Why are marinas allowed to charge for nothing ??

[flaming]

I have always found that there is a direct correlation between the expense of the marina and their desire to know the length of the boat to the nearest cm. Which can be a bit of a pain when you're not sailing the same boat from one week to the next!

I was thinking about this at the weekend, where we were allocated a pontoon about 25 feet long for a 40 footer. Normally I don't really have an issue with charging by length, but when I start having to run lines to the other side of the pontoon to hold the boat in place, I would deem that the marina has not supplied appropriate facilities for a 40 footer, so why should they expect to bill a 40 footer?

 

[Sandy]

Why are marinas allowed to charge for nothing

Because they make the rules, clearly the boss had no power to change the T&Cs.

If you have other marinas nearby get some quotes for next year and chat things over with the boss. Times are hard and the loss of a berth's income, or lots of berths income, may just force senior management to stop treating the berth holders like cash cows.

 

[prv]

Times are hard

Our marina is full this year. Every space along the pontoons (including the new one just laid this spring) is sold till next April, even the ones that currently look empty are being paid for but the boat is perhaps still ashore.

Two or three years ago they were very worried about declining occupancy and potential cashflow troubles.

Possibly we're just seeing the refugees from more expensive marinas closer to the Solent, but I wouldn't automatically assume that marinas are still struggling now.

Pete

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Drop them an E mail and ask if it's ok to liveaboard in their marina . I did and got an absolute No as a reply .

It's odd that they take that line isn't it? We know that jellyellie(?) was a liveaboard there and she, or someone else, spoke of others. Maybe they are prepared to tolerate a few but don't want too many?
It may even be that our erstwhile blagger has been told that her 30ish foot sail boat is one thing but a 50 foot lump of timber is another thing altogether? I don't know. I don't even know if the boat is still in Preston.

 

[JumbleDuck]

It may even be that our erstwhile blagger has been told that her 30ish foot sail boat is one thing but a 50 foot lump of timber is another thing altogether? I don't know. I don't even know if the boat is still in Preston.

Nothing on the blog since 28th April, when the lump of timber chugged round Preston Docks a bit. Rumours that she was looking for crew on crewseekers.

A google search on "Brighton liveaboard" gets quite a few hits, but since it's strictly against the rules and the council doesn't like it much. it's maybe something to do on the quiet. Whether that includes plastering it all over websites, blogs and the whole vibrant digital media marketing experience I wouldn't care to guess.

 

[KevB]

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

Ahh, but you take up more space under the water so should be charged appropriately.

 

[Tranona]

Yes, if they wished to be fair. Not that that forms part of their raison d'être, of course.



It is. My point is that the location is not a product of the marina business, it is a natural phenomenon for which most marina businesses, IMO, do not contribute, yet they benefit from what is a common resource.
I don't make these points expecting anything to change, just to point out the flaws in some of the simplistic "It's their marina and they can do what they like." arguments.

No different from any other activity in a society based on individual property rights where the "location" is not necessarily a common resource. Even where resources are commonly owned - that is not private, the people responsible for it will exploit the location - think municipal car parking charges.

Many marinas do operate a charging mechanism based on time used. Short stay, day time, overnight, discounts for longer stays etc which seems a pretty fair way to try and equate the charge to the resource use.

 

[Tomahawk]

Or is it the council tax free aspect that they don't like - all the benefits of the local amenities without any contribution.

There are a small number of "official" liveaboard moorings in Maldon Essex with PP. The berthholderss do pay some form of council tax.

 

[Tomahawk]

Snowey will probably back me up on this.. I get annoyed when we are charged a 50% surcharge for being a cat if we are moored alongside or on a hammer head. Indeed we got stung by Burnham Marnia the last time even though I had contacted them to find out of the alongside berths were free. Otherwise we would not have gone in!!

In Dieppe we we surcharged 70% and the bill came to £80 for a night. Le Harve charged us 60% extra, but we were in a finger berth and did take up more than half of the space available so I sort of forgive them... but not much.

 

[maby]

It could be calculated based on your actual wealth ))))) surely that is only fair.

If i work my whole life and get to payout 50% of my total wealth to buy a yacht then surely i should pay a lot less than someone who paid out 1% of there total wealth who is half my age to buy the same yacht )))))

So the fees will be lowest for the largest boats since their owners will have spent almost everything they have on buying and operating them! Works for me!

 

[Modulation]

Hmmm..........that was my feeling too. Per metre seems a fair way to charge. What else is there?

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.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Hmmm..........that was my feeling too. Per metre seems a fair way to charge. What else is there?

(Length overall) x (beam at rudder post) would suitably penalise the modern fat-arsed horrors. Fifty percent surcharge for bulbous cockpit tents.

 

[Grumpybear]

(Length overall) x (beam at rudder post) would suitably penalise the modern fat-arsed horrors. Fifty percent surcharge for bulbous cockpit tents.

Multiply any charge by the ratio of LOA to LWL to catch all those beautiful MABs.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I think the only fair way to charge is by engine capacity.

 

[Lakesailor]

Taking into account use of shoreside facilities perhaps an inventory of curry and beer would attract a fee multiplier.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Can we all agree on a 200% surcharge for unlocked wind generators?

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Can we all agree on a 200% surcharge for unlocked wind generators?

If that extends to those big land based ones, I think you'll have a lot of support.