A GEM FOR BOATERS EXPLORING NEW ENGLAND
Massachusetts, widely known as the “the bay state”, in the New England region of the north-eastern United States, has a rich maritime history. Since the days of tall ships, fishing and whaling vessels, these waters have been bustling with explorers and sailors. The Boston Light, the oldest continuously used and (by law) the only permanently staffed lighthouse in the country, guides sailors into Boston Harbor. Between the lighthouse in the east and the Harbor in the west lies the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, which comprises about 30 islands. This park offers ideal sailing conditions, with opportunities to explore secluded beaches, unique rock formations, historic military forts, and the abandoned hospital site on Peddocks Island, which was used as a setting for parts of the film “Shutter Island”.
Located seven miles south of Boston, Safe Harbor Marina Bay offers 680 seasonal slips, and accommodates vessels up to 150 feet in length with a maximum draft of 12 feet. The marina also features a boardwalk with waterfront dining and a brewery with its own pub. Safe Harbor, the operator of 130 marinas across the United States and Puerto Rico, recognised the need for infrastructure upgrades in 2023. The marina’s floating docks and fingers had been facing recurrent damage from storms. In collaboration with SF Marina, Safe Harbor embarked on a project to protect the marina with a state-of-the-art floating breakwater that doubles as docking space for transient mega-yachts. The new breakwater consists of 14 pontoons, with a total length of 280 metres and a width of 4 metres, securely anchored with 76-centimetre steel piles driven into the seabed. Additionally, a second, smaller floating breakwater section extends from the marina’s rubble mound breakwater, overlapping the larger portion to protect the harbour mouth.
