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

 

[Maynard Rupp]

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

Yup, that is really stupid. Soon it will be "press 2 for English". This country MUST declare English as its official language, and the must do that very soon.

 

[Pete]

Anyone ready for Chapter 2? Probably not, but here goes anyway.

Chapter 2: Diversity in New Bern

One of the features in New Bern is the diversity of species sharing the area. Not anything new for us southern boys and girls, but somewhat different from other parts of our country. First we have humans, in various sub species. Then in the general order of size, we have an abundance of termites, fire ants, household type ants, flies, crickets, roaches, and in the summer months mosquitoes, ticks, and more of all the above. Did I mention mosquitoes, lots of mosquitoes. Moving up in size, we have foxes, bob cats, deer, and bears. FYI, the town mascot is even a bear. In the water, we have alligators, good size eels, and snapping turtles. But, you learn to look before you move, stay out of the water, and do a body check every so often to see what has attached to you. I think it is called living with nature.

One item I missed in Chapter One is the "polyester boat bottom blister stress test". The water in New Bern and surrounding areas is brackish, but very close to being fresh water. Cypress trees line the shore in this area. Cypress trees release tanin into the water, creating tanic acid, which turns the water a dark color, and acidic. Take this acidic water, warm it up in the summer to 90 degrees plus and any polyester boat floating in it will soon know if it is prone to blisters. My case was purchasing a 1976 Hatteras that was close to blister free after 25 years, floating it in this water for five years, and requiring a complete bottom job last year. Went from less than 10 blisters to well over a hundred in the 2 to 3 inch range. Did the local water cause this? You be the judge. I know my answer.

Chapter 3 will deal with building and maintaining structures on recovered swamp land. But, later for that.

Pete

 

[Boss Lady]

LOL! Pete give us more! Don't forget about the humidity that you can cut with a knife.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

I have heard two things about that area. Is it true that the state bird is the mosquito? I have also heard that the flying bugs are so big they are required to file flight plans. We went through there enroute to "bug free" Dinner Key Marina in Miami,(yes, there truly are NO bugs there;ask Pascal). I got hit in the forehead by a flying bug somewhere in the Carolinas that was big enough to damn near knock me off the flybridge seat. Then we ran into the love bugs. Those are really crazy and there are enough of them to change the color of a Hatteras. In the Great Lakes we have fish flies for about 2 weeks in late June. There are tons of them, but they don't live long.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

In the Great Lakes we have fish flies for about 2 weeks in late June. There are tons of them, but they don't live long.

Maynard,
I thought those were called May Flies. But, I never understood why they were called that since we only see them in June. Isn't that when the June Bugs are supposed to be out? I don't know.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Maynard,
I thought those were called May Flies. But, I never understood why they were called that since we only see them in June. Isn't that when the June Bugs are supposed to be out? I don't know.

Sky...I have heard them called several names. We are all talking about the bugs that gather by the thousands around street lights and make the roads like ice. They die and their remains make a tan layer on the lake. They also tend to plug up your engine's water intake strainers. Those Carolina bugs are far worse as they don't die, many sting or bite, and they are everywhere; kinda' like flies on...Oh well, I think you have the picture.

 

[Pete]

Have not heard the NC state bird designation, but if the criteria is population of things that fly, then the mosguitoes have it, no contest, in New Bern.

But, in all fairness, outside of NC there are a couple of places that would put New Bern to shame when it comes to flying things that annoy humans. First, is just south of Geogretown, SC on the ICW. You are in a land cut headed to Charleston. Large black swamp flies have this area as their home. Makes New Bern mosquitoes pale in comparison. But, in my opinion, the champ is the eastern shore of the lower/middle Chesapeake Bay. From a southern point around Crisfield to a northern point around Tilghman the flies in early summer will carry you away. You definitely need an autopilot in this area, just because you will need both hands to do combat with the flies.

Pete

 

[Starman]

With so much negative comments about New Bern and NC in general, it must take a super human to voluntarily move here !

It takes even more superman power to stay when leaving is just as easy.


Listen,

Every state, every city has issues. I have learned a bit as of late about riparian rights and it can be a complex issue especially when folks like CAMA start issuing permits not caring about who really has the rights.

As far as costs increases go. Has anyone really noticed that the rates jump the most when new owners come in ?

How about some of you business owners explain this to the others.

 

[Pete]

Starman, its all in the genes. My roots are in New Orleans, which has many of the same amenities as New Bern, except in its case it is built below sea level. What a great idea that was. I have lived in NC for 29 years and love it. But, I have the genes that allow me to truely appreciate the environment. New Bern is a wonderful place for those with the proper genes. Wrong genes, wrong place. And yes, all roads and bridges are open and in good repair.

As for business owners, business school 101 says when supply is short, as in a slip waiting list, you gradually raise your prices until the supply/demand equation is brought in balance. Its called profit optimization. The Sheraton folks must have been absent the day "gradually" was discussed, and they are now experiencing customer base loss. No doubt they are in business to suck every last cent they can out of the area. They just needed a better plan.

At least that is the way I see it.

Pete

 

[Starman]

I will explain why rates jump when new owners come in.

It is because they usually pay more for an established business. lets face it, not many businesses sell at a loss.

Even so the expenses of a new business, be it one that has been established or otherwise has many costs.

I would venture to say the new owners have to raise the rates. They must do at least the same business as the previous owners , plus the additional costs involved to begin the business.



The rates at the Sheraton do not seem out of line to me. They are now equal to those in surrounding areas such as Morehead, Wilmington and Carolina Beach.


By the way , I am not coming down on you Pete for your comments about New Bern and NC. I live in Jacksonville. I just thought it was amusing , but failed to put in an emoticon to show that I was just kidding around.