RENTER BEWARE: Take photos of all parts of boat before departure, the marina staff may try to take advantage of you if they need to make repairs on their boats.
We were charged to replace a propeller that was not inspected before departure. This same situation is mentioned in Yelp reviews
Despite our negative experience with being accused of propeller damage, we really enjoyed the earlier part of our day renting a boat from New Melones Lake Marina. Here's a thorough account of our visit:
A few days before Saturday 6/13, we rented a 19' Bluewater Roundabout. They were out of tubes to rent, so we bought one at Walmart for almost the same price as a rental.
We arrived on Saturday and we were very briefly walked through the rental: how to drive, dock, life jackets, etc.... During the walk through, the rep mentioned some areas he knew needed repair (i.e. the awning could not be drawn back as it was broken). He specifically mentioned that "he trusted us" and that WE DID NOT NEED TO EXAMINE THE MOTOR / PROPELLER BEFORE GOING OUT as it was already in the water. He also mentioned to keep the orange flag in hand while anyone was in the water, California law. We were also instructed to avoid land as it would damage the boat.
We were on our way and enjoying the boat rental. We lost the flag as it flew out of one of our hands while tubing so we returned to the marina to get a new one. They were disappointed we lost the flag, but handed us another for safety purposes. During this time, we let our dogs out of the boat to pee/poo on land.
Throughout the entire day, we avoided the shore completely. We stayed far from the shore as to avoid any damage to the boat.
At the end of the day, the boat was inspected while we were unloading. After this, I noticed that the marina crew were gathered nearby the boat chatting. As we were signing off, they said they determined that "we had damaged the propeller from going too close to shore and we were responsible for replacing it." We were upset as we detailed our day to them and our efforts to avoid the shore. They responded with "maybe you docked on the shore to let your dogs off the boat to pee." We clearly had let the dogs out when we got a new flag at the marina, and we were frustrated that they'd make assumptions and accuse us of lying. What was even more frustrating is that they slowly descended into "well it could have happened anywhere in the lake, it's impossible to know." This wasn't something that was ever disclosed to us in the orientation. The employee who had walked us through the orientation was silent throughout the entire conversation. We helplessly negotiated with them, but it was clear they were set on placing us responsible for prior propeller damage.
We fully believe that they targeted us a great group of 30-somethings to take advantage of and replace an old, damaged propeller. It's unclear when the staff determined that we were good targets, but it's likely the loss of the flag had something to do with it. There was no mention of the propeller damage during the first walk-through, it was not until they convened after the walk-through that they determined we were good targets to replace their propeller. **There are several Yelp reviews that mention this same situation.
We hope to rent again at New Melones Lake Marina, because it really is a fantastic lake (not crowded, clean, well-priced), but we will be very cautious next time. We will take photos of every aspect of the boat to ensure we are held responsible for only our actions and not targeted to replace...
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