Liquid Asset's new digs are located on at the Port of Kennewick's new marina on Clover Island near downtown Kennewick. It's a brand new facility that has been under construction for the past couple of years. The dock I'm on has just recently been completed and I'm the first tenant in this slip.

Here's a shot as you drive onto Clover Island. My dock is the furthest in the photo and my boat is about where the arrow is.


Here's a shot from the other direction looking SW. This was taken next to the Coast Guard Station on the island.


This was taken from the same spot as the previous one.


Here's one of the neighbors.


This is the entrance to the slips. The Port has done a nice job with putting in a walkway, benches, nice lighting, etc.


Here's a layout of the slips. Mine is #142 out close to the end of the furthest dock to the east.


Here's a shot looking down the dock. At the near end there are slips on both sides of the dock. I think they're 32'x36' and have two boats per slip.


Here's my new digs. She looks kinda small sitting in there with all that open water around her. Due to the location of the dock cleats I can't pull all the way into the slip so the bow would be up near the main dock.

Looks like a great place to spend time!

As you can see, there's a lot of room around her. I may add some cleats to the dock just so I can pull it in a but further.


Here's another shot from a different angle.


The fuel dock and pumpout are located directly toward shore from the dock I'm on.


This is the Coast Guard Nav Aids ship "Bluebell" (WLI313).


Here's a USCG picture of Bluebell doing her Nav Aid work.


There are several things I really like about the new marina that helped me decide now was the time to move up. There won't be any more docks built between me and the river, it's only about 1/4 mile of no wake zone to get to the river, the pumpout and gas dock are right there, and the facility is all first class. Plus, there's a great new brewery/restaurant in the building at the top of the ramp.

What more could a guy ask for???

Nice looking dock setup.

Do you have any more info on that Cable Strayed bridge in the background? Highway?

Nice, GFC!

In the words of the late, great Roy Scheider,

"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

Nice marina. How long is you slip? It looks really big. Congratulations

Isn't that about 60X20, GFC?

I LOVED the restaurant's onion rings! I'd see me putting on some weight around there...

So when is the dock warming party?
Nice digs. You need to put a Jet Ski in there as well.

Mark

WOWSER!!

There's enough room next to you that I can pull up and play tender!!!

The S and D team make great line tenders and the Admiral is great at fetching beers!!

Where do we apply?


Seriously, nice setup. Must be a comfort to your mind that you can leave Liquid Asset in a secure place.

Great looking place

"Do you have any more info on that Cable Strayed bridge in the background? Highway? "
Derek, it's the Edward Hendler Memorial Bridge, or known locally as the Cable Bridge. It won several design awards when it was first build in the early 80's. Very pretty at night when it's lit.


"You're gonna need a bigger boat." No Doubt about that!

"So when is the dock warming party?" We're thinking it's going to be soon. They have to wait a bit to turn on the water and it will be after that so I can clean up the boat. Jet ski???Possibly a 20'-22' bowrider!!

"There's enough room next to you that I can pull up and play tender!!! The S and D team make great line tenders and the Admiral is great at fetching beers!! Where do we apply?"

PH & Crew, come on down. I am always looking for new deck hands. Especially ones that bring beers to the captain!

It is a pretty secure place, or at least I thought so. I looked a little more closely at the security gate you have to go through to get to the docks and it's a joke. And old fart like me could get around it easily so I know it wouldn't slow kids down.

FLB's correct, it's 20'x60'. I have the boat pulled bow in right now but after being down there today I think I'm going to end up backing it in on the other side of the slip.

The prevailing winds are from the SW and would make pulling it in like it currently is a bit difficult. We originally had pulled it in that way but turned it around because the shore power cord didn't reach. I now have two shore power cords so I'll have to hook them end-to-end and back it in.

GFC, that's a nice slip, it really is... but your boat looks lost in it! You either need a bigger boat or some PWCs along the other finger. Something to fill it in. It' s like a jacked up pick up woth the little stock tires!

Looks great
I agree that a 20-22 (24?) bowrider would fit in there great.
Something to just jump in and go out for an hour or so.
Great stuff GFC

Simply beautiful! Congratulations!

GFC already does that with his SeaRay though.

GFC needs a GFBL to fulfill the "youth" feeling again.... 16ft Donzi

True D.. but hopping in and untying a ~20 ft'r is still quicker than taking the big guy out.

I bet he would opt for a 20+ boat for some comfort over a sweet 16. As beautiful as the little Donzi is with a 350 and open exhaust... I don't think that is in the mix

Congrats GFC... looks nice!

Very nice. Ever get rain with a strong wind?

I was surprised to learn that the USCG was so far upriver.

Are you then under USCG/federal rules (flares, etc).

Is it fairly common then that the marinas have covered slips?

That's a real nice marina, GFC. The proximity to open water, I think, is what many folks overlook when choosing a place to slip their boats. I have a friend who keeps his boat at a Lake Michigan marina in WI and he has about a 10 or 15 minute ride from his slip to the lake proper, and that ride isn't much fun at the best of times. After seeing those pics of the Snoqualmie Pass you posted last month, even being located in the dry part of the state, I'd check the load rating of the roof and verify it could handle whatever Ma Nature decides to throw at it.

Covered marinas are getting fewer and fewer. With the Corps of Engineers rules and Dept of Fisheries rules about making a shadow on the water, things are getting tight. If you believe what Fisheries has to say, the predatory fish lie in the shadows and wait for the small salmon to swim by.

This marina (and the one I just left) are along the Columbia, but off the main channel by a bit. The salmon don't swim in these backwater areas so it's a little easier to get the permits to build covered docks. It's also easier when you're a government agency (Port of Kennewick) applying vs a yacht club or private marina.

Our retirement plans include moving up in size to a boat we can spend a few months aboard. This one just isn't big enough for long cruising. With that thought in mind we decided we'd find the bigger slip first. Most people find the big boat then look for the big slip. We didn't want to be scrambling around for a large slip after finding the perfect boat.

Derek, somehow I just don't picture myself in a Donzi. I like a nice quiet ride so the open exhaust part of that picture wouldn't work. A nice bowrider would, especially one in the 20' range but that probably won't happen either.

We're working on getting the finances arranged for retirement. So for right now I'm pumping up my 401k to max it out and saving the pennies. We're also sticking money aside for our wedding that comes up at the end of May. I don't want to go into debt for that so we're watching the cash flow situation.

Yes, we do get strong winds and rain here. I doubt the new roof will protect my boat from that as well as the old one did because the old roof was so much lower. I don't mind the rain and dust though...it washes off easily. And yes, we do get strong winds. I think this marina will be more open to the winds than the last one. That one had a large apartment building on shore that helped block the wind. Nothing here like that, so we'll have to learn new "wind rules" when coming and going.

Al, the USCG here mainly does nav aids maintenance but they also have a smaller boat that they can do rescue stuff with. There are two local sheriff's boats that mainly do law enforcement, equipment checks, DUI checks, etc. For 'after-the-fact' recoveries we have a great outfit in Columbia Basin Dive Rescue. It's an all-volunteer group that's available 24/7 for rescue and recovery work. VERY dedicated bunch.

Political comment alert!

For the record, I don't believe a thing the department of fisheries says. This is the same department of fisheries that wouldn't let my Dad put a seawall in to protect his place on Lake Chelan. Even though he only has 34 feet of waterfront and there is a seawall on either side of him. The reason? The little fishies need a place to hide in the rocks and shadows.

Then, they went and dumped 500,000 Mackinaw in the lake that proceeded to devour every little fishy that swims. No more trout, no more Kokanee, no more King Salmon. Morons. Absolute morons.

sweet looking setup.

GFC--great slip--like mine, it is so wide that Ray Charles could back it in. Is there some reason that you dock bow first?

Al. I think the USCG has jurisdiction over all the navigable waters of the US.

Yep there is a reason, from another thread......

"When we got to the new slip there was a bit of a breeze blowing. I backed it in but had trouble moving the boat port-side to the dock because of the wind. After we got it in place we found the new 50' shore power cord was about 5' short of reaching from the dock power box to my connection.

No problemo. I pulled the boat back out, turned it around and came in bow first on the port side.

20X60 hmmm. Readily availible guest moorage?

Aahubb, no problemo. Just leave the keys in the ignition so I can get mine out if I want to leave!

Hoboat, after all that initial maneuvering and getting it in bow first I think I'm going to have to change it around and back it in after all. The closed end of the slip points almost due west, and the prevailing winds are out of the SW.

To put it in bow first and be able to step off the port side it has to be against that upwind dock. Getting off on the far side means stepping over the dinghy davit mechanism and that's a pain.

So what I'll have to do is use two shore power cords end-to-end to make them reach. I'll back it in keeping towards the upwind (south) side of the slip and let the wind carry it to the downwind (north) side where we'll tie up.

It doesn't really matter to me which end goes in first. I suppose getting on and off and loading stuff would be easier if we backed it in, but it's not a big deal.