Steve wrote:
I was surprised then they wanted to charge me $3.50 for a small bag of trash
at the dock at Deer Harbor in the San Juans, WA.

It these local communities want to encourage visits by boater and want these
boaters to refrain from tossing trash in the water or in the woods, there
shouldn't be any charge for trash.

So you think you should get a service for free that costs marinas money?

--
Peggie
----------
Peggie Hall
Specializing in marine sanitation since 1987
Author "Get Rid of Boat Odors - A Guide To Marine Sanitation Systems and
Other Sources of Aggravation and Odor"
http://shop.sailboatowners.com/detai...=400&group=327

http://www.seaworthy.com/html/get_ri...oat_odors.html

Peggie Hall wrote:

Steve wrote:

I was surprised then they wanted to charge me $3.50 for a small bag
of trash
at the dock at Deer Harbor in the San Juans, WA.

It these local communities want to encourage visits by boater and
want these
boaters to refrain from tossing trash in the water or in the woods,
there
shouldn't be any charge for trash.


So you think you should get a service for free that costs marinas money?

Not, if my impression is correct that Deer Harbor is an isolated or at
least very remote area. $3.50 for a small bag sounds incredibly
overpriced -- seemingly designed to have the boaters take their trash
back with them (not itself bad) -- but if the actual costs to properly
dispose of that much trash are that high, I don't disagree. Then again,
in the BVI and other Caribbean islands, they charge a nominal $1 per big
trash bag and burn it on the other side of the island, making a living
in the process.

My proximate complaint is charging quite a bit more than costs. For
instance, charging $1 for each of our little trash (grocery store) bags
is FAR in excess of the cost to haul it away (and my hazy recollection
was that the charge was higher). The dumpsters at our marina can hold
several hundreds of these little bags and probably a hundred or two big
garbage bags.

My underlying complaint is charging for each and every thing -- the MBA
mentality. I have basic disagreements with that philosophy. The bottom
line might improve for a while, but will degrade if there's any
intelligent competition. For instance, Worton Creek Marina [the least
accessible of the marinas at Worton Creek] used to give free pumpouts if
you got some fuel (even our usual 3 gallons). Heck, that was only $5 ,
but because I liked their attitude, we'd bypass the other marinas and
brave the skinny water to give them business even if we really didn't
need fuel or a pumpout. (Since they eliminated that, we only stop by
when we need their better store.)

Boats don't demand much compared to the business they bring. Charging
specifically for water, trash, showers, minimal electric and such when
the average demand on these things is small and the costs low is short
sighted.

On our little Xan, we can easily stay out for a week at a time (our
water and holding tanks being our limits), so we can (usually) pick and
choose our marina and anchorage stops. Those places that $5 and $10 us
to death get little of our repeat business.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/