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by sabray

For 1700 you can join my club. You can use all nearby facilities. There is a pool just up the road and no one complains when we swim there late at night. You must be very quite. I will give you a key. No idea what it opens. You can vote anytime or just express an opinion. We can provide you a picture of your boat or any boat including a nice frame with the the yacht club insignia. We can also provide fake gps google routes with panoramic photo shopped pictures of you braving the seas or just kicking back. Sort of like owning a boat except you don't have all the headaches and aggravation.any particular boat you would like to not own can be yours sort of.

Just right us at virtual boatowner/ yachtclub. Com . Costs may be higher depending on the style and outfitting of your virtual yacht.

+1
LOL

[nhschneider]

The yacht club to which I belong does it somewhat differently. Primarily, there is only one type of membership and that's referred to as a Flag member (there are Junior Members but they can't be over 30 - there are also some esoteric membership types but they aren't relevant to this discussion). All Flag members have full rights - voting, joining the Board of Directors, use of facilities, etc.

As far as partnerships are concerned, my club is very specific: A partnership agreement between all partners - which proves financial commitment - must be on file with the Club. Also, one partner must be identified as the Registered User and it is that person who is ultimately responsible for paying slip rental, etc. if that person fails to meet their obligations, then sanctions are carried out against that person - not the other partners.

Yes, the initiation fees and monthly dues are relatively high at my Club, however, my family and I have found it to be an excellent value as we have found it to be a very rewarding membership and a key aspect of our social life. Even though we're cruising now, we're maintain our membership and fly our Club's burgee proudly.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[sabray]

In my club everyone gets a flag .Therefore all members are full flagged marks uhhhh or bobs or women's names I just added that to the rules.you get a flag, a picture, with the club insignia, 1 virtual boat, access to nearby facilities, you can vote or have an opinion. Also just added you are not allowed to poor chicken soup into your brandy ever.

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by sabray

In my club everyone gets a flag .Therefore all members are full flagged marks uhhhh or bobs or women's names I just added that to the rules.you get a flag, a picture, with the club insignia, 1 virtual boat, access to nearby facilities, you can vote or have an opinion. Also just added you are not allowed to poor chicken soup into your brandy ever.

Is it allowed to pour brandy in the chicken soup, as well as sherry in the turtle soup?

[sabray]

Yes Sounds like fine savory behavior. Your opinion is appreciated and the club excepts your vote to allow pouring brandy on chickens in soup. Pouring sherry onto the turtles seems like good fun too. The problem is pouring the chickens and soup into the brandy. The club will continue to frown on this until we better understand what this entails. Having worked on chicken farms we are not opposed to using a blender on a chicken and pouring its remains into a vat of burnt wine. However we do value wine even if someone burned it. Guess we will continue to frown on this. Being ahead of our time I believe that the virtual yacht club is the first to forbid members from putting chickens in a blender and pouring them out.

[mr-canada]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

Basically, they are denying someone access to his property based on the actions of a third party. Even if the boat is moved the slip fees are still outstanding and the full member remains liable for them. If the club does not want the boat using the slip then they should ask one of the owners to move it elsewhere and not allow it back until the fee is paid.

If the mooring fee has now been paid then Mr-Canada should be permitted access to HIS boat

This is entirely the point of frustration - denying me my membership rights based on the tardy payment of another member. My associate memberhsip should get me a key and access to the facilities, as was said before the fact that I am the co-owner of the boat is immaterial as the slip fees are between the full member and the club.

If they had put it to me as mintyspilot suggests, either warning me that the boat will need to be moved by X date as moorage has not been paid, or even asking me to move it immediately (while that would be a bit brutal) but given me my key, then I would have set out about getting the partner to pay the moorage due in short order. But regardless of where the boat was parked I am still an associate member in good standing.

This is all water under the bridge now as the moorage has been paid and my partners' wife is couriering me my key.

The point however is that this was a pretty brutal way of resolving a situation (unpaid moorage) that could have been resolved any number of different ways without denying me my key or my membership rights. A simple phone call to the member's house when the bill remained unpaid with no response before I ever even presented myself looking for a replacement key would have resolved the situation well in advance - which is not something too above and beyond the call of duty for a person who has such seniority in the club and who has been a member for over a decade.

---

Now I have seen a bunch of comments alluding that my volunteer hours are problematic, that I am dreaming up things that the club doesn't want nor need and that this is somehow reflecting poorly on me. This is not the case at all.

I approached the bridge about embroidery, they loved the idea, and set out about perfecting the image and was locked in the usual back and forth of committee approval on the actual image itself. It was highly to my surprise that suddenly the president announced to me that they decided to use a commercial outfit, pay top dollar, and get all of the merchandise produced commercially, thereby eliminating the need for my volunteer services. I had already actually put in quite a number of hours on the project and had discussed it with a variety of bridge members in the proofing process and had received good reviews. The net situation was in response to a desperate plea in the newsletter to get more members to use the current service provider as the club was being billed by, rather than receiving a payment from, the service provider - as less than 10 people were making use of the service. Its obvious why nobody uses the service, its $50 a month or $40 a month if you pay for a year in advance. I proposed a system where you would pay $10 per device for life and the club would turn a tidy profit. So on the volunteer hours its not like I'm in the skunkworks cooking up bizarre ideas out of the blue yonder and wondering why I'm getting shot down by the president the moment he gets his hands on the proposal. I havent ranted and raved (anywhere other than in this post) about these disappointing rejections of my offers to volunteer either.

Furthermore one member asking you to turn your music down once in eight months is hardly indicitive of some new guy partying like it's 1995 driving everyone crazy. My 100 watt stereo system mounted deep inside my cabin makes less noise than an inboard diesel engine.

[H Romberg]

Originally Posted by Doodles

Are you suggesting that the associate should be able to use a boat that is moored in a slip that has not been paid for? I think the OP is interested in using the boat and it's (was) in a slip with dues in arrears.

Not at all. The yacht club should require that she remove "her" vessel from the slip because her boat is in a slip that she is not allowed to use as a junior member and because the person who was leasing it is in default. For collecting back dues, they should contact the slip holder who leased it.

That is a separate issue from the OP's access to club facilities though. They should give OP the keys as the terms of membership dictate. Her ownership of half of another member's boat does not make her responsible for the slip payments on a slip that her partner leases on his own.

[mr-canada]

Originally Posted by H Romberg

Not at all. The yacht club should require that she remove "her" vessel from the slip because her boat is in a slip that she is not allowed to use as a junior member and because the person who was leasing it is in default. For collecting back dues, they should contact the slip holder who leased it.

That is a separate issue from the OP's access to club facilities though. They should give OP the keys as the terms of membership dictate. Her ownership of half of another member's boat does not make her responsible for the slip payments on a slip that her partner leases on his own.

This is my point exactly. If they had told me that if the moorage didn't get paid that the boat would have to be moved or even if they locked the boat to the dock then I would understand. But seeing as it not my slip withholding my key was quite the stretch.

The plot has gotten thicker in the past few days, as my partners wife has paid the moorage and has found the people in charge of the keys quite rude. Apparently they're relatively recent members who don't understand how the club rules work. Lady had the nerve to say to her that she doesn't know how I even qualified to be a member seeing as I don't live in the city limits. It states quite clearly that an associate member does not need to.

My partner a wife has been a member for 12 years and she was flabbergasted that this woman would question her word when she said that the check was mailed and said that she nor I would be getting any key until the check was received and then had the audacity to tell her that she was too busy to go and check the clubs mail to see if it had arrived when she called to follow up and get the keys five days later. When she stressed that the boat needed to be checked on as it has been over 2 weeks without any key to access it the lady said that she was too busy for this and ended the call.

I mean come on if you make up this crazy rule and then blow off the ground work that you need to do to make it happen while leaving members in the lurch then maybe you shouldn't have made up those rules in the first place.

I have a heater and a big dehumidifier running on the boat along with a battery charger, the dehumidifier tray fills up and it's raining like he'll, there's no automatic Bilge pump. If the bilge fills up with condensation because the dehumidifier cuts out as the tray is full, the heater could end up in standing water and catch fire. This woman obviously doesn't know much about boats with the withholding of keys over such petty control issues and casual dismissal of the duties to keep up with her own crazy system.

I'm sure that the boat will be fine but it when I finally get my keys I come back to a boat that is all moldy due to excessive condensation buildup I'm going to be right choked. The check was mailed just under two weeks ago and we are still stuck playing games trying to be the key.

[Lake-Effect]

Key or not, they'd still admit you (at reasonable times) to check on the boat, no?

It's not a business, it's a club. In your case, staffed with volunteers. They're not customer service professionals, and you, being both an out-of-towner and co-owner with a late-payer, are outside of their normal experience.

But there are Toronto area clubs that will meet/exceed your expectations: National Yacht Club, Island Yacht Club, RCYC...

[mr-canada]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Key or not, they'd still admit you (at reasonable times) to check on the boat, no?

It's not a business, it's a club. In your case, staffed with volunteers. They're not customer service professionals, and you, being both an out-of-towner and co-owner with a late-payer, are outside of their normal experience.

But there are Toronto area clubs that will meet/exceed your expectations: National Yacht Club, Island Yacht Club, RCYC...

No, that is the point. They won't let us check on the boat. As a small club its pretty insulting to my partners wife the way she is basically insinuating that she might be lying about sending payment, and insinuating that there's a possibility that once we get the keys we might move the boat and skip out on the bill...

Between us we'd be throwing away $4,500 in initiation fees for $450 and my partner would be tossing a membership he's held for 12 years.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by mr-canada

No, that is the point. They won't let us check on the boat.

For real, or are you saying this because they won't yet give you a key, so that you can't come and go as you please? In my experience, at my club and others, the office is always accommodating about letting in members or guests or contractors. I've visited most area clubs. Please clarify.

Originally Posted by mr-canada

As a small club its pretty insulting to my partners wife the way she is basically insinuating that she might be lying about sending payment, and insinuating that there's a possibility that once we get the keys we might move the boat and skip out on the bill...

It happens, more than you think, and from professionals who can well afford to pay their way. Ask some of the mechanics here what types are most likely to stiff them. Club policy exists to try to mitigate this, and as a co-owner, you're one of the pressure points.

So, has the payment been received by the club yet?

(also, debentures are refundable. Part of your $4500 is debenture, right?)

[mr-canada]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

For real, or are you saying this because they won't yet give you a key, so that you can't come and go as you please? In my experience, at my club and others, the office is always accommodating about letting in members or guests or contractors. I've visited most area clubs. Please clarify.



It happens, more than you think, and from professionals who can well afford to pay their way. Ask some of the mechanics here what types are most likely to stiff them. Club policy exists to try to mitigate this, and as a co-owner, you're one of the pressure points.

So, has the payment been received by the club yet?

(also, debentures are refundable. Part of your $4500 is debenture, right?)

Payment.was received well over a week ago, seeing as the chq was mailed point to point in the same small town. The cheque wqs actually mailed 2 weeks ago. It could be delivered across the country with 5 business days to spare easily.

The club has no staffed office. So no, they cant and this lady certainly has no intention to let me in to check the boat. She wouldnt even give me my membership card when there was a stack of them right on the table. I could stand around in the parking lot and try to flag down someone to let me in or approach people, amd given that its a small club i could probably get in in a few hours because i know enough people at the club but thats hardly woth my 1700 dollars.

And the fee is an initiation fee - not a debenture - so it is not refundable and it says so in the bylaws. If we pulled some crazy stunt to try to hold out for an illegitimate key, not only would out $4500 be wiped out, but also my partners 12 years of seniority that nets him one of the best parking spots on the docks.

He may be out of country for the winter every year, but hes always around in the summer and puts in a lot of volunteer hours, he enjoys being part of the yacht club. Part of the reason he sold me half his boat was so the boat would get the tlc it deserves when he is away and so he didnt have to sell all of it and lose his spot and seniority.

[sailorboy1]

I have this feeling that if as much crying and whining is being done at the club as here on CF, that the club isn't really that interested in someone sticking around and will be happy to see them go.

[mr-canada]

No whining and crying are being done at the club at all.

First it was me having my membership rights suddenly terminated because my partner was behind on his slip as he was out of country and his wife didnt check his mail.

Next it was his wife being treated rudely and the person who said she could not get her key until the payment was received - by a person who refused to check if it had been received for two weeks - and she and my partner are long time members with 12 years at the club.

I have a feeling im not he only angry cookie here. Ive talked to other members before this fiasco at the docks and they were hihly unimpressed by this president and how he is doing things. Its a small club in a small town. Word gets around quicker than the internet in hose sorts of places.

[sailorboy1]

so just crying and whining here!