Is boat maintenance an essential journey?

[SimonFa]

D&R has just announced that their marinas and boatyards will start opening from Monday.

Apologies if I've missed it, but has the team decided if boat maintenance is an essential journey?

 

[wallacebob]

I can’t see anything on their website: source of info?
The short answer is , of course not.

 

[SimonFa]

Its an email.

An RYA email arrived just after it, seems to think it is as they've been pushing the govt to open marinas.


RYA leads call for limited and controlled access to marinas

 

[FlyingGoose]

Absolutely , especially if it is on the water , and you keep social distancing and wash your hands the chances of spreading or get infected are pretty minuscule, ,
Boats in the water are not static caravans or holiday homes, which do not need regular checks and maintenance on them as a boat does ,
A marina can open and its yard as long as it has put in place social distancing and protection for it staff, plastic screens, no members of the public at boat launching, making sure you keep you distance ,
Passing another person on a pontoon can be achieved very easily , do not cough , or sneeze or grab them for a snog , then how does the virus Jump onto them
Keep you mouth closed wear a mask and walk past fast no problems at all , this is called being sensible and responsible oh were do we practice such things in this country already och I know , Band Q the chemists, the Super Market, the Doctors surgery, the local shop, Mcdonalds, Burger King, etc , etc etc ,
If you cannot be responsive and use common sense , do not go to your boat

 

[chrisharris]

Do they mean open for berthholders (for maintenance) or just for commercial/trade maintenance? Any chance you could post the text of the email?

 

[SimonFa]

I agree, but plod is pretty keen round here because of tourists and holiday homes.

 

[Lucky Duck]

I read that email as saying they were open to contractors only rather than boat owners

 

[SimonFa]

Do they mean open for berthholders (for maintenance) or just for commercial/trade maintenance? Any chance you could post the text of the email?

It says tenants as well.

Another week goes by in these extraordinary times and we’re starting to hear whispers of positive news coming from the UK government. This means we can start firmly looking towards the future.
We would like to thank you for your continued support in restricting yourselves to necessary travel only. We also want to reassure you that we are continuing to look after your boats and are working hard to keep our facilities and equipment in peak condition so that things are shipshape for when you’re able to return to boating.
It’s clear to us that as soon as the lockdown is lifted, and we’re able to let you and your crew visit and use your boat again, we will have a huge demand for lifting and launching. That’s why we’re working up a plan to allow us to efficiently handle these requests, while ensuring we work within the various restrictions that are likely to remain with us in order to keep a safe and working facility.
On this basis, we are planning to start working at our boatyards again as soon as we can, and to also provide contractors access to boats ashore and afloat in order to handle the backlog of maintenance and repair work. The schedule below sets out the dates we are working towards.

We’re acutely aware of how frustrating the current position is, with boat owners desperately wanting to gain access to their pride and joy. Please rest assured that we will be monitoring government directives on leisure boat owners closely so that we can reunite you with your boats just as soon as is safe to do so. In the meantime, we are continually checking and making sure everything is okay with all boats at our marinas, and we will continue to keep you updated.
If you have any requests or particular requirements for your boat, just drop us a line or give us a call and we will do what we can to help.
Finally, we send our very best wishes to you and your family and we hope to see you back at your marina and out on your boat as soon as possible.
All the team at Dean & Reddyhoff and Quay Marinas

Rereading it I'm not sure the marina is open, just the boatyard. The excitement got too much for me.

 

[FlyingGoose]

Another thread were plod apologised for telling a marina to close completely, which is not in the guidelines, as staff need to work , even with no customers
But if the Journey can be justified as reasonable and essential or a major asset could be lost or damaged, then that is the argument, but I would not hold out in plod understanding this , as there seems to be a scary attempt of constables defining their own rules on the spot without going up the food chain for a sensible decision .
So who knows is the answer for some .

 

[SimonFa]

I read that email as saying they were open to contractors only rather than boat owners

See above.

 

[bdh198]

Is a berth holder considered a “tenant”? My understanding was that berth holders are not. There is no tenancy in place just a licence to moor your boat.

That email from D&R suggests to me it won’t be open to berth holders until the government relax the restrictions, which won’t be happening by Monday.

 

[Molteni]

Here's the text of the email from Dean & Reddyhoff and Quay Marinas

"Another week goes by in these extraordinary times and we’re starting to hear whispers of positive news coming from the UK government. This means we can start firmly looking towards the future.

We would like to thank you for your continued support in restricting yourselves to necessary travel only. We also want to reassure you that we are continuing to look after your boats and are working hard to keep our facilities and equipment in peak condition so that things are shipshape for when you’re able to return to boating.

It’s clear to us that as soon as the lockdown is lifted, and we’re able to let you and your crew visit and use your boat again, we will have a huge demand for lifting and launching. That’s why we’re working up a plan to allow us to efficiently handle these requests, while ensuring we work within the various restrictions that are likely to remain with us in order to keep a safe and working facility.

On this basis, we are planning to start working at our boatyards again as soon as we can, and to also provide contractors access to boats ashore and afloat in order to handle the backlog of maintenance and repair work. The schedule below sets out the dates we are working towards.

We’re acutely aware of how frustrating the current position is, with boat owners desperately wanting to gain access to their pride and joy. Please rest assured that we will be monitoring government directives on leisure boat owners closely so that we can reunite you with your boats just as soon as is safe to do so. In the meantime, we are continually checking and making sure everything is okay with all boats at our marinas, and we will continue to keep you updated.

If you have any requests or particular requirements for your boat, just drop us a line or give us a call and we will do what we can to help.

Finally, we send our very best wishes to you and your family and we hope to see you back at your marina and out on your boat as soon as possible.

All the team at Dean & Reddyhoff and Quay Marinas

 

[Motor_Sailor]

Is a berth holder considered a “tenant”? My understanding was that berth holders are not. There is no tenancy in place just a licence to moor your boat.

Correct. The tenants are the occupiers of the various workshops and businesses that aren't direct employees of Dean & Reddyhoff.

 

[SimonFa]

Is a berth holder considered a “tenant”? My understanding was that berth holders are not. There is no tenancy in place just a licence to moor your boat.

That email from D&R suggests to me it won’t be open to berth holders until the government relax the restrictions, which won’t be happening by Monday.

That makes sense.

As I said above, I got quite excited and now I'm on the downer

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I have sent email to RYA asking them to petion the government on this.

This morning I passed a house with roofer working aloft, then another workman letting himself into a house. He said (from 4m distance) that he was painting inside as he had no money for over six weeks and householder was away in daytime but needed job done. Clearly they cant wait for government to give guidance.

Unreasonable restrictions make bad law. Social distancing is essential and might be needed for years maybe (I hope not but...)

However work needs to be done and people need to earn and attend to their needs. We areat risk from dangerous social contact in our supermarkets. Marinas and boatyards are a haven of peace by comparision where one pops ones head out of the cabin to say hello to occasional folk and 5 metres away

 

[Mark-1]

The test isn't 'essential journey' the test is "reasonable excuse".

Given repairing a leaking shed roof meets the "reasonable excuse" test I'm pretty sure repairing a leaking/sinking boat would be a reasonable excuse as would any other repairs that prevented further damage. In contrast cleaning the topsides or making improvements wouldn't be "reasonable excuse". Of course, a professional can work on your boat on your behalf in any way perfectly legally.

CPS interpretation of the law here:
https://www.college.police.uk/What-we-do/COVID-19/Documents/What-constitutes-a-reasonable-excuse.pdf

 

[bedouin]

I have sent email to RYA asking them to petion the government on this.

This morning I passed a house with roofer working aloft, then another workman letting himself into a house. He said (from 4m distance) that he was painting inside as he had no money for over six weeks and householder was away in daytime but needed job done. Clearly they cant wait for government to give guidance.

Unreasonable restrictions make bad law. Social distancing is essential and might be needed for years maybe (I hope not but...)

However work needs to be done and people need to earn and attend to their needs. We areat risk from dangerous social contact in our supermarkets. Marinas and boatyards are a haven of peace by comparision where one pops ones head out of the cabin to say hello to occasional folk and 5 metres away

There are actually very few restrictions to stop people from working - most retail settings and holiday destinations are closed down but builders/painters/decorators etc are allowed to continue working with no restriction.

The public perception Is that the restrictions are much stricter than they really are.

 

[James_Calvert]

So...

The lockdown is not intended to stop people going to work who can't do it at home...

Consequently boatyard and marina staff may work. If they can socially distance during their working day.

They can work on customers' boats.

Can they work in their lunch break on their own boat in the same yard?

Similar for contractors?

If so, what's stopping other owners working on their boats?

Working on the boat isn't a reasonable excuse to travel to the yard?

Lack of effective control by yard management over social distancing requirements?

Yard facilities, loos etc may not be configurable for social distancing?

Seriously, anything else that might justify a yard banning owners from working on their boats?

 

[Mark-1]

Can they work in their lunch break on their own boat in the same yard?

If they don't have to travel to do it then yes.

If so, what's stopping other owners working on their boats?

The fact they have to travel, which is only allowed with 'reasonable excuse'. If their boat is where they live they don't have to travel and that's fine.

 

[DJE]

The fact they have to travel, which is only allowed with 'reasonable excuse'. If their boat is where they live they don't have to travel and that's fine.

The yard is 5 miles away. There are several miles of harbour-side footpaths adjacent to it. So I can drive there to go for an hours walk on the footpaths but I can't drive there to do a few jobs on the boat.