MARTIN COUNTY — For Gary Guertin, the almost 68 miles of ocean that separate Stuart from Grand Bahama is not a divide, it’s a bridge.

And it’s an opportunity to capitalize on Stuart’s waterfront resources and promote the two destinations.

The general manager of the Harborage Yacht Club & Marina in Stuart has formed partnerships with marinas and resorts in the Bahamas in the hopes of attracting customers to Stuart as they travel out to sea. Others said partnerships with the Bahamas could be helpful if they brought business, although they were wary of the costs.

Guertin, a member of the Martin County Convention and Visitors Bureau, is offering dockage discounts with Old Bahama Bay in West End, as well as partnerships with Bimini Bay Resort & Marina on Bimini and Abaco Beach Resort and Green Turtle Club on Abaco.

He hopes to foster further partnerships in the Bahamas and would like to organize group excursions to the islands this year, where customers can learn to navigate the passage together.

Guertin also hopes to create partnerships with marinas on the Gulf Coast, so boaters departing from Sarasota and elsewhere can be persuaded to stop at his marina on the way to the islands.

There are already many connections between the Bahamas and the Treasure Coast, such as Jesse Anderson, an early Treasure Coast resident from the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, whose son, David “Doc” Anderson, is a long-standing member of the Martin County School Board.

There also is the Jensen Beach Pineapple Festival, which includes performers from Jensen Beach’s sister city on Eleuthera.

Guertin has even coined a name to describe the similar atmospheres of the Bahamas and Florida: “Flahama.”

“Essentially, my vision of Flahama is it’s not a state place,” Guertin said. “It’s a state of mind.

Partnerships with the Bahamas have caught on elsewhere on the Treasure Coast. St. Lucie County commissioners recently signed a non-binding agreement formalizing a partnership between the county and representatives from Grand Bahama, although neither government is obligated to do business with the other at this point. Travel packages might include trips that pair visits to New York Mets spring training and the Bahamas.

Doug Smith, vice-chairman of the Martin County Commission, said he’s interested in promoting Stuart as a tourist destination for the Bahamas, but would prefer for money to come from the Tourist Development Council, which operates through bed taxes on a county-approved budget, instead of county coffers. There are many opportunities for marinas and other businesses to benefit from partnerships with the Bahamas, he said.

“There’s really a good synergy between their destination and our destination,” Smith said.

Volney “Butch” Bayley, an owner of Sailfish Marina of Stuart, said he would be open to looking into partnerships with Bahamian businesses but would be concerned about the costs.

Many boaters stop at the marina overnight or fuel up there on the way to the islands, so the interest is there. Bayley said the cost of promoting and advertising such a partnership might be too steep for a smaller marina such as Sailfish, especially since the profit per boat is small.

What: “Talkin’ Tourism,” a live radio program featuring local and statewide tourism information

When: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Fridays on WPSL 1590 AM beginning Jan. 16

Producer: Harborage Yacht Club and Marina

Host: Harborage General Manager Gary Guertin, who also chairs the Martin County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

More information: (772) 692-4000 or go to www.harborageyachtclub.com

By Alex Tiegen, TCPalm.com

Tags: bahamas, boating, bridge, budget, development, discount, discounts, Gary Guerti, grand, Harborage, radio, tourism, travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 11:40 am and is filed under Economy, State, Stuart. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.