Safe Harbor info?

[drburke]

From a different thread:

No kidding. Last I looked, they had taken over more than a hundred marinas- a lot more than a hundred. Doesn't bode well for competition.

Does anyone now in a Safe Harbor Marina have any input after the takeover?


DRB

 

[jim rosenthal]

I have received a few packages of advertising from them, I think because I subscribe to SOUNDINGS and I think at least one of the packages was in with an issue.

The advertising packages were very well done, I admit. They also looked VERY expensive- heavy matt paper, beautiful photos, MANY pages. The kind of thing that will cost quite a bit of money, especially as an add-on to a national publication.

Someone is spending a great deal of money at Safe Harbor. The cost of the advertising is trivial compared to the cost of acquiring all those marinas. I just wonder who is funding all that. The outlay is so formidable that it really makes me curious as to who's behind all this.

As to the costs going up, I agree- I suspect lots of folks are in for a rude shock. I hope that the little family-owned (third generation) marina where I have my boat hauled in the winter doesn't get acquired by SH.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Apparently Safe Harbor is owned by a REIT called Sun Communities, which builds manufactured homes, if I understand it correctly. This was a recent acquisition. At the time of the buyup, SHM already owned 101 marinas.

 

[Scarlett]

I think their goal is to become a “club” where if you are a member you can reserve guest slips and get some kind of special treatment. We were in the downtown marina in Charleston which is a Safe Harbor and they even had a floating barge that was a lounge for members.

 

[jim rosenthal]

They claim that they sell fuel at cost to 'members'. Hmmm. I've always wondered about companies that spend advertising dollars like drunken sailors; at some point all those dollars have to be replaced. I don't know how many marinas they've bought in Annapolis; the one I happened to see is a quiet and somewhat shabby little place right on the bay. Nice view, but very exposed; I would not want my boat there. I'll have to look around to see what else they've bought here. I prefer to buy my boating stuff from locally owned companies, if I can. They are anything but local.

 

[madhatter1]

As I posted on my reason to buy a slip rather than be at the mercy of those owning the ones being bought up I stand by my decision. Still early in the game as things unfold. I bought a slip with the intention to hand down when I pass. Keep it in the family. Just like our priceless Cape Cod cottage my parents bought in 1971. Food for thought.

 

[Bob Bradley]

I'm sorry, but whenever I see their logo I think it looks like a rounded swastika.

 

[Timeless72]

I relocated to New England just as SH started moving in on the local marinas. Nine years later, yes, this does look like a monopoly. That aside, they take great care of members and invest in the facilities. I believe Sun acquired SH while they were in middle of all this expansion. Like anything else, I wonder when the chickens will eventually come home to roost. They always do.

We went through the refit at NEB while under SH. Everyone has a gripe or two in a process so involved. I would say they handled us no different than anywhere else. Our struggles were not so much upper management related but the persons handling on a more personal level.

I do like the fact we can travel north or south and stay for free at their other marinas. Fuel prices, with member discount, are just about as good as it gets. Our location may be better than others. We're happy for the most part.

 

[jim rosenthal]

It appears that you can't just buy a membership- being a member means renting a slip from them. In my area, that would mean either the former Podickory Point marina, or the former Mears Annapolis, either of which would mean giving up the private slip I rent from friends. At a guess, it would at least double the yearly rate that I pay.

I hope SH takes good care of their customers, but at least at this point I have no incentive to rent from them. I would have considered buying a 'membership' to get discounted fuel, but there are plenty of places to buy marine diesel around here, and they do compete for the business. It's also hard for me to imagine that SH will continue to sell diesel at cost to their members. They'll bake the missed profit in someplace else, I shouldn't wonder.

 

[jmooney]

Someone must see profit , one of the marinas in Coconut Grove sold a few years ago for about $20 million, I was surprised, but the big surprise was when it sold later for about $68 million . Rent has gone from $1400 for a sixty foot boat to about $5000 .

 

[brettportzer]

I imagine this story is repeated elsewhere, with other marinas, but the investment they are looking to make in this marina that is somewhat local to me is huge:

https://rcbizjournal.com/2022/12/07...on-sale-of-vast-hudson-river-waterfront-site/

 

[Boatsb]

So if the locals subsidized the sale will they get affordable dockage?

It's a other round of political bs. We can use your money to build a facility you can not afford to use.

Shame on the people who allow this.

If the company can't afford to buy it don't help them with other people's money.

 

[motoryacht lover]

I am currently staying at a Safe Harbor Marina in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. I don’t like the idea of big business having a monopoly or close on slips. But I have to say this marina is very nice and very well managed.

 

[Scarlett]

Interesting fact about Safe Harbor, when they bought the boat yard here in SD one of the guys working in the yard had his wife die suddenly and Safe Harbor gave him $10,000 to help with funeral and other expenses, which really impressed the other yard workers. I know this is true because the yard manager told me about it.

 

[Bugsy]

I am currently staying at a Safe Harbor Marina in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. I don’t like the idea of big business having a monopoly or close on slips. But I have to say this marina is very nice and very well managed.

Motoryacht....are you at the Safe Harbour Marina in North Palm Beach just south of Parker Bridge? I know there is a Loggerhead Marina further north in Palm Bach Gardens. Is there another Safe Harbour?
If you're at the North Palm Beach one, can you tell me anything about seasonal availability?
Thx

 

[Eddieclemons]

I don't think he's there anymore, but Potts was the real deal when it came to being a boater. https://lsc-pagepro.mydigitalpublic...707398&article_id=4030803&view=articleBrowser

 

[motoryacht lover]

Motoryacht....are you at the Safe Harbour Marina in North Palm Beach just south of Parker Bridge? I know there is a Loggerhead Marina further north in Palm Bach Gardens. Is there another Safe Harbour?
If you're at the North Palm Beach one, can you tell me anything about seasonal availability?
Thx

I just left the one they call Safe Harbor Old Port Cove. This is the one if you are heading N on the ICW you would turn STBD before the draw bridge. The other one Safe Harbor North Palm Beach is right on the ICW just before the bridge. I can’t tell you anything about availability accept they had to squeeze me in as a transient. Very nice marina that I would return to.

 

[PierreR]

Right now I am looking at going into a Safe Harbor Marina. Their dockage and storage is no more than anywhere else and I get the added benefits when I travel. They appear very well run and have happy employees.
They do require insurance and it does not look more onerous than anywhere else in our area.

 

[whoover]

I looked at a boat in a Safe Harbor near Destin. It looked like a nice place,club house area, amenities and pool all well kept. There was a restaurant which I think was contracted out. I asked about rates, it was 1200.00 a month plus metered power.

Walt Hoover

 

[Phasma2128]

I’ve been slipping with Safe Harbor Grand Isle Michigan for about 6 years. I’d like to say all is well and it mostly is but….. the influx of cash has turned our marina into a construction zone for the last 3 years. There are still plenty of upgrades needed. Wi-Fi is one of them. We have no internet. The management are pretty decent to us yet they do tend to nickel and dime us. Without a pool, laundry, internet and no reduction in costs for slip rental it’s been a tough pill to swallow. To be fair the current construction that has been underway for 2 years is expected to be done by spring. We’ve heard that story too many times to believe it. Buying fuel at cost and free transient slips at SHM when traveling is a new benefit this year. Over all I’d say no better or worse than any other corporate marine