Bluff Bay Marina Offers Storage for 180 Boats

It took almost a decade and some creative thinking for the owner of Bluff Bay Marina to get all the necessary permits and financing to build a dry storage facility in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The owner originally planned to build a large drystack storage facility and even had plans designed for the facility. But the permitting took time and then the recession hit. Last year, Darren Smith, the marina’s operations manager, redesigned a new facility and oversaw its construction. He replaced the originally-planned multi-story structure with four one-level buildings, each 60 feet by 230 feet and built to hurricane specifications.

“We have seven acres, so we saved a lot of money spreading out and were still able to get space for 180 boats without the cost of forklifts and reinforced concrete and rack foundations,” Smith said. Boat owners will be able to keep their boats on trailers, which the marina staff will take out to the 500-foot staging area just off Corpus Christi Bay.

“The demand is there; we’ve had a lot of interest out of San Antonio,” Smith said. The facility has only been open a month, and if the current demand trends continue Bluff Bay Marina will be full within a year.

The marina will have a boat store, fuel, ice and similar amenities for the boaters. Once occupancy reaches about 50 percent, the marina plans to hire a mechanic to work on owners’ boats. “There’s a huge demand for service here; every other maintenance shop in the area has a three-month wait to get your boat in. Our business plan is to keep this [maintenance service] private for our customers so they’re not dealing with the crowds like boaters do at every other boat ramp,” Smith said.