Why dont people look after boats ?

[PeterM]

Having some time off work I just drove down to Mudeford to see how bad the weather was & for those that haven't realised its not very nice out there, even inside the harbour !

I watched from the comfort of the car while a guy battled to get his yacht secure on various anchors , then got in a decent 4.5m RIB come back to shore winch it on tot he trailer & go home. Clearly accepting he would be soaked ( he emptied his waders twice ) he wanted to make sure his boat was safe/ looked after.

But , looking out with the bins p there is a very new looking Valiant 5m full of water, a older Humber - full of water , 2 SIBs - one in whcih you can only see one tube ! & the other filling rapidly . All with OB on the back , I'm guessing with batteries under water etc . Saw another 2 decent sixed Avons on the River in the same state.

Why dont people look after what are clealry alot of monies worth of boat ? any ideas ? It makes me sad/angry that this happens when I know poeple who would do anything just to be able to have a boat - let along a decent RIB

P.S. There are also many hard boats , very close to being under water that will just sink unlike our inflatable friends)

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

Why dont people look after what are clealry alot of monies worth of boat ? any ideas ?

I am guessing that most of these people have jobs and/or are not particularly local... with the recent weather the boat will fill pretty quickly if either the battery or bildge pump fails - and that is assuming there is an auto pump anyway.

[TangoTango]

Yes it's amazing how many boats you see that are badly neglected. It is easy to see in some cases though how quickly a situation can deteriorate. If a cover is somehow blown loose for example and there is heavy rain, the boat can fill up alarmingly quickly and the bilge pump will run until the battery goes flat then it's all downhill from there. Or perhaps a split develops in the cover (normally at a point designed to funnel in the maximum amount of rain!).

I think it's either a case of more money than sense or inexperience on the part of the owner leading to a boat in a state of repair so bad he/she cannot contemplate tackling the problem so it just gets worse and worse. There are a few boats in Christchurch literally rotting on their moorings and I wonder if the owners are still paying mooring fees?

[JSP]

I've seen it as well. I've seen one boat kept in a marina and has never had anyone on it in the 6 years it's been there. It's a colvic watson motor sailer, was perfect! Why keep paying the mooring fee (must be 2 grand plus)?!?

[tinker]

Take a look at this then

[RAD]

What ave they done to that!!
Looks like they have done a blue peter on it and covered it in tissue and glue!

[The Grocer]

Originally Posted by RAD

Looks like they have done a blue peter on it and covered it in tissue and glue!

Some of us are old enough to remember when it was all done with squeezy bottles and sticky back plastic.

Now we drive Humbers

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by The Grocer

Some of us are old enough to remember when it was all done with squeezy bottles and sticky back plastic.

It's all a cunning ploy to cover the brand name

[Channel Ribs]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

Having some time off work I just drove down to Mudeford to see how bad the weather was & for those that haven't realised its not very nice out there, even inside the harbour !

I am glad to posed this one, not because I have the answer but because it relates a bit of a quandary we are having....

Given the bad weather of late a couple of our customers have asked us to keep an eye on their boats while they are away, as already noted the weather has been enough to flood an open boat inside of a week. Naturally we are more than happy to do this, a quick wonder down at low tide and drain via the trunks - job done.

However: It seems churlish not to do this for all the boats, but without having been asked to do so by the owners we are reluctant to 'meddle'.

Malthouse =

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by malthouse

Given the bad weather of late a couple of our customers have asked us to keep an eye on their boats while they are away, as already noted the weather has been enough to flood an open boat inside of a week. Naturally we are more than happy to do this, a quick wonder down at low tide and drain via the trunks - job done.

Malthouse - are you providing the customers who you do this for with some sort of storage services? or are these just regular customers of your chandlery who you are providing this for as a bit of goodwill? if its for a boatyard type customer then I think you could easily include this as part of your overall service agreement (and it could be the default option - or for a more buisiness like approach a paid for extra service (a once a week check that the boat is secure, and drained - more frequently during poor weather)) - but whos insurance pays if say a trunk or bung is not secured properly afterwards. Likewise if you are offering it as a FOC service - why not consider charging for it - I know I wouldn't have minded paying someone a little extra to keep an eye on my boat when I was away.

As soon as you start charging for the luxury it means you then clearly have no "moral" duty for those who aren't paying for the privilidge.