Marina Dock Age

Santa Barbara’s Marina 1 has completed the first phase of a multi-phase renovation project at the 40-year old, 520-slip marina, according to an Aug. 4 article on the Web site: www.thelog.com/news.

Phase one of the renovation project called for the installation of a new utility delivery system, including shoreside and dockside power; construction of a new 1,200-foot concrete walkway that provides entry to and exit from 16 finger piers; and the addition of slipholder and guest restrooms and showers.

Work on the project began in November 2009 and was completed in July at a cost of around $1.9 million. With the completion of this phase, the marina’s docks are now open to visiting boaters.

Karl Treiberg, Santa Barbara Harbor facilities manager, said the project has been quite an endeavor. “We were short a few slips during the construction, but that is no longer the case,” Treiberg said. “We learned a lot from phase one and expect even less disruption over the next three phases of marina renovation.”

During the two-day transition to replace the old walkway with a new one, the Harbor Department contracted with a water taxi service to transport boaters and guests from the main walkway to the finger piers and back, said Treiberg. The new walkway is wider for greater access by boaters and their guests.

Bids are currently being accepted for phases two through four of the marina renovation project. “We want to contract with one company to complete the next three phases, to ensure continuity, and help the work go smoothly as we transition from phase to phase,” Treiberg added.

The entire project is scheduled to be completed over the next 15 years at an estimated cost of at least $9 million.

City officials in Tavares, Fla., want to buy land adjacent to a recently completed seaplane marina to expand the business, according to a July 20 article on the Web site www.wftv.com.

Tavares recently spent $8 million to build a seaplane base and marina, which sits adjacent to 3.7 acres of vacant lakefront land. City leaders want to put a bond referendum on the November ballot that will allow the city to borrow money to purchase the land and expand the marina.

Bill Neron, city economic development director, said there’s no time to waste when it comes to acquiring the land. “If we don’t purchase the property soon, it will likely be developed into condos,” Neron said.

City leaders want to borrow $4.5 million to buy the land and another $4.3 million to build more boats slips and a 3,000-seat amphitheater.

A tiny mouse on the state and federal government’s endangered species list has put a monkey wrench into Martinez Marina’s proposed  $23 million modernization and renovation plans, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, according to Mitch Austin, Martinez, Calif., city manager, in an August 3 report in The Mercury News.

Salt marsh harvest mice were found at one of four disposal ponds where sediment from the dredged marina is to be dumped. Before it can continue to dump sediment in the pond, the city, which owns the marina and leases the land from the State Lands Commission, will have to trap and relocate the mice, then replace the removed habitat.

Once the mice are removed and relocated, marina consultants said the city needs to remove the pickle weed from the existing pond, shore up its walls and make it deeper so that it can hold more sediment. If the pond’s capacity is not increased, the city will have to dump more dredged sediment into the bay, which will increase renovation costs and require additional permits.

The salt marsh harvest mouse is just the latest in a long line of stumbling blocks the city has faced in its quest to turn the marina into a first-class destination on par with modern marinas in Antioch, Pittsburg and other shoreline communities. The city had been trying to negotiate a long-term lease with the state regarding the property but has been unsuccessful until this March, when it secured a 46-year lease for 70-acre property.

With the security of a long-term lease, the city and Martinez Marina LP, the firm that manages the day-to-day marina operations, announced an ambitious $23 million marina makeover. The renovation and modernization project calls for repairing the existing breakwater, dredging of the harbor, installing new concrete docks and upgrading the utilities. In addition, plans call for a restaurant, boat repair shop, and new boat and tackle shop.

Austin said the first phase of the marina renovation project, which includes maintenance dredging, replacement of the eastern breakwater wall and improvements to the disposal ponds, should began in fall 2011.

The state Dept. of Land and Natural Resources dedicated a new dock at Ke’ehi Small Boat Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii in August and broke ground on two new docks to replace existing piers at the harbor, according to an August 3 Hawaii Reporter article.

The dedication of the new dock, combined with the new improvement project, will bring 96 slips back into service for Hawaii’s boating community. It is the latest phase of a multi-year effort by the state’s Governor, Linda Lingle, to upgrade small boat harbors statewide.

“The improvements to this small boat harbor facility and many others around the state will help ensure our residents and visitors can enjoy safe and easy access to the ocean,” Gov. Lingle said.

The new renovation project calls for a new dock to be built in the existing footprint of two piers. When completed, it will be able to accommodate larger vessels up to 55 feet in length. The existing docks were badly deteriorated, and most of the slips were taken out of service.

The marina will install a new floating dock system made out of 6000 series marina grade aluminum frames and topped with plastic composite decking. The dock system will be anchored with an elastic mooring system with concrete blocks or helical anchors.

When it is completed, the new dock system will have an 8-foot to 12-foot wide pier with finger piers on both sides of the main pier. The fingers piers will be 30 feet long and 50 feet long and will comply with ADA-accessibility criteria.

The Port of Kingston in Washington recently began a nearly $500,000 overhaul in the midst of its busiest season, according to an August 5 North Kitsap Herald article.

Harbormaster Kevin Van Vliet said summer, which is the marina’s busiest season, was the best time to begin this project because it will take advantage of good weather for construction and not disrupt electrical service to liveaboards in the winter when they need it the most.

The port is replacing nearly all the wood, wiring and water lines on all the docks, except for the guest dock, which was rebuilt last summer. The facelift is the first major renovation of the marina since the docks were built in 1985.

As part of the renovation project, the marina is replacing its original steel concrete ramps leading to Docks A,B,C and D with four new aluminum ramps. The new ramps cost about $60,000, and the port is donating two of the old ramps to the North Kitsap Trails Association.

The marina will replace 28,000 linear feet of wood planks on the dock and 18,000 of thinner wooden rub strips. Port Project Manager Kori Henry said the replacements are coming just in time. “There are some pretty big pieces in there that are pretty rotten,” she said.

The marina said it will keep the docks open while the wood is replaced but added that individual slips will be closed for about two days at a time.

In addition to the woodwork, the marina will spend $47,583 to replace all the water lines in the docks and nearly $235,000 to string 1,000 feet of new electrical wires and hook up 134 new dock pedestals. It will also install four guest mooring buoys and replace 56 of the wooden marina pilings with concrete ones.

The owner of Blackjack Cove Marina on Old Hickory Lake is being sued by its insurance company, which said Blackjack Cove took advantage of a 2009 storm to hook the insurer into millions of dollars worth of renovation costs, according to a June 22 Nashville Business Journal report.

Owner Barton Bagsby disputes the insurer’s allegations. He said he has invested millions more than insurance paid out to improve the facility and that he is trying to get reimbursement based on the “replacement value” policy that he purchased.

New Hampshire Insurance Co., which is part of AIG, filed suit June 21 in U.S. District Court against Blackjack Cove and the marina’s lender, Commerce Union Bank.

At stake is nearly $2.6 million that the insurer has already paid out for marina repairs, as well as another $1.1 million in additional claims.

A storm in April 2009 heavily damaged the Tennessee marina, just days after Bagsby bought it for $2.5 million. Bagsby said that while he wanted to buy a “cash value” policy for the marina, New Hampshire Insurance Co. refused to write a policy unless it was for replacement value and that he did not have time to find another insurance carrier before closing on the purchase.

Bagsby had big expansion plans for the marina and spent nearly $5 million on renovations, such as additional docks, a new store and a new floating restaurant.

In its suit, the insurer describes the overall facility as having been in poor condition prior to the storm.

Bagsby, however, told the Nashville Business Journal that portions the insurer described as being in “above average” conditions made up 90 percent of the insurance claim. The storm damaged docks, keeping much of the facility closed during the 2009 boating season.

Work resumed on the Barnstable Harbor bulkhead, after more than a week off. On June 17 engineers discovered some construction materials had shifted in the soil, while construction crews were installing the new retaining wall, according to a June 28 Cape Cod Times report.

The 30-foot steel sheets that make up the retaining walls had moved slightly after construction crews removed the wooden support beams, said Mark Ells, the town’s director of public works. Project engineers intend to leave the beams in place until the permanent support ties are installed later in the process.

Workers, who started the project in May, expect to complete it in spring 2011. “We’ve made some minor adjustments to the construction methods,” Ells said. “[There are] no real design changes, just a few small changes to how we plan to proceed.”

The delay won’t likely have any impact on the timeline or the project costs, Ells said. Planners included provisions within the schedule and the budget to accommodate construction issues or complications.

State and local governments shared the $5 million project cost and have been working to secure the funding since March 2008 when portions of the retaining wall collapsed. The collapse forced eight slips to close, along with 20 parking spots and the facilities used by fishermen to unload their catch.

The construction work has closed off additional slips around the harbor, displacing boaters and sacrificing more than $95,000 in slips fees to the town, according to Eric Shufelt, marina manager.

Delaware State Park marina in Delaware, Ohio, has replaced its existing 20-foot and 16-foot finger piers with 24-foot and 28-foot floating docks, six of which are wheelchair accessible, according to a June 19 report in The Delaware Gazette.

“We like it here,” said Pierre Duplessis, who hasn’t always been able to boat in the area because he requires a wheelchair to get around. “This is one of the very few wheelchair accessible docks I’ve seen.”

Park officials hope a variety of long overdue renovations at the marina will help attract more boaters.

The $1.9 million renovation project includes improvements to the docks and other facilities. The number of slips available at the park has increased from 77 to 150. Gangways and dock pilings have also been replaced. Additional upgrades for boaters include new boat fueling and sewage pumpout systems.

Loren Hart, operations manager at Delaware State Park, said there are a few 24-foot and a variety of 28-foot slips available for rent. Renters are chosen at random through a lottery, which gives the winners a five-year contract and places others on a waiting list.

The 5^th St. Marina in Miami, Fla., now has more dockage for megayachts. The expansion included a renovation of an adjacent shipping yard and now includes six deepwater berths for vessels 100 feet in length. The expanded facility doubles the amount of river frontage and acreage.

The facility includes a boatyard, marine electronics store and engine shop. Boaters can choose to obtain shipside services themselves or procure services from contractors already operating at the marina.

Orin Black, general manger of 5^th St. Marina said, “We have some of Miami’s best marine contractors servicing vessels in the 30- to 90-foot range. We had an underutilized adjacent shipping terminal.” He also said the renovation gives opportunities for their recreational tenants to expand and diversify into the 100-foot+ market.

5^th St. Marina’s inland location is unique for South Florida, providing protection from storms.

Additionally, the Army Corp of Engineers recently completed an $89 million maintenance dredging of the Miami River, bringing the channel depths to 15 feet at low tide.

Carolina Beach Municipal Marina in Carolina Beach, N.C., now offers transient slips open for public use, according to a June 7 Island Gazette report. For numerous years the old floating public docks have been falling into disrepair and experienced little or no use.

The new floating docks include a pumpout facility and ramp.

Wells Construction Company built the docks on the southwest corner of the facility along the Cape Fear River. The docks were transported down the river in May to the marina, where the final decking was constructed.

In an effort to revitalize the area, the town hopes the docks will encourage transient boaters to visit the Carolina Beach Central Business District restaurants and shops.