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How much to tip dock staff for mooring at a bar restaurant?

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Dho

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How much does everyone tip dock staff for mooring at a restaurant? Do you tip once for the trip, or when you arrive and again when you depart?

I visit small lake bar/restaurants in the Midwestern US with my pontoon and have no idea what the etiquette is.

The dock staff are mooring two points of the boat and walking away. They do not offer any other service (e.g. don't offer bottle water, remove trash, or any other help, etc).
 
$5 if they just tie me up. $10 to $20 if they really helped when the place was slammed and they either held a slip for me or did something creative to get me a place to tie up.
 
There are only 6 bars / restaurants accessible by boat here . None of them have a dock staff.
 
As large as the Inland Waterway is ( over 40 miles ) it's hard to believe there are only 6 .
Nothing on Crooked lake ,Pickerel lake .
1 on Burt Lake ,2 on the Indian River, 1 on Mullett Lake and 2 on the Cheboygan River . There is a small one on the Crooked River , but most don't go near it.
 
I struggle with tipping dock staff at our restaurant. Over the years I have seen the same mix of confidence and incompetence. There biggest value is vending off incompetent boaters from doing damage to other boats. That is probably worth 5 bucks.
 
I tip $5 to the marina girl(s) that fill up the boat. Not sure if I am cheap and should tip more. It just seems to be my default. Given the cost of gas at the marina, I guess its not a very big % tip…
 
My wife and I have discussed this at length. We put our boat in dry storage at the end of last year so this is relatively new to us. A fork lift operator takes it out of the bldg and puts it on a pad. When we get there we put all of our stuff in and put up the double Bimini. (Not hard but a process that takes a little time) He puts our boat in the water and a dock hand/s grabs the ropes and will tie us up as we are coming down the ramp to board. The same process happens at the end of the day in reverse. Okay who do you tip? The forklift driver who put it safely in the water and back in the bldg? The dockhands departing and returning? We pay enough money yearly to keep it there do you have to tip? We don't mind tipping for good service but we would be tipping everybody and their brother everytime we go out on the boat!!! Your thoughts???
 
BigKahuna said:
My wife and I have discussed this at length. We put our boat in dry storage at the end of last year so this is relatively new to us. A fork lift operator takes it out of the bldg and puts it on a pad. When we get there we put all of our stuff in and put up the double Bimini. (Not hard but a process that takes a little time) He puts our boat in the water and a dock hand/s grabs the ropes and will tie us up as we are coming down the ramp to board. The same process happens at the end of the day in reverse. Okay who do you tip? The forklift driver who put it safely in the water and back in the bldg? The dockhands departing and returning? We pay enough money yearly to keep it there do you have to tip? We don't mind tipping for good service but we would be tipping everybody and their brother everytime we go out on the boat!!! Your thoughts???
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We were fortunate that our dry stack had a "no tipping" policy. There are quite a few $1mm+ go fast boats here, so more than a fair share of "fat cats" who expect ultimate service. You could get kicked out for violations. The custom was that once a year they had a "holiday collection" for the staff and fortunately most people were quite generous to catch up to all those times they used the marina. This system seemed to work very well. We're at a yacht club now, with a slip, and their custom is similar.
 
The tipping stuff is getting out of control in my opinion. When I buy a donut they look for a tip…but why doesn’t the Home Depot checkout ask for a tip? In both situations someone is using a register to sell a product.
 
BigKahuna said:
My wife and I have discussed this at length. We put our boat in dry storage at the end of last year so this is relatively new to us. A fork lift operator takes it out of the bldg and puts it on a pad. When we get there we put all of our stuff in and put up the double Bimini. (Not hard but a process that takes a little time) He puts our boat in the water and a dock hand/s grabs the ropes and will tie us up as we are coming down the ramp to board. The same process happens at the end of the day in reverse. Okay who do you tip? The forklift driver who put it safely in the water and back in the bldg? The dockhands departing and returning? We pay enough money yearly to keep it there do you have to tip? We don't mind tipping for good service but we would be tipping everybody and their brother everytime we go out on the boat!!! Your thoughts???
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Like others have said, tipping seems to have gotten out of hand. That said, if you’re in a situation such as yours, where you find yourself dealing with the same person again and again, you might consider one tip at the beginning. They’ll remember you for the right reason.
 
BigKahuna said:
My wife and I have discussed this at length. We put our boat in dry storage at the end of last year so this is relatively new to us. A fork lift operator takes it out of the bldg and puts it on a pad. When we get there we put all of our stuff in and put up the double Bimini. (Not hard but a process that takes a little time) He puts our boat in the water and a dock hand/s grabs the ropes and will tie us up as we are coming down the ramp to board. The same process happens at the end of the day in reverse. Okay who do you tip? The forklift driver who put it safely in the water and back in the bldg? The dockhands departing and returning? We pay enough money yearly to keep it there do you have to tip? We don't mind tipping for good service but we would be tipping everybody and their brother everytime we go out on the boat!!! Your thoughts???
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Oh my…. I can understand the in home debate. I don’t know where to begin. If they are paid prevailing wages and its part of a package or seasonal plan you are on I kind of lean on you don’t tip. It’s covered in salary and part of the system. If it’s something different, they have tip adjusted downward wages, etc…then that might be another matter. Hmmm…

That said, I lean towards none in that circumstance…and the comments above about tips - 100% agree. Has become way to pervasive. Seems these days if there is an electronic register, checkout starts with a tip request. It’s offensive in most situations. Now table service, porter service, etc… I feel differently about it.
 
lakeliving said:
The tipping stuff is getting out of control in my opinion. When I buy a donut they look for a tip…but why doesn’t the Home Depot checkout ask for a tip? In both situations someone is using a register to sell a product.
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Just read numerous articles about how out of hand this is getting.
 
BigD said:
I'll second the getting out of hand comment. Everywhere wants a tip now when paying whether they provided a service beyond the norm or not. I recently read where businesses are losing business now because of the suggestions for a tip at checkout.
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Or suggesting a 20% tip right off the bat …. Or adding a “service fee” for takeout. A mom and pop that charges a .99¢ service fee for a third party processor, I’m ok with that. A chain restaurant charging a service fee using their website or app. …. Ummm I don’t think so. When I do pickup at Cracked Barrel I tip 5% (basically for cooks) cause no one is servicing me like a sit down meal.
 
Lots of replies that I feel like are missing my question. For staff just tying my boat up to eat at the restaurant and how much to tip them for only doing this is my question. Thanks all
 
Dho said:
Lots of replies that I feel like are missing my question. For staff just tying my boat up to eat at the restaurant and how much to tip them for only doing this is my question. Thanks all
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Truthfully, I don’t think anyone can answer your question knowledgeably unless they use your specific dock. Everyone’s different. I’d ask the manager of the dockhands if tipping is acceptable/expected and typical amount.
 
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Dho said:
Lots of replies that I feel like are missing my question. For staff just tying my boat up to eat at the restaurant and how much to tip them for only doing this is my question. Thanks all
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I hope I don't sound "cheap" but I usually keep a bunch of $5 bills on me. In the first example of forklift operator and dock hand - I would tip both. Also $5 for the person fueling and $5 for the restaurant dock hand.
On a different topic, the tipping on a cruise last year was crazy - a lot of $5 added up. This morning I watched our yard debris crew show up, the driver sat his lazy butt in the truck while the other guy picked up all the tree branches/emptied cans etc. although I don't tip them, in this case I would have only tipped the guy working! At Christmas I give our regular FedEx lady a $50 in a card.
 
Kim in Central FL said:
I hope I don't sound "cheap" but I usually keep a bunch of $5 bills on me. In the first example of forklift operator and dock hand - I would tip both. Also $5 for the person fueling and $5 for the restaurant dock hand.
On a different topic, the tipping on a cruise last year was crazy - a lot of $5 added up. This morning I watched our yard debris crew show up, the driver sat his lazy butt in the truck while the other guy picked up all the tree branches/emptied cans etc. although I don't tip them, in this case I would have only tipped the guy working! At Christmas I give our regular FedEx lady a $50 in a card.
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If I saw you coming I’d drive the lift, jump off tie up your boat, run over to fuel pumps and wait for you then head over to the restaurant dock … :D
 
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