Yard sends email....we will charge you $100 unless you call.

Ric in Richmond · Post by **Ric in Richmond** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:35 pm

My wonderful (is there a sarcasm smilie?) yard on Thursday AM sent a email to my home address (they have my home and work address....I know I have been dealing with them on other issues as well) stating:

> Please do not respond to this email. It is going through an email handler. If you need to contact me, please use *******marina.com. Thanks.
>
> This is your notification concerning Tropical Storm Hanna !!
>
> We will be removing canvas, dodgers, dinghies, etc. from all boats on the hurricane list that are in the marina, starting now.
>
> If you would like to remove your own canvas, please call immediately and let us know. If we remove canvas, etc. there will be a flat $100.00 charge. Canvas will be put down below, but will not be folded.
>
> We will also be doubling up lines on boats.
>
> If you are available and can help, thank you – we will need lots of extra help.
>
> Thanks,
>
>

Of course I didn't get it until Thursday night.

To strip my sails/canvas and THROW them down below is MAYBE a 15 minute job. They didn't double up any lines on my boat. They left halyards slack to slap against masts and on boats they did double up lines it is apparent that many yard workers are unable to tie a cleat hitch.

I went around and tied off halyards and fixed some of the cleat hitches. The boat adjacent to me was tied off in such away that it rested ON the finger pier with NO wind on it.

Tempted to tell them to stuff their $100.00

Is this a common practice in your marina???

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:26 am

We have procedures for securing boats for storms. It includes removing canvas and anchors, doubling lines and fenders etc.. There is no charge, it is simply done to the best of our abilities.

Ric in Richmond · Post by **Ric in Richmond** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:03 am

Wish it were that way at the place I keep my boat.

Here they charge for the slip and then you get to also pay for pool, internet, bike rental, dinghy storage, god forbid you want to take one of the sunfish out, they charge you for that too. Of course no one uses the bikes or the sunfish because of it.

You are strictly a profit center. The owners don't seem to be particluarly happy about running a marina. They are unfriendly. If I owned a marina I'd at least have fun running it!

Their general labor rate is 45 an hour. I'm giving them 30 minutes. They can sue me for the rest. I'd love to see what a judge says about them emailing that they will do X unless you call immediately.

LazyGuy · Post by **LazyGuy** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:36 pm

I have no argument for Rich in Richmond or anyone else that says boatyards are out to make money by turning each boat into a profit center. But to be fair you really need to look at their liability. If your boat RF jib pulls out, the added pressure snaps the mooring line and your boat becomes the ball in a game of high priced pinball through the mooring field. Worse, your boat gets hung up on a Hinkley or that beautiful big white Beneteau with the black bottom paint and matching fenders. It is your fault but they still have a mess to clean up.

If you do not have the wherewithal to strip your boat for an impending tropical storm, or you don't care, why should they do your work for free? It is for your benefit and the benefit of the other customers.

Right now, Hanna is predicted to get here some time around 2:00 AM. I am not worried about my mooring, it is the other guys with the 14 that year old pennant and chain that still have the RF Jib, dodger and Bimini set up breaking free and coming down on me. That is what will keep me up tonight.

Ric in Richmond · Post by **Ric in Richmond** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 6:30 am

Point is....I go down to my boat on EVERY storm. I usually am prowling the docks helping others, I did this storm as well. I was on the docks in Ernesto until the water was over my knees. It is part of being a boat owner.

I signed up for a HURRICANE HAUL OUT list, not a tropical storm, strip your canvas and sails list and by the way we will overcharge you by a factor of 2 and do a bad job of it list.

My peeve is the unilateral decision to impose a charge for work that was never asked for and justifying it by giving you an email with the option to call immediately to opt out.

They jumped the gun on this storm, made $8000 for the yard and then we got wind gusts that didn't top a summer thunderstorm.

I don't begrudge anyone making a profit on good work that was requested to be done. I requested that if a HURRICANE COMES I get hauled out of the water.

I do have a problem with ANY firm that just decides you will be better off if we do it this way, without getting acceptance, and then blatantly overcharging you for it.

Ironically when the marina decides to touch your boat and adjust your lines they probably shifted liability to the marina, since now all the owners are relying on the marina (the experts) to do it for them. When something does go wrong the owner simply has to say the expert told me they would do it and I expected they knew what they were doing.

LazyGuy · Post by **LazyGuy** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:18 am

Ric,

I did not mean any implication that you do not care for your boat or care about your boat. The fact that you are here on the forum says that you care about your boat. When I said "If you don't have the wherewithal to strip your boat...." I truly meant the greater you as the average Joe that though he might like to buy a boat but knowing little about boating and storm prep. Or those that purchased a boat and have since sailed past "Dive a damn Point" hoping to make an insurance claim and be done with boating. Please accept my apology for a poorly written response.

One additional point about the email, could it have been a broadcast/spam email to everyone at the yard not meant directly at anyone... more for the "greater you?" I am not trying to defend the yard just trying to see their point.

Ric in Richmond · Post by **Ric in Richmond** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:12 am

Sorry if I seemed a bit snippy above. I didn't think it was a slam on me particularly.

The email was not directed to me alone.

It was directed to the 80 some people on the haul out list who signed up for the "hurricance haul out" process at the marina. There was no mention of ANYTHING being done on the approach of a Tropical Storm and no mention of anything other than hauling being done. The had a blurb in a newsletter that if a HURRICANE WATCH OR WARNING was issued they would start their hurricane haul out procedures.

No one signed up for the "we now have carte blanche to do whatever the hell we want in the name of your best interest and charge you for it" program.

I do agree it is in the best interest of the marina as a group but I have an issue with the whole idea of "we are doing this unless you call back right now" schtick. I don't think it is a legal contract and I know it pissed off almost everyone I spoke with. Especially the people who CALLED and the yard STILL took off the canvas and sails (and bent his full battens in a U shape to shove them down the companion way).

I am putting them on notice to not touch my boat unless it is coming out of the water.

LazyGuy · Post by **LazyGuy** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:33 pm

I understand how you/they feel. The yard I used to be in had built new docks one year. The following year were on the very edge of a hurricane watch so they simply started pulling all the boats on the dock. No email, no phone call just haul out bills when it was all over. At the time, all the yards in the area had waiting lists so their response was to either pay up or move elsewhere. There are people still bitter about that one and rightfully so. Even if you won in court for the price of hauling, you would loose in the long run.

Ceasar Choppy · Post by **Ceasar Choppy** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:13 am

Our yard charges you if they have to re-tie your boat or if your lines snap and they have to replace them.

There are a few of us that usually stay down there to tend to our boats and help the yard folks deal with the idiot owner's boats who break loose because the owner chose to do nothing... and our marina is VERY exposed to the NE.

Our yard can and does gouge in many areas, but oddly, this type of gouging in not one of them.

If I were you, I would simply refuse to pay period. You did not authorize this type of service when you signed up for Hurricane Haul-out, and their opt-out e-mail gave you no chance to opt-out in a timely manner. But make sure they understand that the $100 for their service isn't the point-- its the fact that you did not authorize them to do any work that is the point.

keelbolts · Post by **keelbolts** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:37 pm

Ric,
I see you're in Richmond. There are plenty of marinas on the Bay. Find another. My marina called to ask me if I wanted to come remove my el cheapo blue plastic tarp from one of my boats. That was it. It was clear to most of us that Hanna would be, primarily, a rain event. I left my $1.50 tarp up & all it did was keep the rain out of my cockpit.

I don't know if fiddling with your lines transfers liability to the marina, but I do know physically moving your boat does. I'm sure some will argue that point, but my father was involved, some years ago, in a case where the Navy moved a boat that was subsequently damaged in a storm and was held responsible for repairing substantial damage to the boat. At what point does moving your boat around in the slip transfer responsibility to the marina? I don't know.

Find another marina.