Zihao Ding is seeing more red dots these days and that’s at last some good news for the beleaguered Point Roberts Marina.
Those dots are on a large overview map of the marina’s 925 slips, hanging in the upstairs office area where Ding is currently serving as the acting manager. He is actually an accountant who represents the Chinese businessmen who purchased the marina back in 2015. The added duties reflect the limited staff since the pandemic greatly impacted the operation back in March 2020.
The U.S./Canadian border being initially closed for months resulted in hundreds of Canadians relocating their boats to B.C. locations. Point Roberts Marina went from near capacity to losing close to 600 customers. Now as the border restrictions begin to ease, including a special exemption for Point Roberts, those customers are starting to come back.
The marina’s annual leasing period for a slip runs from April 1st this year to March 31st of next year.
“Those red dots you see are people reserving spots and the last time I counted there were about 200 of them,” explained Ding. “Yesterday I was talking to a couple that is trying to get back because it’s cheaper (here), significantly cheaper than further down south. Like half price.
“They are still not coming back at speed we want to see, but I think over the next year (as the restrictions ease further or altogether) you are going to see a huge percentage wise increase. However, it will take several years for the business to fully recover.”
Soon after the marina was purchased, about $4 million was spent on upgrades, including a new dock and improving much of the fire suppression and infrastructure. Ding says more work needs to be done, but that might be overseen by a new owner.
The marina was listed for sale about a year ago for $25 million (US). There have been constructive talks with the Port of Bellingham, but nothing is happening at this time.
“From what I have gathered, Port of Bellingham is essentially the best deal we can get and the best deal for the people, but for us, we are still under some internal restructuring,” added Ding. “It’s rather complicated, but the person right at the top making the decisions might or might not change, so right now we are waiting for that to finish.”
