Demand for boat slips in Marina del Rey is drying up

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of an empty slip.

Or in the case of Marina del Rey, more than 200 of them.

In good times, there was a two-year waiting list for spaces and small boaters complained that they were being pushed out by bigger boats. But as of February, Los Angeles County officials said, the number of boat slip vacancies at Marina del Rey had nearly doubled to 259, compared with 133 a year earlier.

Most of the 4,700 available slips are for pleasure boats under 35 feet long, say harbor officials and business owners.

"Marinawide, there is probably a 5% to 10% vacancy rate," said Greg Schem, who owns the BoatYard in Basin H. "It's mostly related to the problems in the economy." The increased supply also gives boat owners more yards to choose from.

The cost of slip fees -- between $312 a month for a 25-foot boat and more than $2,000 a month for an 80-foot yacht -- appears to be giving some boaters pause.

"This is the worst I've ever seen it," said Craig Campbell, the general manager at the fuel dock, who began working at the marina in the mid-1970s. "It's always been very desirable, and it's always been full, even in the slow times."

It's quite a turnaround. Just three years ago, there was talk of expanding some Southern California marinas because powerboat sales were rising so dramatically.

California has traditionally experienced a shortage of coastal slips because of environmental regulations that virtually stopped marina construction a quarter-century ago. A few years ago, the state was projected to add as many as 23,000 boats a year through 2020.

About 2,000 new powerboats longer than 40 feet were registered in California from 1998 through 2005, according to Info-Link, a Florida company specializing in the boating industry. Nearly half were longer than 50 feet.

Other Southland marinas are doing better than Marina del Rey -- at least for now.

In Redondo Beach, marina operators say business isn't what it used to be, but slips continue to be filled.

Jason McMullin, an assistant manager of King Harbor Marina, the largest of four marinas in the area, said all of their 820 boat slips are occupied and there is a waiting list for boats over 30 feet.

"It has slowed down a little bit, but not much," McMullin said. "The marina's doing just fine. There's a waiting list."