Naples Yacht Club Opens After Hurricane Destruction

Pelican Isle Yacht Club in Naples, Florida, is one of the first marinas in the southwest Florida area to cut the ribbon on a newly renovated campus after being destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022.

A complete restoration of the marina included 190 boat slips, with 120 being floating concrete able to accommodate vessels up to 55 feet, and the remaining slips being fixed timber with lifts, ranging from 40 to 55 feet. The project also replaced nearly 1,500 feet of seawall and brought some fixed timber docks up a couple of feet from their legacy elevation to match the seawall cap.

Like so many other marinas, finding themselves in the path of Hurricane Ian came as a surprise to Pelican Isle.

“There is only so much preparation you can do for a catastrophic event, even in the best circumstances,” said Ali Feezor, general manager of Pelican Isle Yacht Club. “Having a good recovery plan is critical.”
The marina was at about 60% occupancy during landfall, with many boats still in the slips.

“Our entire property was under 5 to 10 feet of water,” Feezor said. “All of the fixed docks’ electrical utilities were completely submerged. All the floating docks came completely off the pilings. Gangways had sheared off at the seawall or at their access point on the dock. Boats wound up on shore, some submerged, some wedged between docks, some untouched. Our insurance company said the docks were a total loss.”

Pelican Isle called on Bellingham Marine to act as the general contractor with Kelly Brothers Inc. on board as the marine contractor to perform the installation. Bellingham came out in October, shortly after the storm.

“[Bellingham] was the original contractor in 1996,” Feezor said. “We used them for regular maintenance, so we had a good relationship. They were down here right away; didn’t waste any time.”

Feezor said that the marina made a conscious effort to improve resiliency, opting for 50-foot steel piles with HDPE sleeves instead of the legacy 40-foot concrete piles. Matching the fixed dock elevations with the seawall cap brought the electrical components a little higher and away from the water. The yacht club also brought the lift controllers and motors a little higher and integrated the pilings into the finger piers to minimize the marina footprint.

Feezor was grateful to the yacht club members who made the renovation possible. “Our members re-invested in our marina,” she said, “allowing us to complete this major project in just 20 months.”

The marina received its certificate of completion from Collier County in June. Feezor also expressed her gratitude to the contractors for their professionalism and experience. “They did everything you could ask for, especially on a project of this magnitude,” she said.