What to do when someone is in your slip

[Letterkenny]

This probably isn’t very common but when I recently took our out current boat (a 1/8th year lease) that’s part of a boat rental club, I came back to find someone docked in our slip and away from the boat. Luckily, I recognized the name and saw it was within the same fleet and took their slip (and called the manager to inform them of this/get the okay). Well, with my personal boat coming in soon, I was wondering what the procedure is if this were to happen again? Seems possible given the amount of charter companies in San Diego and that some of them are overflowing which causes them to have slips outside of their normal 1 finger space.

[Rucksta]

Berth at the fuel dock.
Request Marina Management to clear a berth for you and assist with docking.

[Joh.Ghurt]

Originally Posted by Rucksta

Berth at the fuel dock.
Request Marina Management to clear a berth for you and assist with docking.

Exactly. And most important, don't be an arse. Just clear it up with the marineros or the marina office. More often than not, there was a good reason why your berth was used at the time and things will be sorted out easily.

[valhalla360]

Sounds like you already had it figured out.

If they don't sort it out very quickly and with an apology, yes, you have the right to be an arse. You rented the slip, you have first right to use it.

[Nightsky]

I don't have a marina slip (not a slip per se, but a side-tie dedicated to my boat) now, but when I did, I used to give the marina a heads-up that I was returning, giving them time to clear the space for me.

[lvictorlucas]

If possible the best solution.

[Moontide]

Since your boat was part of a "club" I imagine that happens fairly often , espcecially with any inexperienced sailors. Presume the club rents a series of slips and as long as the same size, not very important which slip, again assuming you do not have a personal dockbox, hoses, etc.


If it is your sole slip then more of a problem. Happened to me a few times when i had a slip near a waterfront eatery. Seems some thought it was ok to pull in any slip if it was empty. Got so the restaraunt mgmt would try to keep it open, or announce on the PA system if they saw me coming in.

[boatman61]

Chain it to the pontoon.. the nautical wheel clamp..

[boat driver]

If you are using a marina vs condo slip, then you do not "own the slip" vs you are entitled to safe mooring per your contract. marinas make money on transient rentals, so in the fine print of the slip agreement is a statement saying it is your responsibility to notify the marina your return time if leaving for overnight. Therefore- you return early and find a vessel in your slip, then you simply discuss with the dock office and arrangements of temporary or otherwise are made.
Additional be aware if the "transient" takes your personal fixed dock lines, let alone change your arrangement. The fine print of the contract will suggest that the marina is not responsible for your personal property aka- take it or lock it. This does not mean they are aware the lines are gone and will not provide the name/info if it was occupied, but that ultimately they are not responsible.
Most good marinas are very aware and will do their best to both not hinder you as well accommodate you- aka you are leaving for a week and then plans change and you are returning early. Notify them asap so they can plan/move the transient, or otherwise not cause you delay.
Being an arse about the situation basically does little positive in the long run.

[C Paton-Gay]

You raise an interesting point. We had a problem with our high end Marina about 10 years ago. I had an 80 ft slip under annual lease plus metered power. Every time we would go out for a period of time; we would often return to someone in our slip which meant docking at the fuel dock and waiting until our private slip was vacated. That summer, we sailed to Alaska and then did a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island being away for 38 days. Before leaving, we had our similar sized neighbour log every day that our slip and power was used. As it turned out 32 of those days the slip was rented out by the foot ($80 / day plus taxes and a power charge of $10/day). We were tired of arguing about this double charging situation with our Marina Management and it was clear that there was no language providing the Marina with this privilege. We sued for the full amount of $90/day plus power overages for the entire period and the judge found in our favour for almost $4,000 including costs. Apparently there was a class action suit filed after we won and it cost the Marina a bundle. It fortunately prompted discussion and the next annual lease provided a revenue split 50/50 plus power which is what we had initially offered. Sometimes Marina Corporations can be penny wise and pound foolish. Anyway, that's how we dealt with it in Canada.

[Letterkenny]

Thanks for the responses everyone, makes sense. I’ll read through the agreement when I get it.

Originally Posted by C Paton-Gay

You raise an interesting point. We had a problem with our high end Marina about 10 years ago. I had an 80 ft slip under annual lease plus metered power. Every time we would go out for a period of time; we would often return to someone in our slip which meant docking at the fuel dock and waiting until our private slip was vacated. That summer, we sailed to Alaska and then did a circumnavigation of Vancouver Island being away for 38 days. Before leaving, we had our similar sized neighbour log every day that our slip and power was used. As it turned out 32 of those days the slip was rented out by the foot ($80 / day plus taxes and a power charge of $10/day). We were tired of arguing about this double charging situation with our Marina Management and it was clear that there was no language providing the Marina with this privilege. We sued for the full amount of $90/day plus power overages for the entire period and the judge found in our favour for almost $4,000 including costs. Apparently there was a class action suit filed after we won and it cost the Marina a bundle. It fortunately prompted discussion and the next annual lease provided a revenue split 50/50 plus power which is what we had initially offered. Sometimes Marina Corporations can be penny wise and pound foolish. Anyway, that's how we dealt with it in Canada.

This is exactly what my concern would be as well. My marina is part of the Safe Harbor group so I assume the contract will be a bit more thought out than a smaller local marina.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Rucksta

Berth at the fuel dock.
Request Marina Management to clear a berth for you and assist with docking.

That would be the preferred approach.

Occupying another person's slip may be a criminal trespass.

A number of years ago when I returned to the marina after a day sail at the start of a long holiday weekend, an expensive, brand new, yet to be registered, high performance, wake board boat was occupying my slip; mind you this private, tribally owned, marina is fully rented for the season. I thence tied to the fuel dock which is not a well protected location open to swells and also traffic launching or retrieving from the nearby private ramp.

I spent a few hours waiting for the boat owner to return and also went looking for the owner visiting the restaurants and stores within about a quarter mile up and down the main frontage road, with no success. I finally located the marina manager who was performing maintenance on a PWC in the maintenance hut and asked if he knew who the owner was and explained that I was temporarily occupying the fuel dock and thus totally blocking access to fueling, this dock being one of only two fueling locations open to public use on the southern end of the Flathead. It was the start of a holiday weekend and it would become a very busy boating time and the fuel dock would be in great demand. The manager got really angry that someone had just put in and taken my slip and that I had spent hours trying to locate the owner. Without a vessel registration, law enforcement was going to be of no assistance in identifying the owner. So upon finishing tuning up the PWC that he had been working on, he launched the PWC, drove it to my slip and attached a lead to the fancy new wakeboard boat and towed it out about a couple of hundred yards off the marina and then let the evening breeze drift it gently away from shore towards the north shore, which is about 28 miles distance. There was no anchor or rode on the sports boat to set it a float at anchor so it was just set adrift. He then towed my sailboat from the fuel dock into its slip and tied my boat up for me; he purposefully and emphatically did not allow me to relocate my boat from the fuel dock. He told me: "Here hold my beer." I asked the manager what he or I should say if the owner of the trespassing boat were to return and ask "Where is my boat?" The manager replied to my question with a question: "What boat? and went on his way.

He told me in a subsequent conversation that unfortunately from time to time, in particular, visiting holiday, boaters abuse the tribal owned, private property rights of the one half tribally owned half of Flathead Lake [the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi] and a visitor will occupy a place in the private marina without asking or paying. It seems that some visiting boaters prefer to utilize the private marina instead of the public docks because the public docks do not have any breakwater protection and a lot of people wander the public docks. If he can accommodate a trespassing boat with a known, temporarily vacant space he will and on occasion he had tried tying an unattended trespassing boat onto spaces that are largely unprotected where the boat can or will be subject to adverse slamming into say the end of a pier or the inside wall of the breakwater. So instead of having the wayward boat damage the infrastructure of the marina [and the boat], he had taken up to just anchoring the trespassing boats out from the marina and let chance determine if it will stay set on anchor and let the owner figure out how they will retrieve it. He does not provide ferry service to trespassers. He considers the removal action to be similar to a form of banishment, which was how the tribe dealt with person's who actions were not in keeping with proper behavior. Banishment could be temporary or permanent and banishment of tribal members is still invoked for serious offenses of mal-character or malfeasance. If the manager does provide temporary space accommodation to a trespassing boat, he generally charges them with a hefty fee, say like $200 per day, to avail their retrieval of their trespassing boat, which boat he has taken to locking to the slip with a sturdy anchor chain so that it can't be removed without his assistance. Mind you the cost for a slip for the entire 90 day season is only $1,100, so his trespass fee is steep and he may not "be made available" to unlock their boat until say, a day or two after the long holiday weekend. I know of at least two times, where he had trespassing boats impounded by the Tribal Police and once by the County Sheriff. Once a trespassing boat had occupied the slip used by the Search and Rescue boat. The Sheriff keeps their boats in the marina, and so does the Search and Rescue, and the City used to also keep their fireboat in the tribe's marina. In that instance, I recall the Sheriff simply placed the trespassing boat into one of the Sheriff's slips, and then tied the Sheriff's boat in the fairway across the end of the finger piers enclosing the trespassing boat into the slip. That boat was effectively impounded for about a month while the issue was resolved in the delayful action of the city court and the marina charged a steep daily "impound storage fee". The private marina's hefty impoundment storage fee was thence donated to the S&R. Messing with the all volunteer S&R is a sure fired way to get on the wrong side of pretty much everyone in Montana. The S&R's boat was gifted in gratitude to the S&R by the family of a person who the S&R had recovered their loved one's body and is a distinct memorial boat, very touching to read the placard mounted on the front of the center console which states a prayer of gratitude and for the safety of the S&R and the lives and souls of those that need rescuing or recovery.

Trespassing has consequences which can be adverse. And in Montana, traditional 3-7-77 vigilante rules can be invoked without actionable recourse consequences being taken up by law enforcement; law enforcement may opt to just simply not get involved [turn a blind eye] with individual resolution actions, a bit of wild west culture prevails, and / or here on the Rez, tribal disciplinary culture. Previously it was not unheard of tribal police to just walk away from an incident when it was apparent that the situation was going to be "resolved" by the injured party.

As to the legal attributes of trespassing into another's slip.

In Montana criminal trespassing involves two factors. 1) a person's state of mind, being knowing of being on another's property contrary to or without their required permission, 2) physical presence on Said property. Conspicuous signage is required to invoke notice of lack of granting of permission to enter or remain on private property, and / or verbal or written notice of lack of permission. The tribe's private marina has abundant and conspicuous signage both at its roadway entrance and at its waterway entrance of it private status and postage that no trespassing is allowed.

Signage revokes the public’s otherwise privilege to lawfully enter any and all public or private property in Montana. Under Section 45-6-201 of the Montana Code (MCA), if a landowner fails to post a no-trespassing notice, entering the property is not technically trespassing (at least until you refuse to leave after the owner tells you to vamoose). So once when a staggeringly, half naked, drunken stranger wandered into my home at 2:30 AM one warm summer night [my front and back doors being left wide open to allow a breeze to flow in], they were not technically trespassing. They were actually just looking to find some Rhubarb to eat or bake after the downtown bars had closed for the evening, and he sincerely apologized when I called out from upstairs: "Hello" by his replying: "Oh sorry, I did not know you were here." That sincere remark was decidedly disarming to the situation, but upon after thought was cause for still wondering to this day if he had been inside my home on previous occasions, we often don't lock up in our absence. No harm, no foul. And of course our two dogs slept through the entire incident.

Montana Code Annotated 45-6-203. Criminal trespass to property. (1) . . . , a person commits the offense of criminal trespass to property if the person knowingly:

(a) enters or remains unlawfully in an occupied structure; or

(b) enters or remains unlawfully in or upon the premises of another.

(2) A person convicted of the offense of criminal trespass to property shall be fined not to exceed $500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for any term not to exceed 6 months, or both.

(3) A person convicted of or who forfeits bond or bail for committing an act of criminal trespass involving property owned or administered by the department of fish, wildlife, and parks or while hunting, fishing, or trapping may be subject to revocation of the person's privilege to hunt, fish, or trap in this state for up to 24 months from the date of conviction or forfeiture.

It is beneficial to place a simple sign on your rented slip stating Private, No trespassing. It is common in my marina for person's to place a sign on the pier at the head of a slip stating their first names, which makes it very easy to get to know your marina neighbors. Posting of last names is discourage so as to not allow others to identify you and spot that you are away from your home. Such signage provides for legal recourse, otherwise it takes considerable effort for law enforcement to invoke removal actions.
Now granted most every marina manager will be disinclined to handle the situation in a manner similar to our kind but stern tribal marina manager His reasoning being that if you paid to avail your boat safe harbor and a trespasser did not pay for safe harbor and has occupied someone else's paid for safe harbor that he will not grant trespassers a safe harbor if it means not availing safe harbor to his clients. A harsh reality.

[C Paton-Gay]

Originally Posted by Letterkenny

Thanks for the responses everyone, makes sense. I’ll read through the agreement when I get it.


This is exactly what my concern would be as well. My marina is part of the Safe Harbor group so I assume the contract will be a bit more thought out than a smaller local marina.

My Marina was not a small local Marina. The Group owns 7 large high end Marinas the Vancouver area and on Vancouver Island. That was 10 years ago. They were just being opportunistic. The fact is that we are under no obligation to report when we will be away from the dock and in that case they do not have a right to day rent the slip. As for San Diego, I have docked for extended periods on a sublet basis across from Southwestern at $5k / month, so I know of what you speak.

[landsend]

If you return after hours and find a boat in your slip you will have no choice but to tie up elsewhere. Towing a boat out of the marina and setting it adrift would be great but not advisable. I have had my dock lines disappear when other boaters have used my slip. I don't think the marina can legally tow the boat out without the owners permission.

[danstanford]

Some years ago I had what I thought was the worst slip ever when visiting a marina in Kingston Ontario for a weekend. Long fairway with 10-15 knots straight down it and I was in the second last leeward side with a big boat using the last slip and the end of the fairway. After taking friends out for a sail I backed down the fairway to discover someone had taken my slip and left me what turned out to be a worse slip, the windward side of the same opening. I got the stern in nicely but couldn't contain the bow swinging with the wind and ended up bumping into them with fenders in place meant for the dock side.
Addendum to the story was the next morning when I got up to a gloriously calm morning to get out of my slip and was half way out when I got to the end of my shore power cord.....