Minutes of Annual Meeting
Here’s the recording of the Feb 10 SF Marina Harbor Association Annual Meeting:
Passcode: &9xmiFZi
In the meeting, Harbormaster Scott Grindy and Rec and Park Project Manager Kelli Rudnick reported on various initiatives, Some highlights:
Berth holder bathrooms – BCDC’s EIR that authorized the West Harbor project specified two new berth-holder toilets in the west end of the harbormaster hut when his office relocates to the degaussing station. This document is attached.
At the east end of that building, there are two rooms for berth holders, each with two showers – one ADA-approved and one normal. In November 2014, we proposed removing the normal shower and installing a toilet and sent drawings to the Harbormaster (see attachment). Now, 8 years later, he has announced that Rec and Park will make this conversion.
The harbor entrance is getting narrow and shallow. See the attachment of readings on 02-09-22 at a +0.8 tide. At a normal 0.0 sea level, just deduct 0.8 from these readings and you will understand what it means for a typical boat like a J/105 drawing 6.5 feet – running aground unless hugging the northern side and avoiding the green buoys. Also, note that these readings taken by the harbormaster staff are rounded off to the nearest foot so could be 0.5 shallower. In the areas marked 7 feet on this diagram, there could be just 4.5 to 5 feet of water at a low tide. It will continue to silt in, and not be usable for keelboats in a few months. Also, the channel marked by these buoys is in the wrong location as the dredging was done to the North, closer to the jetty. For the past two years, we have been requesting these buoys be relocated in a curve to the North, guiding boats in a safer path, but the Harbormaster said that takes a year and is expensive to study and implement. The harbor’s budget runs from July 1 to June 30, and fresh funds become available in August; therefore the Harbormaster stated he must wait until next fiscal year to dredge. We pointed out that the harbor is being choked off and we’re not getting the benefit of the bargain in the slip fees we pay. We suggested that the Coast Guard and the Fire Department cannot get their larger boats into the harbor and nor can deep draft boats visiting for a cruise or passing through for a regatta, and it will get worse. He said he cannot do anything about it, and to avoid transiting the entrance at low tide.
The BCDC EIR also counted on the continuation of the sandpit just outside the jetty to mitigate shoaling of the harbor. The Harbormaster says that was handled by the Department of Public Works and is outside of his jurisdiction.
Kelli Rudnick, Project Manager for the East Harbor renovation, described the calendar for the project. Concept design and community outreach in 2022-23, design and permitting in 2024, bidding and then vacating the harbor in 2025, and then a three-year construction period to 2028. Berth holders would be expected to relocate to other parts of SF Bay. The Department is reviewing three options but favoring not rebuilding the shallower south end of the harbor. We pointed out that rather than abandon that area, we favor building a platform to support a community boating center like in Alameda and Redwood City, with classrooms, showers, and dry boat storage for skiffs, dinghies, small keelboats, kayaks, paddleboards, and secure storage of boaters’ gear. This would generate rental income. See attachment. We would seek funding from various corporations and foundations to cover the cost of lessons for SF public school children. We also believe the harbor needs a sheet-pile breakwater along the East axis, close to the adjacent Ft. Mason pier, to protect the harbor from northeasterly swells. As this would also benefit Ft. Mason, we requested that the Department reach out to the National Park Service and our Congressional representatives for a cost-sharing program.
Fuel Dock – Kelli stated that the fuel dock would be relocated to West Harbor, near the pump-out station across from Golden Gate YC, so on our plan we drew in a launching area for dragon boats in the area to be vacated. However, on further study, we have learned that the Fair seawall along Marina Green is unstable and that it would be unlikely to support fuel tanks. Also, the West Harbor area is congested, so adding commercial traffic in there for refueling would be unsafe for the large number of non-motorized boats sailing in and out of the harbor. The best location is the current location in East Harbor, and we suggested that the Department dredge that section to accommodate it is staying there.
