2023 May June Marina World

DRYSTACK STORAGE
First phase drystack
opens in Charleston
Family-owned company Ross Marine has opened a 160-slip drystack at newlybuilt
Clark Island Marina. The facility delivers desperately needed boat storage
just a short drive from the vibrant US city of Charleston in South Carolina.
Charlotte Niemiec reports.
Phase one of the project, which
opened in April, aims to provide a
solution to the dearth of storage space
in and around the city. Ross Marine
general manager, Paul Speights
Jr, explains: “There’s a big need for
drystack here,” he says. “If you go to
any public boat ramp in Charleston –
especially the south side on a busy
weekend – you can hardly get into the
boat ramp to launch your boat, it’s a
logjam. So we’ve looked at ways to
provide residents with another option.”
The project is being developed
Left & below left: Boats are transferred to
and from the water by a Marine Travelift
machine. Below right: Plans for the marina
site, which should see double the number of
drystack spaces.
over two phases. The first phase, now
complete, comprises 160 drystack
spaces installed by local company SJ
Hamill. Using a Marine Travelift, the
marina can haul and launch up to 35ft
(11m) outboard boats. Phase two will
seek to double the number of drystack
spaces available, Speights confirms. “If
it fills up like everyone’s telling me it will,
phase two will come quickly!” he adds.
“So far, we’re ahead of expectations
and we’re starting to put boats under
annual contracts for dry storage. We
have about 12 exclusive wet slips
as well, which we’ll also rent under
annual contracts.” Over the next ten
years, Speights envisions a full, 300-
slip bustling marina with a ship store
and amenity centre, hosting plenty of
community events.
40 years of repair experience
Ross Marine is a well-known shipyard
operated by the same family for 65
years. Speights’ grandfather purchased
Clark Island in the late 1960s and ran
a sandblasting contractor business
that eventually became an army/navy
contractor shipyard. “In the 1980s,
after the navy left town, the shipyard
business became less lucrative and the
family started Ross Marine in 1986,”
Speights explains. “This is our core
business, offering private yacht repair,
refits, storage, engine repairs at a full
service boatyard, with a 70-ton Marine
Travelift, where we can haul up to 75ft
(23m) boats.”
The company’s extensive repair
history helps separate it from other
drystacks in the area, Speights says.
“You drystack with us and there’s
34 www.marinaworld.com – May/June 2023