PORT TOWNSEND — Marine trades operators and boat owners are praising the Port of Port Townsend’s economic stimulus effort, which offers discounts for boats hauled out and stored in the work yard, saying early interest shows the program will boost boat yard business and the local economy.
Tom Bayless, 83, of Port Orchard, who was painting the rudder of his 60-foot cutter, Charlie Girl, at the Boat Haven on Thursday, said he was grateful for the discount, which would help him fix up and sell the sailboat on which he and his wife could no longer live.
“It sure helped me,” said Bayless, who built the boat, launching it in 1989 in Alaska. “I’m on a fixed income.”
The new rates cut the cost of hoisting a boat from the water by 50 percent. The cost of using the 70-ton lift dropped to $90, and the cost of the 300-ton lift will drop to $325.
The port is also offering Monday through Thursday moorage discounts at both the Boat Haven and Point Hudson marinas.
All discounts are intended to drive new business to the boat yard in a sagging economy and create a ripple effect into the community, with boat owners investing in hardware, food and lodging while they stay in Port Townsend.
Boat yard users will receive 20 percent discounts off their total bills if a project on land takes more than 30 days.
With the discount, the cost of keeping a boat in the yard will be calculated at 34 cents per foot per day, about 10 cents cheaper than in the past.
Record haul-outs
Perhaps a positive sign: More sailboats were hauled out in July than ever before — 100, said Doug Lockhart, yard manager. That’s one above the previous record of 99.
Lockhart agreed with Port Executive Director Larry Crockett that it is likely business will pick up even more after Labor Day, Sept. 7, when the recreational and fishing season comes to an end.
The port budgeted $20,000 to advertise in maritime publications, and Crockett said it was likely that such marketing would spur regional interest.
A full-page ad was recently published in Norwesting, a Seattle-based boating magazine, Crockett said.
“There will be some more coming out, and we also put information up on our Web site,” www.portofpt.com.
The port also is mailing notification cards to those who have hauled out their boats in Port Townsend over the past three years.
Incentives were put into place because port work and shipyard activity had decreased dramatically since 2006, which port Finance Director Don Taylor said was the port’s best year.
Port boat yard business has dropped off about 40 percent from that high point, Taylor said.
Port numbers show that April ended with shipyard occupancy at 50 percent, while the boat yard was running at 62 percent occupancy.
The shipyard uses the 300-ton Marine Travel Lift to haul out larger vessels.
Dave King, Townsend Bay Marine president and CEO, said the yacht-building company, which employs about 50, has already reaped the benefit of the moorage discount, seeing a $1,000 bill discounted to accommodate a vessel tied up for a longer period of time while awaiting work.
“I think it’s a significant example of the marine trades and the Port Townsend Marine Trades Association working together with the port,” King said.
“I think it’s a good instance of the port being more sensitive to their clients.”
King said he believes such a climate will have a broader, positive impact in the long term.
Surge of inquiries
Haven Boatworks co-owner Julia Maynard said she has definitely noticed a surge of phone inquiries, as the port promotion begins to take hold after a month.
Recalling that Haven Boatworks lost business as a result of the previous rates more than a year ago, Maynard she expects things to pick up.
“I know some fisherman that have not come back from Alaska as a result of the expense of it,” she said.
Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op co-owner Curtis Schloe said it is too early to tell how the discounts would affect business but added that it has brought smiles to customers who already had scheduled haul-outs with his company.
“I think we’ll start feeling the effects within the next month or so,” said Schloe, one of 12 Shipwrights Co-op owners who hire up to six other employees as extra help is needed.
“All people getting work done are happy to hear about that promotion.”
Diana Talley, former Port Townsend Marine Trades Association president and co-owner of Taku Marine, said she too is grateful for the port’s attempt to lure boat business.
“I don’t think it’s really started yet, but I am expecting it to steam roll,” Talley said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
