Tips (Gratuities)

It's haul out time. What, if anything, do you tip the yard crew?

Personally...when we have been hauled out down here to have the boat bottom painted, the yard crew that washes the bottom, sets and blocks the boat...if they are careful and does a good job...I usually give them (the crew) $50.00.

When we've been in a work yard for a while....it has paid off...when we've needed something...its handled promptly. And when the boat is relaunched....they do a good job, and yes we tip them again!

I realize its different where you are...because we are in the water all year....so I guess...you should tip what you think is fair.

I'm a cheap SOB but c'mon - they get paid. Do you tip your mechanic? The flagman on the side of the road? Ferry boat operator?

If some service person does something exceptional I may choose to do something back and that something may include money (but it might also mean buying him a drink after work or just telling his boss what a great job he did). This notion that everybody who does anything for me deserves to put his hand in my pocket is pure crap as far as I am concerned and I refuse to participate in the practice.

Greetings,
Atta-boy Mr. bob. I fully agree.

There is a difference between the yard guys....who have helped me out in the past, and whenever I have hauled there....as opposed to the mechanic or flag man on the side of the road. My comment is relative to the fact that I haul at the same place for work, and the same guys are there...they've been a big help...and though I know they get paid....I don't mind rewarding them for the extra service or help they give with a smile. They provide a service....over and above when asked.

I take it you stiff waiters, bell hops, etc.....??

Greetings,
Mr. JAT. I see your point regarding service providers you deal with on a regular basis (casual friends of sorts) but as to Mr. bob's point, a good word in the ear of a yard manager will probably pay more dividends to the employee, in the long run, than a few Andrew Jacksons spread around. Granted BOTH would work.
As to the yard workers who provide "extras" with a smile, seems to me, they are just good people who enjoy what they do, regardless of the $$. The world wonders.....

JAT said:

I take it you stiff waiters, bell hops, etc.....??

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Take what you like but don't presume to know how I behave based on one internet post.

Not that its any of your business but I pay my bill, so nobody gets "stiffed". Typically in restaurants I do add a tip but it really pisses me off that it is expected. In the case of particularly bad service I add exactly 5 cents. Once - many years ago - I asked an exceptionally surly waitress for change for a dime so that I could leave her a tip. I'm doubt she got the point but it sure was fun.

When we were in business I paid my staff well and expected them to treat my customers well without holding their hands out for additional pay.

I tip a lot for a lot of things that many people, especially Bob, don't. I tip the postman, city garbage crew, housekeeper at the office, the dockmaster (especially for a pumpout), the guy at the fuel dock, the tow truck guy, the guys at the boatyard, YES... the mechanic... I tip greater than 20% to wait staff, You name it, I tip for it. You are welcome to keep up your "cheap SOB" ways, but I get better service, better attention, and better treatment than average. Someone that expects good service is fine... I willing to pay for it and I get it every time.

It's amazing how far a small gesture goes. To answer your question... I tipped $20 to the two guys that pulled and blocked us last week and $50 to the guy that painted the bottom last year. They acted like they never get one very often, but you know what? They will remember me and our boat over the next guy. They will probably get another one when the job is done.

Tom-

I tip food service people 20 percent if just decent service since I know their fixed wages are minimal, however yard people are paid on a different system. The company that employes them charges me more than enough to cover them. I don't tip. I guess I fall in Gonzos cheap SOB group.

Gonzo, the guys one tips at this years haul out may not be around next year. Traveling in Asia when tips were not expected (some years ago) was a pleasure. A tip jar next to the till at the 7 11 for the guy who rings up your six pack is an unfortunate trend. I hope the trend to tip dock attendants does not reach the west coast.

We've talked about this here before but we don't tip anybody in the marine world that we encounter. Not the yard employees, gas dock employees, the people who work for our home marina (Port of Bellingham), or the employees when we stop at a marina during a cruise. I don't know any boaters here personally who tip, either.

With a few exceptions the marinas here and in the Gulf Islands in BC are pretty laid back, funky operations. Nine times out of ten it's the marina owner who comes down to make sure you get into the spot designated for you. Other than that, you're on your own. It's a "Power is there, restrooms and showers are up there, laundry is over there, and the pub is open from 11 am to midnight" sort of deal.

The yard guys get paid to do what they do and I have never felt we would get any better service if we tipped them. We try to haul out every two years and the number of employees and the turnover in the yard is such that with the exception of the yard manager and perhaps the Travelift operator the guys working on our boat will not be the same ones who worked on it last time.

The only time I can think of that I might be inclined to tip is if we needed something done in a major big hurry and the yard or the diesel shop or electrical shop or whoever made a major effort to do it and succeeded. So we'd give them some "have some beers or dinner on us" money as a way of thanks.

We have been to public and private marinas from Olympia, WA thru British Columbia and all the way up to Southeast Alaska and we have never tipped marina or fuel dock help. Never. And I don't know anyone else who has tipped dockhands. Waitresses and bartenders in the pub, yes.

At my local haul out yard last spring, while working on the bottom, I asked the owner if it was OK for me to tip two of the guys who helped with advise and suggestions on my bottom work...the boss said NO, in no uncertain terms. He was adamant that his guys should not start expecting tips from their customers.,

Tipping in boatyards is not a practice in Australia. Restaurant staff are properly paid but mostly still get tips.
I`ve given a Christmas case of beer at the Marina I was on, and a case of wine to the shipwright team who worked on while idiots sandblasted (not soda-stripped) the boat next to mine (massive un-contained dust,noise,mess!) for their effort. Sometimes it just feels right. BruceK

xfedex said:

Gonzo, the guys one tips at this years haul out may not be around next year. Traveling in Asia when tips were not expected (some years ago) was a pleasure. A tip jar next to the till at the 7 11 for the guy who rings up your six pack is an unfortunate trend. I hope the trend to tip dock attendants does not reach the west coast.

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I guess we're beating this dead horse again!!

But, I'm with you . . . I'm good with tipping for the food service arena or taxis. But that is pretty much the extent of it. Unfortunately, even that has gotten out of hand, since it has become an expectation rather than a reward for how good the service/food really was.

If you're here in the PNW, tipping a "public employee" (like in a Port Marina or facility) is against the law and could cost some kid their job if they accept your money. So don't tempt them!!

Larry B

At my marina, employees work for the city. No service is offered or expected to help dock at one's berth or the guest dock. At the fuel dock, a marina employee will take your dock line and fix it, hand you the fuel hose, and accept your money for the fuel charge. As a former government employee, I've never accepted a tip (it would have been a bribe), and I expect the marina's employees don't expect a tip either. But then, East Coast culture may be different.

I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of forum members here are that group in society that gives the tips, not receives them.Hands up, who in the forum has received a tip recently in the course of their work?

This tipping business is a tricky thing. Whenever i travel to the US/Canada I usually either tip way too much for something or forget to tip at all when expected, either way it's not good, you need to know how things work when travelling.

My youngest son used to work on our marina, pumping fuel etc and he was mightily impressed when someone tipped him, He certainly remembered the boat, and was always ready to lend a hand, above and beyond the call of duty, when it was in dock.

Tipping over here in Oz is far less prevalent than America, as the wages for unskilled
jobs are better paid.He was paid about $18 per hour, with overtime rates on Sunday at about $24 per hour.

Same son has now been working in Whistler for the couple of years and his wage is about $11.50 per hour, on the hill. I spent some time with him and his mates earlier this year on the mountain, and it was instructive to learn how they all regarded tipping from their perspective. It was accepted a tip was part of their wage, they explained it to me when you buy something over here, the advertised price is never what you pay, local and state taxes are added, in the same way service industry advertised prices add about 20%.

It may be that the original idea of tipping was as a reward for service above and beyond in the 'old' days, but now it has become part of the overall cost of 'Buying' the product and also used by the employer as a way of subsidising the employees pay.This obviously varies between the service and non service sector, but the line seems to be becoming more fluid.

When I first visited North America in the early 80's the accepted tip was about 10%, this year it seemed to be around 18-20%. It would be interesting for an economist to look at, the correlation of say a BigMac to unskilled pay in percentage terms in 1980 as against 2010, to see whether this increase in the accepted tip rate is to cover the relative falling pay rate scale.I have no idea if that is true or not.

Whether this system an efficient way of paying staff is a mute point, what i will say is in my experience the level of service you get in North America is way beyond what we get here. It was interesting to see that with so many of the kids working on the mountain(Whistler) being Aussies, Brits etc ,and basically from a non tipping culture, the speed in which they picked up the tipping ethos in order to survive was remarkable.

Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but it is an interesting area.

Tipping in BC would be viewed with confusion.

I may give the wharfinger a bottle at Christmas, but I may share in it as well...

That's not tipping, that's.......not sure what, but there is a difference. Especially if the wafinger (whatever that is) invites you to share the bottle.

Put me in with the other 'cheap sob's'.

MY tradition at the yard I use is to purchase a dozen (or 2 ) Dunkin Donuts on the morning of the spring launch.

Hardly a big deal , but at coffee break they seem to all vanish.

I'm with FF on this - a dozen donuts at haul out or launching. But I do tip the manager at Christmas. (Is that considered a tip or a Christmas present?) He uses the money to buy his crew lunch.

No, I don't receive tips. But I get paid a hell of a lot more than minimum wage. Maybe I just have a soft spot for those who are living at the lowest end of the economic scale, where I spent most of my life.

I'm with Jat and Gonzo on this. I know to tip wait staff 20% as that is the going rate, but I don't know the going rate for other services. At the fuel dock, I tip the attendant $10 after getting $800 or more worth of fuel. He seems to smile and thank me but I don't know if I'm being a cheapskate there. Also, at hotels I tip the maid $5 a day regardless of the rate that I am paying. Am I overtipping or undertipping the maid? The people that receive tips are for the most part lowly paid and count on tips as part on their wage.

Thanks, all. Because of this forum I may have saved 50 bucks (minus the price of a box of Timbits). BTW, at a Canadian marina I used to use, the crew appreciated (expected?) a leftover bottle from the liquor cabinet.

I tip the launch and recovery crew at the yard (haulout/washdown/remove dink with forklift/block the boat) $50 in the Spring and Fall. Good guys that I've known for years and who are extra careful with the boat.

We are summer live-aboards at a municipal marina. In the past I have given the marina manager about 10% of annual slip fee, which he divided among the crew of six...most of whom we know, as they return each summer. Starting next year, I will tip individually...

Tips, I'll give'm a tip. Get a better job. Go back to school to prepare. A tip is a disincentive to personal betterment. It's a feel good thing both for the giver and receiver. It's demeaning. Don't they know that it is really the yacht owners that are in a financial squeeze. Timjet started a thread about lack of yacht use. With $4.00/gal fuel whose really hurting here. No one feels sorry for the poor yacht owner.

While we are on the subject. Our welfare is costing us a trillion dollars. That's where the money is. That's a total of $60.000 per welfare recipient. We need to tax that and other low income people to let them pay their fair share. Then they will want to do better and cut taxes too. It's a win-win.

Just had to stir things up a little. Of course, I was only kidding. We do tip for good service. We usually tip dock hands when they give us assistance. We will tip at the fuel dock especially for a pump out. We usually do something for the guys at Christmas. Many times I am not present for haul out so don't usually tip there.

Especially in Florida there are some arrogant yacht owners. I have had a couple of yard managers tell me that his guys really liked working on my boat. That makes his job easier. I told him I never forget where I came from, and appreciate good work. I always make it a point whether it is on the boat or on the job to tell someone who has done a good job. Whether it is a service guy or an employee if extra effort was done I will usually give $50.00, and tell them to take their wife out for dinner.

I've even gone as far as tipping a boat broker. It was more to benefit me than him. I had a broker represent me as a buyer and in negotiating the price, I told him that I would give him a 10% tip on the difference between the asking price and the selling price. This was when the economy was good and sellers were more firm on asking price. He ended up with a nice tip and me a good purchase price.

mahal said:

I've even gone as far as tipping a boat broker. It was more to benefit me than him. I had a broker represent me as a buyer and in negotiating the price, I told him that I would give him a 10% tip on the difference between the asking price and the selling price. This was when the economy was good and sellers were more firm on asking price. He ended up with a nice tip and me a good purchase price.

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As an ex real estate agency owner and retired real estate lawyer who as often as not represented buyers, I always had great difficulty wrapping my brain around the concept, and legally recognized practice, of a "buyer's broker" (a broker who is supposed to represent the best interests of a buyer, including advising the buyer as to the current market value of a particular property and helping the buyer negotiate the best price) being paid a commission by and through the seller's broker based on the percentage of the sales price paid by the seller to the seller's broker.

Your "tip" was one suggestion I sometimes tried, with limited success, to
inject into listing and purchase and sales agreements.

I keep a stack of $5 bills (I call them "boat dollars") on hand. I tip the guy at the fuel dock and a dockhand who helps me to dock the boat. I give the dockhands at my marina $25 or so in a Christmas card each year and my wife makes home made salsa and zuchini cake for the dockmaster and office staff.

We don't have a winter haulout here, any haulout is for maintenance or dictated by the marina if a hurricane is coming. I never thought is was necessary or appropriate to tip for this and still don't think it is.

On the one hand, I strongly believe employers should be paying workers what their work is worth and the customers shouldn't have to pay by tipping. A $20 meal should cost $20, not $24.00.

On the other hand, if you own a home and a boat and your boat is worth more than a dockhand's home (if he even owns one), it seems pretty cheap not to hand him a tip for good service.

If the "tip" was the ONLY fee to the broker... THEN you could claim to be a true buyer's broker. Otherwise, there is no way a broker can claim objectivity if their check comes from the seller. Just sayin'.

Grabs popcorn. Here we go again.

rwidman said:

We don't have a winter haulout here, any haulout is for maintenance or dictated by the marina if a hurricane is coming. I never thought is was necessary or appropriate to tip for this and still don't think it is.

On the one hand, I strongly believe employers should be paying workers what their work is worth and the customers shouldn't have to pay by tipping. A $20 meal should cost $20, not $24.00.

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Nobody says anyone HAS to tip. You must admit that boatyard employees are pretty low on the income scale in the marine service industry. All I am saying is that I have no issues with helping them for helping me. Moreover, in their eyes they may indeed make plenty of money for what they do, but a small gesture that says, "Thanks." or "Please give me your best." is NEVER a bad idea and goes a long way. Sure, that can include doughnuts or even just a thank you note. Even a firm handshake and pat on the back can help, but you are fooling yourself to think you will get the same level of service just because you expect it and give them nothing.

What I find interesting is that Bess and I are very likely on the lower end of the income bracket among TF members. We have both worked in businesses where tips are part of our take-home pay, yet we seem to be in the minority of people willing to make tips a regular part of boating. As it may only add up to a few hundred bucks a year, we will enjoy continuing to make you guys look like a bunch of rich cheapskates. :lol: (just kidding there guys)

Tom-