Yacht Club Rant

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by mr-canada

It is just really annoying to pay up myself in full and have them complain to my partner about my music...

Uh... Okay, this is new.

Again, not meaning to pile on, but there were some complaints about your music? Was the music coming from the boat? Now, obviously, if there was a problem, someone should have politely asked you to take care of it at the time. If they did, and you didn't, then it's no wonder they complained to your partner. After all, he is the full member, responsible for the slip, and for the boat being there. He is the one they SHOULD file a formal complaint with.

If you were playing loud music (which, admittedly, is just a guess on my part), and annoyed the president by doing so, then it's no wonder you're getting some grief from him. Not that it's fair, just that it's no wonder.

And then there is the original question you were asked, if you don't have a boat, why do you need keys? Are there other facilities that you would use? If so, then certainly you should not have been denied access. If not, then once again, I have to get back to the point that if the boat was not paid up, it is quite reasonable for them to deny you access to it.

No offense intended, truly, but I am beginning to wonder what story the president of the yacht club would tell.

[Cheechako]

$1700? wow, you 've got to really want to be one of the Blue Jacket crowd for that! and for that you get only lip service... cool... I see why you're unhappy...

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by mr-canada

IMO, i should have gotten keys and a stern warning that my partner needs to pay for his slip or he might lose it which would render my boat homeless and effect me.

....

The moorage bill, because the slip is not mine, doesnt come to me so i had no idea that this was a problem. Its not a big club, maybe 80 boats, so i cant imagine that this situation is so common

The reason clubs insist on having co-ownership of a boat on record is precisely so that the club itself doesn't get pinched in an owner dispute. So in that regard, if the boat is identified as co-owned, it's the boat's slip, and not yours or his, per se. Since your co-owner is already senior member (bigger debenture, higher annual fee, voting rights), the bill would go to him, and the club expects that the co-owners can sort it all out without the club having to chase every partner or mediate a dispute.

And, payment issues are more common than most clubs let on. You can have someone who has become unable to pay, or someone who's too lazy/can't be bothered to pay when asked, or someone who thinks for some reason or other that he won't pay.

I appreciate your aggravation. You just want a nice place to hang out and keep a boat at. But it's not the club's desire to become the mediator in a co-ownership; they simply want the memberships and fees paid on time.

There are good partners and bad partners...

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by mr-canada

It is just really annoying to pay up myself in full and have them complain to my partner about my music...

Music? What's THAT all about?

[mr-canada]

Re: music

It was once, a long time ago, and the stereo on the boat isnt very loud. Nobody talked to me about it they went straight to him, i didnt hear about it until a week later.

Re: facilities

There are the docks and a clubhouse. They both use the same access key.

Re: moorage

Its paid already. At no point have i been under any auspices that the moorage should not be paid. Because its not my account i dont have any idea what the status of it is, the bill doesnt come to me.

What frustrated me is obvious - my membership priveiges were entirely withheld due to someone else's payment - something that is unlikely new to them. If they had given me my key and told me id better get the moorage looked after, it would have been sorted out just as quickly and without annoying me so much.

[Invictus69]

Originally Posted by SURV69

I say either get hold of his wife or pay the bill and collect it from your partner.

The risk is that he may tell you to keep the wife.....

[Randyonr3]

[QUOTE=mr-canada;
What frustrated me is obvious - my membership priveiges were entirely withheld due to someone else's payment - something that is unlikely new to them. If they had given me my key and told me id better get the moorage looked after, it would have been sorted out just as quickly and without annoying me so much.[/QUOTE]

Again you are only looking at it the way you think it should be. Like "lake effects" stated you are co- owner of the boat and as a co-owner the fees had not been paid on the boat. No fees paid , no rights to the club

[mr-canada]

Well i guess there are two schools of thought out there. One which feels that as co owners of the boat our membership rights are intertwined with eachother and one that beleives that as the slip is exclusively owned by one partner that finances on the slip should be between the club and the owner of that slip. Evidently this president falls into the former category. Nowhere in the rules, constitution, or notices was this specified and nobody contacted either me or the wife of the partner to forewarn that this intertwinement would occur.

Either way, the moorage is paid now. I am going to look at my options for buying out the partner and moving the boat and also in making alternate arrangements for paying the moorage with the club so that this does not happen again, which would be easier than dealing with wait lists etc.

My ranting and frustration is because there was no way that i could have known that this would have been a problem, as there was nothing in the general rules or notices to advise me that i should double check the moorage status in advance because of this intertwinement and that i was not advised that the moorage was in arrears until i went to get my new key so i could take advantage of my membership rights, costing me the better part of a day to come back empty handed.

As one above poster stated, perhaps moorage arrears are more common than i would realize (perhaps the reason for changing the locks?). Im the kind of guy who likes to pay in advance so i dont have these sorts of problems, and if for some reason i do, it gives me more time to sort them out and people tend to give me more flexibility if i do run into trouble.

Another poster made mention that clubs often dont follow their own rules and that this is more common than i realize. I sit on a variety of boards and usually the bylaws are followed to the letter as that is the easiest way to avoid conflicts - like this one - to simply point to a standing rule.

Given the size of the club and my recently paid up membership i would have expected more flexibility given the situation, with it being common knowledge that my partner is out of country for most of the year for the past decade, hence he sold me half his boat so it gets looked after while hes away and its staying in his slip. I guess i expected wrong.

[Randyonr3]

Many gated marinas that use key cards to entry simply turn off your card after a prescribed number of days late. When paid up, your card is again activated and sometimes at an additional charge.

[ohdrinkboy]

Face it. The yacht club doesn't care about you. They accepted you as an accomodation. If you rock the boat, quote rules, challenge them they will find a reason to revoke your membership. Either submit to their rules, ways, authority or get out. You have no leverage in this situation. Not saying it is right, just the way it is.

[jeremiason]

You keep stating that you own half this boat, but your partner owns the slip. It sounds like you don't have a formal partnership agreement, boat records or a separate bank account for the boat.

I would suggest you sit down with him and formalize your partnership... Most boat partners have formal contracts spelling out who is responsible for maintenance, repairs and of course who gets the boat certain days.

Most importantly, you get a joint Checking Account so that either of you can Boat Bills. This is funded once per month, quarterly or annual by each of you contributing an agred upon amount that should include monthly fees and little more to accumulate for larger bills like bottom painting or sails.

If you had a joint checking account you could have paid the bill immediately and avoid the problem with you Yacht Club.

[evm1024]

Show up for the board meeting. Bring your case to them. Have a copy of the bylaws in hand. Ask that a key be issued to you. If no key then ask what action will need to be done.

If you cannot get satisfaction and the bylaws do not allow the denial of keys consider getting legal consul and suing for breach of contract to get your money back along with damages. That may be enough to get some motion but is a last resort.

Also, talk to the board members before going to the board meeting and see if they are supportive.

(Looks like I'm late to the party)

Regards

.

Originally Posted by mr-canada

Ive read all the rules, bylaws, constitution, even all the notices about the key swap. Nowhere does it say or make mention that one member, associate or not, will have their rights affected by the payment history of another, co owner or not.

I totally understand that the slip needs to be paid for. It likely has already been paid for by now by the partners wife. IMO, i should have gotten keys and a stern warning that my partner needs to pay for his slip or he might lose it which would render my boat homeless and effect me.

I had to spend an hour going to the club to get these keys and an hour on the way back. The reason for my ranting is elevated by this. The moorage bill, because the slip is not mine, doesnt come to me so i had no idea that this was a problem. Its not a big club, maybe 80 boats, so i cant imagine that this situation is so common that it couldnt have warranted either an email to me warning me id need to get this guy to pay else i wouldnt get keys or a phone call to his wife to warn her of same.

On the volunteer hours, its important not to be mistaken that i was dreaming up ways to change the club. I suggested the embroidery in the first place and after a few months they found a commercial provider - it was my idea, they liked it, and now i cant get any hours from it. On the net access, i responded to an article in a newsletter where they were trying to implore more people to sign up for the service because rather than making the club money, they were getting billed by the provider.

Im considering moving the boat and buying out the partner. It is very disappointing because there are a lot of people in the club that i have met and liked. It is just really annoying to pay up myself in full and have them complain to my partner about my music, restrict my access and tell me to talk to my partner, it makes me feel like i just paid $1700 to be treated like his child which is not why i took out an associate membership.

These problems may blow over and there may be a new president next year, keys havent been changed in nearly 10 years, etc. So i may just be ranting for the sake of ranting. My biggest problem is that it feels like my membership rights are being extorted for the delinquency of my partner and that there would have been many ways to deal with this problem aside from just bullheadedly refusing me my membership priveliges.

I

[svHyLyte]

I suspect one can be a member of your "Club" without renting a mooring but cannot rent a Club mooring without being a member of the Club. I also suspect that a member that rents a mooring but is in default on his/her rental payments is disallowed Club privlidges until the default is cured and understandably so.

From the Club's perspective the owner of the yacht renting the mooring is a single entity, whether that be a single person, a partnership or another legal entity. Unfortunately, but rightly so, the club looks only to that single corpus for the satisfaction of "its" obligations to the Club, in this case mooring fees. In virtually all cases unless explicitly provided for otherwise in a partnership agreement (i.e. a "limited liability partnership") and agreed to in advance by a party doing business with/and relying upon the "Partnership", the partners have joint and several liability for all of the debts of the Partnership. In essence, each partner is liable for 100% of the debts and obligations of the Partnership regardless of his/her undivided interest in the Partnership. When you became a "Partner", you and your partners were "joined at the hip" and, accordingly, a failure/default by one is a failure/default by all--i.e. the left hand suffers the same penalty as the right hand even though the right might have struck the offending blow.

In view of the foregoing, while the OP may not be at fault, as a Partner--even though the innocent left hand--he is subject to the same penalty as the other Partner(s), who are "one" from the Club's perspective. This reality is, interalia, reason why informal partnerships or even (poorly) documented (general) partnerships are unwise as they may/can trip up the unknowing. It is unfortunate but it is not of the Club's making and the Club (and its other members) should not be vilified for enforcing the rules agreed to by all upon becoming a member.

FWIW...

[Coops]

Originally Posted by mr-canada

Re: music

It was once, a long time ago, and the stereo on the boat isnt very loud. .

That is a subjective thing, what is not loud to you may be unbearable to your neighbors.

Coops.

[sailor_andy]

I think you have every right to be upset. At my yacht club everyone pays the sam membership. That membership gives you access to the club, ability to crew (if you don't have a boat) and access to social functions. Only skippers have voting priviliedges (one vote per boat). So giving you club access seems to be within your rights. However, access to your boat (or share) could be limited if the mooring fees are not paid. If his wife is available locally, could you not ask her to pay the fees owing? That would seem to be within your rights to me.