markpierce
Master and Commander
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2010
- Messages
- 12,557
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Carquinez Coot
- Vessel Make
- penultimate Seahorse Marine Coot hull #6
This is where those idiots at Carver actually listen to their customers. I have a sundeck. I guess an Aft Cabin Motoryacht(ACMY) as it states on the side of the boat. Going from the sundeck to the swim platform is a nice set of stairs with a sturdy handrail. On the angled gunwhale/caprail(don't know what else to call it) is the aft cleat. Line handling is a non issue as is going to and form the aft deck to swim platform. The platform itself is all part of the hull mold. While the boat is 35 feet, if you include the swim platform, it is about 40 feet....and that is wetted surface that contributes to waterline length. Anyway, it is a wonderful set up and it pretty much negates the disadvantages of a sundeck. It also says "356" right there on the side so nobody can charge you more on a per foot basis. Anyway, this is the result of an American company with American engineers selling to American customers listening to American needs under the pressures of the American market. And that is a good thing.
PS...I use the term "idiots at Carver" sarcastically if you didn't figure that out. Carver gets such a bad wrap that I use a little self deprecating humor along with it. My boat is wonderfully laid out. It is amazing for a 35 foot boat. And it is an example of why boats from mainstream builders should not be overlooked.
. It also says "356" right there on the side so nobody can charge you more on a per foot basis..
I guess down here we aren't as anal or quick to screw everyone out of just a few more bucks.
.
It's not screwing anyone out of anything. It's treating all boats of the same total length the same. The entire length requires space. I wouldn't have expected you to have trouble on the one that was slightly over, but I assure you that if you told them 36' on your Carver in South Florida, most marinas would instantly know better. Most of the time in a slip, it's going to be the slip length that prevails, however, as it will be greater.
we aren't as anal or quick to screw everyone out of just a few more bucks.
One thing I forgot to mention about my experience with a sundeck is that age and fitness plays into whether a sundeck will be a good choice.
Access can be a little more difficult and my parents who are in their late 70's find the climb onto the boat more of a challenge then I do. If a person is considering a sundeck for the long term that might be a factor to work into the calculation. Will you want to deal with the access issues as time goes on? A sedan with a transom gate would be much easier to board for my parents and in-laws, so that might play into the next boat we get.
I find all this measuring to the nearest inch for berth fees rather quaint actually. Over here in Aus, the usual approach appears to be along the lines of ok. How long a berth does your boat need to not stick out too much..? They are usually built in multiples of metres, so most marinas have a number of 9m berths, a lot of 11 and 12m berths, then a number of longer ones 14m plus. Whatever is the smallest berth your boat will fit, without protruding enough to matter, then that's what you pay for. My boat is 10.36m officially, I own an 11m berth. Not rocket science really. After all, surely the fair way to calculate cost is what amount of marina real estate a boat is going to take up..? If a boat is on a longer berth then it strictly needs, you can't use the remaining few feet (metres) it is not using. The water and power consumed will usually not vary that much anyway.
So basically it's the slip length as you describe, but if you extend beyond it, you are charged for the extra.
In our harbot the port charges for the length of the slip (unless it's an end tie) and the footprint of the boat using some forumula that's a mystery to everybody.
In our case, when they replaced our old dock with its 40' slips with a new dock with 45' slips we elected to pay more per month for the 45' slip rather than move to a 40' slip somewhere else in the harbor. We like where we are and it's worth the extra cost to stay there.
While the port has no problem with our keeping our boat in a slip thats longer than it is, this means they can't put a 45' boat in it. So the reasoning is that if we want to keep our smaller boat in a larger slip, we can but we have to pay the rate for the larger slip.
Seems fair to us, given the waiting list time for slips in this particular harbor. There are plenty of boats on the waiting list for a 45' slip and we're preventing one of them from having one.
But that sounds exactly what you are trying to do.. be careful with that "we", Kemosabe!