Casting Off: Maritime News
Ripley Light Yacht Club plans 200-boat expansion
By Katy Stech
Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier
A boat idles past slips at Ripley Light Yacht Club.
Charleston boaters soon may have a one-stop marina where they not only can tie up their boats but also work out and take the kids for a swim in the pool.
Ripley Light Yacht Club, which operates wet slips in the Ripley Cove inlet, wants to expand out into the Ashley River and add enough docking space for 200 more boats. The proposal would triple the current number of available slips.
The company behind the project, Ashley River Properties II, said there is a need for more slips because, like most other Charleston boat-storage facilities, Ripley Light is constantly near its capacity. The $14 million project also would create a club-style atmosphere by adding extra amenities, such as a gym and lounge space.
“It attracts a family boating crowd because the kids can enjoy the pool ... not just sit on a boat at the marina,” said Ryan Black, project manager for Ashley River Properties II.
The expansion at Ripley Light could get under way early next year.
The state Department of Health and Environmental Control is reviewing plans for the project. Black said in June he hasn’t heard any “negative feedback” on the project. The Coastal Conservation League, a local environmental watchdog group, said it reviewed the company’s application and did not spot any major concerns.
Black said the proposed, high-end changes could contrast with the level of service provided at marinas that became privately owned during the “dockominium” craze.
When boat slips are sold off to private owners, the entire property becomes controlled by a group that’s similar to a home-owner association. That group might elect to skimp on services or improvements, which can lead to property neglect, he said.
“You don’t have one person who can make a decision or has the viability of the marina in mind,” he said. “You have a bunch of individuals who are concerned with their own self-interest.”
The Ripley Light facility will sell off some slips, but the marina will still have what Black described as an “active management.”
The developer plans to couple the marina expansion with land-based plans that call for additional amenities, such as a gym, swimming pool and event space. The extra features and clubhouse environment reflect a national trend within the boating industry.
The Post and Courier
Proposed marina expansion
“It creates a facility that encourages people not necessarily to leave the marina,” Black said. “The whole goal isn’t always to get on your boat and leave.”
The concept proposed for Ripley Light is similar to what is being offered at St. John’s Yacht Club, formerly Buzzard’s Roost Marina and the Stono Marina.
Planned improvements for the 430-slip marina on Johns Island include a swimming pool, concession stand, laundry facilities and lounge area, said Bob Pilcher, who oversees the development for the project’s Washington, D.C.-based owners. The property also will have a new restaurant called Stono’s.
“We’re really almost marketing and selling this like the boat slips are just one element of the whole package of elements,” Pilcher said.
At least one other large marina is in the works locally. The Daniel Island Co. is in the planning phase for a 300-wet-slip facility in the Wando River, set to open in mid-2009. The project also calls for 200 dry slips.
Despite the competition, Black said the Ripley Light facility will be able to draw a luxury clientele whose larger vessels need deep water. It also should attract boaters who want to get to the open water faster, he said.
“Most of those owners don’t have a lot of spare time,” he said. “When they use (their boats), they want to get them on and do what they enjoy.”
The Post and Courier
Cannonball found on Isle of Palms
Crews working on a beach renourishment project at Wild Dunes discovered a 128-pound cannonball on the beach in June.
The apparent Civil-War era projectile was sucked into a dredge pipe offshore and spit out onto the beach.
“They could hear it bouncing in,” Isle of Palms police Lt. Ray Wright said in June. “They heard it clanking through the piping around 3 a.m.”
Workers used a bulldozer to move the ball to a safe spot and called police later that morning, Wright said. Charleston County and state explosives teams examined the sphere and deemed it safe.
The cannonball was solid cast iron, likely fired from a 10-inch Columbiad cannon during the Civil War, said Richard W. Hatcher III, a National Park Service historian at the Fort Sumter National Monument.
Hatcher will turn the artifact over to state archaeologists.
CCA calls for moratorium on bluefin
In an attempt to reduce Atlantic harvest levels of bluefin tuna, the Coastal Conservation Association Board of Directors is calling for a moratorium.
The association is urging the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to require all member nations to take emergency action to adopt quotas supported by scientific research.
“Many marine scientists believe bluefin are on the verge of a stock collapse, and there are indications here in the U.S. that the stock has already crashed,” Robert G. Hayes, CCA general counsel, said in a statement.
According to the CCA, catches from the eastern stock of bluefin, spawned in the Mediterranean, have exceeded scientific advice by almost 400 percent for at least the past five years. Rebuilding plans for the western stock, spawned in the Gulf of Mexico, have also been a failure, with the U.S. unable to catch its quota for the past three years.
“As is so often the case, the American fisherman is not responsible for driving bluefin tuna to the brink of collapse, but they are going to have to be a part of the solution to salvage what is left,” Dr. Russell Nelson, CCA’s Gulf fisheries consultant, said in a statement.
The Post and Courier
Spirit of South Carolina heading north
The Palmetto State said farewell to the Spirit of South Carolina last month, as the tall ship headed north for the summer to avoid hurricane season. The ship won’t return until October, but in the meantime, anyone with $600 and way to get to Newport, R.I. can hop on board for a New England adventure.
Sailing from Newport to Martha’s Vineyard and back, the trip will depart July 26 and return July 28. Space is limited to 19 guests. For more information, contact the South Carolina Maritime Foundation at 843-722-1030, ext. 11. A 50 percent deposit is required at the time of booking.
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