Dockwa

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Only stay at Marinas that use it at this point.

Significant number of East Coast marinas have come onboard in the last few years.

Its wonderful!
 
At this stage of my life I hate to be obligated to be at a certain location on a certain day. I just get up in the morning and decide if we are going to cruise or just stay put. Don't really stay in marinas much anyway so would probably never use it.
 
Russell Clifton said:
At this stage of my life I hate to be obligated to be at a certain location on a certain day. I just get up in the morning and decide if we are going to cruise or just stay put. Don't really stay in marinas much anyway so would probably never use it.
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I see they are adding PNW marinas.
 
I used it a few times. I like it. It is also easy to cancel a reservation if need be.
 
Used it say a dozen times.


It is sometimes easy and sometimes not so easy.

I don't like their cancellation policy most of all.
 
psneeld said:
Used it say a dozen times.


It is sometimes easy and sometimes not so easy.

I don't like their cancellation policy most of all.
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Dockwa does NOT specify the cancellation policy.

That is defined by each specific marina.

I have found the marinas we visit are very accommodating and usually issue refunds even if it violates their policy. Usually driven by weather and even just change of plans.
 
Used it to make a reservation at Pt Angeles this last September. Problem is that there is no one to talk about slip assignments or whatever else you might need. You can only pay your money and not know where to park when you get there. I was supposed to get a call from the dock master. Never got a call back on the trip from Neah Bay to Pt Angeles even though I had bars on the phone the whole way. Got there after dark and just stayed at the fuel dock.


Nice thing is that you don't have to go into the dockmaster's office just to pay.
 
AdmiralS said:
Dockwa does NOT specify the cancellation policy.

That is defined by each specific marina.

I have found the marinas we visit are very accommodating and usually issue refunds even if it violates their policy. Usually driven by weather and even just change of plans.
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That must be pretty new as it's been in all my reservations that I never processed and called the marina directly which did NOT have a cancellation policy.


With Dockwa I had to pay something as soon as I made the reservation...which didn't give me any warm and fuzzies. I am not the type to "wait and see about a possible refund", I go where I know it isn't going to be an issue and thank the marina for not having an unreasonable cancellation policy.


I am not saying others didn't have that experience, but I did on several attempts. So now I only use Dockwa for places that leave you no choice or marinas I am know at.
 
psneeld said:
That must be pretty new as it's been in all my reservations that I never processed and called the marina directly which did NOT have a cancellation policy.


With Dockwa I had to pay something as soon as I made the reservation...which didn't give me any warm and fuzzies. I am not the type to "wait and see about a possible refund", I go where I know it isn't going to be an issue and thank the marina for not having an unreasonable cancellation policy.


I am not saying others didn't have that experience, but I did on several attempts. So now I only use Dockwa for places that leave you no choice or marinas I am know at.
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Dockwa does not charge your card until the Marina confirms the reservation. If they do not have space, then you get a rejection and your card is never charged.

When the Marina signs up Dockwa asks' them for their cancellation policy. If they don't have one, they can opt to use Dockwa's default, or none at all.

I manage Dockwa for our Marina. We use it for transient reservations as well as managing our seasonal slips and members.
 
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WayneDana2 said:
Used it to make a reservation at Pt Angeles this last September. Problem is that there is no one to talk about slip assignments or whatever else you might need. You can only pay your money and not know where to park when you get there. I was supposed to get a call from the dock master. Never got a call back on the trip from Neah Bay to Pt Angeles even though I had bars on the phone the whole way. Got there after dark and just stayed at the fuel dock.


Nice thing is that you don't have to go into the dockmaster's office just to pay.
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Most Marinas offer a telephone number, and VHF channel in their welcome email or Dockwa profile.

Pretty much the same as making a reservation over the phone. You can call in advance and see if they have your slip assignment, or hail on VHF when approaching.

Always reference it as a Dockwa reservation when calling or hailing.
 
Nothing on the Great lakes so I deleted the app.

pete
 
Here is the biggest rub I have with Dockwa. Let’s say you want to reserve at St Petersburg Municipal Marina. You put your request in with Dockwa and wait for the marina to approve. You can’t go looking at other marinas for a slip because at any moment they could approve and the charge goes through. If it’s less than 24 hours odds are you won’t get any money back if you found another slip somewhere else. We like bow-in starboard side tie the north basin. If you don’t call ahead first to see what is available, you get whatever they give you. Last time there we were in the south end under the airport takeoffs, port side tie where we had to climb over the rail to board. Had we known that, we would have went elsewhere.
Where it does work is when you know for sure your schedule and any slip or mooring ball will do. Especially greater than 24 hours in advance
 
Exactly...great idea, works much of the time but I don't find it all that useful compared to a good old phone call direct to the marina.
 
High Wire said:
Here is the biggest rub I have with Dockwa. Let’s say you want to reserve at St Petersburg Municipal Marina. You put your request in with Dockwa and wait for the marina to approve. You can’t go looking at other marinas for a slip because at any moment they could approve and the charge goes through. If it’s less than 24 hours odds are you won’t get any money back if you found another slip somewhere else. We like bow-in starboard side tie the north basin. If you don’t call ahead first to see what is available, you get whatever they give you. Last time there we were in the south end under the airport takeoffs, port side tie where we had to climb over the rail to board. Had we known that, we would have went elsewhere.
Where it does work is when you know for sure your schedule and any slip or mooring ball will do. Especially greater than 24 hours in advance
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psneeld said:
Exactly...great idea, works much of the time but I don't find it all that useful compared to a good old phone call direct to the marina.
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Always good to phone ahead. You should know far in advance that this is the particular marina you want to stay. However, have you seen folks making multiple reservations? Or waiting to the last minute to cancel? With a reservation the marina will lock down the slip for you. But I understand the marinas concern that a last minute reservation cancellation also leaves the slip empty when it could have made some money by giving the slip to someone else.

As far as Dockwa, if there are issues, like preference for tie ups or their cancellation policy, give them a call or write them about the concerns. You never know, they may adjust their policy as they want happy boaters and happy marinas.
 
Alaskan Sea-Duction said:
Always good to phone ahead. You should know far in advance that this is the particular marina you want to stay. However, have you seen folks making multiple reservations? Or waiting to the last minute to cancel? With a reservation the marina will lock down the slip for you. But I understand the marinas concern that a last minute reservation cancellation also leaves the slip empty when it could have made some money by giving the slip to someone else.



As far as Dockwa, if there are issues, like preference for tie ups or their cancellation policy, give them a call or write them about the concerns. You never know, they may adjust their policy as they want happy boaters and happy marinas.
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When making the reservation, you have a special request text field you can fill out. I always put in tie up preference and it is honored the majority of the time
 
I would prefer the marinas leave the middle people and apps out of it and talk to me directly. I guess I’m old fashioned. I even don’t mind walking to the harbormaster’s office to pay. How do you pronounce Dockwa anyway? Dock wah? Dock way?
 
Dockwa and Snag-a-Slip are competing for the same market. They both are adding participating marinas usually a few per month each. I have used both without any problems.

The apps are geared to transient moorings. One of them even has a feature that lets you rent out your own dock or mooring through them whenever you are not using it (sort of like AirBnB).

There are lots of marinas on the east coast and Great Lakes that have signed up.

There is always a phone number or VHF channel given and you just call when you are nearby and discuss the docking details with the dockmaster.

The only issue is that pretty soon these companies will own the market. If you want a marina reservation you're going to have to get it through them (i.e. pay their fee) even if you are standing in the marina office. Sort of like how you often have to pay the TicketMaster service fee for a show even if you go and buy it in person at the venue box office.

It happened to me already. I called a marina I was in view of for a slip, and they said it had to be done through Dockwa.
 
I use Dockwa when planing a trip and have for several years. But when there's a change in plans, (like for weather) I call to find a slip or mooring. And of course there are still many marinas that are not part of Dockwa.

Ken
 
Don't use it except when after speaking directly to a marina, we find out their only way to make a reservation is through Dockwa.

Here are what we see as the pros:

-Easy and quick to use. Avoid phone call, call backs, providing payment information and more.
-Quick and convenient.
-Printable confirmation and record.

Here are the cons:

-Only has a portion of marinas.
-Unable to attach the name of someone at the marina to the reservation, to know who was spoken to and when.
-Unable to discuss where within the marina, what specific needs are, what amenities are available, to determine planned location is a good fit. Unable to discuss probable arrival time, potential deviations from schedule.
-Often not getting the best rate. It's like getting a standard rate sheet as opposed to discussing discounts available based on other factors. There are times that marina rates are firm, but much of the time there is room for negotiation.
-Unable to discuss after hours arrivals and handling of those.
-Just not personable.
-Can't gather other information of value that is gained through conversation. For instance, what transportation is available, is there any local knowledge that would be valuable to us when approaching, what is the best means of communication when approaching (phone, radio, channel).
-Don't get the benefits of previous experiences at the marina, the benefit from having been a good customer in the past.
-Can't discuss specifics that might be important.

It's much like I feel about hotel booking. I make the reservations by dealing directly with the front desk of the specific hotel. I only check rates on major booking sites. I have regularly gotten better rates by dealing directly and have gotten special accommodations. Just as it means not getting beside the ice machine and elevator in a hotel, going direct may mean not getting on the exposed dock or beside the train track or beside the late night club at a marina. I do not use hotel brands own systems either.

I like the personal touch and building relationships and feel like systems like dockwa are contrary to that. I evaluated Dockwa when it started and have looked more recently. Just can't get questions I might have in the booking process answered, can't find out other information I'd like.
 
I have used it on a floating transient dock side tie. The system was fine, but no assigned spot. Could easily see an issue with boats taking up too much space as there wasn't a dockmaster (small city transient marina).

For transient mooring fields, I think it's a great idea. Within your size group, either there is space or there isn't. Where the system will have problems will be when marina employees don't take the time to make sure the boat actually fits in the slip (beam and draft). The other issue is handicap access. A lot of cruisers are older and getting on the floating dock versus side tie to pilings is important. With management trying to fill every spot, it's just to easy to overlook special needs and blaming Dockwa for not conveying them.

Ted
 
firehoser75 said:
Tom, Is that PNW marinas only in Washington state or are they adding PNW marinas in Canada as well? :whistling:
(Cheap shot coming from another thread, and not taken at you :eek:)
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Oh wha wha wha!! Back to you brother. LOL

The only marinas we use are Friday Harbor (Fuel if Neah bay is too windy), Government dock in Shoel Bay, Port McNiell (Fuel Stop), Prince Rupert, K-Town (Fuel Stop), Wrangell (Sometimes fuel), Sitka, Hoonah.

I am not aware nor have I looked to see if any of these are with Dockwa. I do know that North Island Marina has implemented an online reservation system.
 
BandB said:
...

Here are the cons:

-Only has a portion of marinas.
-Unable to attach the name of someone at the marina to the reservation, to know who was spoken to and when.
-Unable to discuss where within the marina, what specific needs are, what amenities are available, to determine planned location is a good fit. Unable to discuss probable arrival time, potential deviations from schedule.
-Often not getting the best rate. It's like getting a standard rate sheet as opposed to discussing discounts available based on other factors. There are times that marina rates are firm, but much of the time there is room for negotiation.
-Unable to discuss after hours arrivals and handling of those.
-Just not personable.
-Can't gather other information of value that is gained through conversation. For instance, what transportation is available, is there any local knowledge that would be valuable to us when approaching, what is the best means of communication when approaching (phone, radio, channel).
-Don't get the benefits of previous experiences at the marina, the benefit from having been a good customer in the past.
-Can't discuss specifics that might be important.

It's much like I feel about hotel booking. I make the reservations by dealing directly with the front desk of the specific hotel. I only check rates on major booking sites. I have regularly gotten better rates by dealing directly and have gotten special accommodations. Just as it means not getting beside the ice machine and elevator in a hotel, going direct may mean not getting on the exposed dock or beside the train track or beside the late night club at a marina. I do not use hotel brands own systems either.

I like the personal touch and building relationships and feel like systems like dockwa are contrary to that. I evaluated Dockwa when it started and have looked more recently. Just can't get questions I might have in the booking process answered, can't find out other information I'd like.
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If you also use Snag-a-Slip you get a lot more marinas. Seems that they are one or the other.

I have found that once you make a reservation (and have a reservation conformation) via these apps you can call or email the marina with your specific requests/needs. I've never had a problem.

The marina listings in both apps give information on the services available. I often make marina selections on the services shown in the listing. You can also look at the marina via their marina map or even Google Maps to see what's around and what the preferred spots might be.

These apps are designed for transient travelers making it easier to find a slip/mooring in an unfamiliar place. Since they kind of expect boats to come for a day (or a few) and move on, the need to build a long term "relationship" is not a priority.

These new apps/services are designed and implemented by millenials. They don't like to talk to people and interface to the world via their phones. These apps are designed for their world view. People who actually want to talk to someone on the phone are a dying breed. The marinas know this and are jumping on rather than be left behind. Also, successful app developers and millenials are the going to be among the people most likely to be buying boats.

Even if they don't use Dockwa or Snag-a-Slip. A lot of (most?) marinas use some sort of online reservation system.

P.S. The same thing is happening at hotels across the board. You can make a reservation, check in, have a room key, check out, and pay the bill without ever having to actually interact with a live person all though your phone.
 
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From my perspective, if I know exactly what I want / need and don't have any special requests, it's usually faster / easier to use a website, app, etc. to make a reservation, order something, etc. If I need anything slightly complicated, talking to a person works better.
 
I have one more reason I prefer to go direct. I prefer my entire payment going to the marina, not a percentage to a third party that I don't feel adds value for me.
 
We have used them frequently over the last couple of years, its easy. There have been a few times when we were cruising and just logged in to see if their was a slip or mooring close to us. It has also introduced me to other marina's and locations i had not tried before.
 
So I looked at the website and pretty impressive. Looks like they need to add some B.C. and Alaska locations. (The sole Alaska slip is funny)
 
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