photo by: Courtesy: Rock Creek Marina

Rock Creek Marina on Perry Lake is pictured.

Both the bathroom scale and I get nervous any time the word “aweigh” is uttered in my house. But with weekend temperatures forecast to be in the 90s, I may untie from the couch and yell “anchors aweigh” nonetheless.

For those of you doing the same and venturing to nearby Perry Lake, know that there is news on the marina front there. A Texas-based company has bought one of the three marinas on Perry Lake, just north of Lawrence in Jefferson County.

TopSide Marinas has completed a deal to purchase Rock Creek Marina near Ozawkie. Lest you be confused, Rock Creek Marina is the marina that is farthest from Lawrence. Lake Perry Yacht & Marina is the one that is closer to Lawrence, just a few miles north of the town of Perry.

The deal includes the 495 wet slips at the Rock Creek Marina, plus the 35 dry slips, 36 RV sites, along with a host of hillside cabins built along the edge of the lake. In total, 188 acres are part of the deal. In addition to the main marina business, the property also includes a boat service and repair shop, a convenience store, boat fueling station and a waterside restaurant.

The sale brings to a close a more than decade-long tenure of owners/operators Allen and Tuila Rumold at Rock Creek.

“It has been an honor for my wife, Tuila, and I, to work hand-in-hand with our marina team to serve the members and guests at Rock Creek Marina for the past 10 plus years,” Allen Rumold said in a release. “We believe that TopSide Marinas is the right ownership group to continue providing excellent customer service and investing back into the property going forward. We believe that the members and guests at Rock Creek Marina are in good hands with TopSide Marinas.”

TopSide is a new, but relatively aggressive, player in the marina industry across the country. It launched its business in 2021, and has purchased six marinas in that time. This is the company’s first purchase in Kansas. It operates marinas at Lake Michigan; Galveston, Texas; Broken Bow Lake in Oklahoma; and at Lake Benton in Texas.

Ryan Skiles, a regional vice president for TopSide, said the company was pleased to purchase the well-maintained marina and would be making new investments at the facility, including an expanded boat rental business, which already has begun.

Look for more news about Perry Lake soon, but this one with a strong Lawrence tie-in. The owners of the marina at Lawrence’s Clinton Lake have reached a deal to expand their boat club business that we reported on last year to Perry Lake. The Clinton Lake team is partnering with Lake Perry Yacht & Marina to open a new branch of their No Coast Boat Club there. The deal also will mean some new boats for the Clinton operation. I’m tentatively set up to interview that group next week, and I’ll report back when I do.