Postby Viper » April 9th, 2020, 5:10 pm
I know we're all chomping at the bit to get launched soon, but the problems I see with launching boats in a marina in the short term are numerous, it's not as simple as saying, "I'll stay away from everybody." Besides it being pretty difficult in some marinas to stay a safe distance when passing someone on a 4 foot wide dock, it takes a lot of resources to maintain the marina and all the services boaters expect. Were it as simple as dropping your boat in the water and saying see ya later, that would be fine but there's so much more that needs to happen that we take for granted. It would mean all kinds of support staff now putting themselves in harm's way. I trust people will want to use marina washrooms and lounges, but that would require full time staff just to sanitize everything in those areas continuously throughout every day, all while avoiding customers for their own safety. Boaters would want water at their slips and given most marinas are rural and not on city services, regular water treatment is required, septic services, grounds maintenance, gotta maintain the pool, parts department and chandlery store supplies and deliveries, and all the other outside/third party services needed to keep the marina running and customers happy. Not to mention dock staff refueling, doing pump-outs, manning the stores, techs expected to fix something right away while the customer waits so he can go boating, etc. This is being in constant contact with countless people during the course of their day. Also consider that while everyone may have distancing and cleanliness in mind at first, that will quickly change after a few drinks which almost always goes hand in hand with boating. Even with the best intentions and avoidance practices, a little alcohol will put everyone at the marina and beyond at risk.
Surrounding businesses will see shortfalls in supplies for their local residents. It's already happening in cottage country where people are migrating to their cottages to ride this out. The problem is that those small communities which have suddenly seen an increase in cases aren't equipped to deal with all the extra patients that will result because of the influx of boaters and cottagers.
I had a tech friend who works at a local marina tell me that a boater decided to come up to his boat for a few days, now bear in mind that the boat is still up in the air and technically the marina is still closed for the season including all the washrooms, and his boat is winterized. Even though the marina is closed, there are techs on site doing winter work and office staff doing their thing, but all doors are locked with signs on them clearly stating and respectfully asking that people stay away so that they don't put marina staff in danger of contracting the virus. The customer was contacted on his cell phone and said he just wanted to get away from the city for a while to a place he thought would be safer. That same afternoon, he's knocking on the Service door asking to be let in to buy some parts for a repair he's doing. When they wouldn't let him in he became irate. Then he knocked on the dock store door demanding the staff let him in, "only for a few minutes" to buy some supplies for the boat including toilet paper so he could do his business on the boat given that the washrooms were still closed. They refused to let him in but he got very angry over it and it was stressful for the staff. He was also leaving garbage at his slip expecting staff to take it away as they usually do during summer operations when they're fully staffed with students for that sort of thing. He has since been asked to leave and now the driveway is blocked off so nobody can go in. But before leaving, he insisted the staff now pump out his holding tank which he had to use because the washrooms were closed! NOT going to happen. This is just one guy! can you imagine a few hundred people on a typical weekend?
They're talking about things being bad until at least August now and that's if we continue to maintain our current practices of staying home. That's for Ontario which hasn't been hit as hard as some areas to the south, YET. I fear that launching boats will make things worse and increase that upward trend of confirmed cases for all the reasons mentioned above but to name a few. Not worth it IMO and that's coming from someone who makes a living in this industry. I can't however in good conscience endorse putting employees at risk so we can enjoy a summer of boating. It's unfortunate but that's currently the world we live in, we need do everything we can to prevent more from dying. I certainly wouldn't want it to be one of my kin that dies because of this nor would I want that for anyone else. If that means myself and others can't boat this year then so be it, it's not essential, and it's such a small price to pay considering the consequences.
... I totally agree. Just had basically the same discussion here with the marina......our boat will stay in the parking lot for a good length of time until this is well under control, my guess sadly not this year, but if that is what it takes, my wife and I are on board so to speak.
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