PORT HADLOCK — The Port Hadlock Marina is repaired after a Thanksgiving-week storm wrecked havoc on its dock and breakwater, and is in safe harbor with new ownership.
During a Nov. 22 storm, vicious winds and waves broke off part of the privately owned Port Hadlock Marina’s retaining wall, split the dock in several places, smashed five boats that were tied to buoys outside the marina and spread debris all over the harbor.
At the time, the marina was for sale. Prospective buyers were about to make an offer on the property. Owners feared the sale would be jeopardized by the damage.
Nearly four months later, the new owner, Marsh Anderson LLC, is in place and all the damage has been repaired.
Realvest Corp. of Vancouver, Wash., which sold the property to Marsh Anderson, restored the property to its pre-storm condition, but the original price remained the same, said new owner Bob Wise.
The purchase price was $4,267,033, according to the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office website.
Six-figure plans
After these basic repairs, Wise said his company “plans to invest six figures in new features and renovations” to the facility, which now hosts 152 boats — 10 of them live-aboards.
“We are building a world-class operation,” Wise said. “I am in this for the long term and expect to own this property for decades.”
Wise said he has bought and sold a considerable amount of marina property. He called the Hadlock Marina “a really good investment.”
“We are going to make this marina a place where boaters want to spend their time,” said Tod Hornick, the new manager. “For the next two years, any money that the marina brings in will go right back into its maintenance and operation.”
Hornick said the breakwater that was damaged has been fortified, pilings have been replaced and horizontal timbers have been installed to protect the walls from lateral force.
The dock, which was shattered in the storm, has been rebuilt.
“Mother Nature will do what she will do, but we are prepared for the next time and have taken all the steps to prevent a recurrence of what happened in November,” Hornick said.
Nature, according to Wise, had little to do with the damage to the marina. He blames derelict vessels illegally moored outside the marina.
None of the boats within the marina sustained any damage.
The five boats were broken apart by the storm and smashed against the breakwater and the dock, causing the damage, he said.
Since the boats were uninsured, it became Realvest’s responsibility to pay for the damage, Wise said.
“This is a problem throughout Puget Sound, where boat owners anchor their boats illegally and don’t take responsibility for any damage that results,” Wise said.
Hornick said he expects to increase the customer service level by “remembering the name of people’s wives, their boats and their dogs and making them feel they are at home here.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
