Marinas That Allow Owner's to Work on Their Boats

[AKA-None]

When I toured marinas in the Chesapeake I noticed that those who supported a fishing fleet allowed diy

[jdvanvoorhees]

Originally Posted by SVHarmonie

As soon as he left, they were right back at it. I called again. This time the yard manager drove over to the travel lift without a word, started it up, and in 10 minutes had their boat in the water and told them to never come back.

I bought him a case of beer for his trouble.

I'm pretty good about staying in my lane and not being a douche - but reading these comments helps me understand why a lot of places wouldn't allow it.

Thanks

[jdvanvoorhees]

Originally Posted by MJH

NOTE: The Original Poster needs to be specific about the facility. Are you talking about a pure marina without boatyard, a boatyard, or a combination where the marina has haul-out facilities and a marina of slips for moorage.

Hmmm, I'm asking a question. Do marina's / boatyards allow DIY?

Since my limited experience is with facilities that had both (marina/boatyard/and haulout) I kind of assumed that most marinas had facilities attached. I'm learning that they don't.

Thanks for the input.

[Siberian Sea]

My boat is hauled out in Deltaville Virginia and they allow you to work on your own boat. Cost to haul my 40ft boat was around 300.00 dollars for the round trip plus 125.00 per month storage. Nice folks there. Outside contractors need to contact the yard office before they can work on your boat. If hauled out you need to bring your own ladder as there seems to be a shortage of them around the yard.

[Checkswrecks]

I'm at a marina in the Annapolis area and since I need to live with the place for a while do not want to say which. The place I'm at is where I found the boat on the hard needing work and I was full time working, so I couldn't leave and it's been over a year. The owners allow some DIY but it is very limited and they will absolutely only allow THEIR people to do anything below the waterline. They also will not allow owners to bring in new contractors. Or do their own winter shrink wrap. I'm sure you are getting the picture and how variable things are on your relation with the individual owner(s).

My experience asking around in the area is that some marinas will allow DIY, IF IF IF you are dustless and capture everything falling to the ground, per the Maryland Clean Marina rules. For example, White Rocks and Herrington. Others are extremely restrictive and allow less than where I am. Being on the west side of the Bay is definitely more expensive and tends to be more restrictive, but there's no way I'd put up with bridge traffic to get to the boat on Kent Island or the eastern shore.

The only way to find out is to BOTH call and visit in person. And because words are cheap, make sure to ask others for their personal experiences.

[AA3JY]

If the Md. marina is a designated ‘Green Marina’ then it’s pretty much a non or very restricted DIY marina..

https://dnr.maryland.gov/boating/Pag...rina/home.aspx

[BEB_B473]

I'll second the recommendation for Worton Creek Marina on the Chesapeake Bay. I kept my Catalina 36 there for 13 years and now bring my Beneteau 473 there every Fall for haul-out and winter storage. In my view, Worton Creek is a working boatyard and is very accommodating to consummate do-it-yourselfers like myself. I have always done my own bottom work (with appropriate vacuum sander to capture sanding dust), painting, fiberglass and gelcoat repair. WCM does require dust and chip capture using shop vacs attached to sanders and tarps under the boat if one is going to do sanding or scraping. Last year, I replaced the "windshield" on my Beneteau in the early Spring and John Patnovic (WCM owner) encouraged me to do all the prep work to get it ready for the new Lexan installation since this is the most time-consuming and expensive part of the job (I had WCM set the new Lexan in adhesive since there are no do-overs!). Another time, I replaced all the sanitary hoses on the Beneteau and again, I was encouraged to do the demo work to get it ready for new hose installation (I could have also done the install but I was under a time constraint). This year, I spent a lot of time bringing my 14-year-old hull topsides back to its original luster and shine. At one point I was on a scaffold working on my topsides while one of the marina techs was on scaffolding doing the same to the boat next to me. He was extremely friendly and willing to discuss products that we were both using. I would say that it is generally true of all the employees at WCM, including the owners, that they are willing to share knowledge and advice about any project you would attempt to undertake.

[kas_1611]

Appears to be a North American thing where marinas don't like or allow owners to work on their own boats. Most marinas over the other side of the Pond only restrict you to using their approved contractors for work but if you want to do it yourself, within sensible limits, they won't stop you. Not 100% sure but don't think they can actually stop you as it is your property. They can't stop you asking your friend (who might be an electrician or a plumber or a fibreglasser) from doing a "homer" for you in return for a few days onboard and a case of beers as long as you don't physically pay him (well as long as they don't see the transaction).

The only limitation on this is antifouling as we have some pretty restrictive rules in the EU on use of antifoul which does make it harder for the DIYer. again not 100% sure but most yards/marinas tend to only allow antifouling by contractors so they can ensure compliance with all the HS and E regulations (PPE, Disposal etc).

Guess it depends on what kind of work you want to do. Personally I'll leave the antifouling to them but engine service, topsides clean and polish, minor gelcoat touch up or repairs I'll tackle myself. But always "Love thy Neighbours" and clean up after yourself.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by jdvanvoorhees

I've been mostly a lake sailor and the marina where I kept my boat did allow owners to work on their boat at the slip or in the yard. However I've been watching a lot of videos about cruising and it seems that this is not the case with most marinas.

1) Have you found the "No Work on Your Boat" policy to be the norm?

2) Do you know of any marinas in the Chesapeake Bay area that do allow you to work on your boat in the yard?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Go on “CruisingGuide.com” and do a marina search. Most marinas in this guide state if they allow DYI. The internet is your friend.

[jdvanvoorhees]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

Go on “CruisingGuide.com” and do a marina search. Most marinas in this guide state if they allow DYI. The internet is your friend.

Thanks, I've been wearing out my keyboard searching online with very little positive results (and I'm a former IT Techie so I know how to search).

That being said I haven't tried the site you recommended so I'll give it a whirl. Thanks for the info.

[Training Wheels]

1, keep it neat and low key. Stay under the radar

2, better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by jdvanvoorhees

Thanks, I've been wearing out my keyboard searching online with very little positive results (and I'm a former IT Techie so I know how to search).

That being said I haven't tried the site you recommended so I'll give it a whirl. Thanks for the info.

Try “Activecaptain” and Marinas.com also.

[gonesail]

I heard of a marina that only allows you to wash your boat on certain days of the week .. so it all depends

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by Davy J

I'll add my two cents to this thread......

First, stop watching youtube videos about sailing. Or, at least the ones that are not providing info about sail trim, provisioning or passage making. The rest are just reality TV shows........

Next remember marinas fall into a few distinct categories........

1) Five star resort, with pool, restaurant and bar. They usually have no travel lift. But sometimes have a massage parlor........

2) Marina has slips, but no pool, bar or restaurant. Probably does not have travel lift or hard storage. There are a lot of these places.........

3) Marina has slips, dry storage and many times, racks for power boats. May or may not have any of the other amenities.

4) Marina may or may not have the amenities mentioned, but does have dry storage and a travel lift........... Here is the biggie,.... do they employ thirty guys running around bottom painting, rigging and all matter of other jobs?

Or do they have three guys running the fork lift, travel lift and emptying the trash. The later one is most likely to let you do your own work. They are out there, but are becoming more difficult to find.........

Good post and pretty much to the point

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by jdvanvoorhees

I'm pretty good about staying in my lane and not being a douche - but reading these comments helps me understand why a lot of places wouldn't allow it.

Thanks

Sounds strange to me.
The marina seems to have a PR problem.