Boaties welcome Havelock dredging
Havelock Marina berthholder David Eagle, left, Havelock Marina supervisor Anthony Ritchie, centre, and Port Marlborough chief executive Rhys Welbourn at a drop-in session on the Havelock Marina. Photo: Kira Carrington.
Kira Carrington, Local Democracy Reporting
Boaties checking out plans to improve Havelock Marina in Marlborough say they are thrilled after struggling to navigate the sediment-laden channel.
The berth-holders, both commercial and recreational, had popped in to a drop-in session on the project at the Slip Inn restaurant last Tuesday.
Port Marlborough planned to dredge and deepen the Havelock channel and marina basin, and replace three old wooden jetties with new concrete ones. Work was to start next year and be completed by 2027.
Berth-holder David Eagle, whose blog Knot Nauti documented living on his boat as a family of six, said the sediment build-up made the channel so shallow he could only enter the marina at high tide.
“The channel depth at the moment is so congested with sediment that it’s become dangerous,” Eagle said.
“One of my boat neighbours, he actually ran aground on it and damaged his boat significantly, and damaged his propeller, and so that’s like tens of thousands of dollars.”
So the plan to dredge the channel was wonderful news for large boat-owners, he said, adding he was surprised it hadn’t happened sooner as he considered the marina otherwise well run.
“We often talk to other visiting boaties who make the comment of how lucky we are to be at a marina so well maintained and managed.”
The project secured a $9.9 million loan from the Regional Infrastructure Fund, announced by Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones at the Havelock Mussel and Seafood Festival in March.
The remaining $9.9m would be paid by Port Marlborough, which was owned by Marlborough District Council.
The dredged material would need to be dewatered and transported for disposal to a site yet to be confirmed.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.