Keaton beach marina (closed)

[SS-342]

That pretty much sums up my experience as well. I hope somebody does re-open it. Does anybody know if Capt. Pat McGriff is moving his guide service?

Steven, I can't answer your question but his boat was in the usual spot on the canal pier last Tuesday. I'm assuming he'll still be there. When we came back in, two of the three campers were gone.

[DixieReb]

SS-342, are the trout still biting over at Keaton?

[zload]

I guess this was their official announcement on FB:

Keaton Beach Fishing
December 2 at 12:18pm ·
Keaton Beach Marina was closed at the end of November. We do not know if or when it will re-open. Sea Hag Marina has chosen not to renew the lease and currently the property owner has chosen not to keep the marina open. If you have any questions, please call the Steinhatchee store

So we've seen a half stocked shop with some "characters" not be able to make it and a fully stocked store from a successful marina owner (based on their SH operation) not be able to make it... I'm thinking this is probably not the business opportunity of the year... I guess we'll see if Foley will reduce the lease enough to allow someone to make a go at it.

I only had a couple of minor issues with Jerry's crew and didn't go over to KB much after SH took over (preference not related to SH) but I'll miss the location and the lift for those days when the lift made life a little easier.

[SS-342]

SS-342, are the trout still biting over at Keaton?

We found them in 2-3 foot water between Yates and Spring Warrior. Red Fin plugs seemed to be the best. Water at and around Keaton was very clear last Tuesday.

[wishin2bfishin]

That's what I was talking about. It's about how you treat your customers. If you give premium service they will keep coming back. If not, we will find other places to put in. That is why I buy my supplies at Wilsons. They always give a thank you and a current fishing report.
I knew they, SeaHag, were doomed when they ran off the guys that had been there for years.

[ddb]

Pat's still running trips, just has to use the ramp right now. And as of pre cold front, the fishing was good.

[Sun Daze]

Hey to everyone that is concerned about the marina closing, my wife and I have been going to Keaton for years. Because of the service we received from Travis, his family, and Jerry we decided to buy an RV and come to Keaton as often as possible. We were finally able to acheive that and had a spot at the marina. Realizing the marina is an expensive operation to run we tried to buy everthing we could at the marina. When Jerry left the entire picture changed, our rent would have basically tripled, Charlie and his staff threw away our one year old boat cover. He had the gall to tell us that our cover was old and torn which was bull....! Charlie said last week that he was hired to straighten out the marina. What he did was run a wonderful family friendly business that wouldn't leave a boater behind into a profit only business that constantly tried to blow smoke up everyones bottom end. No one can blame any of the great folks that worked the marina during Charlie's tenure but what I experienced last week was par for the course under Charlie. He launched you boat on Friday and took your money knowing that he was cleaning the place out on Monday and didn't have the balls to tell you that he wouldn't be open to take it out.

I sure hope that someone will be able to take over the marina and make it work for their family and for those that frequent it.

My wife and I had an RV in a spot at the marina too. Jerry was a class act, in my opinion. Before we even were able to get an open spot, we rented houses in Keaton regularly, but Jerry knew us by name, and addressed us by name. The service was exemplary, but when he didn't renew the lease, and the Hag took over, we pulled the RV out and so did everyone else. Based on what we paid, and the number of RVs (about 30, maybe more) that would have been about $7500. That goes a long way to covering fixed overhead, but they lost that immediately, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they would be in the red without that. Hopefully someone will take over before Foley sells it to a developer and its gone forever!

[SCALAWAG]

Has anybody heard anything about the marina, as far as reopening?

[red_yakker]

It was included in the Foley sale, under the name "Keaton Beach Marina LLC, but I still haven't heard anything about if or when it might be re-opened.
They'd be smart to have it up and running well-ahead of scallop season.