Dockmate vs Yacht Controller: Pricing and Docking Simplified
If you’re buying a yacht, you’re buying Dockmate or Yacht Controller and that is not up for discussion.
The controller, worn around your neck, allows you to become mobile while docking and managing your boat; better visibility, being able to handle lines, and to avoid costly bumps against docks or pilings.
Yacht Controller and Dockmate can be installed on any boat with straight shafts or pods in a half day to a full day, depending on thruster configurations and a few other factors.
Each provider offers a proportional controller, with a joystick that allows you to ‘point and shoot’ so to speak or gives you access to thrusters and throttles in a consolidated remote control.
Some boats, especially flybridges will have an upper & lower helm at the very least with many having a docking station or two on the port or starboard side which allowed a captain or operator to get better visibility closer to the dock, nearby the gunwale. This in a sense makes a docking station obsolete as you’re not fixed, your boat washer won’t get the hose caught on one of those throttles and you don’t have to worry about your bastard nephew hitting buttons he’s not supposed to while you’re operating elsewhere.
As for Yacht Controller pricing or Dockmate pricing, they’re virtually the same. It’s going to cost between $10,000 - $15,000, again depending on your boat’s configurations and if you want that joystick feature or not. Some view this as an unnecessary cost but if I ask you what it costs to touch up paint during heavy winds and user error, it’s certainly well worth it on top of the fact of making your vessel more appealing to future buyers.
I can tell you that I have clients that use Yacht Controller and clients that use DockMate; the draw to Yacht Controller is that they’re featured on more boats and are a more proven product whereas DockMate addresses the issue of Dockmate occasionally falling out of sync by switching to an alternative channel which allows it to function through interferences.
I’ve put together a short video and a demo as to how it works in action with a slight comedic twist and commentary throughout. I don’t endorse one product or the other, I just endorse the fact that you need to buy it.
While I am not a dealer and don’t earn any money for pushing these products so to speak, I am launching a pilot program in which I can obtain wholesale costs for my viewers and clients, so be sure to fill out the following form