Sleepy Boats at Yacht Clubs

[Joan and Jim]

Our Yacht Club has limited moorage which, relative to private marinas and even some land storage, is cheap. Allocation is based on seniority. Some with moorage are not only senior members, they are senior in years. They no longer boat but refuse to give up their moorage thus depriving less senior members of it. Some years ago, in an attempt to deal with the problem, a rule was passed requiring all vessels to leave the club under their own power twice a year. (When first implemented, some of the boats could not even be made to start.) The owners of sleepy boats observe this rule by having family members or friends take them out on their vessels twice a year for an hour or so. That is the extent of their boating season. Even policing that rule is difficult.

I write to ask of those TugNuts who are yacht club members if their clubs are experiencing or have experienced similar problems and how they are dealing with them. I would be grateful for any ideas relating to: criteria; methods of enforcement; wording of rules/bylaws; whether the steps put in place are meeting with success; any other comments/suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[iggy]

Hi,

You mentioned "They no longer boat but refuse to give up their moorage thus depriving less senior members of it." At my Club we only have slips, but the same would apply. If you don't bring a boat in, than that slip goes to the next person in seniority. The same should apply to a mooring.

When you say, no longer boat that sounds like they have no boat, yes?

 

[Joan and Jim]

Hi Iggy. Thanks for your note. Sorry about the poor wording. The situation is that they no longer go out on their boats but keep their boats in the slips just sitting in the water unused.

 

[BradOwens]

East coast versus west coast terminology.
On the west coast moorage refers to docks, slips, mooring buoys, or any other in water storage location.
East coast it seems to mean only mooring buoys.

 

[iggy]

East coast versus west coast terminology.
On the west coast moorage refers to docks, slips, mooring buoys, or any other in water storage location.
East coast it seems to mean only mooring buoys.

Never knew that!! :roll:

But to get back to the point. ONLY members can take the boat out or into the Club. This is mainly for Ins. reasons but may also help you out. Other than that, there is really nothing you can do. There paying there dues and there slip fee.

Another idea: But not knowing your by-laws this may or may not help you. Some Clubs have mandatory work hours. Some examples are, 8 to 16hrs every year OR they pay $20 to $40 for every hour they have not worked. Some members just pay and some do the work. In some hardship cases it's been know to be waived, but it MUST be a hardship of some sort.

 

[bob daily]

I would hope when I reach that time in life ( which is closer than I want ) that I will not be put out to pasture, so a younger stud can have my barn stall. I know it's frustrating to walk behind me on the dock when your in a hurry, but please be patient as you'll be there yourself sooner than you think!
Bob

 

[iggy]

I would hope when I reach that time in life ( which is closer than I want ) that I will not be put out to pasture, so a younger stud can have my barn stall. I know it's frustrating to walk behind me on the dock when your in a hurry, but please be patient as you'll be there yourself sooner than you think!
Bob

I agree with you 100%. I am over 60 and feeling your pain. I will say, there are younger people at my club and they use there boat as a part time condo and/or some just go fishing and in both cases never help out. So it is frustrating for us active boats that want slips and donate our time.

 

[cathy&ron]

I do not belong to a yacht club, but if I did, I'd be pleased to have such a slip opportunity for 3 years. Then it goes to someone else. Perhaps in a lottery each year for open slips. It might even help you to attract new members if they new they didn't have to wait 20 years for "full benefits". I'd grandfather the old timers for one more year, and then every slip becomes available by lottery. If you lose your slip after three years of use, you can throw your hat back in the ring after two years have passed.

 

[Joan and Jim]

Our club has no issue with the active boaters who are older and whom others must follow down the dock behind them as they shuffle along. (I am 71 and the club puts up with me.) I'm fine even with those who don't go out all that often but who come down to their boats just to putter around onboard or have friends down to sit on the boat at the dock and socialize. Our problem is those people who own boats and, other than twice a year to comply with the two-trip rule, never even come down to their boats, never mind help out at the club. They are using the slips and sheds, not for boating activities but as storage facilities and preventing others from using them for their intended purpose. A lack of "moorage", to use west coast terminology, (and I am grateful to BradOwens for drawing to my attention the distinction between east and west) is what dissuades some people from joining. Are there any TugNuts whose clubs see such a situation as a problem or is my club an outlier? If viewed as a problem how are their clubs dealing with it, if at all?

Thanks and regards to all,
Jim.

 

[aintmissb]

Every Yacht Club, and every Commercial Marina, has this problem, if it is a problem. As someone said, if they pay their dues, what can you do, they are obviously depriving some benefit from membership otherwise they wouldn’t continue to be there. For many people, much of the pleasure of boat ownership comes from just that, “ownership”. I would say the only remedy is either: raise moorage fees, or gradually nudge your Club in the direction where active boaters are encouraged, cruising trips, social events, etc. Etc. And passive boaters are not.

 

[iggy]

Please let me add too. I am not talking about the guy that put his heart and soul into the club in past years. Now that there in there up there in years, they should be relaxing and seating back. I just don't care for the boater that uses the club as a cheap marina. Puts no time in, jumps on his boat, comes back and goes home and never at an event.

Am I venting?? :?:

 

[NorthernFocus]

Our club has no issue with the active boaters who are older and whom others must follow down the dock behind them as they shuffle along. (I am 71 and the club puts up with me.) I'm fine even with those who don't go out all that often but who come down to their boats just to putter around onboard or have friends down to sit on the boat at the dock and socialize. Our problem is those people who own boats and, other than twice a year to comply with the two-trip rule, never even come down to their boats, never mind help out at the club. They are using the slips and sheds, not for boating activities but as storage facilities and preventing others from using them for their intended purpose. A lack of "moorage", to use west coast terminology, (and I am grateful to BradOwens for drawing to my attention the distinction between east and west) is what dissuades some people from joining. Are there any TugNuts whose clubs see such a situation as a problem or is my club an outlier? If viewed as a problem how are their clubs dealing with it, if at all?

We lived aboard a sailboat at a yacht club for a couple of years and at a municipal marina for several more. Like living anywhere else you get a good sense of what's going on in the neighborhood when you're there seven days a week. Even more so in a marina due to close proximity and mostly unobstructed views.

At the yacht club I'd say at least 90 percent of the boats never left the slip. Ever. Maybe a third of those were used much like weekend cottages. The rest very rarely had anyone show up. For many of them even when there was a hurricane bearing down on us no one even showed up to secure them. The liveaboard community would secure the unattended boats out of a sense of self preservation if nothing else. If/when the harbormaster had to take action to secure a boat, pump one out, etc, they simply billed the owner for the service.

The municipal marina saw a lot more activity but still had its share of boats that never moved. But in either situation I don't recall ever hearing anyone suggest that anyone who's paying their bills should be forced to move their boat unless it was becoming unsafe. On the other hand I'm somewhat introverted and may simply have missed those conversations 😀

I think that's called life in a free society. Besides what else is one to do with a boat that's too large to store on a trailer or in dry storage?

 

[Navigator's Son]

The situation is that they no longer go out on their boats but keep their boats in the slips just sitting in the water unused.

Why did you join your specific yacht club? Just to get cheap moorage? Or to be part of something bigger and give back to your community/club? It's a rhetorical question, not really trying to solicit a direct answer from you.

Everyone has their own personal reasons why they joined a yacht club. Cheap moorage is certainly top of the list when the YC owns the slips. From the club's perspective, they run on money, along with good deeds, so it makes no sense for them to push out a long standing, paying member - or does it?

So now you have come face to face with the dilemma every YC Bridge officer or Board of Trustee member has to face. How do you balance membership participation with slip availability and financial obligations?

If you want to make a change in how your YC does things, go through the chairs. Or at least volunteer to take on the role of Bylaw Committee Chairperson. Read your bylaws, and find a way to get all your club members to agree to change them. Include stipulations that every slip holder MUST attend "X" number of events a year, must actively perform specific functions at club events, etc. Include stipulations that these obligations cannot be bought off, etc

With every club you are going to see that 90% of the work is performed by only 10% of the membership - the other 90% will never lift a finger to help other than write a check.

Good luck on this one, and when you do come up with that answer, please share it with me. There are a lot of Puget Sound Yacht Clubs that would like to know that answer - in fact, I can name 14 of them right now 😱

 

[iggy]

The situation is that they no longer go out on their boats but keep their boats in the slips just sitting in the water unused.

Why did you join your specific yacht club? Just to get cheap moorage? Or to be part of something bigger and give back to your community/club? It's a rhetorical question, not really trying to solicit a direct answer from you.

Everyone has their own personal reasons why they joined a yacht club. Cheap moorage is certainly top of the list when the YC owns the slips. From the club's perspective, they run on money, along with good deeds, so it makes no sense for them to push out a long standing, paying member - or does it?

So now you have come face to face with the dilemma every YC Bridge officer or Board of Trustee member has to face. How do you balance membership participation with slip availability and financial obligations?

If you want to make a change in how your YC does things, go through the chairs. Or at least volunteer to take on the role of Bylaw Committee Chairperson. Read your bylaws, and find a way to get all your club members to agree to change them. Include stipulations that every slip holder MUST attend "X" number of events a year, must actively perform specific functions at club events, etc. Include stipulations that these obligations cannot be bought off, etc

With every club you are going to see that 90% of the work is performed by only 10% of the membership - the other 90% will never lift a finger to help other than write a check.

Good luck on this one, and when you do come up with that answer, please share it with me. There are a lot of Puget Sound Yacht Clubs that would like to know that answer - in fact, I can name 14 of them right now 😱

Very well written. And your right, its the same 10%.

 

[FWTMD]

It’s a people problem. Not even a bylaws problem.

Agree with the question, why did you join, comes into play.

Along with that comes, why not just quit? That’s always an option.

Because any way you do try to address it, it’s going to tick off a lot of people, including many who are not affected. Even if you win, you lose. Are you prepared for that?

The customs and bylaws are what you signed up for.

Every club of every kind has these sorts of issues. And homeowners associations. It’s a people problem. Choose your battles carefully. Or just get over it. Or quit. You have choices.

 

[knotflying]

Looking at this a bit differently. Someone has a slip and they pay for their boat to stay in a slip. Why would one care if it was never moved? On the other hand I would be more critical of someone who had a slip and never had a boat in it.

 

[cstpt]

I keep my boat in a slip at a really great marina. Nothing more is expected of me other than to pay the fees and be a good citizen. How often I come down is up to me (pretty much every day in my case). It seems to be the way of the world that most boats are sitting idle a lot of the time. That seems a waste to me, but to each their own.

I understand that clubs have different expectations from the members. The part I don't understand is why someone would join a club if there is no guaranteed place to keep a boat...

 

[iggy]

I keep my boat in a slip at a really great marina. Nothing more is expected of me other than to pay the fees and be a good citizen. How often I come down is up to me (pretty much every day in my case). It seems to be the way of the world that most boats are sitting idle a lot of the time. That seems a waste to me, but to each their own.

I understand that clubs have different expectations from the members. The part I don't understand is why someone would join a club if there is no guaranteed place to keep a boat...

Every club is different. With that said, its general seniority first. So its the new member that may have to wait. The up side of a club, their "not for profit". You generally pay 1/4 to 1/3 of marine prices.