Marina Etiquette

Good Read and a great survey!

Pacific Northwest Boating News: Burning Question | Marina etiquette | Three Sheets Northwest

Greetings,
Mr. ASD. I seem to be in agreement with all poll responders except with regards to allowing wind generators to spin freely. I understand some can be quite noisy but I've no experience with them at all. Interesting point about lines on docks. We are of the "loop on the dock cleat" school with the bitter end aboard both for easier adjustment and a neater dock AND we have the wrong anchor...oh dayum...

I should think wind generators would be an absolute no no. I remember that from my days in Everett WA.

My big gripe re marina's is boat overhang .. both ends. Some restrictions do apply in LaConner but there are still some boats sticking out 3' or more into the fairway. If you have a boat that's hard to maneuver or you lack skills (we all do or did) some selfish guy hang'in his boat out into your bought and paid for space is dangerous for at least personal property.

Something that occurred to me recently is the fact that the marina collects more moorage money when boats in the slips are the maximum allowable length. They make more money. That may explain why marina's are slack about correcting violators and the overhang allowances are established by the marina .. not the boat owners. But there is one positive aspect about overhangs and that is that the marina can accommodate more boats and bigger ones .. and that's where the shortage exists. I may be considered extreme but I don't think there should be any overhang at all .. in either direction.

Another thing I don't like is radios .. especially football turned up loud. It's like phone calls in a restaurant .. it's just very rude.

I am in agreement with most.

i said NO to the noisemaker at the dock. We have been packed in so tight that the exhaust was entering the cabin and setting off the CO detector. Consider that us small crafts have ports very low on the water and if we are packed in tight, the fumes have to go somewhere.

all thought if it weren't an obvious safety issue i don't see a problem for power outages.

i also disagreed with the eyes down the dock. I use my trips up and down the docks to visit. if you are out, not already engrossed in a conversation or project i will stop and say HI. i have met many new people and had many good conversations.

Bugs me when owners don't maintain their boats, and they become eyesores.

I was about 50/50 with the replies. It's a community and we have to look out for each other... to a point. I won't clean up after people, but will kick lines out of the walkways. I (well, Bess really) will coil our lines, but not that silly flat coil. That promotes moisture to stay under the lines and we have all seen those stains on the dock nor to I want the lines to "train" with that curl in them. We coil them neatly, but it's a loose coil we drop onto the dock.

I will always help docking boats and do provide some extra horsepower when needed. I know a lot of skippers here hate that, but I fell you have to do what it takes to get a boat safely into a slip. If a boat is headed the wrong way, I will nudge it into place as I would expect anyone else to do for me. Don't get me wrong, I WILL obey a skipper's orders if they give them, but I would be more upset if someone let my boat crash into a dock because of some personal pledge they have to never be liable for someone else's mistakes. Gimmie a break. We aren't setting diamonds here... We are trying to get a oval peg into a rectangle hole. Sometimes it takes a bigger hammer. ;-)

I always thought the idea of asking permission to come aboard was weird. Sure, I don't just jump on Willy-Nilly, but if I am stopping by for a drink or a chat, I will just jump on without stopping and stating the obvious, "Permission to come aboard?" I assume you know I am headed that way anyway.

Halyards are a pet peeve of mine! Banging and clanging sail hardware is just rude. Sure, in 30k winds, about everything is going to make noise, but in a gentle breeze, there is no excuse for that 24/7 clanging. And you can bet that I WILL board a boat without permission (assuming I know the person) to secure it and leave a note.

The noise bit is a tricky one. There are times we arrive very late to the marina and are up before dawn to get an early start. We can be as quiet as possible, but boaters have to be flexible.

At the end of the day, there HAS to be balance. Weekenders are there to relax, unwind, and sometimes party. Liveaboards don't always live that schedule, so we all have to understand each others situation.

(FLAME SUIT ON)

Oh...

P.S..... Still don't know what a "water bonnet is :-D

Tom.B said:

P.S..... Still don't know what a "water bonnet is :-D

Click to expand...

bonnet = valve

It's interesting...people with lots of maria experience AND a little common courtesy can get away with almost anything. The marina group tends to know that particular person is there to help and make marina life nicer. Not everyone with experience qualifies as there are always those out for only themselves.

But reputation goes a long way and when "the qualified" passes judgement on whether the incursion aboard some one else's boat was justified, or water faucets swapped..or power lines rerouted...

Boating life is only perfect at perfect marinas...wish I could find one to stay at that had reasonable rates....

That's a pretty silly "survey".

Any discussion of "etiquette" is pretty much based on what one person thinks another person is doing wrong.

People have different expectations of the behavior of other people but basically people should respect other people's property and rights. So in a marina, one should not disconnect another boat's water or power connections, move their dock lines, be loud and obnoxious, make loud noises late at night or early in the morning, leave fish waste in the dock carts or on the docks, allow their dogs to roam free on the docks, etc.

Just common sense, right? Treat people how you would like to be treated.

Intresting survey.

The only one that was wierd to me was the eyes forward one.

At our marina, and I have no problem with this, people walk down the dock looking at boats. I do it...I love walking the dock looking at boats. We nose in to be out of the crowd along the fairway

People walk down the dock fingers between boats, and they look. If I am onboard and want privacy we have blinds. Be forewarned though... one of my Tibetan Mastiffs loves to lay in the pilothouse with his head in the doorway. He loves nothing more than to let someone walk down the dock finger and start barking just as strangers get abeam of him.

The rule for us is look, do not touch someone elses boat. That is unless it has a for sale sign. Then and only then it is OK to touch it enough to get your face close enough to peer inside and look. But, for sale boats are not to be boarded, just looked at.

As far as overhang, well that is not a owner problem, it is a marina managment problem. My slip is 50'. My boat is between 53 and 54 feet. Its going to overhang.

marinas and occupants aren't like dirt property dwellers.

there are constant issues as failure of power poles, changing of slips, people coming and going that have an issue clearing other boats, poorly tied up boats, bad water faucets...etc...etc...

and that's the rub...it constantly requires different actions and adjustments from others sometimes to your boat...

Occasionally...BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE YOU that needs something out of the ordinary is why people break all the "rules" all the time in many marinas and we all have to understand.

Like I said...people with lot's of marina experience know this and make allowance for what seems to be "interfering" with another when in reality...it's just a fact of marina life. The trick is to make necessary changes without doing harm....

Our marina doesn't have a lot of slips in the 30+ range and it seems everyone is hanging out into the fairway. In our narrow fairway., it gets to be a little tight while maneuvering my single screw boat. But I can't complain, I have a 34 footer in a 32' slip.
One of my more patient days at the dock one afternoon, I tolerated 5-10 year olds racing up and down the full length of the dock. It was all I could do to tolerate it. Don't get me wrong, I had little ones once too, but I wouldn't let then do that. Should I have said something? I waited out the 20 minutes until they tired themselves out/left the dock. But it was pushing my tolerance to the limit..

As for halyards, the first time I tie them off, the second time they are on the deck.

Greetings,
Water bonnet?


Note, this only works for cats NOT mono-hulls...

They missed one: power lines hanging in the water. As a former owner of a Mercruiser outdrive, which are know for corrosion problems, this issue used to be of considerable interest to me.

I'll still pick a fallen cord out of the water. Repeat offenders are politely referred to marina management. It's not only a corrosion issue, it's a safety issue. Besides, a few da

Touching someone else's boat or lines when they're not around makes me uneasy. Sometimes it can't be avoided; rafted up, sharing a cleat, boat is sinking or an alarm going off, cabin windows inadvertently left open when it's going to rain, that sort of thing.

I've never talked to anyone who thinks slapping halyards are OK.

After that, it gets a little fuzzy. When in doubt, seek local knowledge.

It's nice when people leave their contact information in the window. That way if a pump is running, a furnace is on, a line is loose, etc. a good samaritan can easily get in touch with the owner and ask what (if anything) should be done.

Retriever said:

It's nice when people leave their contact information in the window. That way if a pump is running, a furnace is on, a line is loose, etc. a good samaritan can easily get in touch with the owner and ask what (if anything) should be done.

Click to expand...

I sometimes wonder if that isn't advertising that you are away from the boat, especially if your number is out of province/state. Perhaps I'm too paranoid.

Conrad said:

I sometimes wonder if that isn't advertising that you are away from the boat, especially if your number is out of province/state. Perhaps I'm too paranoid.

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I display a contact number (whited-out in the photo). I think it is a good idea. The guard bear warns off potential trespassers.

I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.

That's actually from the Hippocratic Oath. But isn't that what it is really about, trying not to do harm to others. Then within that we just have to use reason and common sense.

I would be hard pressed to come up with many absolutes as every marina is different, every boat is, every day is.

Safety issues I do address with the dockmaster. This includes lines in the water. It also includes tying across walkways (and yes it's done). And it includes the example of the kids running out of control up and down the dock. The parents who let their kids do that are the first ones to sue the marina and boat owners when something happens.

Beyond safety you get into "peaceful enjoyment." That's not the same at a marina as at home. I do try to respect the 9 pm to 7 am time window, although there are times to make a destination in daylight, we must leave earlier and there's no way to do that quietly. I'm not nearly as bothered by somewhat normal boating sounds as I am by loud bursts of noise, whether from boom boxes or loud drunks. As to the question of generators, in a typical marina setting we'd never run one. However, there are marinas with no electric or water or anything else where it's normal. Just not in someone's face. Typically on those transients find themselves side tie on a long dock and away from other boats. But we also take steps so it doesn't impact others.

Then the last part is socialization. We do and don't. My wife is more outgoing than I am. I'm more shy. But we aren't there to drink or party. Don't care to join in. No desire to hit the bar. We do like to sit and talk to others of like mind sometimes and sometimes even go to dinner with others we meet. The eyes front led to much giggling on the part of my wife. But on the serious side, I see us all there taking in all the sites and view. Peeping Tom is obviously wrong, but to look toward others, acknowledge if they do you, look at the boats you're passing seems normal to us. Living room? Well, close the blinds if you don't want to be seen. Many of us with homes live in neighborhoods where houses are close. Most people close the blinds to your bedroom there before you stand naked in front of the window. Now walking on the finger piers I consider wrong as they're part of the rental property sort of. I walk down the dock just as I walk in the mall, looking all around.

As far as asking for permission to come aboard, same as on land. If I'm invited to someone's home, I enter if they're there watching. If I'm not invited, I don't. And if they know I'm coming but they're not where they can see, I get their attention before intruding. I don't want to scare them. But it's different with different people. Our home is gated so people have to buzz to get in, but our friends don't have to and they make themselves quite at home.

Good Samaritan. If damage is immediately forthcoming, absolutely. If not, I inform the dock master. He has a contractual right to change or fix lines.

Last, I don't chastise others when they don't do things as I think they should. They leave a line hanging into the walkway, I'll take my foot and ease it out of the way, but I'm not going to lecture them on the right way. Now, when people ask or open the door to help, then I'll try to politely show them something that will make things easier on them.

Be a good citizen and neighbor. There was an older couple that docked beside us and needed a great deal of help or they would have damaged their boat. Later while no one else was around they spoke about being new and loving the water but the idea of docking almost kept them from getting out. I asked if they'd had any lessons. They said no. I asked if they'd like any. They said yes. The following morning we spent three or four hours with docking lessons. Once they learned enough to gain confidence it was easy. But previously the least thing wrong and panic would hit and then all would fall apart.

Respect. I will show respect for others and expect the same in return.

Livaboard or weekend warrior

Before living aboard I used to go out of my way to start up conversations with every one I met walking down the dock to my boat, Sometimes I got the feeling I was intruding in their space, after all I was down for the weekend and it was time to be social. Boating was my hobby and I wanted to share it with everyone. Over time I realized that small space called a cockpit or foredeck was a livaboards only space and just like all of us, often we need private space. They weren't in the mood for casual conversation or my advice, just because I showed up. Over time I learned that casual acknowledgement, a nod or hand movement was plenty and if they wanted more they would open up the conversation. Weekenders are different they're there often to socialize and because they have their own space called home, they look at things different. I live on the end of the dock, two of my neighbors are livaboards on housboats, I have to walk by looking right into their living rooms, we get along great and have become friends, I try to avert my view and walk quietly to give them the privacy I would like and to avoid unnecessary conversation. I like looking at boats as much as anybody, you have to treat livaboards a little differently. When I walk the docks I always look for freyed dock line or power cords in the water, bilge pumps that cycle to often or boat listing too much. I would want to someone looking out for me also. As for handling of dock lines, I want control of the boat. When some grabs a bow line and gives it a jerk you no long have control of the boat , he does and your left working with what's left. Personally I want to put the boat against the dock and I'll tell them to secure the dock line. Too often line grabbers turn an organized docking into a Chinese fire drill. That doesn't mean that I won't help out or pull on lines when I know the skipper has a reputation of crash landings and appreciates help. Especially if my boat is at risk. Heavy boats like mine make handling dock lines potentially dangerous, 66,000lb can rip off cleats, sever fingers, pull people into the water, crush people, you name it. It stresses me out when I see someone reaching for one my dock lines, I had the landing planned out, now what?

The people on our dock pretty much all have contact information for each other, even many of the owners on other docks who show up each weekend. I normally leave a key with the other liveaboard when I go home and he keeps a eye on my boat for me, I have keys or know where the owners keep them for several boats. I'll turn on the AC to cool their boat down before they get to the marina or check that they shut off the circuit breakers if they call me to make sure they're off. We are all friends and help each other out when needed even washing the boat of one older couple. I'am there 8 to 9 months of the year so they know I'am watching their boats when they aren't around and they do the same when I go home for a few days. It's really a small community that gets along with each other very well. I never mess with their dock lines or power cords unless a problem is evident and I don't care if they're rolled up or not as long as the aren't a tripping hazard, I will make sure deck chairs and such are secure if a storm blows thru. No sailboats so no rigging making noise although that's never bothered me, I'am home now because they're dredging around some of the docks in the marina and entrance channel and I'am sure others are watching my boat and it's safe and secure. I believe marina etiquette is just using common sense and knowing that the other owners love their boats just as much as I do mine, another thing that helps is that most of us are late 50s into 70s years old, We still party but we aren't as loud or late;-)

We are in a yacht club marina that has strict rules regarding noise, behavior, vessel and dock cleanliness. There is a long waiting list for slips so it would be foolish for a member to hazard being evicted by breaking the rules. The Dock Master ( a member)enforces the rules while dock captains, (a live-aboard on every dock) keeps their eyes open for non-members wandering the docks and vessel problems, such as constant running bilge pump or an audible alarm.

I received a call from the marina office as well as a PM from a TFer concerning a definite list in the boat. The list was due to an unbalanced fuel load I hadn't yet corrected. Nevertheless, I appreciated the concern.

What's a "marina"? Must be a city thing. Like condos. Too many people/boats concentrated in one place. Guess you need etiquette to keep the mayhem under control.

Not very many (marinas or condos) around here. Moorings are where it's at. Great privacy, good neighbors who keep an eye on each other's boats, no high slip fees, pull into a dock briefly to fuel and water up or load stuff. Boat always swings into the wind.

Of course, the ice arrives early and leaves late here.

Interesting survey, I guess, but as psneeld says, there are so many variables at play it's hard to impossible to make or follow any set "rules."

We generally do not walk over to assist an incoming boat unless the weather conditions are such that someone on the dock might be useful to the boater. Even then we don't actually do anything unless the boat crew asks or gives us instructions as to what they'd like us to do. If things get out of hand and the boat is in danger of hitting something we will step in and fend off, however.

Boats in our marina tend not to have any need to run a generator as there is ground power at every slip. If someone wants to test a generator or give one a run after a period of non-use, that's fine with us. We do this ourselves if we haven't run our generator for a month or so.

Loud, on-board parties have never been an issue in our marina other than perhaps on the 4th of July. One of the yacht clubs rents their elevated dockside facility out for weddings and such, and these can sometimes be rather noisy. But we're far enough out in the marina that the noise almost never even gets to us.

We coil (Flemmish coil?) our dock lines to make it easy for our and our neighbor's dock carts to roll over them.

We've not noticed a lot of kids in our marina, and the ones we've seen have never been running wild.

We would not normally get on someone else's boat without permission, and we expect the same with our boat.

We post emergency contact information in the window of our boat, listing the port security office first and then our phone info. We do not include any home address information.

We have a lot of sailboats in our marina, but the slapping halyard thing has never proven to be much of a problem. It doesn't really bother us all that much, anyway. We like all the sounds that are associated with a good storm.

But there has been at least one occasion when I boarded a nearby sailboat to corral a very loose halyard. This was more to keep the halyard from flying completely free than to stop the noise.

There have been a couple of occasions where wind generator noise has been annoying. Some brands of these things are very noisy while others are not. But again, it's only occurred a few times over the 16 years we've been in the marina. The cases I recall they were boats subletting a slip so were gone in a short time, anyway.

The "eyes front" thing seems a little silly. Boaters are always looking at boats, so to expect them not to is unrealistic. As with most of these "rules," common sense should dictate one's actions. If there are people on a boat, we don't walk up and peer into the windows to see the interior layout. But we might with a boat that has no one aboard, particulary ones that are for sale like the boats at the dealer docks near the head of the main dock.

The Port of Bellingham is quite vigilant about boat length vs. slip length. At most a boat might project out of a slip by a foot. Any more than that and the port makes the owner get a longer slip.

Like more and more marinas in this area, ours has gone to a slip fee formula that includes the footprint of the boat as well as its length. So for a given length, a wider boat pays more then a narrower boat.

But for all the years we've been in our marina, we have been impressed with the behavior and consideration of the vast majority of tennants, and with the port's vigilance in keeping the place up. Another marina in the area we are very impressed with, although we have never kept a boat there, is Cap Sante in Anacortes.

Clearly the marina experience varies by location. In the Eastern Caribbean where sailboats are 95% of the boats, the halyards/standing rigging slap all night. Also with $1.10 US per kilowatt for electricity most wind generators are left operating and the majority of boats have one.

I've always looked at it as "when in Rome".

Etiquette can vary from marina to marina here. Our marina tends to be somewhat private where others nearby are quite social. Do unto others seems to work well everywhere we visit while keeping an eye open for the local nuances.

Sounds simplistic but if you would like good neighbors you need to be a good neighbor. Some folks seem wound too tight for boat ownership, if a halyard slap bugs you that much perhaps you are better suited to the RV lifestyle.

Scary said:

Before living aboard I used to go out of my way to start up conversations with every one I met walking down the dock to my boat, Sometimes I got the feeling I was intruding in their space, after all I was down for the weekend and it was time to be social. Boating was my hobby and I wanted to share it with everyone. Over time I realized that small space called a cockpit or foredeck was a livaboards only space and just like all of us, often we need private space. They weren't in the mood for casual conversation or my advice, just because I showed up. Over time I learned that casual acknowledgement, a nod or hand movement was plenty and if they wanted more they would open up the conversation. Weekenders are different they're there often to socialize and because they have their own space called home, they look at things different. I live on the end of the dock, two of my neighbors are livaboards on housboats, I have to walk by looking right into their living rooms, we get along great and have become friends, I try to avert my view and walk quietly to give them the privacy I would like and to avoid unnecessary conversation. I like looking at boats as much as anybody, you have to treat livaboards a little differently. When I walk the docks I always look for freyed dock line or power cords in the water, bilge pumps that cycle to often or boat listing too much. I would want to someone looking out for me also. As for handling of dock lines, I want control of the boat. When some grabs a bow line and gives it a jerk you no long have control of the boat , he does and your left working with what's left. Personally I want to put the boat against the dock and I'll tell them to secure the dock line. Too often line grabbers turn an organized docking into a Chinese fire drill. That doesn't mean that I won't help out or pull on lines when I know the skipper has a reputation of crash landings and appreciates help. Especially if my boat is at risk. Heavy boats like mine make handling dock lines potentially dangerous, 66,000lb can rip off cleats, sever fingers, pull people into the water, crush people, you name it. It stresses me out when I see someone reaching for one my dock lines, I had the landing planned out, now what?

Click to expand...

This about sums it up from our perspective. I'd only add that as a group transients tend to be much less courteous than "weekenders". And transients who travel in packs, whether local or long range cruisers are the worst. Last summer a pair of out of state sundeck boats pulled into the marina and parked on either side of us. We were sitting out on our sundeck having dinner when they arrived and said hello, but nothing more. Both couples kept looking over to get our attention and engage us in the inevitable boring tales of their exploits. When we failed to engage them in a conversation, the couples on the two boats acted like we weren't sitting there and struck up a loud dialogue....across our boat. When I politely suggested that they take their discussion to one or the other of their boats, they were incensed. Sadly, this is fairly typical behavior of many in the cruising community. I don't care about their sea stories, don't care for their often ill-kept and smelly boats, and don't care for their drinking habits (as a group). The other live aboard couple and even the local weekenders in the marina see it the same way. We'd ask for adjacent slips, but none of us cares to have our views blocked and limited privacy restricted by other locals during those wonderful slack times in the marina.

Marin wrote;
"The Port of Bellingham is quite vigilant about boat length vs. slip length. At most a boat might project out of a slip by a foot. Any more than that and the port makes the owner get a longer slip."

Wish all marinas did that!

"Like more and more marinas in this area, ours has gone to a slip fee formula that includes the footprint of the boat as well as its length. So for a given length, a wider boat pays more then a narrower boat."

I've poo pooed this for years thinking who cares as long as the boat dosn't take more than it's share ... like good to the center of a slip w room for fenders. But while looking for a slip for Willy now I've been shying away from double slips w one boat in it that is really wide. Especially not knowing what kind of a helmsman the guy is. And there's lots more wide boats than narrow boats. So the volume charge does make some sense but I'd really rather everybody rented half the slip w no overhang and boats too wide for the usual 1/2 of a two slip berth should be put on the outside like catamarans.

Marin that's nice to know re the overhang policy at Bellingham especially if things go south at LaConner. Bellingham is more expensive though .. I think.