Boat owners need to know whether you handle their type and size of vessel, whether you can haul it, and what winter storage costs. Capacity limits decide more enquiries here than price does.

The constraint that comes first

Whether you can physically handle the vessel.

Length, beam, draft, weight, and whether it is power or sail determine whether a yard can take a boat at all. An owner with a thirty-foot vessel cannot use a facility whose lift is rated below it, and no amount of good service compensates.

Publishing your limits plainly, including lift capacity and maximum dimensions, answers the first question and stops the enquiries that were never possible.

Also worth stating: whether you handle sail, whether you work on inboards, outboards, or both, and which engine brands you are familiar with.

The seasonal shape

Sharper than almost any trade, with two compressed peaks and a long middle.

Spring commissioning and autumn haul-out concentrate into a few weeks each, when everybody calls at once. Winter is storage and refit work. Summer is repairs, which are urgent because the season is short.

What that means for the site: booking windows stated during the peaks, and a clear statement of what you are doing in the off months, since owners assume yards are closed.

Refit and project work booked over winter is the counter-seasonal opportunity, and it needs promoting in autumn when owners are handing the boat over rather than in January.

Storage, which is the recurring revenue

Frequently the financial foundation and usually under-explained.

What to publish: indoor and outdoor rates by length, what is included such as haul-out, pressure wash, and shrink wrap, whether launch in spring is part of it, and when the deadline for booking is.

Owners compare storage on total cost for the season rather than on any single line, so a package figure is more useful than a per-foot rate with four extras discovered later.

Also worth addressing: whether owners can access their vessel during storage, and under what conditions, since that varies between yards and matters to people who work on their own boats.

Winterisation and commissioning

The two service packages every yard offers and few describe properly.

A list of exactly what is done at each is worth publishing. Owners cannot compare two yards quoting different figures without knowing whether both include the engine, the water systems, the head, and the batteries.

Being specific also prevents the dispute where something was not done because it was never included, which in this trade can mean freeze damage over winter.

What owners search for

The survey one is worth a page. Owners preparing for a sale or an insurance renewal have a deadline and a specific list, and almost nobody has written for them.

Regulatory and environmental notes

Handled carefully, since requirements are set elsewhere and change.

Anything involving fuel systems, electrical work aboard, or discharge is governed by regulation, and bottom paint and washdown carry environmental requirements at many facilities.

The workable approach is stating that you work to the applicable standards and that you handle disposal properly, while pointing at the relevant authority rather than restating rules. Owners appreciate knowing a yard takes it seriously without needing the detail.

Photographs and credibility

The yard, the lift, the shop, and the storage area, since owners are leaving a substantial asset in your care and want to see where it goes.

Work in progress does more here than finished shots, because an owner cannot judge a repainted hull from a photograph and can judge whether your shop looks organised.

Certifications for the engine brands you service are worth stating, since owners of a particular make look for a yard authorised on it.

The rest

Clear location including access by water and by road, since both matter. Hours during and outside the season, which differ substantially. A response time, because summer repairs are urgent against a short season. And a straightforward way to describe a vessel when enquiring, since the first three questions are always make, length, and engine, which is the same currency-of-detail problem described in what a motorcycle and powersports website needs.

Frequently asked questions

What decides most marine enquiries?

Whether you can physically handle the vessel. Length, beam, draft, weight, and lift capacity determine whether a yard can take a boat at all.

What should be published about storage?

Indoor and outdoor rates by length, what is included such as haul-out and shrink wrap, whether spring launch is part of it, and the booking deadline.

Why describe winterisation in detail?

Owners cannot compare two yards quoting different figures without knowing what each covers, and an omission can mean freeze damage over winter.

What content is missing from most marine sites?

Survey preparation. Owners readying a vessel for sale or insurance renewal have a deadline and a specific list, and almost nobody has written for them.

How should regulations be handled?

State that you work to applicable standards and handle disposal properly, pointing at the relevant authority rather than restating rules that change.

What photographs work best?

The yard, the lift, the shop, and storage. Work in progress does more than finished shots, since an owner can judge whether your shop looks organised.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Enquiries from owners whose boats you cannot lift?

We publish your capacity limits and storage packages, which answers the first question and stops the calls that were never possible.

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