Tory Morrill Takes Over the Marina at Fortune Bay!

April 8, 2025

When Tory Morrill decided it was time for a career change here at Fortune Bay, he set his sights on a job that would challenge him and fulfill his desire to make a lasting impression on those wanting to visit our destination property here on the shores of Lake Vermilion. As he saw it, there was tons of potential in turning things around at the marina, which sits roughly four blocks away from the award-winning resort that was built back in 1996, 10 years after Fortune Bay first opened its doors. “The marina can and should be utilized to draw in guests from all over the country to take advantage of beautiful Lake Vermilion,” said Morrill, a former slot technician at Fortune Bay who became the Marina and RV Park Manager last July. “Whether our guests’ goal is for a leisurely cruise, water sports, or pursuing elusive muskies on the lake, we should be targeting those guests. We have the potential to make the marina and RV Park so much more than they are now.” First things first, though, and thus the reason Morrill decided to shut down the marina after traffic started slowing down in October. While the RV Park also needs attention, there are only so many hours in a day to get things done, so Morrill’s main focus is seeing through the marina revitalization. That plan included painting the building, cleaning up around the building, including the storage area and fish cleaning shack, and removing tons of brush and trees to give guests a better view of the lake in general. The work has also included gutting the inside of the building and creating a floor plan that is more conducive to a welcoming atmosphere for his guests. He said it was discouraging to hear the negative comments, but he also knew the guests were right in their opinions. “I take pride in my working area and love to see our guests enjoy themselves when they come here,” said Morrill, who has not only been busy with the improvements but is also prepping ice house rentals now that there is enough ice to safely bring the houses out. “From the updates to the storefront to the general cleanliness of the surrounding areas, guests have already noticed the work going into this.” Regarding the gutting of the interior, Morrill wanted to start everything from scratch to give the retail space a reboot. That will include moving the L-shaped counter space in the northwest portion of the building where employees would ring up purchases over to the east wall. Morrill said the former counter space will now be used to showcase some of the products that will be sold. One of the bathrooms was also removed to make space to put the live bait well. The goal is to eliminate the odor guests and staff have to deal with, especially when minnows and other bait perish. “There were many avenues to address right off the bat,” said Morrill, who has several long-range goals in mind but wants to tackle the immediate needs first. “Everything from guest safety to organization of the storefront was kept in mind to better suit the needs of the guests.” With this in mind, Morrill added, it prompted him and his staff to revamp the storefront and open up the line of sight for additional cameras to be installed for better coverage of our dock systems. By doing this, Morrill and his staff will be able to greet customers more quickly and therefore provide any services those guests might require, such as refueling their boat, help docking their boat, or seeing if guests may need a ride up to the casino, resort or The Wilderness at Fortune Bay golf course during the spring, summer or fall. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’ll get there,” said Morrill, “and I think our guests are going to be very impressed with the end result of our hard work.”