What Do You Hate about Your Marina ?

[cburger]

I would be most interested in hearing from members about what really pisses them off about thier yard or marina ???

[Kefaa]

Trash dumpsters next to bathrooms and pool. (push them off to where I don't NEED to go)

[sarafina]

Neglected boats. The ones with stuff piled all over them and ratty rotted tarps bungee corded down flapping in the wind, paint peeling and registration a decade old. Dock lines frayed and weak that break in storms and that I wind up fixing or replacing because I can't bear to watch a boat beat herself against the dock.

I HATE that...

well that and the colour of the tile in the ladies showers.... yucky yellow...

[RedBellies]

1. There's a bar on the premises and no security, no cameras. Anyone can just wander in and wander around.

2. No credit checks, no surveys, no insurance requirement. Sure, it's good for me, but it attracts what we call boat billies; crackheads with boats. I have good locks.

3. No laundry facilities.

4. No one ever cleans the bathrooms. It's pretty disgusting...

[perchance]

Not a marina but a sailing club. Members who should know better leaving their used oil (against club rules) by the dumpster for the club steward to deal with, Paint brushes coffee cups and horror of horrors, plastic bags floating in the basin, oh and lets not forget the occasional clandestine oil slick that mysteriously appears out of nowhere. We are along way from the Gulf of Mexico so they can't blame it on BP.

[perchance]

Sarafina. Perhaps you should enlist the aid of the evil boat fairies and have them tow the derelicts out to sea in the dead of night. I'm sure the fishys would appreciate the added real estate.

[Roaring Girl]

OK - we're not permanently based in a marina any more, but we do drop in and out from time to time, and pass the winter tied up to the hard stuff. So we see lots (in Europe). For us, the real rant is the failure of customer focus in the leisure marine industry!

What pisses me/us off - computer systems which make bookings and nightmare (for customers and staff on the ground!). The feeling that they're doing you a favour by taking your money and seeing your boat in their dock. The constant niggle that they'll chuck you out for living aboard (ie doing more than weekending.) The apparent disinterest in keeping ablutions clean/functioning/safe. The failure to maintain less visible parts of the marina in good condition (eg finding two broken stern lines on our current temporary berth in a French marina). Security that;s either completely missing, or so prohbiitive you can't visit friends on a different pontoon. And in thirteen years - seven living aboard - we have yet to see a single feedback form from a marina. We are not customers and not respected as such.

You did ask ... (and what motivated the question?)

[John A]

When I first moved aboard, I was at a marina with all the attributes listed above. The marina was owned by a SF Bay county, and controlled by a commission. The liveaboards petiioned for a hearing to vent our frustration. During the hearing the consensus of the commission was that we chose to live that way, therefore we should not complain! This blockheaded mindset was the result of a waiting list of hundreds of people waiting to enjoy the privledges we were complaining about.
Within months I'd enjoyed one of the truly great things about boating. I moved to a more enjoyable place.

[Paul L]

Not being able to wipe the bottom down. Causes unnecessary hauls and painting.

Paul L

[mbianka]

Before launching the contract requires that THEY apply the bottom paint. For this they charge $400 plus dollars. But, that is not what really gets me P.O. If you decide you don't want the bottom painted i.e. they do absolutley NOTHING they only charge $250! Tony Soprano would be impressed. They don't even need a gun!

[Pelagic]

having to be there.... but that is not really their fault ...

[Chief Engineer]

Left the Maina I was at for 12 years when the new owners took over.

Raised Slip Fees
Now charge for parking
Eliminated Boaters Lounge
Eliminated Library
No Dock Hands
Fired all the old employees who had been there for years
Put up cumbersome Security gate which is worthless because all you have to do is walk around the corner of the building and your in.
Manager is surly and distant....not a people person

Approximately 40 boats left before May 1.

[Bash]

The ONLY thing I hate about my marina is the number of ginormous power boats (in the 50-60' range) owned by persons who have no idea how to operate them, nor any previous history of operating a boat, and who end up bashing into their neighbors whenever they try to enter their slips.

Seriously, four different power boats have made crash landings in the past year. It's always the same story: someone new to boating who had enough money to pick up a starter boat displacing more than 30 tons.

Fortunately, they usually choose to run into other power boats.

Otherwise, it's a pretty nice marina.

[Doodles]

Wifi that doesn't work worth sh*t!

[delmarrey]

I have to call the bridge operator an hour ahead of time to get to open water, & back.