Charges by the foot LOA

[Minnewaska]

We have all been used to this insidious practice for years. Where in the world did it get started?

Some things make some sense to charge by the foot, such as shrink wrap or bottom cleaning. They are proportionately more material or work. Others are a complete rip off: a quick haul on a travel lift, or two boats in identical slips paying two different amounts since one is 5ft longer than the other. I can get my head around winter storage being proportionate to the amount of space you take up, however, I was looking down the row the other day and realized they wouldn't really have any more or fewer boats based on the +/- 10 LOA. Although, all paid proportionately different amounts. One of the worst is paying for the LONGER of your slip or your LOA. The worst is when the per foot charge itself goes up for longer LOAs.

I say its all a progressive "tax" to get the big boats to subsidize the small boats. If I'm right, everyone should be sure they vote for policy that encourages big boat ownership. What say you?

[QuickMick]

if the marina is full w/waiting list you are kinda at their mercy. if not, and you are nice to them, they may be willing to make some accomodations. as far as the lift goes, if a bigger boat gets wrecked the ins. claim would be bigger (so premiums would go up more) than a small boat getting wrecked, so it stands to reason that the bigger boat absorbs more of the 'risk factor.'

longer slip=more maintainence...painting, renailing, more styrofoam, more pilings etc which needs to be paid for. as far as the loa vs slip length... do you have demised elec? or is it 'included,' if included the assumption would be that the bigger the boat the more the draw?

i dunno, my points of consideration all amount to one thing, a marina is a biz and as such wants to make money. if you dont like it where you are, find another, make a deal with them, or suck it up...

a non-confrontational attitude and friendly demeanor may go a long way to encourage 'special dispensation'

not a marina owner/prefer a flat tax/no special interest/etc etc etc

[sailingdog]

Actually, you're getting a bargain most of the time... think about it... a 30' boat is usually narrower and less tall than a 40' boat, so you're actually paying less per sq. ft. of hull surface area for most services with a bigger boat.

Also, the weight of the boat is generally higher on a longer boat, so it puts more of a strain on the equipment than a smaller boat.

[CaptainForce]

Originally Posted by Minnewaska

We have all been used to this insidious practice for years. Where in the world did it get started? ............

I think it began with the renting of wharf space as opposed to slips. It makes sense that the greater LOA would be using more of the wharf. When we first moved aboard transient wharf space was typically ten or fifteen cents per foot per day and a monthly rate was usually about $50 for a 30' to 35' boat. Charging by the slip size instead of the LOA was pretty much unheard of in the SE US until this last decade. I first encountered rental by slip size in the Chesapeake around 2000, but for sure, there's many places I haven't been. Take care and joy, Aythya crew

[QuickMick]

i would think a more 'insidious' practice is the right of first refusal by marina/marina mechs for work done... often suspect/overpriced. but there is always ye ole end around... this is my buddy comin down for a couple of beers just helpin me out spinnin a couple of wrenches... he he he

[4arch]

A lot of marinas on the Chesapeake have a charge per foot of LOA but then have a 30 or 35 foot minimum, especially for transient slips. In that case it seems that the smaller boats are "subsidizing" the larger boats, at least up to the minimum charge. It's also not uncommon to see charges of $5-10 per cord per night for transient slip electricity which is extortionate when you're just plugging in to run a battery charger and a fan or two. All that said, a lot of these published rates become negotiable when you visit off season or on weekdays.

[tommays]

I already said this once today BUT they dont really want small boats around here as the MINIUM slip price in the better places is 5K and there are plenty of people who can afford it and full service on there boats

The best selling thing around here right now is BIG (50'>) Azimut powerboats with deep pocket owners




While 950 seemed like a lot of money to have Seafevers mast steped and drop the boat on a trailer IF you were there and did a head count there were 6 people working on the boat at times

[Jeff_H]

The thing is that boat yards have to set their price somehow. While I am not sure that all or most boat yards are this sophisicated but in a general sense they know that they need to earn a certain total amount per year from storing boats in order to cover expenses, and they know roughly the total length of boat they store each year, and that is what gives them the price per foot.

No matter how they define that length per foot someone will abuse the system and someone will complain. If they define it as length on deck and charge more per foot, some guy will take advantage of that by bringing in a boat with davits and a bowsprit and stick out into the fairway and absurd amount while the guy with a LOA equal to his LOD would feel ripped off paying as much as the guy with the sprit and davits.

If the price it by the length of the slipway, the same guy with the long overhangs will take too short a slipway and the short guy will feel slighted having to pay for too long a slipway.

While paying by the hour for a travelift makes the most sense to me, I somewhat understand paying by the LOA since the travelift operator has to be more careful with a longer object in confined spaces and perhaps will need to make more passes to turn with the longer LOA, which in turns ties up the travelift longer.

Its not a insidious comspiracy, it's just the way they chose to balance between human nature and simple basic economics.

[puddinlegs]

Originally Posted by Minnewaska

We have all been used to this insidious practice for years. Where in the world did it get started?

Some things make some sense to charge by the foot, such as shrink wrap or bottom cleaning. They are proportionately more material or work. Others are a complete rip off: a quick haul on a travel lift, or two boats in identical slips paying two different amounts since one is 5ft longer than the other. I can get my head around winter storage being proportionate to the amount of space you take up, however, I was looking down the row the other day and realized they wouldn't really have any more or fewer boats based on the +/- 10 LOA. Although, all paid proportionately different amounts. One of the worst is paying for the LONGER of your slip or your LOA. The worst is when the per foot charge itself goes up for longer LOAs.

I say its all a progressive "tax" to get the big boats to subsidize the small boats. If I'm right, everyone should be sure they vote for policy that encourages big boat ownership. What say you?

Sorry, no sympathy here. If you can afford a large boat, the moorage charges, haul out fees, etc... are really the very least of your worries. If they are, you can't afford the boat. I'll concede on is haulout fees though. With the exception of yard storage fees, it seems like displacement is a much better indicator of cost to the boatyard in mechanical wear and tear, etc... than LOA. My guess is that many larger boats will cost even more per foot than they pay now, but if you owned something like an SC70, you'd be pretty pleased.

[glassdad]

In So. Cal, we pay by the longer of the slip or the boat. But we also pay more for a wider slip. The highest prices are for end ties as they allow the longest and widest boats. It is not a recent phenomenon. This has been the pricing method since at least the late 1960's