Boat Yard / park exemplary service?

[Cornish Puffin]

Just wondering if anyone can help me with some good existing and implemented ideas?

I have recently starting working somewhere which has a dinghy/tender boat park facility, what strikes me is how passive it is regarding the customer offering.

Apart from the normal onsite interactions, general boat chat, help them launch etc we do no more than assign a spot and take the money, We internally walk the park daily for checks, but mostly safety and security in mind, so I'm after great ideas other facilities have implemented that help customers have a good experience, either wrapped up in to the cost of the facility, or if specific an additional level of service.

I hope this isn't some type of forum infringement of the rules as I'm commercial, but what I hope is for some good ideas from the wider world that are implemented and working to good effect.

Thank you.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

An electric recovery winch? We are about to cough up for a floating dock for our mini rib, as it’s very heavy to launch and recover. Our dinghy park used to have one, but it had to cross a footpath, and the elves came and took it away. The safety elves that is.

 

[Stemar]

An electric recovery winch? We are about to cough up for a floating dock for our mini rib, as it’s very heavy to launch and recover. Our dinghy park used to have one, but it had to cross a footpath, and the elves came and took it away. The safety elves that is.

It's a good idea, but who's going to operate it? Having a member of staff available is expensive. What would H&S say about an accident if it's being operated by the user. Would a signed declaration that they're competent get the OP off the hook? I'm not knocking the idea, it's a genuine question.

Our club has a winch and trailers that can recover boats up to around Centaur size, but it can only be operated by some members of the committee, who are trained in its use. We also have a mast derrick, which only has a sign saying it may only be operated by competent persons. I hope our insurance would cover it if one of those "competent persons" dropped a mast on someone

 

[Mark-1]

It's a good idea, but who's going to operate it? Having a member of staff available is expensive. What would H&S say about an accident if it's being operated by the user. Would a signed declaration that they're competent get the OP off the hook? I'm not knocking the idea, it's a genuine question.

Our club has a winch and trailers that can recover boats up to around Centaur size, but it can only be operated by some members of the committee, who are trained in its use. We also have a mast derrick, which only has a sign saying it may only be operated by competent persons. I hope our insurance would cover it if one of those "competent persons" dropped a mast on someone

A local club has a slipway winch that anyone can use (including random passers by!) so I guess it must be possible.

It must drive visitors - my kids always want to go there just to use the winch. (So do I, secretly. )

 

[DJE]

In a couple of places I've seen powered capstan winches at the top of slipways for hauling out ribs, small day sailers, and big dinghies. Just a smooth rotating drum that boat owners put their own ropes around. No machinery to get tangled up in, no ropes left lying around. It always looked pretty safe to me.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

In a couple of places I've seen powered capstan winches at the top of slipways for hauling out ribs, small day sailers, and big dinghies. Just a smooth rotating drum that boat owners put their own ropes around. No machinery to get tangled up in, no ropes left lying around. It always looked pretty safe to me.

A local club has a slipway winch that anyone can use (including random passers by!) so I guess it must be possible.

It must drive visitors - my kids always want to go there just to use the winch. (So do I, secretly. )

I'd be worried about the potential for injury if a rope broke. Imagine the following scenario:

Boat being hauled out of the water. A wheel of the trailer jams on a stone or the brakes jam on or the wheel bearings fail. The winch continues to haul until the breaking strain of the rope is reached. The rope breaks, whipping all over the place, potentially taking someone's head off.

Who's responsible? The provider of the winch, or the owner of the rope? Probably not a problem for a dinghy, but a trailer-sailer might weigh a ton or so, allowing substantial forces to come into play.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Our dinghy park has a max length of 16ft, and in any case you’d never be able to wheel a boat more than about 500kg through the boat parking to the slipway on the gravel. It was only the very public access, a shoreline footpath, that stopped the winch. I think it’s a shame, but fully appreciate that it has a hugely increased possibility of accidents.

 

[Mark-1]

I'd be worried about the potential for injury if a rope broke. Imagine the following scenario:

Boat being hauled out of the water. A wheel of the trailer jams on a stone or the brakes jam on or the wheel bearings fail. The winch continues to haul until the breaking strain of the rope is reached. The rope breaks, whipping all over the place, potentially taking someone's head off.

Who's responsible? The provider of the winch, or the owner of the rope? Probably not a problem for a dinghy, but a trailer-sailer might weigh a ton or so, allowing substantial forces to come into play.

I didn't mention it but my lad very nearly got a hand tangled in a loop that was headed around the drum. A number of people shouting plus a speedy press of the red button saved the day. (Amusingly the winch continues to turn for 5 seconds or so after the red button is hit,) My gut feel is he would have sorted himself out before his hand reached the drum but there is certainly the potential for being injured. Of course that has to be offset against the number of people squashing vertebrae/discs/cartilage etc. dragging boats. I've had a bad back for two months after being a human boat tractor on junior week and I am far from unique. When I watch the expressions on the faces of elderly people manhandling heavy RIBS I am 100% sure there are far more people (gradually) seriously injuring themselves dragging boats around than would ever be hurt by a winch. Of course, the "gradually injured" aren't going to sue the sailing club which is, understandably, what matters to the decision maker in these cases.

I've always thought the middle ground would be a 4-1 pulley system, but that would require miles of line or some kind of stage-by-stage reattachment mechanism (hook and chain?) but that all brings its own faff and bother and I suspect would be a tangled useless mess 5 minutes after it was installed.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We have tried a 3:1 pulley system, with ball race blocks too. It was no easier than pulling the boat up by hand, tried various attachments etc. We now have a 12v winch powered by the RIBs own battery, for those times when we just can’t face it. It’s excruciatingly slow, but it gets the boat up the slipway eventually. It’s on a launch trolley with a jockey wheel. The whole operation isn’t helped by the 10cm of glutinous mud that builds up and is occasionally pressure washed off. Now there might be the worst job in Yarmouth, I don’t blame them for not doing it very often. The smell is appalling.

And yes, tangled mess, and covered in that stinking mud A sense of humour is vital on these occasions.

 

[benjenbav]

Going back to OP, I would suggest a staffed launching service.

One of the appealing features of dry stack, for example, is that you don’t have to launch and recover yourself.

And we’re all getting older and feebler. Perhaps some would be happy to pay a little bit more to have their tenders/dinghies launched and recovered.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Going back to OP, I would suggest a staffed launching service.

One of the appealing features of dry stack, for example, is that you don’t have to launch and recover yourself.

And we’re all getting older and feebler. Perhaps some would be happy to pay a little bit more to have their tenders/dinghies launched and recovered.

And that’s a nice weekend/summer job for teenagers. Perhaps ones that might seek full time work in the yard in future.

 

[Dellquay13]

If the slip is in tidal waters, how about a notice board with daily tide times and heights, in big enough text to be easily photographed with a phone?
It would need an amount of someone’s time to keep it updated, but the more often it could be updated the better.
Daily would be the gold standard, big letters and easy to understand without searching down a list, a monthly table is getting faffy and more info than people easily pay attention to. Most budget managers would suggest annual tide tables though.

 

[ylop]

I have recently starting working somewhere which has a dinghy/tender boat park facility, what strikes me is how passive it is regarding the customer offering.

I guess the question is if the existing customers are happy with that, and if they prefer it that way do you have other customers who would take over the spots if you scare them away!

However as a user of such places past and present - do you have secure storage for outboards? With an increasing move to electric o/b is there potential to charge? If you have lots of inflatables a decent quick pump might be useful (if you’ve seen the sort of self service tool stations cafes etc sometimes offer cyclists) - actually if you have visitors by bike then that too. Security is every dinghy park users worry - so cctv and barriers etc are good. If people use the area in the dark then consider lighting. If you don’t have a pontoon then consider how you can make it as easy as possible for people launching and recovering to get/return trolleys etc.

A nice touch at our club is there are spare bouyancy aids available -if you turn up and have forgotten one, you can borrow and return.

If you are there everyday anyway printing the weather forecast (and tide times) and placing on a noticeboard is useful. Contact details for useful places (depending on users that might be chandlery, takeaways, harbour master, doctors surgery etc) - can add to a sense of welcome.

If you really want to add value then it depends on who/what you are doing and trying to attract. Eg, moorings so someone can leave a boat afloat over the weekend, showers, toilets, kettle/coffee machine, etc…

 

[AntarcticPilot]

A freshwater hose to wash down trailers and boats?

 

[DJE]

Boat being hauled out of the water. A wheel of the trailer jams on a stone or the brakes jam on or the wheel bearings fail. The winch continues to haul until the breaking strain of the rope is reached. The rope breaks, whipping all over the place, potentially taking someone's head off.

With a capstan winch it only continues to haul as long as someone is tailing the line. They can see and feel what is going on and should be in no doubt that they are responsible for the safety of the operation.
The yard could provide a line with a break load greater than the capacity of the winch and regularly inspect and replace it.

 

[benjenbav]

I guess the question is if the existing customers are happy with that, and if they prefer it that way do you have other customers who would take over the spots if you scare them away!

However as a user of such places past and present - do you have secure storage for outboards? With an increasing move to electric o/b is there potential to charge? If you have lots of inflatables a decent quick pump might be useful (if you’ve seen the sort of self service tool stations cafes etc sometimes offer cyclists) - actually if you have visitors by bike then that too. Security is every dinghy park users worry - so cctv and barriers etc are good. If people use the area in the dark then consider lighting. If you don’t have a pontoon then consider how you can make it as easy as possible for people launching and recovering to get/return trolleys etc.

A nice touch at our club is there are spare bouyancy aids available -if you turn up and have forgotten one, you can borrow and return.

If you are there everyday anyway printing the weather forecast (and tide times) and placing on a noticeboard is useful. Contact details for useful places (depending on users that might be chandlery, takeaways, harbour master, doctors surgery etc) - can add to a sense of welcome.

If you really want to add value then it depends on who/what you are doing and trying to attract. Eg, moorings so someone can leave a boat afloat over the weekend, showers, toilets, kettle/coffee machine, etc…

Some great ideas there. Particularly the electric o/b storage and charging. Might only need one or two charge points if owners left a note on their outboards to say when they are next needed. Staff could connect and disconnect so that everyone could expect a reasonable level of charge when they collected their o/b.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I am not looking for much: clean toilets and showers accessed only by the berth holders, a strong WiFi signal at all locations that is fast, mast and boom storage racks in sufficient quantity for all customers, or decent trestles for along side storage, access roads without pot holes, good security, decent segregated waste bins, electric vehicle charge points, plenty hard standing electrical points, preferably a tarmac, concrete car park and hard standing instead of a pot holed stone screed base, working hard standing drainage, all round tide travel hoist use, tractor and trailer travel lift for smaller boats, small sheds or spaces to rent to keep boat maintenance stuff, trestles and scaffold boards to rent, good lighting all round the yard, laundry service.

 

[DJE]

I am not looking for much: clean toilets and showers accessed only by the berth holders, a strong WiFi signal at all locations that is fast, mast and boom storage racks in sufficient quantity for all customers, or decent trestles for along side storage, access roads without pot holes, good security, decent segregated waste bins, electric vehicle charge points, plenty hard standing electrical points, preferably a tarmac, concrete car park and hard standing instead of a pot holed stone screed base, working hard standing drainage, all round tide travel hoist use, tractor and trailer travel lift for smaller boats, small sheds or spaces to rent to keep boat maintenance stuff, trestles and scaffold boards to rent, good lighting all round the yard, laundry service.

And cheap as well presumably.

 

[ylop]

I am not looking for much: clean toilets and showers accessed only by the berth holders, a strong WiFi signal at all locations that is fast, mast and boom storage racks in sufficient quantity for all customers, or decent trestles for along side storage, access roads without pot holes, good security, decent segregated waste bins, electric vehicle charge points, plenty hard standing electrical points, preferably a tarmac, concrete car park and hard standing instead of a pot holed stone screed base, working hard standing drainage, all round tide travel hoist use, tractor and trailer travel lift for smaller boats, small sheds or spaces to rent to keep boat maintenance stuff, trestles and scaffold boards to rent, good lighting all round the yard, laundry service.

that's quite some dinghy park!

 

[RunAgroundHard]

that's quite some dinghy park!

My AC75 requires a lot of support.