Running a marina means wearing a lot of hats. One minute you’re answering questions from boaters, the next you’re onboarding a seasonal employee, updating your website, and trying to squeeze in time for marketing.

AI isn’t here to replace you. It’s here to help with the repetitive work that pulls you away from your customers.

Businesses are already using AI to save time, improve customer communications, create documentation, and help staff work more efficiently. 

The good news? It’s still new! Most businesses are still in the experimental phase, so if you’re just getting started, you’re in good company. 

During our recent webinar, From Waves to Words: How AI Is Transforming Marina Communications, Storable Marine’s Brent Wierson shared practical ways operators can start using AI without turning the marina upside down.

The big takeaway? You do not need a massive budget, a dedicated IT department, or a complicated rollout plan.

You just need to start by solving one problem that makes your day run smoother.

“If you have a task, go to AI first and see what it can do. You may be surprised.
— Brent Wierson

Start with the tedious tasks 

Every marina has a few important projects that keep getting pushed to the bottom of the list.

The new-hire guide is still sitting in someone’s head. The website needs better service descriptions. The front desk keeps answering the same five questions.

AI can help get those first drafts out of your head and onto the page.

During the webinar, Brent demonstrated a simple workflow using ChatGPT and Claude together. He first used ChatGPT to create a detailed prompt, then asked Claude to turn that prompt into complete SOPs for marina operations. Instead of starting from scratch, he quickly generated detailed documentation that could be reviewed, refined, and customized for the business. It’s a practical way to go from an idea to a polished first draft much faster

Improve customer communication

• Draft customer emails for reservations, weather updates, or holiday weekends
• Respond to customer inquiries faster
• Create website FAQs
• Write and analyze Google review responses
• Support after-hours chat or phone inquiries

Support daily operations

• Build employee training guides
• Create SOPs and operational documentation
• Turn notes into organized checklists
• Draft website copy, social posts, and marketing content

The first version may not be perfect (that’s okay). Think of it like a rough draft from a capable assistant. You still review it, correct details specific to your marina, and make sure it sounds like your business.

Whether you’re using ChatGPT for brainstorming, Claude for longer documents, or an AI chat assistant to answer after-hours questions, there are more options than ever for operators looking to save time.  

Customers Aren’t Just Searching Google Anymore

More people are asking AI tools where to store a boat, rent a boat, or find marina services.

And AI crawls your site, reviews, and content to deliver this information. That means online presence and content matter more than ever.

The more complete, accurate, and helpful your online presence is, the more likely AI-powered search tools are to recommend your business.

Start with the basics: Keep your website and Google Business Profile up to date, make sure your services and amenities are clearly described, and actively manage your reviews. These are all important sources of information that AI-powered search tools can use when recommending businesses.

AI can even help you create and maintain that content faster.

Make training easier, too

The same guides you create with AI can help seasonal employees find answers without tracking down the manager every five minutes.

“Training an AI agent is a lot like training an employee.” — Brent Wierson

That alone can make onboarding easier and reduce the training burden on senior staff.

Do not let voicemail send business down the road

Marina customers are often planning their trip after dinner, searching for storage on a Sunday, or trying to book a rental while your team is helping someone else at the dock.

During the webinar, Brent shared that 60% of callers may contact another marina immediately after reaching voicemail or a busy signal.

That does not mean replacing your front desk with a robot. It means we should think carefully about what happens when nobody answers the phone.

An AI phone or chat assistant could:

• Handle basic after-hours questions
• Collect a customer’s information,
• Help pre-qualify an inquiry before a staff member follows up

Your team can still take over when a conversation needs a human touch.

Keep your marina’s information protected

One important warning: do not drop private customer lists, payment information, employee records, or other sensitive business data into a public AI tool.

Create clear rules for your staff around what they can and cannot enter.

This matters even if your marina has not officially adopted AI. Employees may already be using personal accounts to write emails, create documents, or answer work questions.

Keep it simple

Generally safe:
Public website information, generic procedures, marketing ideas, non-sensitive checklists

Keep out of public tools:
Customer records, payment details, contracts, passwords, employee information, confidential business data

The Bottom Line

The goal isn’t to replace your team. It’s to give them more time to do what they do best.

Whether that’s helping a customer at the fuel dock, welcoming a new boater, or solving a problem that requires experience or good judgment. These are things AI just can’t replace.

What it can do is handle some of the repetitive work that fills your day.

You don’t have to reinvent the way you run your marina overnight. Start with one problem you’d like to solve, one repetitive task you’d like to simplify, and build from there.

Want more practical examples? Watch the full webinar replay, From Waves to Words: How AI Is Transforming Marina Communications, to hear Brent Wierson share how marina operators can start using AI to save time while keeping the human touch.