PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles wants to send a message of getting boats in the water, not onto trailers, to every local boat owner whose craft might occupy a slip at the Boat Haven marina.
“I’m slightly disappointed to see the vacancy rates at the marinas continue,” Commissioner John Calhoun said at Monday’s meeting, citing 20-, 25- and 30-foot-long slips that had occupancy rates of 4 percent, 42 percent and 43 percent, respectively, at the Boat Haven.
That equates to three of 69 occupied for the marina’s 20-foot slips, 10 of 14 filled for its 25-foot slips and 34 of 46 taken for its 30-foot slips.
By comparison, slips 36 to 50 feet have occupancy rates of 50 percent to 97 percent, with 100 percent of boathouses occupied, according to a report to commissioners.
The culprits are trailers that allow owners to tow bigger boats they might have left in the water all year, rather than only during fishing seasons.
In years gone by, “there used to be such a demand, they’d hold onto those slips,” said Harbormaster Chuck Faires.
Advertising effort
Commissioner Colleen McAleer called for “a fairly vigorous marketing campaign” to small-boat owners.
“Newspaper and radio ads to the local populace would be the most effective,” she said.
But Faires said the occupancy would increase in the spring and compared the seasonal vacancies with those at campgrounds during the winter.
“We feel our marina is doing well financially,” he said.
“It keeps coming up that the marina is vacant, and it’s not vacant.”
Faires said earlier marketing efforts — including free moorage vouchers and $50 specials distributed at boat shows — hadn’t stemmed the losses.
Nonetheless, Calhoun and McAleer called for a marketing push and for reconvening the port’s Marina Advisory Committee with that end in mind.
“I agree with you 100 percent,” he said. “We’re going to need to commit to that.”
Sales point
Calhoun noted that the Port Townsend marina recently raised its slip fees, which would be a sales point for Port Angeles.
He also agreed that the target market for the marina is local boaters.
Seattle recreational sailors probably can’t be attracted to the North Olympic Peninsula, he said, and other Puget Sound marinas, including Everett, have “hundreds” of vacant slips.
“I think we can recapture a large percentage of the people who pull their boats out and try to get newer owners to put their boats in,” Calhoun said.
In other actions at their meeting Monday — which was moved forward a day so commissioners and staff can attend a statewide port conference in Bellevue today through Thursday — commissioners:
■ Approved demolition of the derelict former Civil Air Patrol quarters just south of William R. Fairchild International Airport for $15,000.
Port Angeles firefighters might use it for a smoke training exercise before it is torn down.
■ Hired Reid Middleton Inc. of Everett as consultant for airport architectural, engineering and planning projects starting in 2015, replacing WHPacific of Seattle, consultant since 2010. Reid Middleton will participate in the critical aircraft and environmental assessment project, obstruction removal and pavement rehabilitation.
■ Approved $68,000 to reroute sewer and water lines to the harbormaster’s office away from an unstable slope.
■ Canceled their Dec. 23 meeting and scheduled their next session for Jan. 5, when they will take up a proposed new lease for Olympic Coast Seafoods on Boat Haven Drive.
■ Waived fees at John Wayne Marina in Sequim for an annual North Olympic Sail and Power Squadron dinner/dance Feb. 14.
The squadron annually performs marina cleanup activities that “more than compensate for a fee waiver,” said port Executive Director Ken O’Hollaren.
■ Waived fees for a Clallam County Department of Community Development forum and public hearing on the Shoreline Master Program on Feb. 4.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com
