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Big plans for the Point Roberts marina underway

By Meg Olson

Terry Ritchey has big plans for the Point Roberts Marina, and small boats
and slim wallets play just a small part in them.

At the March 20 Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce lunch at Dockside Café,

Ritchey, the new manager of the marina, outlined broad plans to transform
the marina into a destination for megayachts and their owners, modeled on
the highly successful marina at Roche Harbor. "This place has a negative
cash flow and it¹s my job to turn that around,"he said, describing himself
as more of a consultant than a manager. "I took this job as a gift to Point
Roberts. I¹ve been very successful doing turnaround work. This is the
smallest project I¹ve ever done."

Some of the changes Ritchey has in mind are physical, and some are more a matter of attitude. "For years we¹ve been a parking lot,"Ritchey said. "We¹re going to be a resort model." Drawing a curve to represent the marina¹s revenues, Ritchey pointed to moorage as the source of 92 percent of the money the business takes in. However, in recent years, that¹s the segment of the business that¹s been falling away.

"Eight years ago the marina was packed," he said. "Since that time the
marina has lost three percent a year and last year we were below the
break-even point."

While services at the marina only make up eight percent of the revenue,
Ritchey said those services were the magnet that draw in moorage customers, whether for the night or as their home port. "[The boater] can go anywhere but he will come to Point Roberts for all this stuff," he said, ticking off showers, a restaurant and marine service tenants, pumpouts, fuel, laundry, power and phone on docks, and other amenities. "I don¹t need to make money from this stuff. My business is moorage."

Since taking over as marina manager Ritchey said he has been working to give boaters more for their money. "I convinced the owners to add more to this line and start value-selling the marina rather than price selling it," he
said. ³One of the first things I did was take out the quarters for the
showers. How many marinas have free showers? It¹s about customer
satisfaction.² Ritchey said he has also worked with Puget Sound Energy to
replace infrastructure and ensure fewer power outages. "You¹ll notice how
few power bumps we¹ve had in Point Roberts this winter. You can thank us for that," he said. Refloating docks will also help improve the availability of dependable power appropriate for big boats and decrease electrolysis
problems. "We lost the After Eight last year because we never supplied them with power," Ritchey said of the marina¹s largest tenant. "We didn¹t pay attention to their needs and we lost them. This fall they¹re coming back."

The marina will be installing 24-hour self-serve fuel pumps so boaters can
fuel up when it¹s convenient for them. "We have the best fuel prices on the
coast," Ritchey said. "We are spending a lot of money on capital
improvements to make the marina viable in the long-term, providing these
kinds of services at break-even point. Longer hours for Dockside Café and
expanding the Marina Club are also part of Ritchey¹s plan to make the marina more of a draw. "We have bids out for tennis courts, a swimming pool and a microfitness center," he said. Membership in the club is included in moorage and social memberships are available.

Ritchey is also pursuing bringing kayak rentals and tours, whale watching
and other recreational opportunities to the Point. "We¹re trying to do
whatever we can to build interest around the marina in all the things we can
do," he said. Part of that process will also involve projects on the
marina¹s 177 acres of undeveloped land, such as the trail now being built to
link the basin with Lighthouse Marine Park. "A large part of my goal is not
only to turn the marina around but to decide what we want for that
property," he said.

More services cost more money, and Ritchey said the marina¹s days as a
moorage bargain for Canadian boats are over. "Our rate is $4 a foot, one of the cheapest," he said, compared with False Creek and Shelter Cove marinas, both costing over CDN $10 per foot per month. "We¹re going to be moving towards that," Ritchey said, "based on adding more services." While moorage rates at Point Roberts are similar to those at the Semiahmoo and Blaine marinas, Ritchey still thinks that even at a higher price the Point Roberts marina can bring in more U.S. boats. "We¹re going to quit looking at Canada as our primary focus and look to the U.S.," he said. ³In the past we had special deals for Canadians and we¹re moving away from that. U.S. dollars are what we¹re going after. We¹re also going for larger boats." Ritchey said he plans to make room for more boats 40 feet and over by pushing boats under 40 feet into smaller slips at the back of the marina, which are now empty. ³We can do that because the marina has been generously built," he said.

By giving bigger boats everything they want, Ritchey said the marina can
charge more for everything and stay viable. ³Money¹s not important. They¹re not price sensitive,² he said. By emulating Roche Harbor, Point Roberts can move away from being a home port and towards being a destination, where boaters pay their yearly moorage just to make sure they have a slip when they motor up from Seattle in the summer, and visitors pay top-dollar to sublet their slip when they¹re not in it. ³It¹s a yacht club outstation,² Ritchey said. "If you go over there today it¹s empty but they¹re sold out. We have 300 empty slips. We¹re using the wrong model and the wrong dollar."

Ritchey said changing the face of the marina will change the face of Point
Roberts, because all local businesses are linked in providing a package to
attract boaters. "We push the Point more than the marina ­ the weather, the
location, the security and, probably more importantly, the lifestyle." The
air field, the golf course, local restaurants and retail businesses are all
integral to selling Ritchey¹s vision to boaters and will also reap the
benefits if it is realized. "When a guy comes in here with a $20 million
boat and we take him to play golf ­ that¹s their target market,² he said.
"Boaters will spend three or four days someplace if they have something to
do." He added several air charter operators are already starting to bring
boat owners from the Seattle area to the marina.

Like Roche Harbor, Ritchey said, the Point will have to develop the kind of
amenities that will draw the rich and famous to its shores. "They built the
ambiance they have a little at a time to where they are now," he said.

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