Moving To A New Marina

[RGrew176]

Last season and part of the prior season after I purchased my Carver I was berthed at Trouts Yacht Basin in Bolles Harbor (Monroe MI.) Trouts is a first class family run marina and I totally enjoyed my time there. I summer docked there last year without any problems. Last year I winter stored at another marina because I had rack stored my previous boats there from 1996 through 2011. They were also a bit less expensive on their storage and winterization expenses. Like many people I like to save a dollar whenever I can.

Last January 2016 I received an invoice from Trouts. I immediately sent in my check paying for my 2016 season dockage. Nothing was said and I figured that the same process would work for this coming season. Last season my port side transmission broke down. I asked Trouts if they could work on it. They did not seem like they were interested in the repair. That meant that I would have to find a transmission repair guy and winter store at another facility.

Fast forward to this year. January comes and goes and I did not receive an invoice for my 2017 seasonal dockage. By mid February I was beginning to get concerned so I called them. I got their voice mail or answering machine. I left a message inquiring about my missing invoice.

Fast forward to yesterday. I decided, since they had not gotten back to me to drive there and inquire about my invoice and summer dockage. I get there and I look up the owner and make my inquiry. He told me that he thought that I was not interested in returning. I am not sure where he came to that conclusion. He did imply that my not winter storing there was part of the reason he did not send out an invoice. He then said that he has already rented out the slip I was in for the season and that the new customer was going to winter there, at least that is what he implied.

Now, I know for a fact that I am not the only customer there who winter stores at other marinas. I wonder if any of them got the boot too. I have one good friend who summers there and he stores every winter elsewhere and he was invoiced and will be there again this season. I kind of wonder why I got the boot. I caused no problems and enjoyed my time there.

If they did not want me back I would have appreciated either a letter or phone call stating that they were going to rent my slip out to another customer. Oh well.

Once I was told I was not returning I went to my dock and removed all my pre-fixed dock lines. I was not going to leave them for the new customer. I will also be renting a truck so I can move my dockbox to my new marina. I'm not leaving that there either.

On my drive home I decided to stop at some marinas to check out dock availability. I stopped at Lakepoint Marina on the Huron River in South Rockwood MI. They have an OK marina and really low rates. The problem there is it's a slow winding channel out to Lake Erie and I decided not to try there.

Next I stopped at Humbug Marina where I am currently stored and they fixed my transmission. They were double Lakepoints rates but are a nice marina. They have docks on the Detroit River and the canal coming off the river. The inside docks were really pricey for me. The docks out on the Detroit River are OK but when winds are out of the right direction it can get pretty rough in those docks. Part of the problem is that the seawall is missing in many areas there. I decided to pass there too.

I left Humbug and driving by Gibraltar Boat Yard I thought that I would stop. They generally are full and sometimes have a waiting list to get in. I spoke with the marina manager and he said he has two slips open. He showed me on the marina map where they were. I walked over to check them out. One of the slips was out at the end of one of the finger docks. There is wide and easy ingress and egress to this slip. I decided I would take it. I walked back to the office and told the manager I wanted that slip and I would be back either today or Saturday to pay for it. I plan to drop off a check later today and pay for the slip. This is a very nice marina too and the nice thing is it is a protected harbor. No matter how rough and windy it is out on the lake and river it will be nice and calm there.

Bolles Harbor is a protected harbor too and I wanted to find another protected marina for my boat. The price for my summer dockage is $1675, that's a bit more than the $1200 I paid last season at Trouts. Also, I will be a lot closer to my boat. Trouts was a 25 mile drive from home. I will find out later today the driving distance to GBY. It will be a lot closer and that's not a bad thing.

Here is a link to Gibraltar Boat Yard: http://gbymi.com/

It is a full service facility and I think I am going to be happy there.

[km1125]

Source of the post
Fast forward to yesterday. I decided, since they had not gotten back to me to drive there and inquire about my invoice and summer dockage. I get there and I look up the owner and make my inquiry. He told me that he thought that I was not interested in returning. I am not sure where he came to that conclusion. He did imply that my not winter storing there was part of the reason he did not send out an invoice. He then said that he has already rented out the slip I was in for the season and that the new customer was going to winter there, at least that is what he implied.

Now, I know for a fact that I am not the only customer there who winter stores at other marinas. I wonder if any of them got the boot too. I have one good friend who summers there and he stores every winter elsewhere and he was invoiced and will be there again this season. I kind of wonder why I got the boot. I caused no problems and enjoyed my time there.

If they did not want me back I would have appreciated either a letter or phone call stating that they were going to rent my slip out to another customer. Oh well.

Something similar to me happened a couple times in a couple years. I've been at the same marina for >22 years but the ownership has changed a few times.

They've had a policy to pay 1/2 your summer well by Feb to reserve it. I had never done that, mostly because I felt it is an excessive "deposit" for something that you're not going to use for at least 2 months. If the "deposit" was a couple hundred bucks, or 10%, then I'd be OK with it, but when you get to THOUSANDS I feel it's different.

It had never been an issue as long as you paid in full prior to launch day

Three years ago I call to schedule launch and "pay up". The response is "Well, we can launch but we didn't get your deposit so we rented the well to someone else". What? No call? No email? Nothing? You didn't think I was coming back after 20 years? Weren't you even curious why I wouldn't want to stay?? They did have another well on another road that was OK (but a few hundred more), so I took it. Actually ended up liking the new well better but was still confused at how I got there.

Two years later, same thing. Silly me, I didn't do the $1200 "deposit" in time again and 15 days later they had given my well to someone else. No call, no email - nothing. They didn't have any other acceptable wells either. Others were either WAY too expensive, or junky. We started shopping around other marinas and were just about to settle on one farther away when one of my old dock neighbors called to inquire how we were doing. He told me that he was sure the well across from mine was going to be available, as that boater was getting out of boating. I called the marina to inquire and they said "Well, we haven't heard from him yet, so we don't want to rent it to someone else yet" but yet he had not put the "deposit" on it either. Hmmm. After a bit of pushing, they promised to contact him and if he didn't want it anymore it would be mine. They called back later that day and confirmed. I actually like this well better than either of the other two. Still baffled at the incredibly POOR customer service part though, especially after having been there for >20 years. I've heard similar stories from other folks.

Rich, you did not mention TBM... is that too far or were there other reasons to not consider them? They are a sister marina to mine (JBM) and, although customer service is lacking, the facility is pretty nice.

[mjk1040]

Ah Hah! I do believe I brought this up last year how its all about the Marina and not he customer. I was told the same thing basically, winter where we dock or take all your belongings off the dock and the surrounding area. I docked and bought both my boats and all my fuel at our base docking Marina, I would winter closer to home, half the time and distance, spread the wealth, making annual winter maintenance simpler and I had friends also at the winter Marina and enjoyed them. The owner of the winter Marina was IMO a master marine mechanic and honest, if he didn't no a specific brand of boat he would tell you so. And most important, when spring came I could pretty much have my boat launched when I wanted it not when they get to it. This guy would move and re-block boats in front of or around me to get my boat launched when I wanted it wet on my schedule not his. And his son would buff out my boat each season at such a reasonable rate, I would tip him quite well too. Boaters beware! Oh yea, I also offered to pay for next years dockage right after the end of the season and still got this attitude! GO FIGURE! Mike

[jhasten46]

Make me appreciate my $320.00 / month floating pier/slip with finger pier on both sides in Clear Lake Texas. No winter storage, currents, & no hassles to deal with. Monthly pay, too! Just a mild tide. Marina allows build outs on the pier to square up the dock to the rear access swim platform of my aft cabin Carver 396 and also allows covered canopies on the pier for extended outdoor living space, bar-b-que, chairs & shade. Our canopy is 12ft.X20ft. Also the best & safest Hurricane Hole on the Gulf Coast.

[RGrew176]

Source of the post

Source of the post
Fast forward to yesterday. I decided, since they had not gotten back to me to drive there and inquire about my invoice and summer dockage. I get there and I look up the owner and make my inquiry. He told me that he thought that I was not interested in returning. I am not sure where he came to that conclusion. He did imply that my not winter storing there was part of the reason he did not send out an invoice. He then said that he has already rented out the slip I was in for the season and that the new customer was going to winter there, at least that is what he implied.

Now, I know for a fact that I am not the only customer there who winter stores at other marinas. I wonder if any of them got the boot too. I have one good friend who summers there and he stores every winter elsewhere and he was invoiced and will be there again this season. I kind of wonder why I got the boot. I caused no problems and enjoyed my time there.

If they did not want me back I would have appreciated either a letter or phone call stating that they were going to rent my slip out to another customer. Oh well.

Something similar to me happened a couple times in a couple years. I've been at the same marina for >22 years but the ownership has changed a few times.

They've had a policy to pay 1/2 your summer well by Feb to reserve it. I had never done that, mostly because I felt it is an excessive "deposit" for something that you're not going to use for at least 2 months. If the "deposit" was a couple hundred bucks, or 10%, then I'd be OK with it, but when you get to THOUSANDS I feel it's different.

It had never been an issue as long as you paid in full prior to launch day

Three years ago I call to schedule launch and "pay up". The response is "Well, we can launch but we didn't get your deposit so we rented the well to someone else". What? No call? No email? Nothing? You didn't think I was coming back after 20 years? Weren't you even curious why I wouldn't want to stay?? They did have another well on another road that was OK (but a few hundred more), so I took it. Actually ended up liking the new well better but was still confused at how I got there.

Two years later, same thing. Silly me, I didn't do the $1200 "deposit" in time again and 15 days later they had given my well to someone else. No call, no email - nothing. They didn't have any other acceptable wells either. Others were either WAY too expensive, or junky. We started shopping around other marinas and were just about to settle on one farther away when one of my old dock neighbors called to inquire how we were doing. He told me that he was sure the well across from mine was going to be available, as that boater was getting out of boating. I called the marina to inquire and they said "Well, we haven't heard from him yet, so we don't want to rent it to someone else yet" but yet he had not put the "deposit" on it either. Hmmm. After a bit of pushing, they promised to contact him and if he didn't want it anymore it would be mine. They called back later that day and confirmed. I actually like this well better than either of the other two. Still baffled at the incredibly POOR customer service part though, especially after having been there for >20 years. I've heard similar stories from other folks.

Rich, you did not mention TBM... is that too far or were there other reasons to not consider them? They are a sister marina to mine (JBM) and, although customer service is lacking, the facility is pretty nice.

Toledo Beach Marina would be further from home. I did not want to move to a marina further away. If I was going to make a move it would be closer rather than further away.

Like I said in my original post he implied that it was because I winter stored elsewhere and that the new slip customer would be a year round customer. I can understand that but I know that I was not the only boater there that stored elsewhere for the winter. One of them I know for sure was invoiced back.

I am not really that upset and I had been contemplating moving north since I bought the boat this just got me moving in that direction. I went back Thursday to pay for my summer dockage at Gibraltar Boat Yard. Took another walk around the marina. I think I am really going to like it there. It's only 9.2 miles to GBY rather than the 25 miles to Trouts.

It's a win,w in IMO.

[TJK]

Some marinas are a PITA

[RGrew176]

Source of the post Some marinas are a PITA

In reality he did me a favor. At Trouts I was living 25 miles away from my boat. At the Gibraltar Boat Yard I am now 9.2 miles away. Yes, I am paying $475 more and gas is higher here but I am a lot closer so it kind of evens out in some ways.

[tomschauer]

Not sure about other areas, but in my area, 10 years ago if you didn't pay for your summer slip in full by January 1, you were out on you a*s at launch time. All of the marinas had waiting lists. Now, they are all looking to fill slips, offering discounts and incentives. Although not cheap, the rates have stabilized and the customer service has improved. The draw back is, with less boats and a lot less larger (30'+) new boats being sold, good mechanics are very hard to find.