Santa Rosa Yacht Club still reeling from Ivan
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News According to Santa Rosa Yacht Club (SRYC) officials, their 9,000 square foot warehouse was one of the safest places to store boats during a hurricane. SRYC board member Arnold Kendall said no vessel within the warehouse was "damaged enough to meet the insurance deductible."

The Santa Rosa Yacht club (SRYC), located on the Gulf Breeze side of the Bob Sikes Bridge, has not reopened since Hurricane Ivan in September of 2004 and some slip owners want to know why.

"Nothing seems to be getting accomplished, it's just really aggravating to see it two years later," said one SRYC patron who wished to remain anonymous.

According to yacht club board member Arnold Kendall, "club members have every right to be angry and frustrated. However, the momentum has changed dramatically in two weeks time."

The SRYC operates under chapter 718 of the Florida statutes, commonly known as the Condominium Act, which allows boaters to own dry storage slips as they would a residential condo unit. Their facility consists of a 9,000-square foot, multi-level warehouse that can store 129 boats, a marina that once contained 40 leased wet slips and several related buildings.

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Some boats inside the yacht club's warehouse have not been in the water since Hurricane Ivan because the boat lift mechanism was damaged during the 2004 storm.

The primary points of contention between SRYC and its dissenting members seem to be time and money. The yacht club, which consists of approximately 126 owner/members, requires patrons pay $92 a month for maintenance. Members have also been assessed another $2,500 for hurricane repairs. Kendall, who serves as SRYC treasurer, said, "We have financial records for how that money is spent. Anyone can let us know that they want to review the records and we'll make an appointment, and they can look until their heart's content."

Electricity was recently restored to the SRYC after the organization shelled out approximately $132,700 to restore their decimated electrical system.

"The inside of the building was like a bomb went off," Kendall said, describing the mixture of sand and debris that invaded the facility during Hurricane Ivan. Cleanup, demolition and construction efforts for the warehouse and surrounding buildings cost the yacht club $42,251 Kendall said. The yacht club also spent $71,850 on steel sheet pilings to rebuild their destroyed seawall. So far the SRYC claims to have spent just over $1 million procuring materials and renovating the facility.

Just after Hurricane Ivan in November 2004, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued an emergency permit to SRYC to "rebuild permitted or allowed structures." SRYC staff said this provision allowed them to work on the structures around the water, but not the docks and pilings within the destroyed marina.

SRYC applied for a dredging permit the from the DEP in May of 2003 and received that permit nearly three years later in February of 2006.

"It does take time for dredging permits to go through because each one has its own nuances," said Sally Cooey with DEP, citing setbacks from two very active hurricane seasons that caused DEP staff to "reorganize their priorities."

Yacht club representatives said by the time they received the proper permits, many contractors had moved on to clean up after Hurricane Katrina. The club was able to hire Coastal Marine Construction of Florida (CMC) in July and the company expects to complete the infrastructure of the marina in August, barring any unforeseen setbacks. However, CMC representative Nathan Vaughn said his company was not hired to dredge and that the task "has not been brought up as of yet."

Kendall said SRYC plans to begin dredging "later in fall because we don't want to do the dredging when it is a threat to owners using their boats."

When asked "when will the yacht club be fully operational?" Kendall replied: "Compare that to when someone is diagnosed with cancer. They start chemotherapy, have several surgeries, but doctors are still not able to say exactly how long that person has to live. There's so much that needs to be done, it's hard to put an exact date on it."

Other marinas in the area did not seem to have the same difficulties as the SRYC. They include:

.Lafitte Cove Marina located on Pensacola Beach is now fully operational as of May according to dock master Pete Amberson.

.Palm Harbor Marina on Bayou Chico in Pensacola took five months to rebuild after Ivan and Island Cove Marina on the same body of water was fully operational one month after Ivan according to dock master Steve Schenk.

. Day Break Marina also on Bayou Chico in Pensacola was fully operational two weeks after Ivan, although offices were in a portable building for 18 months according to dock master Mike Adams.