About Us

steering boat at sunset

Bay Harbor Brokerage is located on Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, Virginia at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. We are 12 miles north of milepost 0 on the intracoastal waterway. Established in 1979 by Ron McLean after leaving Columbia Yachts, Bay Harbor opened on a floating office at Rebel Marina. Bay Harbor Brokerage was run out of that office for over 20 years. When that went away a new office was built about 20 feet away to house the brokerage. Bay Harbor has been in the same location for over 41 years!

In 2019, Ron was looking to retire so he set out to find the new owners of his business. Ben & Christina Ritger bought the business in November 2019. Although Ron sold the business, he just couldn’t leave it entirely. When Ron isn’t traveling or sailing, he is still involved with helping some of his longtime clients. Although the owners of the business have changed, the service remains the same! The two things that Bay Harbor Brokerage offers its customers are extensive sailboat knowledge and personal service. Ron has been sailing for over 55 years and has been in the marine industry for 45 years, including working for two boat builders. He has made many offshore passages including transatlantic and raced many more miles. A Virginia native, Ben has an expansive business background, including owning and running a very successful real estate brokerage firm in Florida. His first passion of sailing has kept him on the water cruising and racing boats for over 35 years. Ben’s wife Christina is a classically trained chef that traded in her knives and chef’s jackets for the position of president of this company. Christina handles the back office and sees that the transactions run smoothly. When you call Bay Harbor Brokerage you get Ron, Ben and Christina! Bay Harbor Brokerage has helped customers buy and sell over 1,500 sailboats and has the knowledge to help you in every aspect of buying or selling. Please check out our boats for sale and let us know if we can be of help.

We have been very busy recently and we are in need of quality listings. Please contact us if you have a nice, clean boat to sell and want results.