Sheraton Marina, New Bern, NC

[Pete]

As an introduction, if this subject is new to anyone, the Sheraton Grand Marina, formerly know as the Skysail Marina, before that known as the Sheraton marina, recently announced a change in their rate schedule which just might make slips in the marina readily available. To me it is an interesting case study about the future.

Would someone or several customers please update all of us on the current situation at the marina.

Thanks

Pete

[Boss Lady]

they are responsible for bringing Miami and New York marina rates to North Carolina. LOL

[Pete]

But, will the dogs eat the dog food??? Yet to be answered as far as I know.

Pete

[(Nobody You Know)]

I was there last June. Always a beautiful destination. Rates (at that time) weren't bad but slips were (and probably still are) for sale. A typical situation we are finding up and down the southern coast: privately owned, but rented out by management.

Good news: still some bargains in Carolina Beach!

[labrador]

My boat is there and I attended a meeting Tues night regarding this subject. Turns out the city of New Bern is the owner of record for the 30' in front of the Sheraton known as the river walk. According to state law only the owner with repairian rights can build a dock on the public trust which is the water in front of said property. What was said is that the docks were built in violation on the public trust waterways. The boat owners remaining, 40% have left already, have hired a lawyer and we had a meeting with the mayor and council to notify them that the city actually owns the repairian rights and therefore the marina. NO slips have been sold and I'm certain none will be until the title issue is worked out. Don't know where this is going however the owner who bought the Sheraton, the Soliel group, sure didn't do their due diligence on the title and repairian rights. This WILL get interesting!!!!

[Capt.Erich]

I've lived in New Bern for nearly 20 years and have kept several boats there and was a bachelor live-aboard there in my younger days. It is a nice marina but I think thier price hike is a little crazy. New Bern was a great stop over for a lot of cruisers. I've noticed more boats on the hook this year than previous years. Every other marina in the New Bern area has had a waiting list for the last coupld of years. It seemed to coinside with the houseing market boom of two years ago. The market has cooled down here significantly. I think they are a little late to the party... or possibly they are betting on the fact that many northerners have cashed in and moved south bringing their boats and now have nowhere else to keep them. (Sorry Skip.)

The unfortuante part of this is that the people who are most significantly impacted by the rate hike are the folks who are like most of us who have small (< 50 ft.) boats. The Sheraton was filled to the gills with small boats and there was about a 1:1 ratio of sail to power boats. It will be interesting to see how it ends. Fortuantely for me, I have a good situation and will probaly never go back to the Sheraton. It is a shame though because there are some nice people there and it is a great place to socialize. I have a lot of fond memories of dock parties and friends that have made and kept from around the world while I was a live-aboard.

New Bern was a sleepy little town that was a great place for families. Unfortunately, it will be a cookie cutter image of every other trendy over developed town on water of the East Coast with in 5 years. I doubt the average income family that lives in New Bern will be able to have the same type of access to the rivers the way they do now. It does make me sad to see my home change like this. But I guess that is the way life is.

[Pete]

Capt. Eric, I first visited New Bern in 1978. Came back many times and finally bought land in 1996. Did the big move in 1998 and never looked back. But as you mention things are changing, and I am not happy about it at all.

So, we need to spread the word that it is not that great a place. After all the truth is, the water is shallow, the Neuse is polluted, we are 30 miles off the ICW, we get hurricanes every so often, it snows every so often, it is hot as hell in July and August, NC has yearly personal property tax on boats, NC income tax is 7.75% for anyone able to afford even an old Hatteras, our gasoline and diesel road taxes are very high, in the range of 40 cents a gallon, you are at least 40 nautical miles from a yard that can lift a boat with a beam greater than 15 feet, there are only 2 diesel fuel docks within a 20 mile radius of New Bern (no competition), for the Admirals, anything that would pass for major shopping is at least 50 miles away, the really good shopping is in Raleigh a 100+ miles away, etc., etc.. Need I go on? Add to that, all land and home owners have suddenly decided that the value of their property is 2,3,4 times what it was 5 years ago!!!!

So, that is Chapter 1 of "the rest of the story".

Pete

[Capt.Erich]

Yeah... and we don't care how you did it up North!

[Maynard Rupp]

As hard as you guys are crying, you should move to Detroit. Great boating, lots of slips available, the prices for slips are going way down. The city however is an awful place and the real wage earners have all moved out. Many to North Carolina. You folks may be getting a little crowded, but the folks moving there are good people and they will pay their way. What is left here is alot of scum that leach off the system. So, you don't have it so bad. We do have some very nice and cheap marinas with slips available. Practice your ebonics and c'mon up.

[Pete]

Maynard, I will put ebonics on my list. Right now I am working on spanish. Elementary school first graders in NC are given spanish language classes. But, the children that only speak spanish, are not required to take "english as your second language classes". They get taught in spanish. So, I figure spanish is in, english is optional. Sorry, got to go and finish my DVD, "Spanish for Dummies".

Pete