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Point South Marina at Bay Point and Port St. Joe reopening this summer as revamped marinas after rebuilding from Hurricane Michael's destruction.

PANAMA CITY — Many boat owners cannot fathom how anyone living so close to the numerous bays and the expansive Gulf of Mexico could get by without a vessel to take them across the glistening surfaces. But many of those who don't own boats cannot fathom how those who do can afford the cost, which is just beginning at the point of purchase if the boat is to be properly maintained, stored and serviced. "Owning a boat here is a must," said Robbie Hughes, a boat owner and lifelong Bay County resident. "The activities that you can add to your lifestyle are incredible. If you focus on the cost rat...

Port St. Joe Marina will soon add a 252-boat dry storage facility this summer. Boaters can use an app to order supplies and time they want the vessel.

What they see isn’t the “then” but the “soon to be;” not chasing tarpon for one boatload of fisherman at a time, but providing the base of operations for such excursions for hundreds and making those trips easier; not for building something that takes over a town and its business, but building a marina that complements nearby businesses and helps them grow. What they were looking at last week as the St. Joe Co.’s rebuild of the Port. St. Joe Marina — destroyed by Hurricane Michael — prepares to move from “horizontal” work to much-more-visible “vertical” work, is the ...