02 — Operations
We run marinas.
As third-party manager, as the back office behind your own team, or as the bench that finds the next dockmaster. Owners keep the asset; we take the operating work — and the accountability that comes with it.
Three ways we operate
Take all of it, or exactly the part that's breaking.
Most owners don't need a new operator. They need billing that goes out on time, a dockmaster who stays, and a month-end close that arrives before the next month ends.
01
Marina management
Full third-party management: we own the operating plan and the P&L against it. Staff can stay on your payroll or move to ours. You keep the title, the upside, and the final say on capital.
- Operating budget, weekly forecast, and monthly reporting
- Revenue management: rate, mix, transient, and seasonal pricing
- Dock, utility, and fuel-system maintenance programs
- Safety, environmental, and permit compliance calendar
- Vendor procurement, contracts, and insurance certificates
- Capital project scoping and oversight
Typical engagement
- Structure
- Base management fee as a percentage of gross operating revenue, plus an incentive fee on NOI above an agreed threshold.
- Term
- Three years, with an owner termination right for cause and an annual performance review against the budget.
- Reporting
- Weekly operating snapshot, monthly financial pack, quarterly asset review with the capital plan.
02
Talent and recruiting
The single point of failure at most marinas is one person who knows everything and is three years from retiring. We recruit the replacement, build the seasonal bench behind them, and document the job so the knowledge survives the handoff.
- General manager and dockmaster search
- Service technicians, mechanics, and yard crew
- Seasonal dock-hand pipelines built before the season, not during
- Compensation benchmarking by market and facility size
- Onboarding, certification tracking, and succession planning
- Interim staffing when a departure can't wait
How we charge
- Search
- Contingency fee on placement for line roles; retained search for GM and dockmaster, with a replacement guarantee.
- Seasonal
- Flat per-hire fee on volume pipelines, priced before the season so it lands in the budget.
- Bundled
- Included at cost inside a management engagement — we're hiring for ourselves at that point.
03
Business process outsourcing
The shared services layer. Your team keeps doing what has to happen on the dock; everything that happens at a desk moves to ours, on a service level you can hold us to.
- Invoicing, autopay, dunning, and collections
- Accounts payable, vendor onboarding, and 1099s
- Payroll administration and seasonal onboarding paperwork
- Bookkeeping and a monthly close with a real calendar
- Reservations, transient inquiries, and after-hours phone
- Insurance certificate, permit, and lease-compliance tracking
Service levels
- Month-end close
- Books closed and the operating pack delivered by the tenth business day.
- Receivables
- Dunning on a fixed schedule from day one past due, with an escalation path agreed with the owner.
- Inquiries
- Reservation and transient calls answered same-day in season, including weekends.
Transition
The first hundred days.
Whatever the engagement, the sequence is the same: understand the facility, stop the obvious losses, put it on the system, then commit to a plan in writing.
Days 1–15
Take the picture
Slip-by-slip inventory, contract audit, rate roll, receivables aging, insurance and permit status, and a walked condition report of every dock, pile, and utility pedestal.
Days 16–45
Stop the leaks
Collections restarted, uncontracted occupants papered, metered utilities rebilled correctly, vendor agreements reviewed, and the safety and compliance gaps closed first.
Days 46–75
Put it on the system
Facility migrated onto the platform, staff trained on the dock, tenants onboarded, and the reporting pack running weekly against a budget everyone can see.
Days 76–100
Set the plan
Rate study, seasonal staffing plan, twelve-month capital plan with sequencing and cost, and the operating budget we'll be measured against.
What we don't do
We'd rather say it up front.
An operator that pretends to be a fit for everything is a bad operator. If any of these is your situation, we'll tell you in the first call.
- We don’t take management engagements without pricing authority. If rate is off the table, we can’t be accountable for NOI.
- We don’t run a facility we haven’t walked. Every engagement starts with a condition report, on foot.
- We don’t bury deferred maintenance to flatter a year. The capital plan is published to the owner, in full, annually.
- We don’t broker a marina we manage without disclosure. Conflicts get written down before they happen, not after.
Send us last year's operating statement.
We'll come back with what we see: the rate left on the table, the receivables that aren't coming, and what the first hundred days would cost you.