Beginning Of Season Near

[bud37]

Here is a tidbit.....got a bill from marina saying my account is billed for the season slip for the total balance. Now normally this would be paid by April 15th, but this year the marina is closed, we have no access to our property and now they say their next opening date may be around the 20th as they have no essential status for recreational marina.

This payment seems a bit wrong to me as I have no answer asking how they would deal with a late or no opening. I will say I totally agree with the closing as this is serious business right now with no end in sight. Never the less, that boat is our property which they say they are taking care of ( they have always done a good job of that so far ).

I believe there should be a plan in place before we all pay in full, I would have zero problem with paying a monthly storage fee until such a time as this is clear. Does this sound reasonable??

Of course this is only very trivial in these times.....stay safe people.

[RGrew176]

My marina is closed per se. It's in an open area and if you choose you can go and work on your boat. There are no current plans to launch any boats per the Governors order to stay at home. Marina's are not considered essential so until the order is lifted no boats will be placed in the water.

Not knowing if there will even be a season this year I do not plan to remove my shrinkwrap until such a time that boats are being launched. I assume the marina would charge a summer storage fee if there is not to be a season. That is reasonable.

On hold here in Michigan hoping this Covid 19 situation goes away and soon.

[Austinorson]

Hi,
We are in the NW corner of Ohio on the Ottawa River. Marinas are still open in Oh and I am working on bottom painting. Boats are going in the water also, I hope to be in the water in a couple weeks myself. I belong to a yacht club, but it may be different elsewhere.

[Viper]

I think most of us are kidding ourselves if we think we're going to have a normal boating season this summer if at all. Consider that this has been going on in China since January and they are only just now starting to recover but restrictions are still in place. This in light of closing everything down which is NOT being done in north america. Heck, if you were caught in the streets by authorities, it better have been because you needed food or medicine or you'd be isolating in jail. This is not the case here. Their numbers have started to climb again due to people returning back home from abroad, so they're preparing for a second wave now.

While some marinas are taking this very seriously and shutting down completely, other marinas have shut their doors to the public but are insisting it's business as usual for their employees, and they can do this because the government's rules are so vague. I've never seen the government issue such vague orders in my life. They have issued restrictions here twice now and despite the public outcry for clarity, they issue an update just as vague as the first at a time when misinterpretation can be deadly. Unless we take stronger measures now, this will go on for a long time, and it's likely we'll see several recurrences as we let our guard down over time because we think it's gone. It's a short season up here to begin and considering the talk is around July before things settle to a somewhat comfortable level, I see launching boats only to haul them out shortly after. That's a very expensive summer for the amount of boating most people would be able to get in.

[Benda515]

I understand that most everyone boating season will be impacted but even if we are held out all of april and part of may, I wouldnt want to scrap the season. The problem at least in the states is that it the messages of who is exempt dont match the urgency of what they are saying. If a chocolate store in my city is deemed exempt and life sustaining, or if people can go to any walmart and shop while mainiting 6' distance then me sitting on my boat in the slip or on the hook should be allowed. I totally understand not opening club houses or not allowing tie ups but shutting down the marina does not match what they are allowing people to do in other situations. Especially when I go by our local boat launch ramp and there are more trucks in the parking lot than there ever is in april. So you are only penalizing boats that are too large to trailer.

[Cooler]

Hello All! I am back, sort of. The head cold mutated into a really severe status, totally sucked. Called for COVID-19 test, but was advised to wait until low grade fever, increased to a mod grade. I am convinced I did not have COVID, but the experience was no picnic, and I would not have been interested in hanging out on the boat if this were timed different. ANYWAY, received a message from my marina, stating that for now, the still plan on opening on May 15, but may not have all services available. Lounge - bathrooms/showers. Should have power as long as electrician can do the preseason inspection. Message ended with "things may change at the discretion of MI Governor". While I live in WI, my slip is in MI. The other good news is there is just 3 confirmed cases in the 2 counties at the marine location.
BENDA515 - great to see you took delivery! Congrats! Been quite the year for you already. er

[Benda515]

Cooler, didnt get it yet scheduled for next monday - just used that pic from the dealer. I am hoping they dont cancel the delivery or the marina not operating the lift to unload it. Even if they cant put it in the water right away I really would like to be able to get on it and get things organized, but I guess like everyone its just a wait and see.

[tomschauer]

Governor Hogan of Maryland has shut down all recreational boating in the state. There is currently no end date. By definition, marinas can be considered essential if they sell fuel, and offer parts and service. Our Marina has chosen to close, for the time being.
I guess we will see what happen towards the end of April?

[RGrew176]

In Michigan the legislature just voted to extend the stay at home order until April 30th. If it is not extended further it looks like the marinas could start launching boats May 1st. My gut tells me that the worst of Covid 19 is yet to come. I would not be surprised if the April 30th deadline is not extended into May.

The question for me is at what point do I toss in the towel and decide not to launch. My thought is if I am not in by July 1st I may just leave the boat wrapped and call it a season. I am taking delivery of a Yamaha jet ski on May 15th hopefully and the launch ramps are still open. The jetski could get a lot of use this summer if I don't have the boat in the water.

[Cooler]

Good news Rick. MI Governor recently announced that rec boating is OK as an outside activity function under the current order. Marinas can operate as essential business observing business practice to social distancing. This came as a result of the MI State Police apparently misinterpreted the specific order conditions and published a no boating warning. There is a lot of confusion to deal with, understandably so. The weirdest thing was you can only have immediate family members as guests on the vessel. ( or maybe I am misinterpreting )