Death of a boat business.....
 

Ran into a situation today that I am sure we will be witnessing more
frequently.

I know a young couple who operate a very decent little sales and
service shop in a middle sized city north of Seattle on Puget Sound.
It's a family business that has supported them and their kids for the
last several years, but when I ran into them today they
mentioned they had decided to close up shop.

Interesting, and sad, is the reason why:

The local marina is expanding at their location. That should be good
news, except for the fact that as part of the expansion a "public/
private partnership" is building a fancy new condominium complex. A
huge new mooring basin has been dredged and developed, but guess what?
Those slips aren't available long term to the general public (i.e. the
taxpayers who funded the development of this public land), they are
being given to the condo development company as a reward for
developing the condo village at the site, and any time that a condo
resident wants to purchase one of the slips (from the development
company, of course), any tenant that is merely renting the slip will
be subject to eviction.

How this concerns my friends and their boat shop: They are currently
occupying a fairly old building that fronts a road running along the
perimeter of the marina. They have a small office and retail area, and
several service bays.

"Our lease is up pretty soon, and the Port is going to tear down this
building," they said. "We've been offered the same square footage in
one of the new commercial buildings that will be part of the
condominium complex, but there's going to be a difference in rent.
Right now, we pay about $25,000 per year to rent this space, but after
they force us to move next year the rent would go up to $14,000 a
month. That's a total of $168,000 per year in rent, or $143,000 more
than we're paying now. We can't see any reason to keep the doors open
with that sort of increase in overhead."

Obviously my friends did what anybody else would do in the same
situation- took a careful look at how much they're able to put in
their pockets each year with the current overhead, subtracted $143,000
from that number to reflect the future overhead, and looked at the
amount left over and asked, "why bother"?

Congrats to the greedy arse port authorities and the high dollar condo
developers. They have completely overlooked that fact that most of the
infrastructure for boating consists of small and medium size family
businesses. Those software millionaires living the fat life in the
waterfront condo McMansions have a rude awakening in store......even
if they buy the slips out from under the public and moor their gold
plated boats, their very presence will have raised real estate values
to the point where nobody will be able to remain in business to
service or maintain them.

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

Death of a boat business.....
 

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.



money makes the world go round. The Republican way of life. Fatten up the
rich. Draw the line fatter between the rich & everyone else. Watch the
peasants squirm.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:23:06 GMT, "longshot" wrote:



Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

money makes the world go round. The Republican way of life. Fatten up the
rich. Draw the line fatter between the rich & everyone else. Watch the
peasants squirm.

And exactly how many members of that city council are Republicans?
I'll bet dollars to donuts that the majority of the city council, and
the state legislative committee who over saw the development, if any,
are Democrats.

Wanna take that bet?

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:50:03 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

Look what happened in New London. Took all of Fort Trumbull
neighborhood for condos and who is going to live in them.

Gotta love them Democrats.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:58:43 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:23:06 GMT, "longshot" wrote:



Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

money makes the world go round. The Republican way of life. Fatten up the
rich. Draw the line fatter between the rich & everyone else. Watch the
peasants squirm.

And exactly how many members of that city council are Republicans?
I'll bet dollars to donuts that the majority of the city council, and
the state legislative committee who over saw the development, if any,
are Democrats.

Wanna take that bet?

And I'll go one step further. Most of the people buying the slips and
condos are most likely Democrats or support the Democrats.

Death of a boat business.....
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:50:03 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

Look what happened in New London. Took all of Fort Trumbull
neighborhood for condos and who is going to live in them.

Gotta love them Democrats.

wtf is wrong with people?

Death of a boat business.....
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:50:03 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

Look what happened in New London. Took all of Fort Trumbull
neighborhood for condos and who is going to live in them.

Gotta love them Democrats.

You crazy 'mericans.... everything has to be political.
Much simplier up here...all brands of politicians are greedy and if not
corrupted when they enter politics, they spoil shortly afterward.
Only answer is a labour/socialist type party.

Death of a boat business.....
 

Don White wrote:

You crazy 'mericans.... everything has to be political.
Much simplier up here...all brands of politicians are greedy and if not
corrupted when they enter politics, they spoil shortly afterward.

Same here, only we don't seem to recognize that yet...

Only answer is a labour/socialist type party.

Well, I wouldn't get that far carried away.... yet.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Jul 20, 3:23?am, "longshot" wrote:
Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

money makes the world go round. The Republican way of life. Fatten up the
rich. Draw the line fatter between the rich & everyone else. Watch the
peasants squirm.

Also disapppointing is the fact that it took just one post to turn
this from a land use isue that affects important boating
infrastructure into a political peeing contest.

Hey, longshot- it ain't the "fault" of the Republican party.
Hey, shortwave- it ain't the "fault" of the Democratic party.

Port Commissions are under a lot of pressure to produce the highest
possible economic return to their communities. In doing so, some of
them lose sight of thier basic mission- to operate a maritime port.

If the only consideration in every community is "what is the highest
and best use of every single square inch of property and how do we
move from here to there?" any industry that requires any amount of
space to operate or must by nature compete with intensive condo
development for "desirable" locations (i.e waterfront) is in the
crosshairs.

We're going to wind up with two economic classes in this country,
upper and lower. The lower class won't be able to afford to boat, and
the upper classes will drive waterfront values to the point where
prices for boats,motors, and service would be have to be much higher
than at present to cover overhead. That's exactly the dilema my
friends faced... there's no way to raise prices enough to offset a
700% rent increase. If they did raise prices that high, they would
lose most of their existing trade.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:23:06 GMT, "longshot" wrote:



Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.



money makes the world go round. The Republican way of life. Fatten up the
rich. Draw the line fatter between the rich & everyone else. Watch the
peasants squirm.


Not that simple. Our useless Democratic Governor in North Carolina
gave a sweeheart lease deal to some of his buds to make the public
marina at Southport a rich man's folly. The local tax payers have
taken it on the chin pretty much like Gould describes.
http://www.ncgop.org/corruption/?pageid=cronies.html
http://wilmington.johnlocke.org/blog/?p=668
http://wilmington.johnlocke.org/blog/?p=669
http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclu...e.html?id=3429

My family and I have spent a lot of fun times at that marina. However,
under the new management, we no longer find anything of interest to us
there. Especially the astronomical fees.
--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

eMail


Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
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Death of a boat business.....
 

This is a very sad situation but a common one in the United States today.

Any small business that is making it today has to have something special
going for it. Cheap rent or just the right location or old money.

I don't recommend anyone open or buy a small business in the US unless it is
out of their home with no employees.

It is all big business now or it is no business.

Don't get emotional about it, just believe it and make adjustments. Times
change.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA, USA

Web site: www.kiene.com


"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ran into a situation today that I am sure we will be witnessing more
frequently.

I know a young couple who operate a very decent little sales and
service shop in a middle sized city north of Seattle on Puget Sound.
It's a family business that has supported them and their kids for the
last several years, but when I ran into them today they
mentioned they had decided to close up shop.

Interesting, and sad, is the reason why:

The local marina is expanding at their location. That should be good
news, except for the fact that as part of the expansion a "public/
private partnership" is building a fancy new condominium complex. A
huge new mooring basin has been dredged and developed, but guess what?
Those slips aren't available long term to the general public (i.e. the
taxpayers who funded the development of this public land), they are
being given to the condo development company as a reward for
developing the condo village at the site, and any time that a condo
resident wants to purchase one of the slips (from the development
company, of course), any tenant that is merely renting the slip will
be subject to eviction.

How this concerns my friends and their boat shop: They are currently
occupying a fairly old building that fronts a road running along the
perimeter of the marina. They have a small office and retail area, and
several service bays.

"Our lease is up pretty soon, and the Port is going to tear down this
building," they said. "We've been offered the same square footage in
one of the new commercial buildings that will be part of the
condominium complex, but there's going to be a difference in rent.
Right now, we pay about $25,000 per year to rent this space, but after
they force us to move next year the rent would go up to $14,000 a
month. That's a total of $168,000 per year in rent, or $143,000 more
than we're paying now. We can't see any reason to keep the doors open
with that sort of increase in overhead."

Obviously my friends did what anybody else would do in the same
situation- took a careful look at how much they're able to put in
their pockets each year with the current overhead, subtracted $143,000
from that number to reflect the future overhead, and looked at the
amount left over and asked, "why bother"?

Congrats to the greedy arse port authorities and the high dollar condo
developers. They have completely overlooked that fact that most of the
infrastructure for boating consists of small and medium size family
businesses. Those software millionaires living the fat life in the
waterfront condo McMansions have a rude awakening in store......even
if they buy the slips out from under the public and moor their gold
plated boats, their very presence will have raised real estate values
to the point where nobody will be able to remain in business to
service or maintain them.

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

Death of a boat business.....
 

This has been happening in Southwest Florida for the past 10 years...and in
Southeast Florida for longer than that.

It just started happening in the Keys a couple of years ago, but fortunately
the real estate market took a hit and slowed things down.

I had a boat stored at a marina that leased the land, and the landlord
decided not to re-lease the property *at any price*. They sold it for $20
million to Eco-Group...a large developer out of Tampa.

Same thing happened to two other marinas in Naples in the past 3 years.




"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ran into a situation today that I am sure we will be witnessing more
frequently.

I know a young couple who operate a very decent little sales and
service shop in a middle sized city north of Seattle on Puget Sound.
It's a family business that has supported them and their kids for the
last several years, but when I ran into them today they
mentioned they had decided to close up shop.

Interesting, and sad, is the reason why:

The local marina is expanding at their location. That should be good
news, except for the fact that as part of the expansion a "public/
private partnership" is building a fancy new condominium complex. A
huge new mooring basin has been dredged and developed, but guess what?
Those slips aren't available long term to the general public (i.e. the
taxpayers who funded the development of this public land), they are
being given to the condo development company as a reward for
developing the condo village at the site, and any time that a condo
resident wants to purchase one of the slips (from the development
company, of course), any tenant that is merely renting the slip will
be subject to eviction.

How this concerns my friends and their boat shop: They are currently
occupying a fairly old building that fronts a road running along the
perimeter of the marina. They have a small office and retail area, and
several service bays.

"Our lease is up pretty soon, and the Port is going to tear down this
building," they said. "We've been offered the same square footage in
one of the new commercial buildings that will be part of the
condominium complex, but there's going to be a difference in rent.
Right now, we pay about $25,000 per year to rent this space, but after
they force us to move next year the rent would go up to $14,000 a
month. That's a total of $168,000 per year in rent, or $143,000 more
than we're paying now. We can't see any reason to keep the doors open
with that sort of increase in overhead."

Obviously my friends did what anybody else would do in the same
situation- took a careful look at how much they're able to put in
their pockets each year with the current overhead, subtracted $143,000
from that number to reflect the future overhead, and looked at the
amount left over and asked, "why bother"?

Congrats to the greedy arse port authorities and the high dollar condo
developers. They have completely overlooked that fact that most of the
infrastructure for boating consists of small and medium size family
businesses. Those software millionaires living the fat life in the
waterfront condo McMansions have a rude awakening in store......even
if they buy the slips out from under the public and moor their gold
plated boats, their very presence will have raised real estate values
to the point where nobody will be able to remain in business to
service or maintain them.

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:37:05 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

This has been happening in Southwest Florida for the past 10 years...and in
Southeast Florida for longer than that.

It just started happening in the Keys a couple of years ago, but fortunately
the real estate market took a hit and slowed things down.

I had a boat stored at a marina that leased the land, and the landlord
decided not to re-lease the property *at any price*. They sold it for $20
million to Eco-Group...a large developer out of Tampa.

Same thing happened to two other marinas in Naples in the past 3 years.

Don't most of those waterfront condo developments build marinas?
Maybe not boatyards, but at least berths?
I didn't look close, but it seemed that in Punta Gorda dockage
increased when they put up condos. They may not be renting
out the berths yet, but I suspect they will eventually, as it's money
in the bank. From what I've seen in Florida, most canal homes with
docks have empty docks. It was the same in Cape Coral, but I haven't
been there for years.

--Vic

Death of a boat business.....
 

Don't most of those waterfront condo developments build marinas?
Maybe not boatyards, but at least berths?
I didn't look close, but it seemed that in Punta Gorda dockage
increased when they put up condos. They may not be renting
out the berths yet, but I suspect they will eventually, as it's money
in the bank. From what I've seen in Florida, most canal homes with
docks have empty docks. It was the same in Cape Coral, but I haven't
been there for years.

--Vic

Maybe the Japanese are buying it all up like Hawaii.... it's probably the
Chinese this time around. hooray for NAFTA!

Death of a boat business.....
 

I don't see why the Biz has to "die". There are several marine
sales/service shops in Seattle and Kent who aren't located directly on
the water or next to a marina. So they have to move...big deal. I have
moved my Biz twice in the last 10 years due to skyrocketing rent and
swinging wrecking balls. It's a risk when you rent, and, just part of
business if you need to move.
JR

Chuck Gould wrote:
Ran into a situation today that I am sure we will be witnessing more
frequently.

I know a young couple who operate a very decent little sales and
service shop in a middle sized city north of Seattle on Puget Sound.
It's a family business that has supported them and their kids for the
last several years, but when I ran into them today they
mentioned they had decided to close up shop.

Interesting, and sad, is the reason why:

The local marina is expanding at their location. That should be good
news, except for the fact that as part of the expansion a "public/
private partnership" is building a fancy new condominium complex. A
huge new mooring basin has been dredged and developed, but guess what?
Those slips aren't available long term to the general public (i.e. the
taxpayers who funded the development of this public land), they are
being given to the condo development company as a reward for
developing the condo village at the site, and any time that a condo
resident wants to purchase one of the slips (from the development
company, of course), any tenant that is merely renting the slip will
be subject to eviction.

How this concerns my friends and their boat shop: They are currently
occupying a fairly old building that fronts a road running along the
perimeter of the marina. They have a small office and retail area, and
several service bays.

"Our lease is up pretty soon, and the Port is going to tear down this
building," they said. "We've been offered the same square footage in
one of the new commercial buildings that will be part of the
condominium complex, but there's going to be a difference in rent.
Right now, we pay about $25,000 per year to rent this space, but after
they force us to move next year the rent would go up to $14,000 a
month. That's a total of $168,000 per year in rent, or $143,000 more
than we're paying now. We can't see any reason to keep the doors open
with that sort of increase in overhead."

Obviously my friends did what anybody else would do in the same
situation- took a careful look at how much they're able to put in
their pockets each year with the current overhead, subtracted $143,000
from that number to reflect the future overhead, and looked at the
amount left over and asked, "why bother"?

Congrats to the greedy arse port authorities and the high dollar condo
developers. They have completely overlooked that fact that most of the
infrastructure for boating consists of small and medium size family
businesses. Those software millionaires living the fat life in the
waterfront condo McMansions have a rude awakening in store......even
if they buy the slips out from under the public and moor their gold
plated boats, their very presence will have raised real estate values
to the point where nobody will be able to remain in business to
service or maintain them.

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.



--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 08:53:03 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:

Port Commissions are under a lot of pressure to produce the highest
possible economic return to their communities. In doing so, some of
them lose sight of thier basic mission- to operate a maritime port.

If the only consideration in every community is "what is the highest
and best use of every single square inch of property and how do we
move from here to there?" any industry that requires any amount of
space to operate or must by nature compete with intensive condo
development for "desirable" locations (i.e waterfront) is in the
crosshairs.

I was just pointing out that one poster's assumption in incorrect.
Notice that poster hasn't rebutted that comment, thus it's a dead end
on this thread.

All city governments are pushing for more revenue and they will get it
anyway they can.

The question is how can they take maximum benefit from their
situation. I'm pretty sure that high dollar boats mean high dollar
repairs and it would seem that they are positioned to take advantage
of that.

For example, the largest small boat repair center in CT that is an all
around repair shop is located smack in the middle of CT as far from
any water as you can possibly get.

Just a thought.

Death of a boat business.....
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...

I was just pointing out that one poster's assumption in incorrect.
Notice that poster hasn't rebutted that comment, thus it's a dead end
on this thread.

All city governments are pushing for more revenue and they will get it
anyway they can.

The question is how can they take maximum benefit from their
situation. I'm pretty sure that high dollar boats mean high dollar
repairs and it would seem that they are positioned to take advantage
of that.

For example, the largest small boat repair center in CT that is an all
around repair shop is located smack in the middle of CT as far from
any water as you can possibly get.

Just a thought.


Yup... the Rosborough boat company has been doing it's finishing work in one
of our Industrial Parks, a couple miles from the ocean.
http://www.rosboroughboats.com/about.html

Death of a boat business.....
 

Yes, they put in slips. And the slips sell for $400,000+.

But the ones at those two sites are for residents of the condos only.



"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:37:05 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

This has been happening in Southwest Florida for the past 10 years...and
in
Southeast Florida for longer than that.

It just started happening in the Keys a couple of years ago, but
fortunately
the real estate market took a hit and slowed things down.

I had a boat stored at a marina that leased the land, and the landlord
decided not to re-lease the property *at any price*. They sold it for $20
million to Eco-Group...a large developer out of Tampa.

Same thing happened to two other marinas in Naples in the past 3 years.

Don't most of those waterfront condo developments build marinas?
Maybe not boatyards, but at least berths?
I didn't look close, but it seemed that in Punta Gorda dockage
increased when they put up condos. They may not be renting
out the berths yet, but I suspect they will eventually, as it's money
in the bank. From what I've seen in Florida, most canal homes with
docks have empty docks. It was the same in Cape Coral, but I haven't
been there for years.

--Vic

Death of a boat business.....
 

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:23:06 GMT, "longshot" wrote:

Coming before all that very long to the waterfront near you...
Pretty sad.
money makes the world go round. The Republican way of life. Fatten up the
rich. Draw the line fatter between the rich & everyone else. Watch the
peasants squirm.

And exactly how many members of that city council are Republicans?
I'll bet dollars to donuts that the majority of the city council, and
the state legislative committee who over saw the development, if any,
are Democrats.

Wanna take that bet?

I'd be more interested to know how many of those key decision makers
either got deals on units, or options to buy at less than market prices.
That or the decision makers, regardless of party affiliation are also
real estate types profiting from the other side of the transaction.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:37:05 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

Same thing happened to two other marinas in Naples in the past 3 years.

And to a large full service ship yard in Ft Myers, recently replaced
by high rise condos.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:00:13 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

It was the same in Cape Coral, but I haven't
been there for years.

Depends. Most of my neighbors are active boaters, some of us with two
or three boats.

Death of a boat business.....
 

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel lift
between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:37:05 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

Same thing happened to two other marinas in Naples in the past 3 years.

And to a large full service ship yard in Ft Myers, recently replaced
by high rise condos.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel lift
between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.

Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.

Death of a boat business.....
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel lift
between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.

Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.


When my father died, I had to decide whether I wanted to "inherit and
run" his marina in Milford, CT, or sell it. I gave it a full minute's
worth of thought, and then told our family lawyer, "sell it." My father
died in the early Spring. We immediately notified the customers the
marina would be closing the day after labor day. We had a buyer in early
summer, and closed in October of that year. The next spring, the marina
building was demolished, the dockage was sold off, and construction
began on condos.

Never once regretted the decision to sell. Never went back to see how
the project turned out.

Gave less than a minute's real thought to selling the boat store, which
was in a separate location. Once the inventory was sold off, the store
was put up for sale. The property sold, the store was razed, and there's
a strip mall there now.

Death of a boat business.....
 

"HK" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel
lift between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.

Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.


When my father died, I had to decide whether I wanted to "inherit and run"
his marina in Milford, CT, or sell it. I gave it a full minute's worth of
thought, and then told our family lawyer, "sell it." My father died in the
early Spring. We immediately notified the customers the marina would be
closing the day after labor day. We had a buyer in early summer, and
closed in October of that year. The next spring, the marina building was
demolished, the dockage was sold off, and construction began on condos.

Never once regretted the decision to sell. Never went back to see how the
project turned out.

Gave less than a minute's real thought to selling the boat store, which
was in a separate location. Once the inventory was sold off, the store was
put up for sale. The property sold, the store was razed, and there's a
strip mall there now.

I just wish that more people in your situation considered selling it to
someone who wanted to buy the marina and keep it as a marina.

Usually these sales take place behind the scenes, and it'd be nice if the
seller actually spent some time to find a buyer who chose to preserve the
business that his parents built.

In the case of the marina at Wiggins Pass, a large developer (Eco-Group) out
of Tampa bought the property before anybody else even knew it was for sale.
The company that ran the marina operation also has a large marina on Marco
Island, but they were leasing the land in Naples. They would have bought
that property in a New York minute if it was offered to them, but it was
never offered to them.

The county tried to buy the property to keep it running as a marina, but the
buyer/developer said that it wasn't for sale "at any price".

Death of a boat business.....
 

NOYB wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel
lift between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.
Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.

When my father died, I had to decide whether I wanted to "inherit and run"
his marina in Milford, CT, or sell it. I gave it a full minute's worth of
thought, and then told our family lawyer, "sell it." My father died in the
early Spring. We immediately notified the customers the marina would be
closing the day after labor day. We had a buyer in early summer, and
closed in October of that year. The next spring, the marina building was
demolished, the dockage was sold off, and construction began on condos.

Never once regretted the decision to sell. Never went back to see how the
project turned out.

Gave less than a minute's real thought to selling the boat store, which
was in a separate location. Once the inventory was sold off, the store was
put up for sale. The property sold, the store was razed, and there's a
strip mall there now.

I just wish that more people in your situation considered selling it to
someone who wanted to buy the marina and keep it as a marina.

Usually these sales take place behind the scenes, and it'd be nice if the
seller actually spent some time to find a buyer who chose to preserve the
business that his parents built.


I didn't have the time. I was already in the DC area, working at an ad
agency, and I had the advantage of boyhood friends in New Haven, our
lawyer and an accountant, handling the details. They found the buyers
for us. Never looked back.

Death of a boat business.....
 

HK wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with
travel lift between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.

Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.


When my father died, I had to decide whether I wanted to "inherit and
run" his marina in Milford, CT, or sell it. I gave it a full minute's
worth of thought, and then told our family lawyer, "sell it." My father
died in the early Spring. We immediately notified the customers the
marina would be closing the day after labor day. We had a buyer in early
summer, and closed in October of that year. The next spring, the marina
building was demolished, the dockage was sold off, and construction
began on condos.

Never once regretted the decision to sell. Never went back to see how
the project turned out.

Gave less than a minute's real thought to selling the boat store, which
was in a separate location. Once the inventory was sold off, the store
was put up for sale. The property sold, the store was razed, and there's
a strip mall there now.


Your family lawyer is also a real estate agent? He must be worth
billions...

Death of a boat business.....
 

In Florida, attorneys can use their law licenses to act as real estate
agents.


"Dan" wrote in message
link.net...
HK wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel
lift between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.

Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.


When my father died, I had to decide whether I wanted to "inherit and
run" his marina in Milford, CT, or sell it. I gave it a full minute's
worth of thought, and then told our family lawyer, "sell it." My father
died in the early Spring. We immediately notified the customers the
marina would be closing the day after labor day. We had a buyer in early
summer, and closed in October of that year. The next spring, the marina
building was demolished, the dockage was sold off, and construction began
on condos.

Never once regretted the decision to sell. Never went back to see how the
project turned out.

Gave less than a minute's real thought to selling the boat store, which
was in a separate location. Once the inventory was sold off, the store
was put up for sale. The property sold, the store was razed, and there's
a strip mall there now.


Your family lawyer is also a real estate agent? He must be worth
billions...

Death of a boat business.....
 

NOYB wrote:
In Florida, attorneys can use their law licenses to act as real estate
agents.


"Dan" wrote in message
link.net...
HK wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
On Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:51:15 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

The marina at Wiggins Pass had the only full service marina with travel
lift between Naples Bay and Fort Myers Beach.

It was a shame when that closed.
Absolutely. As competition dwindles the yards that are left will be
able to charge as much as they want and wait times for haul outs will
get longer. Even now it's like trying to get an appointment with a
Florida dermatologist.

When my father died, I had to decide whether I wanted to "inherit and
run" his marina in Milford, CT, or sell it. I gave it a full minute's
worth of thought, and then told our family lawyer, "sell it." My father
died in the early Spring. We immediately notified the customers the
marina would be closing the day after labor day. We had a buyer in early
summer, and closed in October of that year. The next spring, the marina
building was demolished, the dockage was sold off, and construction began
on condos.

Never once regretted the decision to sell. Never went back to see how the
project turned out.

Gave less than a minute's real thought to selling the boat store, which
was in a separate location. Once the inventory was sold off, the store
was put up for sale. The property sold, the store was razed, and there's
a strip mall there now.

Your family lawyer is also a real estate agent? He must be worth
billions...




There's no requirement that individuals buying and selling real property
retain a real estate broker. Dingleberry Dan probably has to retain a
wiper when he visits the head.

Death of a boat business.....
 

"HK" wrote in message
...
There's no requirement that individuals buying and selling real property
retain a real estate broker. Dingleberry Dan probably has to retain a
wiper when he visits the head.


I heard he wears 'diapers' at both ends. Required of course because he
spews c*ap from all orfices.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:02:07 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"HK" wrote in message
...
There's no requirement that individuals buying and selling real property
retain a real estate broker. Dingleberry Dan probably has to retain a
wiper when he visits the head.


I heard he wears 'diapers' at both ends. Required of course because he
spews c*ap from all orfices.


And how's your mom doing, Don?
--
John H

Death of a boat business.....
 

"John H." wrote in message
...

And how's your mom doing, Don?
--
John H


Just fine..thanks, John

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:17:38 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .

And how's your mom doing, Don?
--
John H


Just fine..thanks, John


You're most welcome. Glad to hear it. Are you getting in any sailing?
--
John H

Death of a boat business.....
 

"John H." wrote in message
...
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:17:38 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
. ..

And how's your mom doing, Don?
--
John H


Just fine..thanks, John


You're most welcome. Glad to hear it. Are you getting in any sailing?
--
John H

Busy preparing truck & boat for my 'big adventure' starting Wednesday, Aug
01.
2.5 day tow up to the Muskoka Region of Ontario to attend the 3rd Annual
Sandpiper 565 Rendezvous.
Three days there over the Aug 03-06 weekend, and then a 2.5 day tow back.
Should arrive evening of Wednesday 08th, although I've been invited to spend
some time at another participants cottage/lake on the way back.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:32:09 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:17:38 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
...

And how's your mom doing, Don?
--
John H


Just fine..thanks, John


You're most welcome. Glad to hear it. Are you getting in any sailing?
--
John H

Busy preparing truck & boat for my 'big adventure' starting Wednesday, Aug
01.
2.5 day tow up to the Muskoka Region of Ontario to attend the 3rd Annual
Sandpiper 565 Rendezvous.
Three days there over the Aug 03-06 weekend, and then a 2.5 day tow back.
Should arrive evening of Wednesday 08th, although I've been invited to spend
some time at another participants cottage/lake on the way back.


Well, no wonder you've been so uptight lately! Hope your trip is great and
nothing breaks. TAke some pics and let us know how it went.

Don't take your computer!
--
John H

Death of a boat business.....
 

"John H." wrote in message
...
Well, no wonder you've been so uptight lately! Hope your trip is great and
nothing breaks. TAke some pics and let us know how it went.

Don't take your computer!
--
John H


Who's uptight?
Can't take my desk type computer, but if you think you'll miss me, maybe I
can borrow one up there to keep in touch.

Death of a boat business.....
 

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:54:55 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .
Well, no wonder you've been so uptight lately! Hope your trip is great and
nothing breaks. TAke some pics and let us know how it went.

Don't take your computer!
--
John H


Who's uptight?
Can't take my desk type computer, but if you think you'll miss me, maybe I
can borrow one up there to keep in touch.


No, I suggested you *not* take it. Perhaps I was unclear.
--
John H

Death of a boat business.....
 

Don White wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
There's no requirement that individuals buying and selling real property
retain a real estate broker. Dingleberry Dan probably has to retain a
wiper when he visits the head.


I heard he wears 'diapers' at both ends. Required of course because he
spews c*ap from all orfices.



A weak, and misspelled, post from the man with his head completely up
Harry's ass ("orfice", for Don).

Death of a boat business.....
 

"Dan" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Don White wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
There's no requirement that individuals buying and selling real property
retain a real estate broker. Dingleberry Dan probably has to retain a
wiper when he visits the head.


I heard he wears 'diapers' at both ends. Required of course because he
spews c*ap from all orfices.

A weak, and misspelled, post from the man with his head completely up
Harry's ass ("orfice", for Don).



Hee hee...I knew that would 'bring you out of the closet ' again!
That's quite a fetish you have for the male derriere. I'd suggest you get
help but i think you're way beyond that now.

Death of a boat business.....
 

"Dan" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Don White wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
There's no requirement that individuals buying and selling real property
retain a real estate broker. Dingleberry Dan probably has to retain a
wiper when he visits the head.


I heard he wears 'diapers' at both ends. Required of course because he
spews c*ap from all orfices.

A weak, and misspelled, post from the man with his head completely up
Harry's ass ("orfice", for Don).

orifice