Marina Contracts?

[mjk1040]

It's like $ 55.00 a foot here with water & electric, and a pay in full early the price is discounted, basically the same the State Park Marina's charge per foot in our area of the state. $20.00/foot for haul out, blocking and spring launching. Then $14.00/foot to shrink wrap. Now we do have land at our docks where you can place tables, chairs, grills, etc. and we have a view of the lake. I know a lot of you just have pier after pier of docks and no other amenities. A lot of big boats have left for one reason or other, mostly customer treatment the reason. Guess I'll hold on for awhile and wait for the bankruptcy auction and hope someone with marina experience and customer service smarts buys the place, if I was 20 years younger I'd look to buy it myself. When a certain business has limited competition, your at their mercy, however when that happens in the corporate world they all cry monopoly! Great Discussion Guys! Mike

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost.... As to running my A/C all the time, I turn mine off whenever I leave the boat.....

Marina expenses aside, if nothing else, shutting down when you leave is the safest way to go. If it springs a leak while running in your absence and your bilge pumps fail, you're going down.

Qr Bbpost......It does not take that long to cool the boat down when I arrive......

Agreed

[mjk1040]

Here's a new addition, neighbors boat was worked on at the base marina a couple of times. End results after repairs at base marina, both Volvo pentad out drives full of water and ruined carrier bearings, for which both engines need to be pulled to replace them. neighbor took boat to another marina for a master Volvo Penta mechanic to work on because base marina wouldn't allow Volvo penta mechanic in their marina to do the work. Now base marina wants $600.00 haul out fee even though boat is not there at base marina to guarantee its slip for next season! Hold a gun to my head for pete's sake! Mike

[waybomb]

I am so glad to keep my boat at Brians marina in St Joe.
Been using inside heated there for 13 years now.
1 price for the whole thing.
Haul out, wash the bottom, bring it inside, block it up, then they cover it with a thin plastic to keep any dust off, heat at 55f all winter with a back up automatic honking generator, let me use the place whenever I want, even gives me they keys if I need a Sunday, then puts it back in the water. And if need be, drives it over to my slip in front of my condo.
When we rehabbed the current boat for 1.5 years, he charged nothing for outside storage over the Summer months. And then when we were ready, let us use one of his slips for a couple of months since the lake was down and I had no path to my own slip.
I guess it's payback for all the new customers I send him.
Winter storage total is 2875.

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost..... both Volvo pentad out drives full of water and ruined carrier bearings, for which both engines need to be pulled to replace them.....

Trying to understand why the engines have to be pulled. What carrier/bearing are you talking about? Why would the engine need to be removed for a drive issue? I can understand that for a transom assembly problem but not a drive problem.

[mjk1040]

Volvo didn't go to a gimbal bearing system until 1995 I read. The two bearings are in the $900.00 bell housing that carry the shaft from the engine back to the outboard drives. The Boat is a 1989 30' Santego with repowered carbed 5.7L Volvo Penta's, with the dual prop system.
'

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost.....neighbors boat was worked on at the base marina a couple of times. End results after repairs at base marina, both Volvo pentad out drives full of water and ruined carrier bearings......

Need more info about original problem to begin with, what were symptoms, what exactly was done in an attempt to remedy, what exactly do you mean by drive full of water, etc. before an opinion can be rendered whether there is any blame to be placed?

Qr Bbpost .....The two bearings are in the $900.00 bell housing that carry the shaft from the engine back to the outboard drives....'

So it sounds like you're talking about the spindle or output shaft bearing. I'm assuming now that the "drive" was NOT full of water and that you mean water got into the bellows and ruined the bearing. BIG difference! Again, hard to comment without knowing all the facts correctly, what exactly was done, was the drive off, did bellows get replaced, what was the original complaint, etc.? Perhaps there was more than one problem here to begin with and a secondary issue was not caught.

My point is that one can't judge based on only part of the story. Without all the facts, including the marina's, you can't come to an honest, educated, impartial conclusion. Dock talk is a strange animal indeed; it starts off with a disgruntled customer who may not have a leg to stand on, he spreads the word without all the facts as it's usually only his side of things, by the time it gets to the third person, it's a completely different story, and the marina takes the brunt of it without the opportunity to defend itself because nobody bothers to find out their version of events.

It may seem like I'm all for the marinas, I'm not pro marina, I'm pro having the facts from both sides before I draw a conclusion.

[mjk1040]

Marina worked on the out drives and installed a new shifter that required getting into the drives to adjust cables to accommodate the new shifters. When the boat was launched the day in question, there was a lot of oil sheen around the back of the boat. Boat owner notified mechanic, mechanic told boat owner it was residual oil not to worry. A time later when boat owner was still have trouble shifting his boat he took it to another mechanic who in turn called a Volvo Penta Tech. Tech found that both outdrives were full of water and no oils. both bearings in the engine bell housings were washed and bad.

[waybomb]

If the drives were full of water, I would think the gears and bearings inside the drive would be toast.

[Viper]

Qr Bbpost Marina worked on the out drives and installed a new shifter that required getting into the drives to adjust cables to accommodate the new shifters.....

Something's not making sense to me but in any case, hope the Volvo techs can remedy and everything works out for him.