Marinas and repairs

[Minos]

What happens when someone brings a boat in for repair --- do they have to pay for a mooring?

The issue isn't so much the mooring during the repair (which, as I said, will take an afternoon, with a possibility of a further couple of days interior cosmetic work) as the mooring before and after.

 

I'm sure that if you turn up for a 1-2 day job and the boat is in the boatyard only for those days and you take it straight out again to the cut, it will be different.

 

The work really is minor in terms of time, parts and effort- but it requires expertise and I want it to be done by someone with proper training and liability insurance.

[canaldrifter]

Can't you just move the boat out to the nearest towpath mooring and get the work done there?

 

Not all insurances ask for BSS by the way. Some are more enlightened.

 

Tone

[Minos]

We could.

 

Or we could co-ordinate everything so it is all done in time for us to sign and collect the boat and get it a couple of days up the cut to my dad's place. Then the marina gets nothing, my dad gets a toy to play with for a couple of weeks, and then we spend a few weekends getting the boat out of England and into Yorkshire.

[romarni123]

We could.

 

Or we could co-ordinate everything so it is all done in time for us to sign and collect the boat and get it a couple of days up the cut to my dad's place. Then the marina gets nothing, my dad gets a toy to play with for a couple of weeks, and then we spend a few weekends getting the boat out of England and into Yorkshire.

I am going to send you a map

[Minos]

Map? I'll need a passport & visa to leave Yorkshire!

 

And vaccinations for the whippet.

[romarni123]

Map? I'll need a passport & visa to leave Yorkshire!

 

And vaccinations for the whippet.

congrats on the boat have fun

[Minos]

Thanks.

[canaldrifter]

Yorkshire's a great place, once you get used to the economy. As my mate Pete states (he's a Yorkshireman through and through) "A Yorkshireman's attitude to money is the same as the Scots,.... but wi'out the generosity!"

 

Tone

 

Edited to add, hence the native cry of "Ow much???!!"

Edited May 25, 2011 by canaldrifter

[ditchcrawler]

The issue isn't so much the mooring during the repair (which, as I said, will take an afternoon, with a possibility of a further couple of days interior cosmetic work) as the mooring before and after.

 

I'm sure that if you turn up for a 1-2 day job and the boat is in the boatyard only for those days and you take it straight out again to the cut, it will be different.

 

The work really is minor in terms of time, parts and effort- but it requires expertise and I want it to be done by someone with proper training and liability insurance.

If I had the same faith in the marina/yard that you seem to have I wouldn't let them touch my boat even if I had to tow it to another yard to get the work done.

[Minos]

Fair comment, ditchcrawler.

 

However, it's not the boatyard that is inflicting the charges on us. The yard has been brilliant - even to the point of timing work to help us out.

 

It doesn't take much checking to see that the yard and the marina are two different companies owned by different people. It would be wrong to deprive a small business of work just because the large corporation it rents space from is behaving like a twat.

[Minos]

Just to add a bit more to this - I think your broker is being a bit of an arse.

 

When we bought The Dog House it looked like there might have been a short delay (Up to about a week from memory) between us completing the sale and us being able to pick her up.

 

I enquired of the broker (Dominic M on here) what would be the charge for us to moor her at Stowe Hill for the time after she became our responsibility and us being able to get down to Northampton to collect her - not only was this not a problem there was no charge.

I think you're right. We've bought the right boat from the wrong broker.

 

Once we take possession, we're going to have to move quickly to avoid being hit on the arse by the door. From that moment, the broker says we & our boat have to deal with the marina for mooring - and there is no hint of of any 'after sales' courtesy.

[Minos]

I owe the brokerage an apology - the man in charge has just phoned me and offered to cover the mooring and a goodwill gesture to a charity.

 

Doesn't come better than that.

[Guest]

I owe the brokerage an apology - the man in charge has just phoned me and offered to cover the mooring and a goodwill gesture to a charity.

 

Doesn't come better than that.

 

I agree - I wonder if he reads this forum??

[Leonie]

I owe the brokerage an apology - the man in charge has just phoned me and offered to cover the mooring and a goodwill gesture to a charity.

 

Doesn't come better than that.

 

Way to make a wrong situation right. Well done that brokerage.

[ymu]

We're in the process of buying a narrowboat. Fallen for her big time and the survey has been very positive.

 

She needs a couple of bits doing before we move her (an electrical issue that's been red-flagged on the survey). We have been told by the boat yard that any work that needs doing involves us paying for a mooring in the marina in addition to the costs of any work.

 

Is this normal? Sounds a bit odd to my novice ears.

There's one place we asked about craning out, and the cost includes a month's stay because they only get the crane in once a month. You can live on-board, at least, and they do everything they can to do the work without craning it out.

 

Unless there's a need for a boatyard to do the work, I'd moor up at the first free spot and call in people who work from vans. Cheaper all around. I'd not go to a garage that charged me for parking my car whilst they worked on it...

 

The cost to them of hosting customer's boats is part of their overheads and should not be charged as an extra, unless they can show you how their basic charges are cheaper because they don't include that overhead. Otherwise, it's just a price-gouging scam. I'd talk to the insurers and get it done elsewhere on principle, I think.

 

I owe the brokerage an apology - the man in charge has just phoned me and offered to cover the mooring and a goodwill gesture to a charity.

 

Doesn't come better than that.

Oh ... too late! Well done.

 

Starting a thread on a well-read specialist forum, or hinting that you might, often seems to work miracles.

[Old Son]

If you don't take possesion for two weeks, can't you get an electrician in during this period? When the boat is handed over the repairs will be done and you won't need the mooring.