Can you think of a safer marina than one that offers a towing service on site? Wolverine Park Marina manager Eric Guerrein owns Lakeshore Towing, which is hosted in the same office, giving boaters that dock at the marina extra comfort as they travel along Lake Erie.
Eric and Teresa Guerrein started running Wolverine Park Marina in February of 1988 when they leased the facility from the Erie Western Pennsylvania Port Authority. The marina was built with economic development money and remains a primarily transient marina, acting as a safe spot for boaters hoping to catch a break from Lake Erie’s turbulent waters.
A Space of Multi-Use
With Wolverine Park Marina’s main source of income relying upon transient boaters, anyone managing the marina and hoping to survive the unpredictable bouts of time without boaters at the marina would require another source of income. Teresa Guerrein explained that this is why the Erie Western Pennsylvania Port Authority was eager to have them run both their own business, Lakeshore Towing, and the marina.
However, Lakeshore Towing isn’t the only company docked at Wolverine Park Marina. Fish and Boat Commission and Customs and Border Patrol also dock their vessels at the marina. There is also a water taxi service in Erie, which takes people out to Presque Isle, one of the biggest birding areas in the world. The area has a variety of migratory and beautiful beaches. The marina also three lighthouses right in the area. Are you sold on preparing your visit yet?
A Well-Loved Destination
Running a transient marina sounds like an exhausting task, especially since you rarely get to know people who will stick around, but Teresa and Eric Guerrein love managing Wolverine Park Marina.
“It is the best thing in the world because people come here from all over,” Teresa Guerrein shared. “You have people that are doing the Great Loops. And so people will stop in if they’re doing that and that’s becoming more and more common for people. It’s like a bucket list item. And then you have people that are not only doing the Great Lakes loop, but some of them are going down to the Caribbean or Cuba or even around the world.”
Though many people use Wolverine Park Marina as a point of passage to their next destination, Erie, Pennsylvania, is quickly growing as one of the top travel destinations in the Great Lakes region. Presque Isle is one of the largest birding destinations in the world and the beaches surrounding the marina are a must-stop for boaters.
A Little More About Lakeshore
So how does a business like Lakeshore Towing gets its start? The answer is pretty simple: Eric Guerrein. The idea came to him during his career in the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard was often taken away from more important tasks to deal with mundane, such as towing a boat that ran out of gas back to shore, leading to a lack of availability at times when real emergencies arose.
A recent change in policy allows for the Coast Guard to find alternate resources to handle minor emergencies. Guerrein’s towing service has helped in a number of emergencies from the minor of a boat losing fuel and getting stuck on the lake, to the major of rescuing people from drowning and recovering bodies.
Working at the marina put the Guerreins in a good position to go ahead and start Lakeshore Towing as they already needed to man the radios 24/7. Though most marinas have limited hours, boaters heading to Wolverine Park Marina can rest assured that someone will always be there to hear their calls over the radio. The job of managing such a business allows for next to no time off during the summer months, but the towing company provides an irreplaceable service on Lake Erie.
For More Information
Wolverine Park Marina and Lakeshore Towing
www.lakeshoretowing.com
