With summer festivals off the schedule, tourism numbers likely to be down, and social distancing a necessity, local watersport rental and boat charter businesses are setting their sights on survival – and getting creative.

“I am certainly not going to say this is going to be a good year,” says Dave McGinnis, manager and senior captain for Traverse Tall Ship Company. The business offers a variety of boat charter and sailing cruise experiences. “My major goal is to finance the business through the year, get through this season and make it through the winter, and still be here next season.”

Traverse Tall Ship Company has two vessels: Scout, a 38-foot sailing yacht available for private charters; and Tall Ship Manitou, a 114-foot schooner that offers a variety of open-to-the-public sailing cruises. McGinnis is mostly keeping things the same for Scout, which – since it only holds six passengers and is private charter only – typically appeals to families or small groups that wouldn’t need to social distance from one another. More in-depth COVID-19 precautions are necessary for the Manitou, which has a capacity of 59 passengers and runs multiple tours each day. Those precautions involve slashing the vessel’s capacity to 20-30 people and using an algorithmic model to make sure social distancing guidelines are observed.

“We have partitioned various seating areas on the vessel, as if we were creating tables at a restaurant,” McGinnis explains.

Traverse Tall Ship Company has also expanded its number of daily Manitou cruises – from three to four – in an effort to make up lost revenues. New this year is a morning “Bloody Mary Cruise,” which runs 10 to noon and comes with a complimentary Bloody Mary or mimosa. McGinnis says the cruise has “garnered a fair amount of interest” so far and will likely stay on the schedule even as COVID fears ease. The Manitou also offers two afternoon Moomers ice cream cruises each day, as well as an evening sunset cruise, which this year will offer an optional add-on dinner at Harrington’s By The Bay.

Decreased capacities are also a major factor for Troy Daily, who owns both Kayak, Bike & Brew (KBB) and Paddle for Pints. Both businesses offer summertime brewery tours. For the foreseeable future, Daily says he’ll be limiting tours to 10 people, a decrease from his typical 30-person groups. Daily is also temporarily merging his two businesses, absorbing Paddle for Pints into KBB to maximize efficiency and long-term sustainability. On Paddle for Pints tours, customers have historically been shuttled from the Garland Street location of the KBB Lounge to the first stop at The Filling Station Microbrewery. KBB tours are slightly different in that they put customers on bikes for that leg. For the foreseeable future, all KBB and Paddle for Pints tours will start on a bike to avoid the contamination risk of a group shuttle ride.

The River Outfitters, which offers kayak, bike, and stand up paddleboard rentals at both the Traverse City State Park Beach and Medalie Park, is also eliminating shuttles for now. The business delayed its start to July 20 in order to watch for a spike in COVID-19 cases caused by northern Michigan’s reopening. Now, The River Outfitters is putting COVID-19 operational strategies in place to keep customers and employees safe, such as requiring masks during all customer-employee interactions, encouraging customers to pay online, and disinfecting all equipment between uses.

“We're not going to put people in close quarters at all, period,” says Tawny Hammond, a co-owner. “We’re asking that customers spot a car in town near where they’re going to end up, or call a Lyft or Uber or taxi to get back to Medalie. They can also give us a call and we’ll come pick up the kayaks and bring them bicycles. It's only about a mile and a half ride from the bay back to Medalie.”

Doc Shaw of Traverse City Charter Fishing, meanwhile, thinks businesses like his could actually see interest from a lot of new customers this year. With no festivals, fewer things to do in town, and many people avoiding crowds, Shaw is already seeing increased inquiries for his charter business.

“I've had a lot of interest and scheduled quite a few trips, so it does appear that people are leaning toward these kinds of activities,” Shaw says. “People can do them with the family that they've been isolated with, and it's kind of a win-win thing for them. They get to be outside doing something fun, but they don't have to be quite as concerned about interacting with other people.”