How do you moor your vessel?

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and am hoping you can help a fellow boatie out.

I'm in the process of launching an online service called MoorMe. I started MoorMe because I believe searching for marina berth prices, locating facilities and booking a berth should be plain sailing (excuse the pun!).

I'm eager to learn about your personal experiences on the water, specifically about how you book your marina stays.

If you'd like to contribute, please copy and paste the survey link below into your browser to answer some very quick questions about how your moor your vessel and plan your boating adventures:

https://goo.gl/forms/jBZgOYmroTSTmyl23

Thanks all and much appreciated!

*NB: The information collected in the survey is completely anonymous

Thanks for the welcome to the forum whiteout :/

I've been boating all my life and and am passionate about hearing other people's experiences on the water. Bit disappointing that you have that attitude, particularly given MoorMe has recently been voted one of the most innovative business ideas in Australia, but each to their own.

Anyway, if you have any questions feel free to ask away.

Cheers

Thanks for the insight Sectorsteve :)

Yeah, I totally get the scepticism, but sometimes it'd be nice if people weren't so instantly dismissive - probably wishful thinking! haha

I think you will find that a high proportion of Seabreezers have private moorings, and dont use marinas very often

Hi and welcome to the sailing forum. From your handle I would guess that you drive one of those damn wake making anti social machines that are the curse of the more genteel and social sailing fraternity. Many of us rarely or never utilise the facilities afforded by a marina, possessing the ability to be self sufficient to the extent that power and wharfage are rarely required.
However thanks for the opportunity to complete your survey.

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Donk107 said..
I actually enjoy being on a swing mooring (apart from when i need to work on it and leave something i need behind) because when i am on the mooring i am away from other boats and the boat moves around with the wind and the water and i find it relaxing even if i don't go anywhere

Regards Don

+1

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SandS said..

So you are effectively a middle man or woman ? ATM most people would be phoning / emailing / webbing direct with the marina . So what is the benefit to the consumer lower prices ?
Are you trying to do a deal with the marinas so they don't have to take calls and collect money from late arrivals and early departures ?

wait i think your onto something here !! but are you the police that ejects them out if no booking is visible ?

Hey SandS,

Thanks for the feedback!

MoorMe will essentially consolidate all the marina listings in Australia in one website so boat owners can search and compare berth prices fit for their vessel - much alike what HotelsCombined and Trivago does for hotels. There's of course significant differences between marinas and hotels, but the basic premise is the same.

So it's not only allowing you to view and compare pricing from multiple hosts, but filter via the marinas that offer the amenities you're after - so laundry facilities, water, power, sewage disposal, fuel, cafe, wi-fi etc. Eventually mariners will be rewarded for their patronage of marinas and offers unique discounts and deals only available through MoorMe.

Boaties will only have to fill out one form containing their personal details (name, address, phone etc., vessel details (name, rego, make, length, beam, draft etc.) and payment details if they wish, so you won't have to re-fill out the same information again and again when enquiring about a berth online - it's all in one spot and easily updatable.

It will be particularly useful for mariners visiting new locations that they're unfamiliar with as there will be no need to perform lengthy web searches to find marinas in the area when information about them is already available on one site.

Riv37

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Donk107 said..
I actually enjoy being on a swing mooring (apart from when i need to work on it and leave something i need behind) because when i am on the mooring i am away from other boats and the boat moves around with the wind and the water and i find it relaxing even if i don't go anywhere

Regards Don

Hey Don,

Cheers for the feedback :)

When I'm on holidays, I completely agree that anchoring or tying up to a courtesy mooring is peaceful, but having a stay in a marina is a nice little break too.

Riv37

Excuse me for being a bit concerned with the request but you need to realise that the people on here firstly own Yachts or either wanting to buy one or its an interest for them.
The issue of providing a website for the ordering a marina berth in-transit to a new destination while at sea is only as good as the coverage of the network or the sat-phone data transfer. Usually you contact them on VHF or just turn up and ask the marina, but your website maybe a good idea if you have a comprehensive listing of Australian marinas and costs.
How do you get your commission on booking a berth?
What Insurance details are required to book a berth as many marinas require the certificate of currency of the insurance before a berth is allotted.
Your website does not have anyone accessing it till and email is provided.
Also where is you Great Idea Award listed.
Well good luck with your email surfing/distribution internet business.

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nswsailor said..
Trouble is that when most of us use a marina, when cruising, we have no options, its usually the only one in the area and the only place to moor to access shops etc.

Exactly.

For me, as far as finding a marina berth, as NSW said, they are limited on the part of the coast where we are so there is not really a choice. If I was to sail up to the Gold Coast or Brisbane, I would most likely rely on word of mouth recommendations from other yachties. Once decided on the best recommendation, it would then be handy to be able to book online, be able to choose a berth.. like choosing a seat on an aeroplane, and a google earth or navionics visuals of the marina entry etc.

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Yara said..
The British yachting magazine group YBW (Yachting World, Practical Boat Owner), publish an annual summary of marinas around the UK and Ireland. This has all the details of the facilities and rates for each marina.

You could do the same for Australasia on your web site. However, being a web site, you could then have user comments for each site, rather like the Hotel sites do. Monetising would have to come from adverts. Is it worth the effort? Most people are looking at specific marinas in their home cruising ground. Cruising people who would cover a larger area, are not going to visit that many marinas.

Hi Yara,

Thanks for the insights!

Do you know if the YBW summary is hardcopy or online?

Yep, the aim is to incorporate all 350 marinas in Australia and one day worldwide, but that's a loooooong way away. Down the track I hope to have ratings and reviews and once it gains enough traction, allow advertising on the site as you suggested. It's all about a phased approach and focusing on the features that provide the most amount of value to users to start off with.

I think having the ability to filter marinas that provide useful services like sewage disposal facilities, fuel, laundries etc. that you wouldn't necessarily need to stay overnight for might be useful for some boaties too. This is why research like this is so important as it identifies what features would/wouldn't be useful.

Riv37

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whiteout said..
Excuse me for being a bit concerned with the request but you need to realise that the people on here firstly own Yachts or either wanting to buy one or its an interest for them.
The issue of providing a website for the ordering a marina berth in-transit to a new destination while at sea is only as good as the coverage of the network or the sat-phone data transfer. Usually you contact them on VHF or just turn up and ask the marina, but your website maybe a good idea if you have a comprehensive listing of Australian marinas and costs.
How do you get your commission on booking a berth?
What Insurance details are required to book a berth as many marinas require the certificate of currency of the insurance before a berth is allotted.
Your website does not have anyone accessing it till and email is provided.
Also where is you Great Idea Award listed.
Well good luck with your email surfing/distribution internet business.

Hi whiteout,

Now that a few forum members have explained why some are quite skeptical, it makes sense, but it still would have been nice to be welcomed in a different way or asked questions first before jumping to conclusions. Here we all share the common interest of being on the water, whether we go yachting, cruising or kayaking so it's shame that some people use these forums maliciously.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'email surfing/distribution internet business' as that's not what MoorMe is. I think there may be some confusion as to why an email entry field is available on the website, so I've made the instructions a little clearer on the webpage and will help clarify a few things here. MoorMe hasn't launched yet as it's still being developed, so the current website is essentially a 'landing page' providing information about the upcoming service. To help validate the idea and to see how many are interested in, people can enter their email address to keep up to date on what's happening.

Regarding phone coverage, it's definitely a valid point that's been brought up by others too. Many people book on the day onboard their vessel, some a week before on land, so reception is always going to be an uncontrollable variable unfortunately.

Also, as an example, there's a few apps available (like Eat Now, Delivery Hero, Menu Log) that allow people to order food online. Sure, you can call a restaurant up directly, but wouldn't it be nice to see what else is on offer in the area? Similar kind of notion with MoorMe. Marinas may pay a flat monthly subscription, or it may be based on booking volume, or a booking commission - still to be decided.

I've found that quite a few people have mentioned insurance details when booking. Yes that's correct, it's mandatory for insurance details to be provided upon entering marinas so having that documentation saved in one place (attached to your profile) would be a good option. A copy of the policy could be uploaded (depending on what format the marina requires) and verified. How have you supplied this information/documentation to a marina in the past?

With over 700 nominations and 100 innovations profiled and ranked each year, the SMART 100 Index is the largest awards program dedicated to innovation in Australia. I entered MoorMe and ranked 39th in the index and placed 12th on the Readers’ Choice winners list (links below):

SMART 100 Index: anthillonline.com/launchpad2016/
SMART 100 Readers Choice: anthillonline.com/smart-100-readers-choice-winners-2016/

Let me know if you've got any further questions.

Cheers

Riv37

Thanks so much for the link Donk107!

Yeah I've come across a few of these kind of lists. A couple of the usability issues I've experienced include:

- Many lists aren't searchable
- Some are organised alphabetically and don't offer the ability to filter via a specific region
- Some lists exist only as static entries
- It's difficult to compare offerings side by side
- The sites aren't responsive on mobile devices
- You have to view each listing separately to deduce what marinas offer what amenities

And that's where MoorMe will come in and aggregate this information in one easy to use, accessible solution :)

Riv 37

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Sectorsteve said...

Riv37 said..
Thanks for the welcome to the forum whiteout :/

I've been boating all my life and and am passionate about hearing other people's experiences on the water. Bit disappointing that you have that attitude, particularly given MoorMe has recently been voted one of the most innovative business ideas in Australia, but each to their own.

Anyway, if you have any questions feel free to ask away.

Cheers

theres been alot of bull**** threads by someone whos reaaalllllly bored thats all. no offence.

why does all the fun b.s threads happen when I'm at sea

Anyways. .. on topic. ...i think its a great idea and I would definitely use it. ...be even better (in time ) if it could include o.s destinations. ..a feedback rating from users of marinas and a set of free steak knifes.

Its a great idea!

Be super handy too know what marinas are pet friendly as well
I love my goat. ...rather run aground than moor without him

Hey Chopes, in view of your last post I'm sure you would have some valuable insights for the forum topic 'food for extended passages'…were you a provisioning officer for the British Navy in a former life?
Greg