Mixing business with pleasure: The yachting life
Big boats can mean big business

by Maria McLeod

From the top pilot station of his 1997 Bayliner 37-foot yacht on the east side of the Port of Bellingham’s Squalicum Harbor Marina, Curt Bagley describes what can be an unexpectedly tricky maneuver for a novice sailor – docking the boat. Bagley is lucky. Not only is he a skilled and experienced boater, he has something at least 130 other boat owners would very much like: a slip at a dock in Squalicum Harbor. If you own a large yacht, requiring a slip of 50 feet or longer, the current wait is 13 years.
For Bagley, this fact carries added significance. He is owner and sole proprietor of Bellharbor Yacht Sales located at Squalicum Harbor Mall. Opened just over three years ago, it is, according to Bagley, the largest powerboat brokerage firm in the area, with sales topping $4 million in 2005 alone. Although the lack of slips doesn’t necessarily impede Bagley’s ability to make a sale – the yachts he sells are located across the country and may end up docked anywhere in the U.S. or Canada – Bagley is quick to observe that moorage is certainly in demand for yachts more than 40 feet, which makes up the majority of his sales.
“Part of the reason for the demand is because the Northwest is such a front-runner in terms of motor yachts, (sailing) yachts, larger boats and super yachts,” said Bagley who, having relocated here from Seattle in 1996, has been in yacht sales for 27 years. “The trend is for larger and larger boats, so the need for moorage for larger boats is always there.”
Bagley’s observations are echoed by a March 2006 report prepared by BST Associates for the Port of Bellingham. The report details both the need for a new marina, including more slips for 40-foot-plus yachts, and its potential economic benefits to Whatcom County. The new marina, which is yet to be finalized, is planned for development on Bellingham Bay nearly adjacent to Squalicum Harbor. The Port of Bellingham acquired the site, including the former waste treatment lagoon, and 137 waterfront acres from Georgia-Pacific West, Inc. in January 2005. A former industrial site, the area is contaminated and will require a $34 million cleanup effort, half funded by the state and half funded by the Port of Bellingham through moorage fees. With a projected completion date of 2015, the new marina would create 350 to 450 new slips. By that time, according to the report, the waiting list for slips will have increased five-fold.

The trickle down effect
The prospect of a new Bellingham marina would not only relieve the need for additional moorage, it also promises an economic boon for the county. The new marina is expected to generate $10 million annually, in addition to the $48.5 million already generated by Port of Bellingham’s existing marinas in Blaine and Squalicum Harbor. Furthermore, the new marina is projected to add 59 jobs in addition to the 279 that already exist between the two marinas.
According to Dan Stahl, director of marine services for the Port of Bellingham, one specific piece of data the port requested was the economic impact of large yachts. The report looked at boaters who pay moorage fees at Blaine and Squalicum harbors. Owners of yachts that were 40 feet and longer spent approximately $25,000 per year on boat ownership and usage. From 75 percent to 85 percent of that spending directly benefits their homeport.
“The larger boats do generate a lot more economic activity,” Stahl said. “With the smaller boats, people tend to do the repairs themselves, but when you get boats that are 40-, 50-, 60-foot, people are typically hiring somebody to do those repairs and keep the vessel seaworthy and serviceable. That adds two things: it retains the businesses we’ve got, and it also acts to attract some new businesses in that area.”
Bagley agreed.
“There’s a definite trickle-down or a domino effect,” he said. “In fact, over half of the boats that are sold in our state are built here by U.S. Marine or Bayliner, Trophy, Meridian. The boat brokers and boat dealers themselves that sell boats and yachts are also seeking services from not only a maintenance standpoint, but also from advertisers, radio, the media, the oil industry, the furnishings industry, the food industry. I mean, it’s extremely wide spread.”
Positioned directly in the waters of the trickle-down effect is Captain Paulette Bergh, former director of Bellingham’s San Juan Sailing School. Having recently resigned from her five-year tenure heading the school, Bergh has, just this year, established a new, related business: Professional Yacht Services. In addition to providing sailing lessons for both power and sailing yachts, Bergh provides rigging and tune-up services, concierge services, cleaning services, provisioning, and general coordination of maintenance services required by yacht owners.
“I’ve just seen that a lot of people have more money than they have time, especially the owners of large yachts,” Bergh said. “I can take it over, fuel it up for them, we can even provision it, everything from stocking the galley to stocking the liquor cabinet to putting fresh flowers onboard. So when they come, it’s ready to go, and they just have to turn the key and go.”

The yachting allure
For both Bergh and Bagley, the yachting life has been a means of mixing business with pleasure. Having escaped from his nearby office, Bagley sits comfortably on his yacht’s blue leather couch, which doubles as a bed when the two staterooms are otherwise occupied. He removes his cell phone from his belt and places it on the table in front of him as if to signify he’s taking the afternoon off. He is surrounded by a mix of teakwood cabinets and wide windows. The floor beneath him is actually two carpeted panels that can be pulled up to reveal twin diesel engines. Opposite Bagley are two wicker chairs, and in the cupboard behind them is an entertainment system, complete with TV, DVD player and stereo system. It’s a cloudless day with the sun streaming in. Bagley’s yacht rocks, barely perceptible, in the marina’s calm waters.
“I think if you were to ask someone – if you give them a choice for a week’s period of time – do you want to go on a vacation to Mexico or would you like to go out on your boat for the same period of time? I believe most people would rather go on their own boat,” Bagley said. “I’ve found many boaters, including myself, who’ve left the port and the biggest decision is whether to go left or go right. Because they just want to simply get out there.”
Along with providing an opportunity for autonomous and self-sufficient travel, the boating life, confesses Bagley, has another important allure. A father of four grown sons and grandfather to two children, Bagley indicates that it’s not necessarily the opportunity for rest and relaxation that draws him to the skipper’s seat.
“There are some demands that you have to meet to be a boat owner. You have to be mentally alert and stay mentally alert. You have to be physically active because a boat doesn’t sit still,” Bagley said. “I’ve seen a lot of boaters out there in the 80s that are still thoroughly enjoying boating. Boating keeps you young. I’m a firm believer in that.”

Class on the water
For Bergh, whose job includes teaching people to sail, the sentiment is similar. Boating is enjoyable, but only so if you know what you’re doing. Bergh has a Coast Guard license as well as certification from the American Sailing Association. In addition to owning her own sailboat, a Bavaria 37, she serves as captain of charter boats and still teaches on contract for the San Juan Sailing School. As a teacher, she begins by emphasizing the basics.
“Maneuvering in the harbor is one of the scariest things when you start because you don’t want to play bumper boat with the $1 million boat next to you. So, the blood pressure tends to go up,” Bergh said. “Water is a little more complicated medium to deal with, because you’ve got water and air, as opposed to driving a car – the wind blows you around a little bit, but not like when you’re on the water because you’ve got waves in water. Things react differently with the propeller, (rather) than wheels on the pavement.”
One of Bergh’s favorite aspects of teaching is instilling the confidence required for someone to sail on his or her own boat. Sailing in the San Juans, although incredibly scenic, can, according to Bergh, be particularly challenging with the way the wind wraps around islands, going from no wind to a wind of 20 knots just by rounding a corner. Also, there are tides to monitor and rocks and reefs that, although charted, aren’t all marked with buoys. But for Bergh, it’s all part and parcel of sailing in the area. The challenges can be overcome with the proper training, she said.
“The empowerment is a big thing for me,” Bergh said. “You take someone who is afraid, or who doesn’t think they can do it, and you give them a few skills and now it opens up this whole new world for them.”

Location, location, location
Located halfway between the two metropolitan yachting cities, Vancouver and Seattle, and with immediate access to the San Juan cruising waters, the Port of Bellingham harbors serve as an excellent point of entry for the “new world” Bergh mentions. Within the San Juan Islands alone there are multiple spots for secluded anchorage, gunkholing (exploring the area and shores by dinghy or another small boat), and continued travel to the Canadian Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island, Victoria, B.C., Desolation Sound, all the way north to Alaska.
“We are so fortunate in that we live in one of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world, easily,” Bergh said. “It’s unbelievably beautiful with bald eagles, whales and dolphins, and mountains all around. It’s ridiculous, it’s so beautiful. Sometimes I think, ‘Wow, this is my classroom.’”
Sometimes, however, the best spot may be right in the marina. In fact, not all boats leave the harbor. Some yacht owners use their boats as waterfront cabins, a kind of floating retreat. Complete with restaurants and shops, the marina becomes a city within a city, a community unto itself. And there is, according to Bagley, yet another form of residence, mixing business with pleasure.
“Some (yachts) are actually used as the office. In fact, I know several boats that are named ‘The Office,’” Bagley said. “So, when someone calls the individual, they can always say, “Well, I’m at the office.’”