Here is a question, does a really nice (few are) Marina replace the need for a yacht club?
Probably depends on what a person wants out of boating. If the social aspect is real important to them, then a club is probably what they might want even if the marina is great in terms of facilities, upkeep, etc. Some people enjoy meetings and being on committees and organizing BBQs and cruises and hanging out with other boaters and whatnot. Some if not most clubs in this area, get involved with projects to improve the marine parks, which is certainly a worthwhile undertaking.
And there are a lot of boaters who have no interest socializing to the the extent one does in a club. We are prime examples of this. I get more than enough interaction with people in my work. For us, one reason we bought a boat is to not have to deal with people when we're on our own time.
So to us being in a well-run, well-maintained marina is far more important than being in a club.
We did join a small boating club because some friends of ours are in it, but we're not active other than one or two cruises a year and the marine park workparties if I'm not on travel at the time. There is a much larger, more formal yacht club in our marina with fairly substantial membership fees and organzed events like sailing races and whatnot, but I don't know what their membership figure is like.
From what I have observed, the boaters in our 2000+ boat harbor seem to be pretty independent. By which I mean they seem to pretty much do their own things and keep to themselves. It's not that they're not friendly, but I don't see much socializing on the docks with the exception of the ones used by the charter companies.
Our own dock has about 35 boats on it, all of them between 36 and 45 feet long, with a big commerical fish processor buy boat taking up the end tie. The number is fairly evenly split between power and sail. And while some owners know other owners well enough to have a casual conversation with them, everyone does their own thing with little or no interaction between the other owers on the dock outside of a "hi, how's it going?"
I have no idea if this sort of thing is a "left coast" characteristic. It could be, I suppose. My own theory is that because this area (WA/BC/SE Alaska) offers so much in the way of cruising destinations and year-round boating opportunities that the primary reason for owning a boat here is to get out in the maze of islands, bays, sounds and fjords that stretch 1,000 miles from here up through SE Alaska and have whatever adventures and experiences each individual boat owner is hoping to have.
When we're out, the vast majority of boaters-- power and sail--- we see in the anchorages, marine parks, and even the harbors, are doing their own thing. Very few raft-ups, very few dock parties, and not much visiting between boats at anchor or on moorings.
So------ some people here like the clubs, no question. Particulalry in the cities where the expensive and exclusive clubs like the Seattle Yacht Club, Queen City Yacht Club, etc. seem to enjoy large and active memberships. But I think most boaters here are in it just for the boating and no so much the socializing outside of their own families and circle of immediate friends.
It's an amazing experience to be up the Passage on your own, no other boats around, just the two of us, the mountains, the currents, the wind, and the sky. I wouldn't trade it for the world.