Water delivery and trash removal service

[seadog1775]

From a Boater standpoint. Would water delivery and trash removal while at anchor be a service you would utilize? I was looking to start a business servicing boats at anchor in and around USVI.

[belizesailor]

How about that plus veggies, beer, wine, rum, propane... The "veggie boats" in the San Blas islands of Panama do all the above and its great! All the essentials right to your boat at anchor. Of course the San Blas are much less developed than the USVI with very limited provisioning options.

(They don't typically deliver water or take trash, but there are other options to those in the San Blas.)

[Rubikoop]

Originally Posted by seadog1775

From a Boater standpoint. Would water delivery and trash removal while at anchor be a service you would utilize? I was looking to start a business servicing boats at anchor in and around USVI.

Sure but at what cost? How much per gallon are you going to have to sell water at to make a profit? Trash?? Most boaters have a dinghy and take trash to shore with them and get rid of it for free. At $3 a bag do you think that would be profitable?


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[seadog1775]

What services would you like to get while at Anchor?

[monte]

Internet

[monte]

Deliverance does a good business in the BVIs. He takes grocery orders, delivers drinks, ice etc and takes away rubbish. I haven't used him but hear him being hailed in the VHF quite a bit. The good thing about that area is he can cover 500 charter yachts within 20 minutes.
I just paid about $3 to have rubbish taken away but that's a rare thing. Usually we drop it off ashore ourselves bit here in the grenadines they don't have bins nearby and the service will dispose of it properly. The service is union island Tobago keys rubbish removal service or something. Giving it to a local boat dude might end up with it being thrown behind the next sand dune.

[Cheechako]

Yeah, it would be great. Although cruisers like to make "excursions" to get stuff because that's how they find experiences. Not sure there is enough value or not in the service. But it would be a nice option to have if someone comes by asking if we need veggies, garbage gone etc!
I always hated taking garbage ashore as my first step on land in a new location!
Not much I want to do ashore in the VI's anyway.... so your location I would pay for stuff that came to the boat.. oh yeah!

[Hud3]

Do a little Googling on Daffodil Marine in Bequia. They run a small fleet of boats that deliver water and diesel, and pick up laundry and trash in the harbor at Port Elizabeth. We used them a number of times and were very happy with the service and the prices.

[belizesailor]

Poll the boaters in your venue and see what they want. Every venue is a bit different. The San Blas veggie boats are a big deal for cruisers, because they deliver a lot of produce that is just not available elsewhere in the San Blas and/or its a bit of a trek to get otherwise.

The USVI probably has different needs.

For each product or service figure out how to make it profitable. The San Blas veggie boats charge a premium, but we are very happy to pay it. Its a big deal when they come thru...cruisers announce their arrival on VHF. Sure is convenient to privsion with them tied up right along side...no treking to wherever and humping bags around...well worth the higher cost.

Another boat there will deliver diesel/gas and the cruisers coordinate bulk fuel deliveries to keep the cost down.

In the San Blas many cruisers give water to the locals because many cruisers have water makers/catchment systems. Watermakers are becoming more common cruising gear so that market is shrinking. Beer and fuel may thus become the more profitable liquid deliveries.

I used to sail in another venue in which a local pizza shop would deliver within a certain radius. You just called in your order on VHF and good hot pizza would arrive. Very popular. In New England its common to find boats selling lobster rolls. So food is another common product. Maybe work out a deal with local restaurants and provisioning companies to deliver their products. Cruisers could choose from a menu and you charge a fee to deliver, plus maybe work out a commission with the provider.

[gts1544]

My gut would be that if you could find out what cruiser's are willing to pay high dollar for to avoid a shopping trip, you may be successful provided your mark up is sufficient. Remember that nobody does their weekly grocery shopping at the 7 / 11 !


George

[FSMike]

What service would you like?

Originally Posted by monte

Internet

It would be pretty neat if one of our technologically adept members could figure out a way to access wifi signals from a distance, then broadcast it from their boat to the surrounding anchorage.
If you could do that during the season in the Bahamas (I'm thinking Georgetown) you would probably make some bucks.
I have no idea about the legal/moral repercussions of doing this without paying for the source signal.

[colemj]

That is done in a couple of places - including Warwick Wells in the Bahamas (at least it was a number of years ago). A cruiser sets up a satellite connection and serves it by wifi to others.

Very slow and expensive.

Mark

[monte]

Ive thought about doing the same, but sharing a wifi signal from a land based station. Pick up the signal with a high powered receiver. Share it with the anchorage (those that don't have similar receivers) probably easy enough to set up some software. Log in, pay a few dollars an hour for access. Would be nice to sit on board and hear the $$$ going ding. Could also use a 3G sim, but data costs might be more difficult to manage. Maybe users could pay $10/200mb and it would be feasible.