Buying a marina or marine service business in Florida

These are marinas, dry stack storage, boatyards, and shops that do marine mechanics, canvas, electronics and detailing. They make money in different ways.

A marina rents wet slips and dry storage by the month or year, sells fuel, and often adds a ship's store, boat rentals or a restaurant tenant. Storage is the steady core: tenants renew year after year, and waterfront space is hard to add, so a full marina with a waitlist is in a strong position.

Boatyards and service shops sell labor and parts: engine repairs and replacements, bottom painting, fiberglass, rigging and electronics. Customers pay by the job, often with deposits on big projects, and the work rises and falls with the boating season and storm damage. Technicians certified on the major engine brands are the hardest people to replace.

A small marina may run with a dockmaster, a few dockhands and forklift operators for the dry stack. A service shop is mostly technicians, plus someone who writes up jobs and orders parts. What you're buying is the waterfront access (owned or leased), the docks, lifts and forklifts, the people, and a customer list of boat owners who stay for years.

• Full slips and storage racks, tenants who have stayed for years, and a waitlist.
• Docks, seawalls, forklifts and lifts in good repair, with inspection and maintenance records.
• A state submerged land lease in good standing, if the docks sit over state-owned water bottoms.
• Fuel tanks that are registered, insured and tested on schedule.
• Factory-trained technicians who have been there for years, and a service manager who isn't the owner.
• Good water access: enough depth at low tide, and no low fixed bridges for the boats you serve.
• Revenue spread across storage, fuel and service, so one slow line doesn't sink the year.
• A hurricane plan that has worked: haul-out procedures, tie-down rules, and insurance that paid when it mattered.

Florida has no specific license for marinas or boat repair, and the state's Motor Vehicle Repair Act doesn't cover watercraft. The rules that matter come with the property and what you do on it:

• Submerged land lease. Docks over state-owned water bottoms need a lease from the state's Board of Trustees, which the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) administers (chapter 18-21, Florida Administrative Code). Transferring the lease to you needs the board's approval. It won't come until any violations are fixed, and the board can require older structures to be brought up to current rules (rule 18-21.008).
• Permits. New or expanded docks and dredging need an environmental resource permit from DEP or the water management district, and often federal approval from the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Fuel tanks. Under DEP rules (chapters 62-761 and 62-762), the tank registration must be updated within 10 days of a change in owner or operator. The owner must also keep financial responsibility, usually insurance, to cover cleanup and claims from other people.
• Rentals. Renting out boats requires a free annual livery permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), safety instruction for renters before they go out, and minimum insurance (section 327.54, Florida Statutes).
• Brokerage. Selling used yachts over 32 feet for others takes a yacht broker license from DBPR's Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares, and Mobile Homes (chapter 326).

DEP's Clean Marina designation is voluntary.

Have a marine engineer survey the docks, pilings, seawall, travel lift and dry stack racks. Waterfront repairs are slow to permit and expensive to build, and they can't always wait.

Get the submerged land lease, its term, the rent history and any compliance letters, and ask DEP's Division of State Lands what it would take to transfer the lease to you. Pull fuel tank registrations, leak detection records and any past discharge reports. A boatyard that has done years of bottom painting and engine work deserves an environmental assessment before you buy the land or sign a long lease.

Get your own insurance quotes early, including windstorm and flood, rather than relying on the seller's policy, and ask what past storms cost in damage and lost months. Review the slip and storage agreements: rates compared with nearby marinas, deposits, and any abandoned or unpaid boats, which can be slow to remove. Finally, check that zoning allows every use on the site, from fuel sales to boat repair.

• How many slips and racks are rented right now, and how long is the waitlist?
• When were the docks, seawall and forklifts last inspected or rebuilt?
• What happened here in the last few hurricanes, and what did insurance pay?
• Is the submerged land lease current, and has DEP raised any issues?
• Which engine brands are your technicians certified on, and would they stay?
• How much of your revenue comes from storage, how much from fuel and how much from service?
• Are there any abandoned boats or unpaid storage accounts on the property?