Bath’s Loyalist Cove Marina Completes Expansion Project

Published on: 2014/08/21 - in Featured Releases

For 15 years Loyalist Cove Marina, owned by Dave and Michelle Hinton, has served the Ontario boating community, bringing many visitors as well as untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in economic activity to the burgeoning Village of Bath.

By broadening the scope of its repair, transportation and storage operation over the past several years, the family-owned and operated business will help ensure that Bath will continue to grow in popularity as a destination for tourists. As any community development or economic development expert will attest, the more visitors you can bring to a community or region the greater likelihood that those people will return to visit, possibly even relocate or invest in properties or business ventures.

And with the quaint, historic, laid-back atmosphere that residents of Bath are blessed to enjoy, there is little doubt that folks will want to return once they sample the community’s lifestyle and amenities.

Loyalist Cove Marina is kind of like a midpoint for many travellers. People on their way to Kingston coming from Toronto, don’t have to traverse any long channels or worry about shallow draughts,” said Michelle. “And it’s easy for people to go into Bath and get groceries and just have a nice visit. We have a bank, a liquor store, three restaurants, a museum, antique shops and a grocery store – all within a 15-minute walk.”

She added  “We love Bath so much we developed, with our brother’s Jim and John Hinton, the surrounding community of Edgewater Estates. Then we even went one step further and were in a partnership that purchased the local grocery store (now called Schell’s Market) three years ago and that leased and recently sold it to the new successful owner Warren Schell.”

Since Michelle and Dave Hinton began their work in turning a humble little marina property into the impressive boating facility that Loyalist Cove Marina is today, they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in upgrading their facilities and infrastructure, including ensuring that larger boats with deeper draughts can still utilize the marina. And it was local suppliers, vendors, tradespeople and labourers who benefitted from this ongoing investment.

“Basically we started with zero docks. We had eight boats here and needed docks. Now we have slips for about 85 and they are deep-water slips. We spent a lot of money on dredging to ensure that we have about 12 feet deep access to the existing launch ramp and our new travel lift ramp. We have invested in our facilities and our staff to give the best services possible,” said Michelle Hinton.

Loyalist Cove Marina has worked hard to provide what amounts to “one-stop-shopping” for boaters. From a great location to dock to storage and repair facilities, every need has been anticipated and this has helped to draw in owners of both sail and powered pleasure craft to the shores of Bath over the years.

A new storage and repair facility has been built nearby the marina. This site is 13 acres, half of which has been improved with gravel parking areas and a 6,400-square-foot storage and repair facility. The new building has radiant in-floor heating as does the workshop at the marina.

Heading into the fall and winter, preparing a vessel for storage is of paramount importance for boaters. Loyalist Cove Marine specializes in providing a full suite of maintenance and storage services, ensuring that your vessel is boating season ready in the spring. All mechanics are fully-certified by the American Boat & Yacht Council.

“We are one of the only places that can store sailboats with the mast up so the boat owner doesn’t have to take the mast and rigging down in the winter and then put it all back up again in the spring. It saves both time and money. And we offer shrink-wrapping, which is so much better than just using a tarp,” said Hinton. “And we can service your boat and do any of the repairs you need, whether it’s mechanical, electrical, structural, fiberglass hull & deck repairs for those unexpected bumps and scrapes, or just a new hull face-lift. Wood, steel, fiberglass exterior or even fixing things inside the cabin – we can do it all in-house. We also offer winterizing services, because you have to do that regardless of where you are storing it. You have to look after your engines, water lines, water tanks and bilge tanks – it’s just like winterizing a cottage. We have a very methodical and comprehensive system to do that.”

The service extends to picking up and transporting your boat from wherever it is now, to the secure facilities at Loyalist Cove Marina. The company has a new 25-ton travel lift, access to a local 80-ton crane, and specialized boat trailers; a 36’ hydraulic cono-lift and a 53’ air-ride, for safe boat transport.

“We can go and pick up the boat from pretty much anywhere if the client is going to be requiring storage and/or repair services with us. We have a year-round permit to transport boats all across Ontario and purchase additional permits when we go outside the province.

With the expansion of both the indoor and outdoor storage spaces, Loyalist Cove Marina can now accommodate approximately 200 vessels over the fall and winter months, making it one of the largest, most accessible and most comprehensive marine service facilities in the region. Loyalist Cove Marina is a member of Boating Ontario and is certified by Green Leaf as a Clean Marine Eco-Friendly Marina.

With a location that allows for quick and care-free access from the many navigation channels, and stem to stern service for all four seasons, Loyalist Cove Marina is not only the most logical choice for a base of operations for the boating public, but continues to be a proud business representative for the Village of Bath and Loyalist Township as it continues to grow, thrive and prosper, offering both visitors and residents alike an unparalleled quality of life.

For more information on the transportation, servicing and storage services offered by Loyalist Cove Marine, visit www.loyalistcovemarine.com, or call 613-352-3478.


Release and photo source: Loyalist Cove Marina