MARINA HAPPENINGS at Albemarle Plantation

08/05/2019

MARINA HAPPENINGS at Albemarle Plantation

By: Buzz Savage, Marina Governor

Have you noticed that there are more boats permanently docked at the Marina than at any time in the past several years?

You can thank your dockmaster JE Darnell for his efforts in attracting many new resident and non-resident slip holders to our Marina. You can also thank Jack Atwell, Steve Harris, and the entire Albemarle Loop organization for getting the word out far and wide through many different social media, such as the web, Facebook, Cruisers Net, Waterway Guide, and word of mouth. Of all the marinas that are members of the Albemarle Loop, the Albemarle Plantation Marina has the most to offer to transient boaters. Within the last year the number of “loopers” visiting our marina has increased significantly. We have already hosted 53 different boats doing the Loop. JE’s goal for 2019 is 100 looper visits. Among the visitors in the past month were members of three separate yacht clubs. In addition, two loopers loved Albemarle Plantation so much they bought homes here. A third looper is interested in buying one of the condos.
In the May Soundings I reported on the status of the Marina “Polishing the Brass” projects. The flower boxes still look great! Thanks, ladies. Thanks also to Bob Peterson for assisting the dockmaster make repairs to the Opti launch dock out at the beginning of A Dock just in time for the children’s Opti Learn to Sail program sponsored by the Osprey Yacht Club. Most recently, a team led by Barry Marshall and Trevor Willsmer used funds provided by the dockmaster and the OYC Board to purchase materials for a ramp in the center of the new kayak launch dock next to the dockmaster’s office. The new ramp was designed and built by Barry and Trevor and installed July 22nd with the help of additional volunteers. The new ramp will make it easier and safer for kayakers to get out of their kayaks.

Lastly, if you take a walk down B Dock, you will see a new boat at the end in slip B-1. Welcome Steve and Rudi Harris’s new powerboat Oh You! to the Plantation. They were welcomed by several friends upon their arrival on July 20th.. Their catamaran Moor Fun has been sold, and they have joined the dark side of go-fast powerboating. We hope to see Oh You! join the boat cruisers on the Intracoastal Waterway in the near future.