Chris Rosinski undergoes a multi-step process before he’s able to get his sailboat, named Moore-On, out onto Bellingham Bay so he can participate in a weekly “beer can” race league.
Moore-On isn’t docked on the water. Instead, it’s stored in the Yacht Yard, located in the parking lot of the former CityMac location near Roeder Avenue, on a trailer that attaches to Rosinski’s white Tesla. Once Rosinski attaches the sailboat, he drives down Coho Way, avoiding trees and lamp posts that could get knocked around by the boat’s mast.
He turns left and makes his way to the boating crane. It’s then that he has to wait: either for an employee from the Port of Bellingham to unlock the crane so he can get his boat in the water, or for a commercial fisherman to finish taking a boat off the crane.
The whole trip takes 20 minutes. For Rosinski, dry mooring is a convenient way for him to be out on the water once or twice a week.
“If you have it in the harbor, which I’ve done with other sailboats, if you want to be competitive, you have to clean the bottom every week,” the Bellingham native and lifelong sailor said.
But Rosinski and the other 20 boat owners who dock boats on land, from racing and non-racing sailboats to powerboats, need to find a new space. The Port of Bellingham notified the recreational sailors in the spring that they would be unable to use the parking lot after CityMac moved to 3205 Northwest Ave. as the port intends to find a marine trades employer that would need the lot.
“People will either sell their boats or they’ll go somewhere else,” said Jeff Vernon, who’s leading the effort to find a new space for sailors who use the Yacht Yard. “And the dry sailing fleet gets smaller and smaller.”
If the sailors and the port are able to come to an agreement on a new location, it could be the perfect opportunity to grow the sport and bring in more revenue, the sailors say.
In an email, Mike Hogan, the public affairs administrator for the port, wrote the port has a good relationship with the dry sailing community and understands the challenge the boat owners face moving their boats.
“The Port has not yet found a suitable location, but is actively working with the dry sailing community to evaluate several potential sites on Port property, which may work either as a temporary or long-term solution,” he wrote, adding that the port was confident it could find a solution.
Sailors notified about the need to move boats
Vernon, who’s stored his boat in the parking lot since 2012 and started the Bellingham Yacht Yard around seven years ago, said he was notified in February about the former CityMac building and lot being sold.
Rob Fix, the port’s executive director, told commissioners in June the port had closed on the former location in March.
“We did give the sailboats through the end of the season, so we didn’t just tell them that they needed to leave then,” Fix said. “We told them they could stay through August or September. There’s some flexibility there.”
At the commission meeting, Vernon spoke out, saying sailing in Bellingham Bay can run through November.
Vernon then presented to the Port Commission on July 16. During the meeting, commissioners balanced the issue of space.
“Space is tight in the harbor,” said commissioner Michael Shepard. “I think this is useful for us to have internal discussions and figure out if there are any other options.”
Commissioner Ken Bell acknowledged the port was trying to find a new space for the sailors.
“I clearly see the need for more boat storage,” he said. “That’s not even a question. This is a viable alternative. So don’t get the impression that we’re not trying because at least from my standpoint, I’m hoping that we’re trying to accommodate you.”
While Vernon and other dry sailors have been assured they can use the dry mooring space until the end of the season, owners have already started to move boats out of the sail yard.
“We’re having to comply with [the port’s] deadlines,” he said. “Everyone’s scrambling.”
At one time, 30 boats were stored in the dry moor yard. Now, there are between 15 to 20 boats, according to Vernon’s own count.
Dry mooring a sailboat can save space and it can save money, said Mike Merrick, who’s been sailing for most of his life.
“I pay $90 a month to moor my boat on dry land,” the 64-year-old Bellingham resident said, adding he also pays an additional $10 to use the crane, or hoist, to place his boat in the water. He’s stored his boat at the dry moorage yard since 2013.
But if he were to moor his boat in the water, the cost would jump up to $330 a month, including taxes. He’d also have to pay to paint the bottom of his boat to prevent water decay.
“Between the monthly cost and the increase in bottom paint, I can’t do that,” he said.
A new opportunity
If the sailors and the port are able to find a new space, sailors like Merrick and Vernon have an idea of what they want.
For starters, they’d like their own hoist designed for their boats that ensures they have easy access to the water. Currently, the sailors are sharing the Squalicum Harbor crane with commercial fishermen.
“We really need our own spot so that we’re not using the inappropriate equipment and we’re not in the way of the commercial fishermen,” Merrick said.
Vernon said some of the sailors would be willing to pay for a crane or a boom truck so the port doesn’t have to buy a crane just for them.
Additionally, the sailors want a bigger space.
Vernon has had conversations with the port about the dry mooring yard being moved to the Coast Guard station across the waterway from the Bornstein seafood processing plant.
“The cons are it’s small,” Vernon said. “We’re thinking we could probably fit 15 boats in.”
The demand for space is also top of mind for Megan Reed, the youth sailing director for the Bellingham Yacht Club. While the group has been able to store its 38 boats either at the Web Locker restaurant lot, located at 734 Coho Way, or the youth sailing dock at Zuanich Point Park, it’s competing for space with the recreational sailors.
“Now that the CityMac lot is closing, some of the boats that have formerly parked there are also trying to squeeze into the Web Locker lot, which creates logistical problems for moving boats in and out of the space,” she said.
More storage space would help Reed, who’s been the youth sailing director since 2023, be able to offer more sailing opportunities for not only children but also adults interested in learning about the sport. That includes being able to purchase additional sailboats for the fleet.
“Currently, any really talented youth sailors in the Bellingham area have to go somewhere like Seattle if they want to keep progressing in the sport,” she said, adding that infrastructure and space need to be in place to support the growth of the sport.
Vernon and Merrick say if they had a bigger space and dedicated resources for loading and unloading, like the dry moor yards in Anacortes or Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle, they believe more people would come from afar to store their boats, and that could lead to possible international regattas over the course of a summer.
“I think if there’s a facility dedicated for this that has a place where we can rinse off the boat, porta-potties, and a place to store the boat right there, I think it would fill up instantly,” Merrick said. “I think the demand is there.”
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
