Anyone w Experience buying Marinas?

Not pleasant. Hopefully blasting will work. Not a great way to start retirement. All the best from the cold North.

Oh, I agree with that completely. But I'd stay away from the one's that have more theft than less?

One problem marina owners face is all the reports of things allegedly stolen. They've hesitated to put in enough cameras to keep track of things as some boaters feel it's an invasion of their privacy. One of the nicest marinas on Lake Washington had two attempts last year of stealing new boats. They actually got one of them out of the slip, but didn't know what they were doing so didn't get underway before someone showed up.

In NC a bunch of the theft was by water and during nights as well as winter. Same strategy as finding unoccupied summer homes on the lake and robbing them.

If this is any indication you are correct about drystack.
Sundance Marina in Portland OR lost it's drystack facility, and my Formula 270 bowrider in a fire. Some 350 vessels total loss.
Can you imagine the law suits and insurance company subrogation activities?

Anyway, some 2-3 years after the total loss, what is Sundance doing? Rebuilding the drystack.

As to middle class and youngsters not buying anything, Sundace is selling Presitge, Jeanneau and Cutwater quite well it seems.

The dockmaster can't see? Perhaps they need to be more active and spend more time checking their docks. Not something I see the need to write code for even though simple.

Usually the dockmaster can see but the ownership cannot hire a dockmaster that is interested or willing or knowing he or she should see...at least in my experience.

We were on the end of a brokerage dock and someone stole the 50/30 splitter. Of course fridge an freezer defrosted. I believe the brokerage was was getting a new boat ready for delivery and thought that would be a nice extra for the new owners. Splitter was almost new so easy to pass for a new one. Previous one got burned by the power pedestal so we got pay for two new ones.

Agree on the surveillance. Use the transport and warehousing industry as a model. All businesses have inherent disadvantages - but they also have advantages. That's the stuff of business decisions

I always looked upon the dry stack business as a money printing machine with minimal overhead and storage as being a passive $$$ maker until seeing first hand what a major catastrophe like a hurricane can do to this business. When all of those racks with vessels comes crashing down upon each other the tangled mess takes several months to sort due to the presence of explosive gasoline and lube oils spilled from vessels that require the reclamation job to be done by hand and not cutting torch. I'm sure that insurance covers some of this but knowing underwriters and how they function tells me the exposure is still untenable for a loss such as this. When all else fails in the marina business there's always the development of the finite quantity of prime waterfront land that many a marina owner will finally succumb to the constant offers from commercial developers.

Then ownership shouldn't own a marina.

We saw collapsed outdoor dry stack in Rockport after Harvey.

If you have a shortage of water space, dry stack is nice. Move the small boats to it, keep slips for larger boats. However, the marinas I checked on an ongoing basis make more money on slips than on dry stack buildings. You have the cost of racks and of the lifts and then the ongoing cost of lift drivers. One marina owner I spoke to said "I make money on the dry but I hate it. I have to work my tail off in the summer and hard to keep skilled drivers plus on a few days a year impossible to meet the demand. Meanwhile, the slips require only a little maintenance which I do casually in the winter. Meanwhile they just sit there making money for me."

I guess each operation has a different financial equation. Considered for a moment, well a long long moment, something like Safe Harbor did, in fact even buying the marinas they started with, but decided it was all a sure way to ruin the pleasure of boating. Only marine related business we own is a Yachtwear store and no one knows we own it plus we seldom even go in it and then only as anonymous customers. To us, it's not a boating business but an apparel business.

I think on marinas, you own and operate one and work there as your own dockmaster and make a good living or you must own a large group. Many groups now do sell in large chunks like all but one of the Loggerhead Marinas did recently. Most of the multiple marina owners have no real attachment to them and they'll buy and they'll sell when the price is right. Now, there still are a good many independent marinas for sale, but most are on the small side. What one really needs is deals like Safe Harbor just made for Charleston City Marina and more there.

As an example, a small marina owner I know had serious sand fill in issue. In the past, he would simply apply for a dredge permit from the county and they would grant it because it was considered maintenance, not a new dredge site.

Last time around the county required him to hire an engineering firm to study the environmental impact on the enclosed harbor which added expense and down time. The down time waiting for the engineer while having X-number of slips inaccessible to slip holders and transients because they were full of sand.

I know quite a few marina owners on the Bay and only one that I can think of is nearly full. The rest are as you say, 40% or better empty slips.

The only up side is that if you still run your boat a lot, you seldom need reservations on the weekends as a transient.

I had a slip on the West Coast of Florida but the Okeechobee was low and the winds were keeping me from going around the keys that allowed me to get back to work on time. So I had to cancel on the west coast and trying to find a slip between Miami and Stuart was really tough. I didn’t find one. Even at $2000/month for a 54’. Ended up in Ft. Pierce which is not optimum. My point is that at least during the season and on the East Coast between Miami and Stuart wet slips are hard to come by to simply not available and if they are available they command top dollar. It seems that demand far exceeds supply at least for the this time period.

I have a private dock where I winter, and rent out 100' of extra space. That's as close to marina ownership and the people problems I want to get. And dealing with the state regulations is more that I want. The government wants boats to have an environmental footprint of no more than a couple canoes 500 years ago. Your boat needs to be insured like it's the Queen Mary and your dock insured like a commercial port facility.

Agreed

Speaking of yachtwear stores, I was watching YouTube and a canadian couple was just going transatlantic on their new Southerly 48 sailing sloop. Distance Shores TV or there abouts.
Anyway they had some crew that they introduced and one gentleman was named Gill. As is previous owner of Gill Marine. He indicated this was his first offshore experience. Well who would have thought?

I am imagining our Yachtwear store is brick and mortar, if so, I am pleased to know soft goods can still sell in stores. Stores, what are stores. Of course, your operation may be well versed in on line sale as well.

Anyway, the face the Mr. Gill was sailing for the first time offshore was interesting tid bit to me. Good 'on him.

Brick and mortar isn't dead. Now if you hire Lambert and give him control, he'll kill even Sears. People still like to touch, feel, and try on. You just have to use technology too and build a complementary online business.