Marina 'tidy up'

[waterminx]

Hi

My BF has a sailing boat moored in a marina inland. He is doing it up with the intention of getting it sea worthy and back on the sea next year. Its moored near where he works and its been on this mooring for two years. Hes just signing up for a third year.

The masts are very tall and are currently stored in the boatyard - where he was told to put them when he first arrived.

There is a new marina manager who has clearly been told to tidy the place up. Which is fine. Except he has been asked to move the masts. When he spoke to the manager he was told the following:

 

• The masts must be RE-moved away from the marina entirely - he was offered no option for storage elsewhere on the site
  
• The manager said that they'd been 'told' that his boat had been modified so that the masts would no longer fit the boat - which is absurd and simply not true
  
• If the masts are not removed they will throw them away.
  

I have looked through the marina general conditions of moorings and storage ashore. I must admit they seem well stacked in terms of what is demanded of the berth holder and the 'rights' of the marina management company. But it does say:

'The owner shall indemnify the company against all loss damage costs claims or proceeedings incurred by or instutued against the company or its servant or agents which may be caued by the owners vessel or vehicle or by the owner his servnat agents crew guest or sub-contractors except to the extent that such loss damage costs claims or proceedings may be caused bvy the negligence or wilful acto of th company or those for whom it is responsible.'

and

 

'The company shall not be liaible whether in contract tort or otherwise for any loss theft or any other damage of whatsoever nature caused to any vessel or vehicle or other property of the owner or others claiming through the owner except to the extent that such loss, theft or damage may be caused by the negligence or wilful act of the company or those for whime the compnay is responsible'

and

 

'No items of boats gear fittings or equipment supplies sotres or the like shall be left upon the pontoons jetties or car parks... such items are liable to immediate removal and disposal by the company at the owners expense'

... but of course these are not on a jetty, pontoon or in the car park.

 

He also has a direct debit agreement which says

 

[the company - blah blah] to provide morring and/or storage accommodation for my vessel and her gear and equipment for a period ..[dates] .. in accordance with the general and special conditions as published and agreed....

This new manager has quite an unpleasant manner and their interpersonal skills leave a lot to be desired. During a quite strained telephone conversation he was also informed that 'this marina isnt meant for boats like yours' - although I cannot find any definition of the word 'vessel' nor any description of any vessel types in any of the agreement paperwork.

 

So - questions:

1. Does the fact that he has been there for two years without incident or issue have no bearing whatsoever? Have they not 'accepted' his boat situation in taking his money for two years?

2. Can they deliberately damage his property in this manner?

3.They have waited to tell him this until he signed up for another year - if he leaves now he is liable for the entire years mooring fee. You cant get a refund of any description if you leave before the end of your mooring period. It seems they are gradually 'hitting' people with this kind of thing after they sign on the dotted line for renewal. He is not the only one having problems with changes being implemented in a rather heavy handed way. Its not fair, of course, but is that entirely legal?

 

Finally - one slightly different question. I spend alot of time on my own boat. While reading the T's and C's it says that the moorings are not 'residential', which is fine and fair enough. But... how is 'residential' defined? Is there a legal definition or rule of thumb?

 

thanks for any help and advice on this one.

 

Minx

[BankFodder]

I think that you have a very good argument to say that the way that the conduct of the contract over the previous two years has some bearing on the present contract and that you could argue that the storage of masts which was permitted under the previous two contracts is now permitted by the new contract - unless, of course there are specific provisions to the contrary.

 

I don't think that there is any right to remove and to dispose of masts in these circumstances. The worst situation would probably be that the company would be obliged to store them for a reasonable period of time and the charge for the storage.

 

Any term which purports to exclude a refund of all money except for deductions for administrative costs would be invalid. The very recent Gym case - Ashbourne Management Services Ltd confirms this point (again).

 

You say that there are others who are being affected by the new manager. It seems to me that you need to get some meetings going and to decide on some collective action.

 

Also, the managers comment about your type of boat would have been extremely useful to have on record. Of course you are another person who is dealing with contentious issues on the phone without recording calls. Now you know why you should install a call recorder. You would be well advised to install call recorder and have another phone conversation and try to lead him into making these kinds of comments again.

 

I think that you will need to write him a letter stating your points very clearly in respect of each point so that at least you can demonstrate that he was on notice as to your position.

 

If you feel that there is a serious risk that he may dispose of the masts, you may need to go to the County Court for an order to prevent it. You should take pictures of the condition of everything.