Marinas That Allow Owner's to Work on Their Boats

[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.

[slug]

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.

I’ve worked on boats in marinas all over the world

Never a problem

The “rules “ are common sense , keep your boat ship shape. don’t make dust, dont disturb your neighbor, dont make a mess on the dock ......

If you must perform a messy task , bring the boat to a shipyard

[cortezsailor]

Operating a marina I allow it but have found I need to be on it . My rule was always don’t bother your neighbours and no work on the dock surface . This past year I had to deal with a guy who had somehow managed to get a planer on his boat . Technically inside the rules but outside the spirit

[jdvanvoorhees]

Originally Posted by slug

I’ve worked on boats in marinas all over the world

Never a problem

The “rules “ are common sense , keep your boat ship shape. don’t make dust, dont disturb your neighbor, dont make a mess on the dock ......

If you must perform a messy task , bring the boat to a shipyard

I'm generally a courteous person and I never had any issues at the marina where I kept my boat, my comment was based on what I've seen and heard people say in their videos.

[jdvanvoorhees]

Like I said, I haven't done much ocean sailing, just 6 months on the Western Union in Key West years ago, so I'm unfamiliar with what is "normal."

I have personally talked with one marina owner on the Texas coast that would not allow it since they have techs under contract, and a marina in Missouri that wouldn't allow it for the same reason and they didn't actually have a "Yard" for boats. The marina I used in Texas had a huge concrete lot where they parked all the boats on the hard and I kind of thought most places had that as well.

I guess it's like a lot of things, if you aren't a jerk people will allow you to do more because they know you're responsible.

Thanks for your comment.

[SVHarmonie]

Years ago I was hauled out in a yard in the San Francisco Bay Area. I had spent a week prepping my topsides for paint, and finally on a Saturday I was ready to apply the first coat of paint. Except...

Two boats over a couple bozos were sanding the bottom of their boat with no vacuum, no dust collection of any kind. A huge toxic cloud of black dust was spreading everywhere. I called the yard manager, he drove out on his day off and read them the riot act.

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.

[AKA-None]

My marina allows diy on your boat but no outside contractor for work that they offer.
What you do while in the water is very closely monitored.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by SVHarmonie

...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 love a story with a happy ending!

I've had to clean up all kinds of crap from work being done on neighboring boats. Usually minor and unintended, but a couple of times it's been costly to repair and at least once it was hard to figure out how it could have been an accident.

Also, for-profit marinas each have to figure out how to stay in business. For some, this means a full-time mechanic staff. Obviously they need to pay their bills too.

Add to that the liability issues, and you start to understand why there have to be rules, and why the rules are different (and differently enforced) everywhere.

Each marina has a personality. Find one which matches yours. If you're a DIY type, you won't be comfortable in a "yottie" marina where the only maintenance the owner ever does is write a check.

I've found smaller marinas and some private clubs tend to be friendlier to DIY'ers. Big, corporate-owned marinas are often less so.

[Amihan59]

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.

In the Chesapeake Bay, Port Annapolis will allow you to work on your boat while in the yard. Hartge Yacht Harbor in Galesville will, but cannot do bottom painting or sanding.

[MIRELOS]

Georgetown Yacht Basin, allowed complete do it yourself work but they are changing hands in the fall (Safeharbor) so I don't know what will happen....bummer

[LouN]

Herrington Harbour North allows DIY with rules on dustless sanding and grinding. No tenting/complete enclosure of boat. Outside contractors are to notify office when onsite.

[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.........

[daviddiscenza]

I've kept my boat at two marinas on the Chesapeake: Tolchester Marina and Worton Creek Marina, both in Chestertown, MD on the eastern shore. Both have allowed owners to work on their boats while on the hard. Worton Creek Marina is a certified Maryland Clean Marina and follows the practices outlined by the MD Dept. of Natural Resources. I can't speak about Tolchester's participation in the clean marina program.

[MJH]

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.

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.

As for just finding a place to haul-out your boat and working on it yourself (DIY), the numbers are shrinking fast in the northwest. The operators are shifting the blame to the environmental agencies but in reality it is a management problem they don't want to handle and gives them bigger profits by having them do the work.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[jdvanvoorhees]

Thanks for the info.

Like I said, my experience with marinas is mostly on lakes in Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.

I lived on the Western Union in Key West back in the 80s but I'm sure things are a lot different these days.

I'm looking at a boat in Annapolis that may need some work prior to sailing back to Texas and really need info about marinas in that area that will allow you to work on your boat and have a travel lift for haul out. I've tried looking online but there are like 10,000 marinas around the Chesapeake Bay area and I don't want to have to call every one of them lol

I think your info was good information and mirrors what I'm finding as I call and look up marinas online.

THanks again for your comment.