Good Fuel Price on the Upper Chesapeake But

[BandB]

$15 to drag the hose to your boat, connect it, pump your tank, remove the hose.
Well, I have my tank pumped once a week (I could go 2 weeks if I don’t have company on board) for free and free golf cart rides to my car and back to the boat with groceries but, I tip the dock crew $100 quarterly, per person, and then $100 for Thanksgiving and then another $100 for Christmas. There are 4 dock personnel plus the marina secretary. I never feel like I am getting ripped off. I am tipping for some mighty fine service. They make life much easier for me. SMILE
I own 2 slips and pay approx additional $900/month ‘condo frees’ too. (A total for the 2 slips.)
Just curious, how much would you tip to have your sanitary tank pumped and hose handling to refueling your boat?

Sorry, I don’t mean to sound harsh but, I am just sharing my thoughts and my reality with you.
(Big smile). I hope we can still be friends.

Free as in $900 per month.

 

[OldDan1943]

Free as in $900 per month.

The rent on my 75’ slip makes it more than free. WINK

 

[catalinajack]

ALL of us with boats are more affluent than many? You must be kidding. Obviously, you assume that if one owns a boat it must be a luxury. Well, perhaps we are an exception but I don't think so. Our boat is worth maybe $175,000 and we have less than $100k in cash reserves. And that is after a lifetime of working our behinds off raising four kids. And, we do not own a dirt home. Is that your definition of affluent? Let's see. You always buy new boats. You have another one on order. How much? A million? A million and a half? You live in a much different world than many. But, hey, good for you and your good fortune.

And, of course, you are never wrong. Remember how you insisted that IRS getting out all those payments was going to be a breeze. Didn't turn out that way, did it?

It has nothing to do with affluent. All of us with boats are wealthier than many. If I was charged for repairs I didn't ask for, I'd question it. If I asked for them, I'd assume there would be a charge. You asked for the pump out so your example to me is in no way comparable.

As to being verbally assaulted, there is no such thing which is why I wondered what was said. Assault is by definition physical.

I'm sorry my comments offend you but you posted in a forum and you're going to receive responses from those who share your feelings and those who don't. I would never have expected the pump out to be free unless told specifically it was. I would not be bothered by the $15 charge.

Perhaps they should have made it clearer, but perhaps you shouldn't have assumed. If so, then perhaps shared fault and in that case I wouldn't get angry.

Were yours the first thread here of someone complaining about having to pay for a pump out, I likely wouldn't have reacted the same, but I just don't grasp why so many think it should be free. Some day we're all going to realize there's no such thing as free shipping either.

 

[ssobol]

ALL of us with boats are more affluent than many? You must be kidding. Obviously, you assume that if one owns a boat it must be a luxury. Well, perhaps we are an exception but I don't think so. Our boat is worth maybe $175,000 and we have less than $100k in cash reserves. And that is after a lifetime of working our behinds off raising four kids. And, we do not own a dirt home. Is that your definition of affluent? Let's see. You always buy new boats. You have another one on order. How much? A million? A million and a half? You live in a much different world than many. But, hey, good for you and your good fortune.

And, of course, you are never wrong. Remember how you insisted that IRS getting out all those payments was going to be a breeze. Didn't turn out that way, did it?

So you admit that you have at least $275K in assets. That's way more than a vast majority of the people in this world. To some people having $275K is simply inconceivable.

 

[BandB]

So you admit that you have at least $275K in assets. That's way more than a vast majority of the people in this world. To some people having $275K is simply inconceivable.

He thinks he's poor with $275k in assets. That puts him in the top 10% of Americans and in the top 1% worldwide.

 

[OldDan1943]

Free as in $900 per month.

Plus electric and surcharge on that. Ah but the water is free.
LOL
So you see, $15 is nothing, in the broad spectrum of things.

 

[BandB]

Plus electric and surcharge on that. Ah but the water is free.
LOL
So you see, $15 is nothing, in the broad spectrum of things.

Everyone thought Amazon's profits would be out the roof during the pandemic. Well, their sales are, but free shipping is part of the reason their profits are down and that's with them backing off their normal shipping promises. I guess that's my businessman thought process, that I don't ever expect anything to be free unless specifically told it is and then I know it's really not free, just built in somewhere else.

 

[Capitaine R]

So can we just say, lesson learned and if in doubt ask. And maybe if you are on a boat just about anywhere always ask. I for one am very cheap, which hasn't worked out in my best interest sometimes, but I always ask.

I don't have access to a beating of a dead horse emoji on this tablet but I think that maybe what's happening here.

 

[BandB]

So can we just say, lesson learned and if in doubt ask. And maybe if you are on a boat just about anywhere always ask. I for one am very cheap, which hasn't worked out in my best interest sometimes, but I always ask.

I don't have access to a beating of a dead horse emoji on this tablet but I think that maybe what's happening here.

Wifey B:

 

[Capitaine R]

This tablet sucks, I can't even see the emoji that you left. I'm sure it's just a setting I need to change, i just have to find it.

 

[PMF1984]

Captains, you can’t see the horse because he is dead.

 

[BruceK]

Captains, you can’t see the horse because he is dead.

Rest His/Her Soul.

 

[MOJO]

I owned a slip in a private "dockominium" marina in the Keys for 12 years. We put in a pump-out system to service every slip. Cost was $125,000.00. The state grant stated that they would pay 50% of the cost up to a maximum of $50,000. So they paid $50K and we paid $75K. In exchange, we had to put in a public pump-out dock and were not allowed to charge more than $5 per pump-out for 5 years. After the five years, we could charge any price we wanted. Maintenance on a pump-out system isn't cheap, pumps alone can cost $10K or more. We had 2 spare pumps just in case because we didn't ever want to be without a pump-out system. But other stuff breaks also. I can't see any marina ever making a profit off of pump-outs, almost irrespective of what they charge unless it's just a single head and every boat has to come to the pump-out dock. I suspect some charge a high price simply because they don't want to deal with the hassle.

 

[Redsky49]

As mentioned in other threads what if anything a marina can charge for a pump out depends on whether they took investment money from the government for the initial system.

I have been to a few marinas where they purposely didn't take the money so that they weren't restricted. Visualize the wind ferry (sailboater) Snowbird who winters on the hook, and expects to be able to get his holding tank pumped and freshwater tank filled with a 3 gallon purchase of diesel. For a while back in 2014 when the municipal marinas pump out was broken, Tarpon Point was charging $40 for a pump out. Free with a 100 gallon purchase or if you were slipped in their marina. The Wind Ferrys were incensed that they should have to pay for a pump out from a business when it was free from a municipal marina.

The infrastructure and employee has a cost to the marina, and they're entitled to recoup it whether in a fee or built into other prices such as fuel. If they're going to charge a fee regardless of fuel purchase, there should be a sign on the pump just as there is for the fuel pump.

I would be annoyed also!

Ted

Why do you go out of your way to demean sailors. This was a post about failing to disclose the cost for a service. Rather tasteless on your part.

 

[O C Diver]

Why do you go out of your way to demean sailors. This was a post about failing to disclose the cost for a service. Rather tasteless on your part.

I don't demean sailors. The bottom of that barrel does it to the rest. Probably the same for power boating.

I was repeating what the harbor master of the marina told me was the justification for their pricing.



Ted

 

[JeremiahM]

Here is the actual pump next to the pumpout station at the marina the OP referenced..

 

[catalinajack]

Yup. There it is. Prominently displayed on a fuel pump. Of course, one would have to get off one's boat to even have a chance to find it. Fine print in my opinion.

Here is the actual pump next to the pumpout station at the marina the OP referenced..

 

[OldDan1943]

Daymn, you folks, are nit picking.

So I guess the harbor master should say, “Hello, how do you feel today? Before you tie up, let me check your forehead temp and answer all the questions on this form. Approx how many gallons of which type of fuel do you wish? Pump outs are $15, regardless of how many gallons of fuel you buy.”
We need you to sign this release indicating if you come down with the Crud19 within the next 15 days, you will not blame us. If you die of Crud19, neither you nor your estate will blame or sue us through out perpetuity. Your signature must be notarized. We have a notary on site and the notary charge is $25.”

So you see folks how difficult it can be to get a pump out and fuel?
My non-legal, non-binding recommendation is to just pay for the fuel and the $15 or move on the next fuel dock with a working pump out station.
Too bad there is not a Memoji suggesting you kiss my ass.

 

[Capitaine R]

The dead horse emoji didn't work, what makes you think the Kiss my butt one would. [emoji16]

 

[OldDan1943]

The dead horse emoji didn't work, what makes you think the Kiss my butt one would. [emoji16]

Scott, in conclusion, I totally agree with you. End of story, end of comments from me.

 

[Juggerknot]

BandB, I don't particularly care that you don't share my anger. Let me say this again, for about the fiftieth time (hyperbole), it was not the DAMNED fifteen dollars. It was being charged, unknowingly. And, no, I wouldn't have been happier being charged $100. I was merely trying to make a point, that no merchant should charge a customer for anything without knowledge and consent? Why is this concept so difficult for some to comprehend? Again, it wasn't the $15!!!!

Here's another example. Say you bring your boat to a yard for repairs. You get the boat back and you are billed for repairs you didn't ask for. You're okay with that I assume. It's just a matter of degree. The principle is the same.

And, BandB, you ask what was said by the marina owner. Please. I know when I am being verbally assaulted. I don't need to recite the conversation to you for you to make judgment or anyone else. And the price of fuel being cheap? What in hell has that anything to do with this? Of course, we all know that you are quite affluent. I suppose $15 is like fifteen cents to you. Am I offended by your comments? I think yes.

So, you're saying that you didn't ask for a pump-out while at the fuel dock? They just hooked er up and then charged you for an unauthorized service! Yes, I'd have a problem with that but, paying $15 to let someone else handle an awful job that I gladly pay for, meh...I usually tip the kid $20 and he does a nice job and always leaves her clean.

 

[ScottC]

Wow, this certainly devolved into a shitty thread :-(


In Scandinavia, charging for a pump out is, thankfully, the rare exception, rather than the norm. The eye-watering prices of everything else seem to more than make up for it, however.



The one time I encountered a fuel dock with a pump-out charge was in the Stockholm archipelago. It was the biggest and finest full-service fuel dock I've ever encountered. Huge dock able to accommodate many boats simultaneously. 15+ pumps. Clean and fresh. As I was pulling up, one of the guys verbally informed me that a pump out was 200 Kronor (about $25 at the time). I was surprised, but was more than happy to have them do it, as I was in a bit of a rush, had guests on board and was extremely happy to not have to deal with it.