When a rental boat is overdue: a step-by-step procedure for the dock

Before the boat leaves

Most of an overdue procedure happens at check-out. Five minutes at the dock saves an hour of searching later.

• Write the due-back time on the rental agreement and say it out loud to the customer.
• Confirm a mobile number that will be aboard, and call it once so you know it works.
• Show the rental area on a chart and point out anything off limits: open water, shipping channels, security zones.
• Tell the customer how to reach the dock: the phone number, and the VHF channel if the boat carries a radio.
• For longer or captained trips, keep a simple float plan: where they are going, who is aboard, when they will be back.

Decide what overdue means

“Late” needs a definition everyone shares. A good one has three parts: the due-back time, a grace period after it, and a return zone around your dock that counts as back. A boat idling in the marina channel at the due-back time is not overdue; a boat still three miles out is. Set the grace period by trip type: short for hourly rentals, longer for full-day charters.

The escalation ladder

Write the steps down with times, so the person on the dock does not have to make the judgment call alone.

1. At the end of the grace period: look at where the boat is and whether it is heading home. Call the customer. Most overdue rentals end here.
2. If there is no answer, or the boat is not moving toward the dock: call again, try the radio if the boat has one, and tell the manager on duty.
3. If the boat is stopped somewhere it should not be, or still unreachable: send a staff boat to its last known position.
4. If you cannot reach or find it, or conditions are getting worse: contact the Coast Guard or local authorities with the last known position, the boat's description and the people aboard.

Write it down as it happens

Note the time of every call, every position you saw and every decision. It protects the customer and your staff, it settles any late fee without an argument, and it is what your insurer will ask for if the day goes badly.

What tracking changes

Tracking does not replace the procedure. It makes every step faster and less of a guess.

• You see the late boat the moment the grace period ends, instead of when the next customer arrives for it.
• You know whether it is moving toward the dock, how far out it is and how long it has been late, before you pick up the phone.
• A boat that has stopped reporting reads as silent, with the time of its last report, not as a boat sitting still.
• Escalation happens on a timer, and every acknowledgment records who saw the alert and when.
• Afterwards, the trip's track and speed show what actually happened.