Marina Dock Age

June is traditionally one of the busiest months for boaters and beach goers in Orange Beach, Ala.

“People usually have a difficult time finding space to lie out at the beaches and there are so many boats on the Intracoastal Waterway and in the Gulf of Mexico that they look like ants,” said Sarah Armstrong, operations manager at Orange Beach Marina, a 161-slip facility in Orange Beach.

This typically busy boating season has been replaced this year by silence and the foul smell of oil. “Boaters can’t even use their boats because oil has forced the Intracoastal Waterway to be temporarily closed and so they have no way of leaving the marina or fishing,” said Armstrong.

Impact on marinas

This harsh reality has hurt area marinas like Orange Beach Marina, whose customers include five commercial charter fishing boats and many recreational fishermen.

As the oil spill worsened and as word spread that the Intracoastal Waterway would be periodically closed to recreational boats and fishing for oil cleanup, Orange Beach Marina’s customers began leaving the marina while they still could.

“Currently, only 68 of our 161 slips are occupied. Our slip rentals are down 65 percent, and our fuel sales are down 80 percent from last year,” said Armstrong. “We had four boaters go to the Bahamas, two went to the Florida Keys, one went to Bermuda, and seven or eight boaters went up river to escape the oil.”

Although the boating season goes until Labor Day, Orange Beach Marina already considers this season to be a complete loss.

“Unless there is some miracle to make all this oil disappear, this season is lost,” said Armstrong. “We are just hoping everything will be back to normal by next boating season.”

Armstrong said if things don’t improve by next season, a lot of people in this industry will lose their jobs and some marinas may even go out of business.

Tournaments cancelled

To add insult to injury, the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club has cancelled two area fishing tournaments, which bring hundreds of boats to the area.

These tournaments bring slip rentals, fuel sales, and bait and grocery sales to Orange Beach Marina and other area facilities.

“We usually get 40 boats that stay in this marina for the Memorial Day tournament and another 10 boats for the ladies tournament that was scheduled for June 18-20,” said Armstrong.

Cutting back

On June 7, Orange Beach Marina made the decision to revert back to its normal winter hours due to a lack of business. The marina is now open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on Sunday, instead of its normal summer hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

During the summer, Orange Beach Marina usually hires seven dock assistants to meet the increased demand, but due to the spill, the marina has had to rescind its employment offers.

“We feel helpless. If we were hit with a hurricane we could make the needed repairs and reopen. But with this oil spill, there is nothing we can do to solve the problem except wait and hope. We have no idea what the future holds,” said Armstrong.

Fighting back

While Orange Beach Marina can’t control the oil leak, it did purchase booms that are ready to be used on the Orange Beach Marina canal to protect the boats that are still in the marina should the oil get closer to the marina.

For now the canal remains open so the marina can capitalize on the few fuel sales that remain.

“We are keeping track of the expenses we incur from this spill, which we will be passing on to British Petroleum for reimbursement,” said Armstrong.

Rob Preston is managing editor of Marina Dock Age magazine. He can be reached by phone at 847/647-2900 Ext. 1311 or via e-mail at rpreston@prestonpub.com.