Moons. Marinas, and Manufacturers

You might almost title this posting M & Ms, and M.

Last Monday brought back memories. My family and I were camping at Howard Prairie Reservoir, a beautiful lake a few miles east of Ashland, Oregon. Now a 1,900 acres recreational spot rated by some as the number one recreational area in Oregon, at that time it was a simply a rather primitive campground with wonderful boating. We had towed our Glen-L 13' sail boat there behind our VW bus. Aptly named "Aquarius" (What else? This was the 60's!) she was a great trailerable lake boat - - plywood hull, cat-rigged, wood mast, heavy, and had been trucked to many northern California lakes over the years.

That night we were stretched out under the stars, listening on the car radio to Walter Cronkite reporting the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Up there in the high hills without any ambient light, the sky was crystal clear, the Moon very bright, the campground hushed in silent awe.

Gazing up it was so terribly hard to imagine a person actually walking on that surface. It boggled the mind. It stretched comprehension. It was unreal. But it was real. And that made it all the more amazing. Even now, four decades later. It still seems unreal even knowing that it truly was.

Some reality is awing. In today's economy, some reality is downright depressing.

Today's Kitsap Sun brought the news that the heralded Bremerton Marina is in trouble. It's a beautiful facility. We walked it a couple of months ago. Now it's 225 slip capacity is only at the 31% level. A casualty of the recession, according to Cary Bozeman, former Bremerton mayor (and Bellevue mayor before that) and now the port's chief executive officer, "We're at the end of being in the boating business anymore", although he does see the marina succeeding when the economy rebounds.

While maybe steering away from future marine activities, according to the Sun the port is showing some interest in a future possibility, the re-developing of the old Seabeck marina, the dream and hope of good friend Erik Bentzen. You'll find more on line about the Bremerton Marina and Seabeck.

But it's not just marinas in trouble. As the Boating Industry magazine points out, for months we've known that GM and Chrysler were headed for bankruptcy, as well as two of the largest RV manufacturers, Fleetwood and Manaco Coach. Now the second-largest boat manufacturer, Genmar, last month filed for Chapter 11. Genmar is the builder of 15 premier brands of recreational boats which include, Carver, Champion, FinCraft, Four Winns, Glastron, Hydra-Sports, Larson, Marquis, Ranger, Scarab, Seaswirl, Stratos, Triumph, Wellcraft, and Windsor Craft. Genmar's CEO called this "a perfect tsunami."

Frankly, I'm not sure how to tie all this together. Perhaps like an open ended mystery, you, dear reader, can create your own story endings. Good luck!

For me, I think I'll just continue to gaze and wonder, and also throw in some of that trust that carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and perhaps a bit of moon dust to boot.