Dock Walkers

[s/v Faith]

What to do about dock walkers?   

  First, I am obligated to dock walkers, as one who has spent an impressive amount of time over the years as a dock walker..... boundaries however, are improtant in all relationships.   

  My list of projects only continues to grow longer the closer I get to heading south next year.... yet the stream of dock walkers / talkers does not let up.   

  I have enough trouble with my sailing addiction, I am much more inclined to take advantage of a couple hours of nice weather to go out then work on the boat already.  Add to this the problem that whenever I pick up a piece of sandpaper or screwdriver there is someone there to discuss it.   

  Of course, there is an easy solution for those guys we have discussed before, the know-it-all's who never leave the dock.  You can just blow them off, or whatever.   

  But what do you do... what do YOU do about those pesky, friendly, dock walkers / talkers?

[Zen]

I do not have that problem on my dock. It is mostly powerboaters, and most of them are absentee owners. The FEW that are there just say howdy, looks nice and keep on trucken.

[Fortis]

I make an assesment of them in the first three seconds and then offer them a tool like a brush or polishing rag or even (rarely) a screwdriver and wave my hand to silently inbite them on board to assist as we talk.

Those that make excuses and beat a hasty retreat are no loss, those that stay and help are worth talking to and tend to enritch my day's work.


Being the guy that got handed the tool was how I started on my path to owning a boat and knowing how to work on them.

The man who did it must have thought highly of me. I got offered a metabo power sander and pointed at some fresh brightwork! Now there's faith!


Alex.

[AdriftAtSea]

Alex-

Obviously, he would be pleading temporary insanity, due to the amount of stress caused by varnish failing on his brightwork.

I don't mind dockwalkers...provided they stay on the dock...  At my marina, which is off the beaten path, and has nothing around it, unlike some marinas located more centrally to the harbor they are in, almost everyone on the dock is attached to one of the boats at the marina in some way, and the majority of them are powerboats.

[Joe Pyrat]

Put 'em to work.   

[CapnK]

Good idea, Alex, never thought of the free-labor potential there...

Walkers here tend to be tourist couples, so I don't know if I'll be able to get them holystoning away while they are on their vacation.

The planks on my finger pier could sure use it, though...

Craig - put up a sign, something along the lines of "Feel free to chat with the owner while you work to help him sand/scrape/polish/etc..." 

[s/v Faith]

I notice that many days down at the marina I encounter folks who are 'thinking about'.

Some have gotten new (to them) boats, others are just looking and forming dreams.

I try to make a point to engage them.  I keep boat cards with this site's address to
share and talk to them about the merits of going on a small boat.

In a world of naysayers, it seems to me that there is a duty to do so.

You?

[Captain Smollett]

In a world of naysayers, it seems to me that there is a duty to do so.

You?

I agree.

The marina we were in was part of a motel (one of the lesser expensive ones in town as it is older and not part of one of the big 'modern' chains like Hampton, Comfort Suites, Holiday Inn, etc).  The big banquet hall was quite popular being rented out for weddings, reunions and general parties.  Plus it was situated along the path a lot of people walk when there is something "fun" going on downtown.

So, we got a LOT of foot traffic on the dock.  Some of it I liked, some of it I didn't.

I was often doing some 'serious' boat work in the slip, and I was often amazed at the number of guys that would stop by and chew my ear about the boat.  "She sure is a beautiful" was a common theme, which usually had my wife shaking her head since the boat was anything but "beautiful" to the casual eye (bare glass, flaking paint, taped up portlights, etc).

Those were the 'boat guys' that knew class designs...being one of only two CCA era boats (and sometimes the only one) in the entire marina, she stood out.That sleek "shark-like" stem was just noticeable walking down the dock.

I enjoy talking to anyone who would bother to stop and ask what I was doing, or what kind of boat she was, or what was the marina like?  I usually did not go out of my way to talk to them since I am basically shy by nature and was usually busy or had something going on.

One fellow would 'challenge' everyone he saw on the dock he did not recognize.  I saw more than one person get quite defensive from his "questioning," especially when they had a legitimate reason to be there (one such was a guest of a person with a boat there).  That approach never made sense to me.

It's a fun environment ... to me, anyway. 

The only time I really wanted the "Marina Guests Only" sign on the gangway "enforced" was when one of those parties was going on at the motel.  Often, folks would come staggering down, quite inebriated, and sometimes loud and obnoxious.  We were not part of their party and did not like them 'bringing it to us,' and often this was when one or both of us had to get up for work (my wife generally got at 04:30 for work...not fun when some yahoo was shouting to his buddies on your finger dock at 11 pm).

Mostly it was pretty cool though.  I know that I myself have learned a lot about boats (and boaters) from dock-walking.  Too bad it's often seen (or often is) an annoyance.

And yes, when I did engage dock walkers, I was always quick to extol the virtues of "this boat" because she is SMALL.  And our dock box and the sailfar.net sticker on it... 

[rorik]

When my `59 Frisco Flyer was hauled for a year, indoors, for major repairs (frames, deck, deckbeams, etc..) we always got people coming by and asking for directions, asking if the coffee shop on the other end of the building was open, is the food any good, what kind of boat is that, on and on and on....
There were even a few that came into the shop, climbed the ladder to deck height and leaned over to ask questions as we worked on the interior.
We finally put up a small sign in front of the boat that read:

Questions: $1
Answers: $5
Correct answers: $25

It was mostly in jest, but it did keep some of the sillier ones away.....