Berth assignments, arrivals, meter readings, maintenance jobs — handled from a phone on the pontoon, not only from a desk.
A dock master runs the operational front line of a marina — meeting arrivals, allocating berths in real time, managing lines and fenders, coordinating utilities, and being the first face every customer sees.
A dock master is where the marina meets the customer. The radio, the pontoon, the docking choreography — all sit on this role.
A dock master cannot run their work from an office computer. The tools have to work from a phone: the web app on a small screen, and a Telegram bot that takes photos and voice notes.
The 2026 reality, by the numbers
A well-tooled dock master has fewer radio interruptions and more direct customer attention. The two correlate.
Calm dock masters share a pattern: the berth map in their hand matches reality. Reactive radio work goes down; proactive customer service goes up. See the Marina module for the full operational scope.
Typically found inside
Recurring pain points across dock masters — most reducible by mobile-first tooling that follows the work to the pontoon.
Walking to the office to check the whiteboard, then back to the pontoon, twice per arrival.
A live berth map on the phone removes the office trip.
Every transient inquiry comes via radio. The dock master becomes a switchboard instead of a service provider.
A boat is 30 minutes out. Where do they go? Without pre-allocated berths, the answer is "stand by".
Power and water need to be live before the boat arrives. Manual coordination with technicians is slow.
Strong wind forecast → some berths become unsafe. Manual re-allocation in a hurry, customer communication scrambled.
A line chafes, a fender pops, a tender clips a hull. Incident reports written hours later, from memory.
On-pontoon photo + voice note capture preserves the truth of what happened.
SupaSailing's marina module works on the pontoon as well as at the desk: the web app on a phone, plus a Telegram bot for questions, photos and voice notes.
The web app adapts to a phone: today's arrivals and departures, berth map, customer and boat records in hand. Nothing to install.
Status of every berth for the chosen date. Drag a boat to another berth; clashes are refused before they are saved.
Customer profile + vessel specs + berth assignment ready before the boat is on radio.
Which utilities each berth has, whether the boat's power connection matches, and meter readings with photos per berth or service tower.
Send the Telegram bot a photo with a short caption. It drafts a maintenance job; you confirm before it is filed.
When wind makes some berths unsafe, move boats in the pontoon view; each new berth is checked for size and free nights.
Berth, dates and booking details sent to the customer from the booking, by email or SMS.
Mark the booking as checked in once the boat is tied up. Documents the customer uploaded and signed beforehand are already on the booking.
A representative peak-season day for a dock master on SupaSailing.
Phone shows 22 arrivals today, 14 departures, 2 new berth requests. A strong-wind forecast means 3 boats may need moving.
Customer calls 10 min out. Berth pre-allocated, power connection checked against the boat's, fenders ready.
A 40ft yacht walks in. Free berths that fit her are listed. Customer welcomed, customer and boat recorded, berth assigned.
Wind picks up. Three boats moved in the pontoon view, each new berth checked for size and free nights. Owners told on the pontoon or by phone.
A mooring line has chafed through. Photo sent to the Telegram bot, which drafts a maintenance job; once confirmed it lands in the manager's list with the photo.
Two arrivals need a larger power supply. A task is created and assigned to the technician, from the app or the Telegram bot.
The night dock master opens tomorrow's arrivals, open tasks and maintenance jobs in the app. Nothing lives only in a notebook.
Typical observations from marina dock masters who moved from whiteboard + radio to mobile-first tooling.
Arrivals are pre-loaded and booking details go out before the boat arrives.
Berth, boat and customer details are ready before the boat is in the channel.
The berth is known before the boat arrives.
A photo to the Telegram bot becomes a maintenance job, not a note written hours later.
30-minute demo tailored to a dock master's real use case. If a different platform is a better fit, we'll say so.