Open Marinas?
 

I'm keeping my boat in much later this year. Which marinas continue to pump gas until just before Thanksgiving?

I know Lakeport is one.

Gas!
 

Fay's Boat yard is open. You may have to strike the bell on the gas dock to get thier attention.

Gas
 

Minge Cove is usually open late in the year.

Happy boating! Brrrrrr.

Channel
 

Channel is usualy open on weekends for gas into Nov.

West Alton Marina
 

West Alton Marina is pumping gas on weekends and whenever you can catch them at the repair facility

We use Irwins....

Speaking of Marinas
 

Anyone heard any of the "rumors" out there about marinas and boat dealers on the lake that are hurting and possibly up for sale or closing??

Well,we just saw Adams on Winnisquam go to auction and I'm sure the economy has affected others as well. I would imagine if you weren't on financial solid ground and hadn't made the wrong investments you'll still be there next year. I once heard a very good comment from a marina owner," It's not a museum it's all for sale at a price "

The problem
 

Anywhere in the US. When you see a marina go belly up, the condo developers are at their doorsteps with an offer for the real estate. There aren't many marinas left on the waterfront. Dock space are being rented or sold at a premium.

Latest venture are boat condos. Where you can buy a dry slip and pay an annual fee for valet.

http://www.verticalyachtclub.com/

Not good for marinas
 

I was talking to my sales guy about a month ago and he told me there are a number of marinas around the lake that are on the verge of going out of business. And if he did not have a good base salary he would have been gone months ago. Most of his sales this summer were bank repos.

Sign of the times?
 

Obviously the current state legislature is treating boat owners like 'trailer trash'. With the double increase in boat registration, and pending boating bills it also effect the marinas. Soon there will be fewer marinas on the lake.

There was a study in NHBusiness magazine not too long ago by UNH. There is a huge drain of mfg and high tech jobs from NH. Students from the colleges are leaving for jobs in the Sun belt. NH legislature has a failing grade as far as containing jobs within her borders. It won't be long until the job base is gone and the property owners bear the cost of running the state. Then everyone will leave and NH will become a ghost state.

Marinas
 

Did they mention any spefic marinas?

He did mention specific marinas I would feel uncomfortable putting it out here incase it was not true.

Frosting on the cake?
 

With the new 5% LLC tax on NH businesses, along with the NH business profit tax and the NH Business inventory tax. It won't be long that all businesses will either leave, or charge their customers. Sounds like a broad based tax to me!!!!! :cool:

And another tax
 

Don't forget the Business Enterprise Tax. :fire:

FLL, you must be happy now that NH has finally come thru with an income tax!

In addition to all the business taxes a marina probably pays a very big local property tax, too. Marinas tend to have a lot of property right on the waterfront.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but It seems to me as a casual observer that the winter storage-shrinkwrap-winterization of boats is a Winnipesaukee marina's biggest profit earner. Bigger than boat sales, bigger than repair work, bigger than retail sales of boat sundries, oil, & gasoine: Winter storage seems like it is the #1 profit maker. I dunno.....maybe as much as 50% of overall operations.....now that sales and repairs have slowed down so much? Winter starts every year on December 21 and every boat has to be stored somewhere out of the water.:rolleye1:

...comments?

Vat
 

The way I see it, if the NH govt. replace all taxes with a 'value added tax'. Taxation will be a lot simpler and easier to apply. Right now, if you think about it all the frigging taxes the govt. currently have are nothing more than a complex and complicated series of the value added tax. Some European nations are quite happy with this type of tax. :rolleye2:

The economics teachers in the NH university system been preaching this for years. I'm surprise it has not been up in front of the legislature. :cool:

FLL you raise a good point, that winter boat storage creates a lot of revenue for the marinas. However I don't think it is the cash cow that one might think it would be. Certainly at the outside it all looks well and good, Once the boat it winterized and put into a storage location the is nothing more for the Marina to do. However the marina, has insurance costs, the cost of maintaining the storage space (a year around cost), and of course maintaining the personal to unwinterize all those stored boats in the spring....