Tipping dock attendents

By large yachts, what size are you talking about? You are wrong. The question is, how are they as dockhands? Do they monitor the VHF radio, accurately give slip assignments telling the Captain which side to put lines and fenders, are they there at the slip as the yacht is pulling in, are they accurately tieing the correct lines and correctly? If it's a yacht that has a permanent slip at the marina, owners generally don't tip everytime they leave the slip, most of the time they'd tip annually (Christmas for us) each dock attendant....like $50-100. I've worked as a dockhand and assistant dockmaster at a marina many years ago, and as a Captain many years. I always tip when pulling in or out of a marina, including that marina. NO, I have never pocketed tip money, nor do any of the Captains I know of. If the owner has given me money ahead of time, it's a lump sum and basically the owner says use this for expenses.

Same for me as an owner.

I think you're wrong in the conclusion you're jumping to. We always tip dockhands when we're transients. I would say 70% of US captains do so, but a very small percentage of foreign captains.

As to boats kept there, most do as Capt J says. We've been a long term tenant on lakes and the TN River and we made a point of tipping for service at the time of service. We Are self sufficient at the docks where we keep boats but anytime we get service there we also tip plus a holiday "bonus." We still do the holiday because many who are responsible for things going smoothly, don't directly provide services.

So three questions for your son:
-What services are you providing?
-Are these regular tenants or transients?
-What size boats?
-Where are the boat owners and captains from?

The Golden Nugget and its marina operation is owned by a mega yacht owner who keeps his 50 meter Westport there in the summer when not in the Med. and has had the same captain aboard for 7 yrs. and I know for a fact that he tips very well when there. Seeing that the marina only has four "T" heads for mega yachts (50 meters and above) I'm curious as to what size your referring to? I don't actively captain yachts anymore but when I did for 25 yrs , I always would tip the dock hands for arrival and my engineer always had the leeway to tip a dock hand that went the extra mile in helping him with the shore power , water filtration and dock side systems so $20 to $40 wasn't uncommon between arrival and departure. When we would visit these same marinas multiple times in one season like in Newport or Nantucket it made a difference in service from start to finish for these dock attendants as they knew that good service would be rewarded.

I have stayed at that marina several times and am familiar with the marina. I have always tipped, each and every time. I typically run 50-80' on deliveries but sometimes larger than that...….I always tip. Now, foreign owners or foreign crew don't tip usually. I don't know the exact situation, but I do know a lot of large yachts do in fact tip. BUT, there are other situations, sometimes the dockhand runs off (once tied up and such) to grab another boat and you didn't get the chance to tip them. etc. etc. If I'm in the slip and the dockhand simply delivers ice, I tip. Most US Captains are the same way.

iFish: Welcome to YF. You obviously came to the right place to gert answers. It sounds like perhaps not the answeres that you were expecting, but you seemed open enough to hearing that yes, indeed, perhaps you are wrong. So now that you have additional information from captains and owners, maybe your grandson needs to re-address the question to find out the source of the problems or perceived problems. Perhaps a heart to heart with the dockmmaster is in order. Is he sharing tips appropriately?

Sounds like you might have jumped to conclusions and now with additional information and perhaps a more positive attitude you can better advise your grandson. Hey, and why isn't he on YF?

I always tip $20 for assistance with fueling, docking, or pump out, and I’m pretty sure that amount is appreciated by dock staff.

That being said, I sometimes think I’m over paying when service is not up to snuff. The most common poor dock hand behaviors that I see are not knowing how tie a cleat or clove hitch, leaving tail ends of dock lines laying across the dock, not listening to the captain about which lines to tie/untie first, not helping with power hookup or asking to help with water hookup, and not watching pump fuel meter when I’m short handed.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been to Golden Nugget, but the last time I was there, the docks were in very bad condition. Among my observations were weeds growing between planks, badly splintered decking, bird poop everywhere- not cleaned up daily. These things may be outside the control of the dock hands, but telegraph a message that the marina staff don’t care.

I feel bad for the OP’s grandson - but hopefully he’s learning a good life lesson or two.

A friend of mine who's been in the yachting business a long time and is now running a marina in Ft. Lauderdale has told me about the lack of tips coming from the big boats. He did mention that it was mainly the foreign Captains doing this.
Personally after all these years reaching into my pocket to tip for sub par service, I am much more concerning on who gets a tip and who does not.

I'd recommend with that attitude you go anywhere else and spare us. For your information, I'm an owner but then I'm sure you have other reasons to dismiss my comments and you don't want yacht captains to comment, yet it's the captains who tip. Maybe your grandson gets his attitude from you. Don't come here, get advice, and then criticize the forum.

Many come from countries where tipping is not common or accepted. The owners don't tip so the captains don't. I know captains who have excellent customers from Central America who don't tip as such and the captains reflect it in their pricing to them. Interestingly, the owners are extremely generous in other ways sometimes.

I tip and I tip even at restaurants in other countries.

No, he just has a point he's trying to make and assumptions he's already made which are totally bogus. He didn't like the answers he was given so turned on the forum. We will definitely not miss him and his three posts. Too bad his grandson has perhaps inherited his attitudes and poor comprehension abilities.

WHAT AM I - CHOPPED MEAT? There is an excellent mix of response here. Captains have probably the most experience of us all on your particular question Good-bye I don't think we will miss you.

Maybe this guy is "trolling" us all?

Yes, you're officially the person formerly known as "Beau", now to be known as "Chopped Meat."

A "Tip" for the OP: Don't seek good advice if you have already made up your mind.

CM

Funniest thing is in his first post he said "Tell me I'm wrong!" We did just what he asked.

Saddest thing is now you have an old man, a 44 year old son, and a grandson and the attitude and jumping to wrong conclusions has been passed down, now to include 3 generations.