Clean showers,
Ample security,
Electrical outlets wired correctly,
Sell ice at the rack facility.

or build condos.

ed

Kinda off from the norm here, but we bought a marina about five years ago, that was a little run down with 26 covered slips, 12 campsites, a bathhouse on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. It previously sold gas and had a rundown store. We decided to tear the store down and get rid of the gas and not be open to the general public. So we rebuilt the docks and now everyone there is permanent and pays year round. You can't have a campsite without a boatslip. It doesn't make a great deal of money, but it easily pays for itself and maintenance as well as insurance. Last year we installed a large coommercial ice machine and we give it to our members. We found that our tenants treat this place like their own. They pick up and maintain the community areas and their own spaces. They bring our attention to potential problems and help fix them. The only boats I work on are mine and friends that need a hand with theirs. Most of our tenants are fishermen/women. There's nothing like fresh rockfish on the grill on a Saturday night. And of course, lots of alcohol.
Good luck and this is just the way that we do it.

Build condo's with boat slips. they are closing a few marinas around here doing just that

It also doesn't hurt to see that marina properties appreciate in value very consistantly.

I'll chime in after the coffee kicks in

unfortunatly I do

Fill a whole dock with boat lifts but don't charge an arm and a leg for the lift. Just tack $10-15 a foot on top of the storage fee.

Next thing you know everyone will want a lift and your marina will be filled with speedboats!

(don't let your new wife to be hear that... )

I have owned a marina with 300 rack dry storage building and 43 wet slips to 50 feet. Feel free to contact me for specific questions.

As for sailboaters: usually, they show up on friday night with a $20 bill and a t-shirt. They would make it through the weekend without changing either one.

Seriously, I had a written policy charging sailboaters double the haul cost for travel-lift service and a minimum hourly fee for stepping masts with the forklift. They are just not worth it. A sailboater wil say "but I only need it for about ten minutes, not an hour". Your response should be to politely tell them to get their own $400K forklift and do it somewhere else.

Tom

Definately strippers!!