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JiffyLube · 08-06-2011, 21:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheryfee

J

ust wondering if anyone else has frustration related to other boats making renovations on the dock.....scraping, sanding, rebuilding, whatever you name it....I am NOT in a boatyard, contrary I am in an exclusive marina. I have dayworkers constantly going by my sailboat, and temporary slipmates with a huge agenda involving power tools. Last year I spent at Bahia Mar in Ft Lauderdale I never saw this kind of activity on the dock. Just wondering what everyone else out there is experiencing?

What happens when you need work on your boat?

SabreKai · 08-06-2011, 22:17

Our club doesn't have a problem with working on your boat while in the water. That being said, they expect you to be considerate of others. I never plan on doing anything much noisier than drilling a hole on weekends. My schedule has me off Thursday, Friday and Saturday so I do the heavy stuff during the week, shut it down after about 6pm as some people do come down after dinner. We also have a tool room where we can do things with heavy tools. Grinders, Welders, Plasma torch, table saw, cut off saws, drill presses. We have it all. Its just a pain to run back and forth as you build something complex.

If I was in a marina where I couldn't do anything, I'd go nuts.

Sabre

David_Old_Jersey · 09-06-2011, 05:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by SabreKai

We also have a tool room where we can do things with heavy tools. Grinders, Welders, Plasma torch, table saw, cut off saws, drill presses. We have it all. Its just a pain to run back and forth as you build something complex.

Just curious how that works in practice, is that simply a shared space - or also shared (rented?) heavy tools?

Butler · 09-06-2011, 08:40

Up in Berkeley they have (hope it's not past tense now) a tool room I used to use that works like a lending library... been around for awhile so I guess the idea works. We have been after the port here in L.A. for the same idea along with regular requests for local land use that would allow public haul out options so that there is a place to work inexpensively and better control of waste. Yeah, bloody Quixotic in these times and in the face of opposition from local yards but still... In the meanwhile most of us observe certain time limits and "clean" policies that include tarp fencing and bubble wrap floated on the water around the boat. Not bothered much by the port but maybe that's because of the scrap steel yard across the chanel that dumps all kinds of crap and the odd container ship/freighter dumping bunker fuel. One of the best shipwrights in the U.S. has a floating workshop just across the basin and he works miracles on the water.

SabreKai · 09-06-2011, 08:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Just curious how that works in practice, is that simply a shared space - or also shared (rented?) heavy tools?

The first building our club fabricated was a garage type building, something like 24x16ft. This is where they built all our initial docks when the club started in 1991. Since then we have finished the club house so the garage or "A-frame" as we call it is being used as a workshop/tool room. In it we have a bench grinder, a stand up grinder, a large professional table saw, A stand up drill press, an abrasive cut off saw for metal, a radial arm saw for wood, plastic and light metals, A 220 volt welding machine, A plasma cutter, high gantry lift, a fork lift, pressure washing equipment, cutting torches, HD air compressor and hoses etc. Add in a work bench or two and lots of other goodies. Hand tools you supply yourself.

The A-frame is open to anyone with a membership, so you can go in when you like. I've shown up at 0300 to work on things for a few hours. As for using the tools, it is expected that you know what you are doing. There is no formal check out or training for anyone but a lot of our members are retired skilled trades people who hang out at the club so if anyone has a question or is unsure of a procedure or process, there are people to ask for help. I myself have worked as an industrial millwright, so have a fairly broad range of technical skills. We have one fellow who can do tig welding, and another who does mild steel. (as he says, if he can step across the joint he can weld it.) He welded my cradle together in about half the time I would have taken as I hadn't welded in a while.

All in all its the best set up I've ever seen. The only thing is that you should not leave projects half finished in the A-frame. Some people get a tad bent out of shape if you do. We also have a couple of people who treat the place as their own private shop and get annoyed if you show up to work on something. Very territorial. I just laugh at them and carry on with what I'm doing.

Sabre

SabreKai · 09-06-2011, 09:06

One other thing I forgot to mention.

Since our club has this policy its pretty much guaranteed that anyone having a major crisis on their boat can get assistance in a matter of minutes on problems. We are a self help club, and we watch out for each other and our boats. Last summer we had several visitors tie up with mechanical problems, our people were all over them getting thing sorted out. We have a very friendly club. That's probably the premier reason its so hard to get a membership nowadays.

Sabre

David_Old_Jersey · 09-06-2011, 09:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by SabreKai

The first building our club fabricated was a garage type building, something like 24x16ft. This is where they built all our initial docks when the club started in 1991. Since then we have finished the club house so the garage or "A-frame" as we call it is being used as a workshop/tool room. In it we have a bench grinder, a stand up grinder, a large professional table saw, A stand up drill press, an abrasive cut off saw for metal, a radial arm saw for wood, plastic and light metals, A 220 volt welding machine, A plasma cutter, high gantry lift, a fork lift, pressure washing equipment, cutting torches, HD air compressor and hoses etc. Add in a work bench or two and lots of other goodies. Hand tools you supply yourself.

The A-frame is open to anyone with a membership, so you can go in when you like. I've shown up at 0300 to work on things for a few hours. As for using the tools, it is expected that you know what you are doing. There is no formal check out or training for anyone but a lot of our members are retired skilled trades people who hang out at the club so if anyone has a question or is unsure of a procedure or process, there are people to ask for help. I myself have worked as an industrial millwright, so have a fairly broad range of technical skills. We have one fellow who can do tig welding, and another who does mild steel. (as he says, if he can step across the joint he can weld it.) He welded my cradle together in about half the time I would have taken as I hadn't welded in a while.

All in all its the best set up I've ever seen. The only thing is that you should not leave projects half finished in the A-frame. Some people get a tad bent out of shape if you do. We also have a couple of people who treat the place as their own private shop and get annoyed if you show up to work on something. Very territorial. I just laugh at them and carry on with what I'm doing.

Sabre

That sounds an awesome set up

So what happens if 10 people all turn up at the same time and want to use the same machine. or there is simply not room to accomadate everyone? (or a difference of opinion on whether there is room

)........ Do you book ahead? or is it first come first served? (and then use yer elbows to create and defend your patch).

And on the insurance / liability front, what happens if (?

) someone cuts there (or someone elses) hand off with a Club bandsaw? - is it mostly on a waiver based around Members asserting they are trained / competent (even if not).

Just curious as it sounds like a replicatable operation.

smurphny · 09-06-2011, 09:27

Perhaps you need to go to an even more "EXCLUSIVE" marina. Geeeeez.

SabreKai · 09-06-2011, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

That sounds an awesome set up

So what happens if 10 people all turn up at the same time and want to use the same machine. or there is simply not room to accomadate everyone? (or a difference of opinion on whether there is room

)........ Do you book ahead? or is it first come first served? (and then use yer elbows to create and defend your patch).

And on the insurance / liability front, what happens if (?

) someone cuts there (or someone elses) hand off with a Club bandsaw? - is it mostly on a waiver based around Members asserting they are trained / competent (even if not).

Just curious as it sounds like a replicatable operation.

Well, I've never seen more than 4 people in there at one time, and they were working on club projects which have priority. However its pretty laid back, you wait your turn. The only problem I've ever seen was one of the members who felt it was his personal shop. Came in and started up the table saw to cut stuff up 5 feet away from a freshly painted dinghy. He was straightened out pretty quick. For myself, I just go in at odd hours. since I work afternoons. Being there after midnight is no biggy for me. Turn up the tunes and do my thing. Clean up and go home.

As for insurance I believe it is covered under the club insurance for use of facilities by members. Same thing when we do the lift in/lift out. We have safety members looking at that joint club operation but so far I've never heard of any problems with the use of the shop. I have never seen a waiver form, we just go in and use the shop. Ditto the forklift. I was trained, brought my license first time round but the fellow there who does the welding was in the same local as I and knew our training. I never even showed the card.

I can see it being a plus to any club but at a marina, being a commercial venture, I'm sure it would be more difficult. Mind you, there used to be DIY garages around for working on your car, so a DIY shop with a paid tool crib manager and some professionals to assist if required on a paying basis might work too. Rent the space and tools by the hour for any work. Hire the guy for skills you don't have by the hour. I believe it could be done if there was a solid business case set up for it. However, if the marina or yard has an established shop that does the work already, they might get annoyed if the marina sets up a DIY shop to undercut their business. Most marinas around here won't even let you bring in an outside contractor to work on your boat in the yard or on the slip. If they catch you, the contractor is booted, and you get billed for a days work at some ungodly rate.

Sabre

ChrisClipper · 09-06-2011, 11:40

Sounds like a great club, what's the name of it if you don't mind?
With our size, draft and thin wallet even though we live in Toronto we dock the boat east of the city when she is up here in the summer.
And this year we are missing time up here as we are still waiting for work to be finished on her at her winter home down south.

Mahaila · 09-06-2011, 12:09

On my dock it seems the opinion of the neighbors is what matters most. When I took over my boat it was looking pretty neglected and that was a bigger issue to them than what work I do on her. They appreciate and respect the work I'm doing.

Ron

Lowcountry · 09-06-2011, 12:31

I'd much rather be next to a boater who is repairing his boat than be next to one who is slowly but surely letting the boat decline. There are a handful of boats in my marina that are totally neglected. Nearly all of these boats have someone living on them, too. I don't know what it is about it that bothers me so much, but it really does. Trash bags and buckets in the cockpit, broken parts lying around on deck, anchor lockers left open, tons of visible vegetation growing at the waterline, etc., etc. The boat next to mine is an old formosa with rotten decks, no rig, and a blue tarp stretched over the coach-roof to keep the water out. Would you rather be next to this type of boat? Be thankful that your neighbor thinks enough of their boat to maintain it and keep it nice. You sound like a bad neighbor.

Sunspot Baby · 09-06-2011, 12:43

Bahia Mar, wow. Way outta my price range.

I just heard a clairfication to the old definition:
"Cruising is working on your boat in exotic locales."

Clarification:
"Yachting is paying someone else to work on your boat in exotic locales."

cabo_sailor · 09-06-2011, 13:10

Hmm, this seems to remind me of why I was single for so long. I always told the ladies, ask me anything you want but be goldarn sure you want to hear the answer.

Rich