The 200 miles of waterfront in Cecil County are a source of great pleasure for those who enjoy boating. For the Trainer’s of North East, these waters support a family business that has prospered for four decades. It all started about 50 years ago when Ed Trainer opened a sporting goods shop on Route 272, the road leading into North East. The shop sold hunting and fishing supplies including guns and small aluminum boats. In 1973 he closed the shop and opened Anchor Boats just down the street. Around 1980, he opened Anchor Marina down in the North East Harbor. Today, the two businesses are thriving and Butch’s sons, Edward and Matt, have taken over the day-to-day operations, under Dad’s close supervision. The other half of the family business, Anchor Marina, is located on Iroquois Drive in the North East Harbor’s across from the town park. The dry dock storage buildings (often called boatels or “high and dry”) house nearly 400 boats. The marina also has 15 boat slips, eight of them equipped with lifts. Floating docks for the use of the dry-dock customers house another 50 to 60 boats. The marina also has a pump-out station, gas service, a boat ramp, and a full stocked marine store. The Nauti Goose Saloon next door offers meals and snacks for hungry boaters.
