"This," said Mayor Frank Nelson of Panama City (pop. 26,000), Fla., "will be a city of destiny." Mayor Nelson's grandiloquence was inspired by a civic project that is fast becoming as necessary as neon lights for any ocean, lake or riverside U.S. town with vacation-spot ambitions: a first-class marina to serve as a combination club, garage and general store for the nation's ever-increasing yachtsmen. Last week Panama City was about to start work on not one but two big marinas with dock space for 570 boats along its Gulf Coast waterfront and every convenience under the yachtsman's sun: water, ice, electricity and telephone service, gas and repair facilities, a dozen stores, barber and beauty shops, a restaurant, even a nightclub. Estimated cost: $3,500,000. Estimated gross revenue: $1,000,000 annually—to say nothing of the millions yachtsmen will spend outside the marinas.
Salt & Sage. Panama City should do even better than the forecasts. Last year some 30 million Americans went down to the sea in 5,971,000 powerboats and sailboats, spent $1.25 billion on their hobby; this year they will spend $1.5 billion, and add another 500,000 craft to the U.S. pleasure fleet. From Maine to California's Newport-Balboa harbor, where a flotilla of 7,000 yachts worth $30 million lies at anchor, the nation's shorelines, lakes and waterways are dotted with boats; on the Great Lakes, the Detroit area alone counts 100,000; uncounted thousands more skim across the enormous man-made lakes formed by dam projects in the Tennessee Valley, the Colorado and Missouri Rivers. Says one deep-water sailor: "Thousands of farm families, who wouldn't know an auxiliary cutter from a lightship, are literally sailing over the bounding prairie —and loving every minute of it."
To serve the new salts and their sagebrush cousins, marinas have blossomed into a big business. Like the motel boom, the number of U.S. marinas has grown from a mere handful before World War II to more than 10,000 anchorages of all kinds doing a $500 million annual business. Yet they cannot begin to meet the yachtsmen's demand. Estimates are that the U.S. already needs 10,000 more marinas with room for 2,000,000 boats, and is falling farther behind every year. In the New York area alone, 300,000 boat-owning yachtsmen scramble for space at only 20,000 slips and moorings.
Pumps & Profits. Years ago, a marina could be built for a few thousand dollars: a wooden-piling dock, a gas pump, a shack to sell beer and bait. Today's marina may cost as much as $10 million or more for a layout as complete as any inland shopping center. Run properly, with low dockage rates (anywhere from ½¢to 6¢ per foot per day depending on season) and efficient service, it can produce a handsome profit for any businessman. Says one East Coast marinaman: "With good management, you can conservatively make a 20% return on your investment each year before taxes."