Dock what do you think

See my post down low in mid Atlantic thread. There is not one valet hotel or anything related to house that would treat your property this way. But some how these jackasses think it’s ok to do treat your floating property this way!
 
Maybe some boaters that don't spend every night in their seasonal slip ought to be treated/charged like a transient boater. That way if the marina rented out the slip during the week you went on a trip you wouldn't be all worked up about 'double dipping'.;)
 
DougLas said:
The point to look at here. In a vacation area a place is rented for the season upon leaving for a fishing trip in the area for a week. The owners rent your place for that week with all your belongings still in it.
There is a car parking spot rented for the year. The owners rent it to another party when you are not there.
In any of these circumstances the original renters show up with other parties in their rented places. How should they feel? The same as a boater feels like it's not really a big deal from what was stated earlier.
With this as an example is there any other areas of rental properties one would find it to be ok for it to be rented even though it was already paid for?
Why is it ok for a marina to rent a dock that is already rented where in any other rental areas this is known as "double dipping."
If the dock was rented the rental proceeds should be go to the original renter. I cannot see how the marinas can get away with this. Other than it has never been challenged.
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The marinas “get away” with this because they own the marina and this is a part of their business plan. If you owned the marina you would be doing the same. It’s not like they are scamming you. It’s in the contract you sign. Don’t like the contract? Don’t sign it.
 
I definitely prefer marinas have availability for me to visit them and charge a reasonable rate. This practice allows it. I think giving the leaseholder some cut of the proceeds is a good idea. Incentivizes everyone to play along.

I am under no assumption that I have any ownership rights to my leased slip nor anything approaching residential tenant rights. Their business. Their sandbox. Their rules.
 
It’s in ours as well. As someone else said, we just don’t tell them we are leaving. If we do go away for a weekend it’s fine by me if they use it
 
The marinas I've had seasonal slips at all requested to be notified if I was planning to vacate the slip for more than a day or two. I took a couple week cruise most years and left my slip "clean" with my dock box locked. I always called a day or two prior to my planned return to verify the slip would be clear when I arrived. So, with a little communication on everyone's part, there was never any issue. I've stayed in some seasonal slips as a transient but don't remember ever having lines in place. TV cable, water hose and that kind of thing were all that were ever in place which I avoided using.
 
Woody said:
Maybe some boaters that don't spend every night in their seasonal slip ought to be treated/charged like a transient boater. That way if the marina rented out the slip during the week you went on a trip you wouldn't be all worked up about 'double dipping'.;)
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But I do spend alot of time at the dock
 
This is what I am leading too. A rental agreement is a rental agreement be it for a dock, room, parking spot, house etc. The reason a marina can get away with it quit simply no one contest it figuring no big deal. Nor sure why one looks at it being ok to be taken advantage of in a marina rental. Here is an example to see how one feels ? A boater friend rented his dock in a marina for the season and rented a second dock for the season on an island that was very popular boating destination. When arriving at the island to find his dock on one of the biggest events of the season his dock had been rented and there were no other spaces available. How should one feel about this? Is it considered as just find another dock and where? When no docks available. Also as the boater that rented his dock think of how they would feel if they were told they had to leave?
 
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DougLas said:
This is what I am leading too. A rental agreement is a rental agreement be it for a dock, room, parking spot, house etc. The reason a marina can get away with it quit simply no one contest it figuring no big deal. Nor sure why one looks at it being ok to be taken advantage of in a marina rental. Here is an example see how does one feel about this? A boater friend rented his dock in a marina for the season and rented a second dock for the season on an island that was very popular boating destination. When arriving at the island to find his dock on one of the biggest events of the season had been rented and there were no other spaces available. How should one feel about this? Is it considered as just find another dock and where when no docks available. Also if the boater that rented his dock think of how they would feel if they were told they had to leave?
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No one is forcing you to sign the agreement. If you don't like it find another Marina.

As to your situation above communication like in every other aspect of life goes a long way.

When we leave we tell them our proposed plans, but they also check in with us if gone over a week to make sure our plans haven't changed, or we would call them if they did.

As an owner of a larger boat I absolutely agree with the others, that without this type of arrangement we would rarely be able to get into a transient marina. Finding dock space in New England for 50+ foot boats is ridiculously hard.
 
swaterhouse said:
No one is forcing you to sign the agreement. If you don't like it find another Marina.

As to your situation above communication like in every other aspect of life goes a long way.

When we leave we tell them our proposed plans, but they also check in with us if gone over a week to make sure our plans haven't changed, or we would call them if they did.

As an owner of a larger boat I absolutely agree with the others, that without this type of arrangement we would rarely be able to get into a transient marina. Finding dock space in New England for 50+ foot boats is ridiculously hard.
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To put it simply yes, it is illegal to rent your dock to another boat when the marina is keeping the money. In turn if the money paid by a transient was given to the original renter that is legal. It could be used as a credit towards the next year dockage or in the marina store. Also, if this were to be changed where the money was paid to original renters the ones that feel the marina needs the money can donate it back. This is one of the contractual rules I have lived with since the 70s does it make it right? " no".
The statement it is in the contract does not make it enforceable. It is hard to enforce rule that is against the law unless no one contested it. If a problem should a rise just remember this.
As for communication with the marina, when he has been going there all season with no problem why call the marina? To see if the dock he paid for is rented. He has been going there all season.
 
DougLas said:
To put it simply yes, it is illegal to rent your dock to another boat when the marina is keeping the money. In turn if the money paid by a transient was given to the original renter that is legal. It could be used as a credit towards the next year dockage or in the marina store. Also, if this were to be changed where the money was paid to original renters the ones that feel the marina needs the money can donate it back. This is one of the contractual rules I have lived with since the 70s does it make it right? " no".
The statement it is in the contract does not make it enforceable. It is hard to enforce rule that is against the law unless no one contested it. If a problem should a rise just remember this.
As for communication with the marina, when he has been going there all season with no problem why call the marina? To see if the dock he paid for is rented. He has been going there all season.
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I’m not sure if you are in Michigan but if you are there is Michigan legislation that debunks your argument. Many of our slips are publicly owned. Not only can seasonal slips be rented to transient boaters, the seasonal renter must give 48 hours notice of when they will return to reclaim their rental slip. I’ve never heard anyone ever question the practice in Michigan which is well understood and our SOP. Maybe other states are more restrictive, but maybe not.
 
sbw1 said:
I’m not sure if you are in Michigan but if you are there is Michigan legislation that debunks your argument. Many of our slips are publicly owned. Not only can seasonal slips be rented to transient boaters, the seasonal renter must give 48 hours notice of when they will return to reclaim their rental slip. I’ve never heard anyone ever question the practice in Michigan which is well understood and our SOP. Maybe other states are more restrictive, but maybe not.
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In the thought that the state owns the dock still does not mean it is legal to do that. So, bit of a chuckle here since when does a state do everything that is legal?
 
It is codified and has not been overturned. In other words it is law.
 
DougLas said:
Double dipping is charging twice for something that is already paid for. It is illegal to charge rent for a place already rented that is double dipping
I came back to my dock in a hard blowing wind to find all my dock lines untied and laid in front of my slip. It made docking real interesting since it was just the wife and I in a 39 ft boat. We always depended on the lines to be in place to grab. Along with one power cord missing. Inquiring at the office they had put someone in the dock and they would check to see if they could get the power cord back. You see there is another line saying marina is not responsible for anything lost or stollen.
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You keep saying it’s “illegal.” By what law? It’s agreed to in the contract. Not illegal at all.

And that’s why you put your stuff away when you leave.

As SWB points out without such provision boating to different destinations will be impossible. How fun would that be?
 
Have not read mine in a few years, but when my dock nieghbor is out for extended trips, he calls me to let me know that his slip is available for my use. I'll bring one of my CCs down and slip it while I'm there to avoid lauching/picking everyday, as I am typically single handing it. We mostly do day trips on The Office so no experience from that end. Marina is fine with it so far.
 
I hate this policy as well. It goes along with the high indoor heated storage but you can’t put anything under your boat but they have no issues taking down aft canvas to jam a boat spider nested anchor pulpit in to your cockpit. As with all things marine it’s about money not customer service. I just stay mute when we leave on trips for this reason.
 
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