Which brings me to the end of the winter and the annual prospect of flooding, and to what degree in perusing the Internet it appears as of now the forecast is for mild to moderate flooding. There is fairly deep frost and thick ice so a bout of warm weather and rain could change that quite rapidly. Let's hope the forecasters are on the good side of the fifty-fifty chance of being right!

Boaters are overdue to have a long hot summer with dry, sunny weekends. In looking back through past issues of the Dock Lines that has not happened for a while. But as boaters, we are always optimistic.

The marina is in great shape to support our members. Thanks to Joe and his staff, with the support of the Marina Board, and the Marina Members, investments have been made to keep Windmill as the place to be on the St. Croix. An affordable, family-oriented marina.

It's almost here.... a new boating season!

Annual Members, please remember to make your last two slip rental payments on May 1 and June 1, 2014.

Prior to spring launch; we need a set of keys to your boat, a copy of your insurance showing $500,000 in liability coverage and your account must be paid in full.

Before your launch week, please make sure you have your fenders, lines and batteries in your boat.

Be sure to stop in at the Ship's Store to get all your spring cleaning supplies. If you need something that you can't find in the store be sure to ask me and I can order it for you and usually have it within a day or two!

I was fine with the winter weather until that last week of subzero temperatures decided to stick around for another week. Get over it please! I like the spring weather we are seeing now that it's April. We need to get the rest of the ice melted get boating!

The weather this past boating season was a tough one to swallow. Someone pointed out that in April of 2013 it snowed or rained 70% of the days. In May, it rained or snowed 71% of the days. It rained the first five days of June then the weather got nice and the river levels rose and the St. Croix River was deemed "no wake" until river levels subsided after the 4th of July weekend.

We are happy to see 2014! We did complete some nice capital projects, like reconditioning Slips S-19 through S-35 on B-Dock. We replaced decking as needed, installed new skirt board, new dock edging and repaired under water stabilizers. We also had an electrical firm come into Windmill and do an electrical audit and go over all electrical panels on docks and buildings. They identified and corrected areas that needed to be brought up to current electrical code. This spring we will be doing electrical panel upgrades in the Service Department and on the Gas Dock. We also replaced 85' of floating ramp that goes out to the North Service Dock.

Our team has been preparing for a new boating season without Dave Riley, our good friend and valued Harbor Master. With fond memories of Dave we are ready to kick off the 2014 boating season. Several of the full time employees attended the Midwest Marina Association, North Central Marine Association and Minnesota Clean Marina seminar in January, and the MRAA University seminar in March. They learned about customer service, service department processes, boat safety, reputation management, legislative, MN Clean Marina program and boating industry as a whole. Scott and I attended the International Marina and Boat Yard Conference in January and next year Julie will be going.

Please plan on attending our annual spring launch party on May 17 from 11:30 to 2:00 p.m. This is a good time to catch up with your boating friends and meet new ones! Brats, hot dogs and refreshments will be served, all compliments of Windmill Marina. The Annual Windmill Marina Association meeting will be held on Thursday, May 15. A separate mailing will be send prior to the meeting.

Please give me a call at (651) 436-7744 or email me at joe@windmillmarina.com if you have any questions or suggestions for the marina.

See you at the spring launch party!

Or, complete the form available on our website. Visit the "Resources" page: 

We can only surmise that the frigid winter has had its effect on annual survey respondents. Of the 278 surveys distributed to Slip Owners, Renters and 'N' Launchers, we received 82 responses - 29%. That is a 5.3 percentage point lower response than last year. Perhaps those 9 responders fled to Mexico for the winter.

Slip Owners responded at rates consistent with last year's survey - 25.9%. Renters and Store 'N' Launchers responded at rates considerably lower - 33.8% vs. 40.4% .

Response to question No. 1 which reviews the stated goals of the marina received unanimous response in the affirmative. Responses to question No. 2 which rates 8 key marina operating areas on a 1-5 scale are shown in the box below. Overall, those ratings show remarkable consistency year-to-year and reflect marina management's focus on customer satisfaction.

Question No. 4 showed a significant 15% change from last year's survey responses as 22.5% fewer responders indicated use of the marina as the "destination with minimal cruising." Almost half of the comments regarding this question indicated a balanced use of the marina for socialization, while continuing their cruising activities.

Thank you for your participation. The survey provides Windmill Marina management and staff with actionable information for operating improvements and future capital investments.

After a another very successful year we say "THANK YOU TO ALL OUR CLIENTS FOR A FANTASTIC 2013. WE LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER GREAT YEAR in 2014 !"