Zihao Ding remembers the moment with vivid detail.
Just 19 at the time and having grown up in Mongolia, Ding set his eyes on the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
It was a revelatory sensation that Ding still cherishes more than a decade later as marina manager at Point Roberts Marina. And it’s an experience he warmly invites B.C. travellers to take part in, now that the season turns from cold and grey, to light and optimistic.
“Where I’m from in Inner Mongolia it’s like grassland and that’s it – picture the landscape as being like Wyoming or Saskatchewan,” Ding says. “It was a culture shock to come to the ocean and have that quiet, peace of mind you get from being near the water.”
Getting to that peace of mind can be expensive, time consuming or altogether unavailable at scores of marinas in the Pacific Northwest.
The opposite holds true in Point Roberts. This is a marina with more than 900 slips that can take almost any size vessel, ranging from a 15-foot fishing boat to an 80-foot yacht.
Fuel is available on site, along with a full shower set up, laundry, pump out, garbage service, boat repair maintenance, dry storage and trailer storage service, which is free for annual members.
The ideal selling point? Moorage rates remain unchanged since 2017.
“We are one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, marina in the area covering B.C. or Whatcom County,” Ding says. “To put that in perspective, we are about half of the price of marinas in Seattle or Vancouver.”
Extensive work is underway to prepare for boaters who want to enjoy the early season sights and sounds of life on the ocean. New fingers are being poured to allow more boats and to prevent any degradation to the surrounding facility. And a new restaurant called Pier is now open, serving the best in pub food fare: home-style burgers, fish and chips, fried cauliflower and more.
As for the work that boaters should be doing in advance of the sunny season, Ding offers a few tips.
First and foremost on the list, is painting the bottom of a boat and ensuring that all requisite maintenance work is up to date.
Boat owners with vessels over 40 feet should book their slips as soon as possible, as they tend to fill up quickly at Point Roberts Marina. Smaller boats under 30 feet, however, will typically have plenty of available spots across the marina’s 900+ slips.
Once you’re on the boat, island hopping and sightseeing await. Because salmon fisheries have yet to open in early spring, the water is largely free of traffic and the world is quite literally your oyster.
