Marina Operator International, October 1997

Keeping Your Eyes Open for Good Ideas
by Damian E. Buckley

Sometimes the best solutions to problems are right before our eyes. In my position I have the opportunity to visit a number of marinas and as the saying goes "no two marinas are the same" may be true but many of the problems marinas face are the same. Through the years as recreational boating has become a popular family recreation there is one problem that both boat and dock manufactures have not resolved to any degree of satisfaction for the boating public and that providing a safe and convenient way to board a boat. Whenever you have a situation where the water level changes the problem is compounded with a fixed dock system, where the distance between the dock height and the amount of free board is never constant. By contrast floating dock systems at least offer a constant amount of freeboard above the dock surface but that is where it ends.

Since the dock surface is usually about two feet above the water with a boats freeboard easily between five or six feet and neither the boat or the dock are fixed the question is how does one easily and safely board a boat. As a marina operator you may say that it’s not my problem but it is, we are in the service side of this industry. The burden does fall on us to make the boating experience as enjoyable as possible for the boater. Besides if an accident does occur in the marina regardless whos fault it is the marina is the one that ultimately suffers. In one of the marinas we manage with a floating dock system we have a customer that has designed and built one of the safest boarding steps that I have seen. I think the idea is so good that I want to share it with you and in turn I hope you find merit in it and share it with your staff and customers with similar problems.

Boarding steps are frequently located on narrow finger piers with boats tied to both sides. The wider the boarding steps, the more problematical it is for the second user, of the same finger, to gain entry or egress to or from their boat. Picture 1 shows boarding steps that occupy more than three-quarters of the width of the finger. This boater obviously hopes that nobody is going to use that empty berth next to him, because it is very difficult to get past. He is obviously the type of boater that believes that the finger is for his private use. My experience has shown that in most marinas the finger piers are meant to be shared by the boats on either side.

I have seen where local emergency services particularly fire departments, while making a routine safety inspection of a marina will put in their report the obstacles they encounter which has included boarding steps. You know that if the local fire department has problems at the marina other emergency services will also face the same problem. Now the question is, if you have an emergency at the marina and one of these services are called and they have problems getting past boarding steps that occupy a full width of the finger pier and have commented about it on a previous inspection yet nothing done to correct the situation, your problems may just only be beginning. Not only might damage to the finger piers or the to boats on either side of the finger occur, there is also a chance of someone getting hurt. If there is an accident that has occurred involving the boarding steps then you had better check your insurance policy. Sometimes an insurance company can deny the claim on grounds that you knew about the problem and elected not to correct it. Continue »