OCEAN CITY, Md. -- Thousands of people travel to the resort town each year for the popular fishing tournament. It means a new pool of potential customers for Ocean City businesses.
Hundreds of boats were lined up in the inlet, captains and crews eager to get to the scale at Harbour Island. Well, when all of them arrive there, many will need to fuel up. And with that many boats, it means a great week for those supplying the diesel.
One of the companies helping to keep the gas tanks full, is OC Fuel 247. Stationed on the dock at Harbour Island, they are in the thick of all the action.
"Typically we would have one person on staff, during the open we have three people on staff and each one of them has their role," said Billy Banning, OC Fuel Owner. "We try to get them in quick, fuel them up and get them out of here."
The White Marlin Open means more work, but it also means more money.
"Our revenue is probably in the ballpark of four to five times higher than a normal week," said Banning.
But it can also mean longer days for Banning and gas dock attendants, who are sometimes there until midnight. Sydney Deery, one of the gas dock attendants said the job comes with an early wake up call.
"I wake up at 5:30 when I work in the mornings," said Deery.
Another business happy to be smack dab in the middle of the tournament traffic is Sea Born Seafood, ran by Kerry Harrington.
"It gets busy, it's got a lot of people in town and to our advantage, we're right across the street from Sunset Marina, which is a plus because they can just walk across the street," said Harrington.
Between fueling up boats, or fueling up bellies with fresh seafood, it has been a solid week so far for businesses in Ocean City.