Why are marinas allowed to charge for nothing ??

[clyst]

I've just renewed my marina contract but this year they have charged me the extra length for my dinghy in Davits ,which has been there for several years. to add insult to injury I was told I could remain in my existing berth! So what are they charging the extra length for ?Its a pure and simple rip off even the marina boss couldn't justify it other than saying its in the T and C.
I know most marinas charge for overall length but it's about time that is outlawed . How can you be charged for air space when the air isn't within the confines of the marina ?....... maybe some marina operator could explain 'cos mine can't !!

 

[SteveSarabande]

Paying by the metre is an odd idea. I have an 8 metre boat surrounded by 10m boats on the same size pontoon, they are paying £600 per annum more for exactly the same facilities

 

[ridgy]

You must be too young to remember the poll tax.

 

[ProDave]

You must be too young to remember the poll tax.

That was a good idea in principle, that everyone paid, not just home owners. BUT the the actual amount charged was wrong.

So I went from a single person at the time paying rates, to paying MORE for my poll tax.

And then when the poll tax was abolished and we went to the present system of council tax, guess what as a single person still, the council tax was more than the poll tax I had been paying.

No wonder people just shut up and just pay the council tax, because if we complained too much, it would be replaced with something else, costing us more.

 

[pvb]

I know most marinas charge for overall length but it's about time that is outlawed .

So how would you prefer the charges to be calculated?

 

[Tranona]

I've just renewed my marina contract but this year they have charged me the extra length for my dinghy in Davits ,which has been there for several years. to add insult to injury I was told I could remain in my existing berth! So what are they charging the extra length for ?Its a pure and simple rip off even the marina boss couldn't justify it other than saying its in the T and C.
I know most marinas charge for overall length but it's about time that is outlawed . How can you be charged for air space when the air isn't within the confines of the marina ?....... maybe some marina operator could explain 'cos mine can't !!

There has to be a basis for differential charging to reflect the different space boats occupy as a marina's main resource is space - not just the space the boat occupies but the space required to enter and exit berths. Different marinas use differing bases for charging - some by length of boat, some by size of berth and others by area occupied (L*B). Whatever the base there are winners and losers. The berth size means that small boat pay more than large boats compared with charges based on length, area penalises wide boats and so on.

In answer to your last question - they can charge you whatever they like and on whatever basis they determine. There is no right or wrong - it is their resource and they can set the conditions. You in turn have the option to take your business elsewhere if you don't like it.

 

[bedouin]

One thing that annoys me is that my marina doesn't charge for beam. The berths are so narrow that two wide MOBOs can't fit side by side - so they tend to pair off one MOBO and one yacht together. However I am sure both are charged the same

 

[Rigger Mortice]

It sounds like you have got away with being undercharged for years. At least they haven't asked for the backdated charges. Push it too much and they may.

 

[Sailfree]

I've just renewed my marina contract but this year they have charged me the extra length for my dinghy in Davits ,which has been there for several years. to add insult to injury I was told I could remain in my existing berth! So what are they charging the extra length for ?Its a pure and simple rip off even the marina boss couldn't justify it other than saying its in the T and C.
I know most marinas charge for overall length but it's about time that is outlawed . How can you be charged for air space when the air isn't within the confines of the marina ?....... maybe some marina operator could explain 'cos mine can't !!

Either pay for actual length or pay for length of berth. How will you feel if you are in a 13m berth ( only one available) and paying the same as a 13m boat with your own one of say 8m.

Or do you just want the best of both worlds?

 

[Grumpybear]

Either pay for actual length or pay for length of berth. How will you feel if you are in a 13m berth ( only one available) and paying the same as a 13m boat with your own one of say 8m.

Or do you just want the best of both worlds?

That's what our last marina in Plymouth (Sutton) wanted. They began charging for the boat length (including davits etc etc) or pontoon length, whichever was the greater. We exercised our right to take our business elsewhere, which was easier than for the OP since we aren't liveaboards.

 

[fergie_mac66]

Alter the davits to have hinges same as some boats with bowsprits have them hinge up . Move onto a swinging mooring , or for and aft mooring . Its like some places charge extra for cats ours is a narrow beam cat and a lot of mobos are the same width but they don't get charged for the extra width .More modern cats have a much wider beam in proportion to there length

 

[martyn78]

As post #6 but shorter.
Boats by definition are very easy to move.
Move.
Make sure the marina you are leaving are in no doubt as to why you are moving.
Make more friends in your new place.

 

[Sailfree]

That's what our last marina in Plymouth (Sutton) wanted. They began charging for the boat length (including davits etc etc) or pontoon length, whichever was the greater. We exercised our right to take our business elsewhere, which was easier than for the OP since we aren't liveaboards.

Ok I agree. I can understand charging by one method or the other but in the marina you mention it appears they wanted the best of both worlds.

I am currently moving from a MDL marina that charges £11,000pa to a club marina @ £4,300pa. Both are South Coast. One difference is VAT and I can't blame MDL for that.

Real problem is supply and demand. Need more marinas as well as houses!

 

[abraxus]

So how would you prefer the charges to be calculated?

A fixed price per berth would seem reasonable, just like they do in car parks. Of course the marina could determine the range of boat sizes appropriate for each berth, but it does seem odd that two boats can pay vastly different prices for the same faciilities just because one is a little longer.

I wouldn't mind so much paying for the length of the boat if that meant I got a full length pontoon though.

 

[Robin]

When we bought our current sailboat here in Florida and decided we needed davits for a dinghy it was a pleasant surprise not to be charged extra for the slip. We had carefully chosen davits that rotated in or removed if we wanted to but it had proven unnecessary as there was no extra charge made for the overall length change and leaving the RIB hanging on the back . Multihullers would also like that they are not charged here at 1.5 or2x either for having two hulls or more.

There is a 'but', however as our electricity is not metered but charged per 'cord' either 30A or 50A. Our internal AC is wired via two separate ring mains with one aircon on each to spread the loads, so we need two shorepower cords plugged in for both aircons (main and owners cabin) to work at the same time, even though our consumption is no higher than others who have single ring main circuitry. Fortunately our electrical expert provided us with a Y-splitter at the boat end to connect our two input sockets to just the one 30A shorecord from the dock. when we lived on board our last boat in the same marina (trawler mobo) we were charged double for electrics as liveaboards, despite using no more power than nearly all other boats on the same dock who left their boats connected to AC 24/7 just to dehumidify with the air conditioners even with nobody on board and their owners back up north in New York or wherever.

 

[clyst]

Either pay for actual length or pay for length of berth. How will you feel if you are in a 13m berth ( only one available) and paying the same as a 13m boat with your own one of say 8m.

Or do you just want the best of both worlds?

simple way is to pay for length of berth . If I owned an 8mtr boat and was offered a 13mtr berth I would have the option to say no thanks and either put my name on the list for an8mtr berth or go else where. Atleast that way you would only be paying for space used which to me seems a fair way .

I haven't got a problem with paying marina prices I just feel that charges should be made on length of boat ie If you have a 10mtr boat you pay 10x the mtr rate etc etc why screw extra for every cm overhang when nothing extra is supplied .

 

[doug748]

It's a tough ole world.

I have a long thin boat, with just me on it, and get to pay the same as a gert boat with a commune of 10 Frenchmen on board.

 

[temptress]

I've just renewed my marina contract but this year they have charged me the extra length for my dinghy in Davits ,which has been there for several years. to add insult to injury I was told I could remain in my existing berth! So what are they charging the extra length for ?Its a pure and simple rip off even the marina boss couldn't justify it other than saying its in the T and C.
I know most marinas charge for overall length but it's about time that is outlawed . How can you be charged for air space when the air isn't within the confines of the marina ?....... maybe some marina operator could explain 'cos mine can't !!

Marinas can charge what ever they like. You do not have to use them if you are not happy to pay.

 

[Lakesailor]

Marinas can charge what ever they like. You do not have to use them if you are not happy to pay.

Quite.
It's their space. If you want to use it you pay what they say.
If not, go elsewhere.

 

[PilotWolf]

...with one aircon on each to spread the loads...

Multiple a/c units?! Stop showing off!

W.