Brooklyn Marina is thriving during the pandemic.
The organization just released their annual report which shows the number of people involved with boating has increased dramatically in the past year and a half.
Membership is up from 69 in 2020 to 86 this year, while the number of docks being used has also risen from 47 last year to 63 in 2021.
Marina president Ian Clark says people were tired of being stuck at home and were looking to get outside.
“The pandemic has really seen recreational boating really take off in the past one and a half to two year and I think, basically, what it came down to is that, people were tired of isolated and literally, they wanted to get out, you know, a breath of fresh air,” said Clark.
He says they’ve reached capacity at their dock, however, members can still bring boats and launch them on a daily basis. Anyone wishing to find a permanent home for their boat needs to get on a wait list.
Clark is not surprised the marina has become so popular.
“The area around Brooklyn Marina is fantastic,” said Clark. “The fact that you’ve got a fairly sheltered bay on the open ocean. But the other thing of course, is you’ve got Coffin Island which you can go and visit.”
Clark says some of their members have been with the marina since it’s founding almost 25 years ago.
He says having people in the organization who know the history is an amazing resource and he’s equally excited about many of the new faces he is seeing.
“Getting people coming in from different communities or even out of the province is that, they have had membership at marinas elsewhere and come up with ideas that we’ll take a look at.”
Clark says those ideas are welcome now that many of the pandemic restrictions have been eased and the marina can return to hosting more social events.
“We’ve got a really good bunch of people on the marina board who are constantly coming up with great ideas. 2022 is going to be pretty exciting.”
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