The Wealthy are getting frugal
Twice a year, every year in the past, you could count on boats along the intercoastal waterway moving south for the winter and again north for the summer.  This included motor yachts, sailboats, pocket cruisers and even center console fishing boats seeking out the best weather conditions, regardless of the season.  This tradition has been repeated many times over and Amelia Island is a popular stop for these transient boaters.  Being the first port in Florida or the last one before entering Georgia, Amelia Island has deep water, a wide channel, lots of dock-age (over 1800’ of breakwater), fuel, lounge and laundry facilities, great shopping, restaurants and much more.
Anyone circling downtown late in the afternoons could witness dozens of yachts and small vessels angling for the fuel dock and making preparations to tie up for the evening.
Boats, unlike cars, require constant upkeep and maintenance and the larger vessels are usually owned by more affluent individuals who keep the trend of moving their boats each year.  This year however is a far different story; the once bustling docks are now sparsely filled with boats, the fuel dock for the most part sits dormant with few indicators that things will change anytime in the near future for our marine traffic.  So what happened?  Is it the economy catching up with the wealthy?  Could it be a change in the cruising habits of today’s boaters.
Recent reports show that boat sales are down some 40%, making one think that it has to be the economy. Large motor vessels and mega yacht orders however, are at an all-time high and new boaters coming into the market continues to hold steady.  Northern winters are still cold and South Florida summers are still hot, neither being especially conducive to boating or for that matter storing a boat.
Knowing what I do about boats and the habits of yacht owners, I believe it‚Äôs a little more complicated than the black and white answer; it’s the economy.
Yachting is very much alive and well and actively going on everyday.  New boats are being built; older vessels are being refitted all vying for that “ Palm Beach ” status; little has changed in this department.  However what has changed is the priorities of boat owners and how to apply the overall budgets for their boats.  Visiting their favorite cruising grounds in the Bahamas may be more important than sending their boat south for the winter.  Perhaps laying over a few months in a particular port, rather than moving the boat makes more financial sense, saving funds for more essential trips.  Actions such as these are to be  expected even in the world of yachting, but what is disheartening is the fact, that this may well become the new trend in boating.  And that would not fare well for our newly renovated beautiful marina facilities in Fernandina Beach. Maybe we should start looking at a different boating market segment because it looks that even the mega wealthy are feeling the pinch and addressing their habits.
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The answer is rather simple to pick-up on the trend of “immovable boats” due to infrequency of the north-south or south-north track. Home-porting should be the focus.
The marina as it is built now is not sufficiently focused on home-porting but it doesn't mean that with simple adjustments and “fee” attitudes it could not become a “homestead” i.s.o. of a transient harbor cutting out at least half the expenses (a bit more I would say) of the track from north to south and back.
Most of the ingredients are here. Perfect airport for small private (-jet) aircraft to fly into offering wealthier (northerners) direct short distance access to get to their yachts.
2 world class resorts to cater to the same for a one night stay over if necessary.
A quaint downtown area and the friendliest people around with a true “service with a smile” as well as “we go out of our way to make it happen” attitude that pleasantly surprised me when moving here after 20 years Caribbean where megayacht catering is as common as catching a flounder in the intercoastal waterway.
So I asked myself:”what's the difference why Fernandina Beach is not a “homestead” catering to the luxury yachts and St. Maarten for example is?”
Well, it hit me right between the eyes after 30 seconds of pondering.
1) No decent chandlery (St. Maarten has three MEGA chandleries and some smaller ones)
2) St. Maarten spends its sparse marketing funds on telling/showing the boating community about their facilities and that is something I have missed sofar here on Amelia Island. The destination is UNKNOWN!!!!! let alone the megayachts know about Fernandina Beach or Amelia Island.
So the century old saying still is as valid today: “what you don't know you can't crave”!
Fix those two and you got yourself a chance in home-porting!!!!
In a further fact finding mission I checked the official tourism site of Amelia Island and was confronted with a complete lack of attention to the boating community, the marina was mentioned in passing in a youtube promotional video for ONLY 2 seconds. and that's it folks. The tourism (ameliaisland.com) website doesn't even acknowledge the existence of boating. Nowhere on the site… Now there is your reason why only very happy few boaters know!
I'm baffled…a quick google research….The only site that reports Marina news for Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach is SearchAmelia.com. I'm talking NEWS and not commercial “marina and boating related” websites.
I guess Jamie D, there's part of your answer.
Sounds all too familiar to me. My previous pied-a-terre, St.Maarten in the Caribbean had the same neglect for the boating industry until we calculated the local economic impact of the boating community to be around $55 million a year to expand with about 9% annually. Things got quite different after that.