Red Neck Yacht Club

Willhound

Our marina isn't a "yacht club" by any stretch of the imagination. Kinda rugged actually. No potable water, there are some indoor wahrooms and showers on the far side of the property and a porta pottie near the parking lot. But it's a friendly place with a good mix of blue collar and professional folks,  about 50/50 power and stick boats. Last night was the annual corn roast party. Some pics below. But the owner also let us know that her family has sold the property to a large group of Egyptians, mostly another big family. They reassure us that things won't change in the short term but I have my doubts. On one hand it looks like there will be some much needed capital improvements but on the other hand I can see prices going up and future development that might mean some of us being displaced. Just have to wait and see I guess. In the meantime, here's some pics of last night's shindig.

LaRea

Looks like a good time! It'll be interesting to hear what the change of ownership brings.  Sometimes there's a flurry of activity at the start, but then the realities of marina ownership set in.  

Willhound

What's got me worried is that the new people have zero boating background. But land values have shot way up around here and there's an attractive piece attached to the marina that would be ripe for development. Only saving grace might be that the water table is too high for a septic bed and it'll be several years before town services get out that way. But they obviously have deep pockets and our local council is way too eager to get in bed with developers.
I guess we can just plan for the worst but hope for the best.

Dream_Inn

Looks like some great land!  All those pretty trees and nice areas of grass.  Hopefully things don't change too much for you!  Gotta keep those nice places like that along the water.  Although, a few changes like potable water would be good

Cableguy Greg

Looks like a nice place. I feel your pain on new ownership of the marina. Where I dock at, a developer is purchasing the property and wants to keep the marina. Unfortunately he is a developer, not an operator. Currently the dockers are left in the dark and we are not sure about winter storage, or even dockage for next year. It is very frustrating.

LaRea

Sometimes, marina owners decide to maximize profit by making the marina a great place to be, thus ensuring a long-term stream of loyal customers and low vacancy.  I hope that's the sort of owners you get at your marina.   

Liberty44140

10 years ago our marina was simple, fast forward a new ownership group tore down the small rental cabins and sold the lots on the lake for million dollar homes which are beautiful, they also built smaller homes and it now resembles a nice waterfront community. They put up a nice bar and restaurant on the water, added a party pavilion and a beachfront bar, and added a nice market on the water with boat or home pizza delivery along with two pools for an additional membership fee. Some people wish it never changed but they are always sold out on their memberships and the 800 docks and overall our fees have not gone up more than a few percent per year. They have made it up in real estate, volume of people, and food and beverage sales. I love it up there 100 times more than I did 10 yrs ago when the admiral would have to drag me there. 

randy56

when the admiral would have to drag me there. huh?

Liberty44140

randy56 said:

when the admiral would have to drag me there. huh?

Ha, good catch! back in those days our boat was at a local yacht club close to home, not at our current marina, so I wanted to be on our boat and not an hour away where the admirals family boated. Now with the changes we moved the boat I drive the hour. 

randy56

Ahhh I was thinking the wife is making this guy go boating. And he is complaining? 
Docking close to home has a lot of Merritt.