Marina berths contract what is included

The level of checking boats seems to vary between marinas with some doing virtually (or actually) nothing and others doing regular checks throughout the day. The best I have experienced is MDL Woolverstone on the Orwell, where there is someone on duty 24/7 and they are seen walking the pontoons routinely and the worst is at another location with marina staff knowing there was a problem with a boat and doing nothing. When the owner asked why they hadn’t at least called the response was to the effect that it wasn’t their responsibility and that owners should undertake regular checks. Whilst that might be their policy deciding not to put a call in about a known problem is something else!
 
Irish Rover said:
condescending
not offensive
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It's good to know that, despite the vagaries of written communication on the internet, my tone in this post was successfully conveyed! I'm not sure what startled plums out of his slumber this week but he's got multiple threads on varying topics - and I suspect we are once again being played to at least stoke his ego, if not his youtube profits.
 
ylop said:
It's good to know that, despite the vagaries of written communication on the internet, my tone in this post was successfully conveyed! I'm not sure what startled plums out of his slumber this week but he's got multiple threads on varying topics - and I suspect we are once again being played to at least stoke his ego, if not his youtube profits.
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Typical of you to try to distort what I wrote. If you think the OP is in breach of forum rules, report him. If he upsets you, put him on ignore. This is a reasonable thread, of interest to other boat owners.
 
I've had a couple of experiences with MDL not checking boats properly. The first was my own boat which was relaunched just prior to Covid so sat on it's mooring for a couple of weeks unattended. I got a telephone call from my nephew who had noticed the bow of the boat was unusually high. He alerted the marina staff and they responded quickly with a mains powered pump but they hadn't noticed anything wrong with the boat during their regular checks.
On another occasion the river level dropped significantly overnight. All of the boats moored alongside the wall were dangling from their lines. There was no-one in the marina office and no answer from the published number so I took it on myself to adjust lines.
Most recently my wife noticed a boat on the next pontoon was down at the stern. On this occasion I was able to alert the marina staff and they attended again with a mains pump. As I understand it the boat was actually lying on the bottom so wouldn't have gone any deeper!
So that's three seperate incidents at two MDL marinas where checks failed to detect boats in trouble. Now, on top of that, the fees are going by 9% for the second year running.
 
What you don’t get from a marina contract is any admission of liability.....if it goes wrong, it’s on your insurance not theirs
 
Aardee said:
A frequently or continually running bilge pump is often the first thing we notice when a boat is taking on water. Most of us are also sailors/ boat owners.
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This was my experience, sitting on my boat just watching the world go by, and heard a splashing sound for quite some time, so investigated and noticed the boat opposite was pumping out water with no owner onboard. It was the same model boat as mine, so I knew it was the bilge pump. Went to the Marina office, apparently it had already been reported by the Marina staff to the owner. Owner knew he was taking on water but wasn't serious. I encouraged the marina staff to check again the engine bay, we both found it filling up with water, so what was a minor issue had developed. In the end, the staff spent the night every few hours pumping the water out. I was amazed the owner was happy to leave a boat taking on water, if that was me it would have been lifted asap.
 
Bouba said:
What you don’t get from a marina contract is any admission of liability.....if it goes wrong, it’s on your insurance not theirs
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As usual with any contract, their liability in law will be appropriate to the service they are charging for regardless of any disclaimer or attempts to deflect. If they are charging for security or inspections, they may be liable if they fail to carry them out and take reasonable steps to inform the owner.
 
Where I am located, I have found the MDL staff quite attentive. I do see them walking around a couple of times a day. They have contacted me a few times over the years if they notice something not quite right which turned out to be nothing, even boarded my boat once to check something. I think it is a mixture of MDL staff and berth holders looking out for each other. Berth holders get to know other peoples boats and notice what is not quite right etc and report it to the office.

I wouldn't solely rely on marina staff to keep an eye on your boat. I take the responsibility to manage it myself such as remote cameras including the engine bay, sms text if the bilge pump start running and so on. That way I can check my boat daily even if not on site, it is so cheap to use technology these days.
 
I don't think it's a contractual issue, it's just good practise to "look after" your clients, if it were contractual, and anything went wrong, you could sue them rather than claim on your own insurance. I'm at an MDL but believe pallying up with other boaters is a good plan. I've walked passed boats in the past, and hopped on board to re clip their canopies.
 
You have obligations as well...of example...if you are going away, you tell the office...so they don’t have to go into stolen boat mode
 
DougOut said:
So that's three seperate incidents at two MDL marinas where checks failed to detect boats in trouble. Now, on top of that, the fees are going by 9% for the second year running.
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You sure on the berth fees increase? MDL Chatham is flat, this year to last. May vary across the estate of course.

Regarding the checking of boats: I’ve variously been in Woolverstone, Cobbs Quay and Chatham since the 90’s. Found all 3 MDL locations attentive to lines, fenders ‘popped’ onto the pontoon, part unfurled sails etc. With pontoon walks the norm, shortly after the shift change, morning & night. On one occasion followed by appearance of the high capacity pump.
 
Bouba said:
You have obligations as well...of example...if you are going away, you tell the office...so they don’t have to go into stolen boat mode
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Well said!

It's more about understanding where we have open berths for visitors and for how long. Thefts of boats on the water are thankfully rare.
 
Irish Rover said:
Typical of you to try to distort what I wrote. If you think the OP is in breach of forum rules, report him. If he upsets you, put him on ignore. This is a reasonable thread, of interest to other boat owners.
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Ylop Please put me on Ignore I have had you on ignore for Years. What you write aint worth reading
 
Scubadoo said:
This was my experience, sitting on my boat just watching the world go by, and heard a splashing sound for quite some time, so investigated and noticed the boat opposite was pumping out water with no owner onboard. It was the same model boat as mine, so I knew it was the bilge pump. Went to the Marina office, apparently it had already been reported by the Marina staff to the owner. Owner knew he was taking on water but wasn't serious. I encouraged the marina staff to check again the engine bay, we both found it filling up with water, so what was a minor issue had developed. In the end, the staff spent the night every few hours pumping the water out. I was amazed the owner was happy to leave a boat taking on water, if that was me it would have been lifted asap.
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Perhaps he was after an insurance claim lol
 
This was the Situation. Happened slowly apparently but Only what I have been told. Not sure how you could miss that if it did happen slowly. Twas a lovely boat and might be again
 

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Bigplumbs said:
Ylop Please put me on Ignore I have had you on ignore for Years. What you write aint worth reading
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I don't put anyone on ignore - its the equivalent of standing with your fingers in your ears saying I can't hear you...
And just like that people who do it still seem to reply to people they are apparently ignoring!
 
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