Marinas ...Boat sizes

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This is not a totally unrelated comment, but a local waterman made this observation - Every boat has 3 lengths: the one you tell fisheries and tax assessors, the one you tell the railway, and the one you tell girls at the bar.

Well, in hindsight, maybe it is totally unrelated. Sorry.

unrelated, but put a smile on my face :eek:
 
You folks, who worry so much, must be Scots or Canadian.
I am alone at my condo and the water is included..... Take the water bill and divide it equally. NOT by how much water each of us use. We all pay for the outside upkeep and lawn mowing.
I cant call up and say, I am leaving for 10 months, dont charge me for water.
I own 2 boat slips.... they charge me condo fees even if they are empty.
Trying to fool the dock master.....
If you are that tight with your money, why do you own a boat? LOL
 
You folks, who worry so much, must be Scots or Canadian.
I am alone at my condo and the water is included..... Take the water bill and divide it equally. NOT by how much water each of us use. We all pay for the outside upkeep and lawn mowing.
I cant call up and say, I am leaving for 10 months, dont charge me for water.
I own 2 boat slips.... they charge me condo fees even if they are empty.
Trying to fool the dock master.....
If you are that tight with your money, why do you own a boat? LOL

We hear this all the time. If you have to ask, you can't afford it, If you can't pay for an XXX give up boating, if you're that tight.....

A LOT of us have toys because we ARE tight with our money and spend it where there's value. If we waste it, we wouldn't have any toys.

But back to the marina... you pay for what the marina wants. If you don't like it, you go elsewhere. Fortunately, most marinas are competitive and pretty easy to deal with so life is good.
 
We hear this all the time. If you have to ask, you can't afford it, If you can't pay for an XXX give up boating, if you're that tight.....

A LOT of us have toys because we ARE tight with our money and spend it where there's value. If we waste it, we wouldn't have any toys.

But back to the marina... you pay for what the marina wants. If you don't like it, you go elsewhere. Fortunately, most marinas are competitive and pretty easy to deal with so life is good.

Contrary to your disingenuous contention in an earlier post, marinas (including those in St Pete) want you to pay for LOA. Per your previous post you misrepresent the length of your boat to get away with paying less.
 
We hear this all the time. If you have to ask, you can't afford it, If you can't pay for an XXX give up boating, if you're that tight.....

A LOT of us have toys because we ARE tight with our money and spend it where there's value. If we waste it, we wouldn't have any toys.

But back to the marina... you pay for what the marina wants. If you don't like it, you go elsewhere. Fortunately, most marinas are competitive and pretty easy to deal with so life is good.


:thumb: :thumb: :horse: :banghead:
 
Contrary to your disingenuous contention in an earlier post, marinas (including those in St Pete) want you to pay for LOA. Per your previous post you misrepresent the length of your boat to get away with paying less.

Rufus,

I believe you got the wrong person. I'm not looking for a marina in St. Pete, I live here.

I have NEVER misrepresented the length of my boat. I always tell them that it's 40 ft, 3 and 29/32 inches long.

And believe it or not, I actually sent a marina a check because when posting my records a few weeks later, I found they miscalculated the marina fees and shorted themselves one day.
 
Whether they measure is not the point. They clearly expect to be paid for LOA and trust that "you" will be honest and pay what is expected of "you". You clearly believe it's just fine to cheat a little, but so much that you might get caught.

That’s their, the marinas, mistake: trusting a guy with no ethical foundation to be honest with them. It is hard to do business with someone who feels that they have permission to take whatever they can get away with from your business. Whose highest moral guide is “what’s in it for me, gimme more”.
 
rufus

Rufus,

I believe you got the wrong person. I'm not looking for a marina in St. Pete, I live here.

I have NEVER misrepresented the length of my boat. I always tell them that it's 40 ft, 3 and 29/32 inches long.

And believe it or not, I actually sent a marina a check because when posting my records a few weeks later, I found they miscalculated the marina fees and shorted themselves one day.

Cute. I have the right person. You always misrepresent the length of your boat using the manufacturer's number when the marina "wants" LOA. And you know it. In the mind of scammer if the marina buys the doublespeak it's their own fault if they get shortchanged. The scam is on full display in the Fall when the hoard of full time cruisers funnels through Lake Michigan on the way to Chicago. Ugly.
 
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The St Petersburg municipal marina charges how much per foot?
 
Cute. I have the right person. You always misrepresent the length of your boat using the manufacturer's number when the marina "wants" LOA. And you know it. In the mind of scammer if the marina buys the doublespeak it's their own fault if they get shortchanged. The scam is on full display in the Fall when the hoard of full time cruisers funnels through Lake Michigan on the way to Chicago. Ugly.

Hi Rufus,

Unless you are talking about something off-thread, maybe double check the thread on this one? From looking back at it, it does look like you might have the wrong person.

And, well, it has gotten a little hot in here, so, at the very, very least, maybe we don't want that?

I don't mean to poke you -- I'm definitely very, very squarely in the "everyone business has a price model, we should make our choices and pay our fees accordingly" camp. So, I understand why it is frustrating that people that play according to a different set of rules get the same slip for cheaper than we do. So, I don't want to pick at you.

Having said that, I am a boater to get away from a lot of the stresses of everyday life. So, when it comes to things like this, I tend to let them all go. If there is one part of my life where I am fortunate to be able to ignore certain things and focus on others, it is boating. So, for boating, I really do adopt the "It's all good" philosophy and ignore anything that doesn't fit it.

Cheers!
-Greg
 
Hi Rufus,

Unless you are talking about something off-thread, maybe double check the thread on this one? From looking back at it, it does look like you might have the wrong person.

See post #115, paragraph 4.
 
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Rufus,

Okay. I see...

According to the Powerboat guide, his boat is 41'4", with pulpit. According to him, it is 40'. So, we potentially have a 16", 1.34' discrepancy. I stand corrected.

(And, again, I always report my full LOA with pulpit and swim step, for no reason other than that is my understanding of what is being asked of me...and I am getting ready to put on a longer pulpit...and will soon pay a hair more for the very same boat as a result).
 
What happens here? The marina has a vacant 50ft slip. The boatowner has a 42ft boat. Assume both lengths are real/actual. Does the boatowner get the slip, does he pay for 42ft or is he told "it`s a 50ft slip,want it, you pay for all of it".
I`m sure this gets determined by supply and demand. Not dissimilar to having a property for rent at $500pw with the market more like $420, I might eventually get $500, but I might drop weeks of 100% of the rent, whatever it really is, waiting for a taker. Maybe the 42ft boat gets moved to a 42ft slip if/when one comes free.
I don`t see the problem with telling the marina "it`s an XYZ 42". Marinas know boats, their business is berthing them,there`s no deception, just a fair description.
 
I guess we are at the point now, that we are just looking for stiuff to fight about.
 
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What happens here? The marina has a vacant 50ft slip. The boatowner has a 42ft boat. Assume both lengths are real/actual. Does the boatowner get the slip, does he pay for 42ft or is he told "it`s a 50ft slip,want it, you pay for all of it".
I`m sure this gets determined by supply and demand. Not dissimilar to having a property for rent at $500pw with the market more like $420, I might eventually get $500, but I might drop weeks of 100% of the rent, whatever it really is, waiting for a taker. Maybe the 42ft boat gets moved to a 42ft slip if/when one comes free.
I don`t see the problem with telling the marina "it`s an XYZ 42". Marinas know boats, their business is berthing them,there`s no deception, just a fair description.

Permanent monthly rental slips and transient dockage are two very different things. In one case you have a slip of a known length, in the other one is often on a T head or face dock or wall. When the Dockmaster asks you your length it is often so that he can fit one more transient boat in for the night. If you were promised a slip along a long dock based upon someone having a 42’ boat that was actually 50’ and you arrived at dusk only to discover that there was no room, how would you feel? And what would you do?

There is nothing wrong with me saying that I have a Hatteras 63 motoryacht, when asked by marina staff what boat I have, but if asked how long it is, I’d better be telling them 70’.
 
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My marina has a strict no hangover policy. Boat may not hang over in any direction. My boat is called a 38 but LOA is 42’ I’m in a 45’ slip as a result. I came from a marina where most boats hung over. I appreciate the rule. Nice coming down the clean fairway with no swim platforms or dinks in the way.
 
Many marinas used what is know as "spared length" as does the Panama Canal. This measurement is from the aft most protrusion of that fishing rod your left in the pole holder on the stern or aft most protrusion of your dinghy davits (or even the dinghy, if its still in the davits) to the tip of your bow sprit, if you have one, or to the tip of the anchor you have in the bow roller. Other marinas, if you say 35' they charge you for 35".
 
Slips

WE ARE the same boat, that is we are shopping for a boat and doing our homework. The marina I went to visit in Sarasota, FL has set size slips. Here’s what they told me. Say for example all they have available are 60’ slip. Regardless if you have a 35’ or a 40’ boat, your still being charged for the 60’ slips.
 
I dont get it, I have never argued over the price. I ask and if I like it I stay and if I dont, I dont. I once asked (over the radio as I cruised down the ICW) at a popular marina that played LOUD Willie Nelson music all night long. I was 10 miles away. I passed them and stayed on the hook in Mobile Bay. It was a long trek, but $250 a night in a 35 footer to be kept awake by Willie was too much. I love willie, but no. That is their right to ask what they think they can get and its my right to keep moving.
 
I dont get it, I have never argued over the price. I ask and if I like it I stay and if I dont, I dont. I once asked (over the radio as I cruised down the ICW) at a popular marina that played LOUD Willie Nelson music all night long. I was 10 miles away. I passed them and stayed on the hook in Mobile Bay. It was a long trek, but $250 a night in a 35 footer to be kept awake by Willie was too much. I love willie, but no. That is their right to ask what they think they can get and its my right to keep moving.

I always laugh at reviews of restaurants, hotels and marinas that give lousy ratings because "They're very expensive." Then, why did you go there? Their prices are publicly available so don't come as a surprise. Expensive is a fact going in. Giving a bad review based on it doesn't help anyone or provide any information people need. I saw a restaurant given a one star review and the only comment was "Extremely pricey." Guess all those dollar signs shown in every listing of the restaurant failed to clue them in. Similarly saw a restaurant downgraded because the drive from town was too long. Yes, it's not located in town.

Now, some of the most helpful reviews I've ever read have been related to noise. Saying things like the band plays in the club adjacent to the South dock until 2 AM. However, the North dock is fine. Comments like yours on Willie are helpful. A few people might love it while others would share your feelings, but it's good information one might not know without reading the review.
 
The place is a well known marina owned by Willies sister.
 
Have traveled over 40K miles in our two trawlers and stayed in a few marinas over 20 years. The only place we were ever measured for overall length was in Coinjock, North Carolina, where every boat is bow pulpit/anchor to swim platform in order to jam as many boats as possible onto their face dock. Have only been there once, back in 2002, so perhaps things have changed, but I doubt it.
 
And not a one measures unless you drastically overstate your boat. Speaking from experience. You can't sneak "your" 45 footer in as a 25 footer. And I'd think it wrong of "you" to try. But if you say it's 45 and it's in the ballpark of 45, then you will be charged for 45.

People like you are why Marinas need to measure. It's called an honor system for a reason. :banghead:
 
I tell them the model Grand Banks 36.
Never had a question.

If they got an attitude I would leave within minutes.
 
I tell them the model Grand Banks 36.
Never had a question.

If they got an attitude I would leave within minutes.

Does asking you to pay what you actually owe count as "attitude"? In a GB36, as far as I understand, they are the same (LOA is 36'10" which is 36' in my book). But a neighbor of mine has a Meridan 411. Does the fact that 411 starts with 41 mean that anyone is claiming it's a 41' boat? Because it's not - It's 46' LOA. Is asking them to pay for 46 feet "attitude"?

Model number isn't a measurement. It's a marketing name.
 

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