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Ultimate Destination
"We make changes every year. We continually try to upgrade the Boat Basin," said Karp, who last year considered selling the marina but changed his mind. "We put a bakery down there this year that is primarily for the people who use it, and we try to increase services every year. We redid [the dockmaster's] office this year because people on the boats like to come in and talk to him. It is an intricate part of the life on Nantucket.
THE EARLY YEARS OF THE WATERFRONT Straight Wharf was built in 1723 by Richard Macy and was used by whaling ships as well as being a location where steamships docked. Old South Wharf was built in 1760. The wood used for the bulkheads and the wharf extensions constructed around 1842 was not treated for rot, however, and by 1870 the wharf ends became weak and began to deteriorate. When Captain John Perry, who owned Straight Wharf, retired, he sold the property to Captain John Killen. Killen's sons inherited the wharf and kept it in the family name until August 1944 when it transferred through a mortgagee's sale to Miller.
In 1964 Sherburne Associates was founded to improve the waterfront, with members Beinecke and Miller merging their holdings in a partnership for the development. At that point, Beinecke owned Old South Wharf, having bought it from Florence Ingall who inherited it from Henry Lang who started the old Island Service Company there. Although Beinecke built a threesided pier to create a protective basin around Straight Wharf, Old South Wharf and Swain's Wharf, there was still much work to be done.
The younger Miller said he was a member of Sherburne Associates but never owned any of the property. Instead, he leased a portion of Straight Wharf from his father for an oil supply business. He said he did supervise the reconstruction of the marina from 1957 to 1962. "We just had a very small marina and the slips were occupied mostly by our customers," he said. "I would tell them they could leave their boats there for the summer if they bought their oil from me in the winter. It was the same when the scallopers wanted to tie up in the fall. We might have charged a nominal amount to larger yachts in the summer, but the summer people were long-time summer people with houses here who were valuable customers. "The biggest boats then were 60 feet, mostly yachts, because the water was shallow so it was hard for sailboats to come in," he continued. "Beinecke bought out both us and Florence Ingall who owned Old South Wharf, so in order to get that basin [Beinecke] had to get ahold of Swain's Wharf too, which used to be called Commercial Wharf, and he had lawyers working for months and months." Miller said in his opinion, the best thing Beinecke did was hire Joe Lopes to be the basin's dockmaster. "All we had in 1966 for a marina was Island Service and Straight Wharf. We officially opened the Boat Basin for business in 1968 - 1966 and 1967 were spent on renovations," said Lopes, who Miller calls an icon and who current dockmaster George Bassett refers to as the Monsignor. "Before that, the biggest boats were about 35-to-40-footers, mostly scallop boats, excluding the fishing boats that came in due to weather. "I had worked before for Walter and I heard they were going to build a marina so I went to him and asked for a job," Lopes explained of how he won his position. "When the marina was built they hired this one guy and he only lasted one week. Walter had gone to The Tavern with a friend and they found the guy there with the day's take and half-bombed. He got fired on the spot and the next day Walter came to me and asked if I wanted it. I jumped at the chance." BECOMING A BOAT BASIN UNDER SHERBURNE Lopes said he worked with the project engineers on Basin designs because Beinecke wanted to utilize every bit of property he owned. One of the last portions of the project was the construction of what is unofficially known as the Joe Lopes Pier, the 440-foot pier that juts to the right at the end of Straight Wharf, which cost $75,000 to build. With both sides in use, it became a fast money-maker for the basin. "We got classy when [Beinecke] opened up in 1968 and fuel oil was 13 cents a gallon, but if you bought 100 gallons or more it was 10 cents because they were bitching about the cost," recalled Lopes, who stayed with Sherburne for 20 years and was dockmaster for 19 years. "Today fuel is four dollars a gallon, but everything is relative because if you can afford a multi-million dollar boat, four dollars a gallon doesn't mean a lot." Lopes said after 1968 the vessels coming to the Boat Basin became longer and fancier. The business charged five dollars for the first 25 feet and 25 cents per foot thereafter. Water and electricity installed by Beinecke were free. He also built restrooms with showers for boaters, provided a sewage discharge system and supplied phone connections for larger craft. THE BASIN TODAY Monetarily, Town Assessor Debbie Dilworth said it is hard to pinpoint the value of the Boat Basin because the wharves are assessed with buildings included. The FY07 numbers she offered are $24.9 million for Old South Wharf, which has 75 boat slips; $36.4 million for Straight Wharf with 89 slips; and $15.6 million for Swain's Wharf with 70 slips. Beyond the value, however, is the story of how the marina has evolved and what it presents today for incoming clientele. Bassett, who in 1985 took over for Lopes before Beinecke sold the Boat Basin to First Winthrop, has witnessed major changes since then. He said when Beinecke built the marina it was intended to fit 243, 40-foot boats, but these days vessels are longer. That means on the average summer night 200 boats measuring from 35-feet to 150-feet and even 200-feet are docked, with 10 small slips also available at the White Elephant. A couple of years ago, a 316- foot vessel came in that required almost the entire length of the Joe Lopes Pier, said Bassett. The first week of January, the Boat Basin sends out letters regarding slip reservations to clients who have used the marina during the past three years. On Jan. 10, the office begins taking reservations, and by mid-April the Basin is usually booked at 75 percent for the dates between July 1 and Labor Day. Bassett explained that once the marina is full, when people call or write in for reservations they are contacted on a one-on-one basis to let them know when there may be a potential open date. If clients cannot alter their plans they are placed on a stand-by list and notified when there are cancellations. "We are what's called a destination marina," said Bassett. "We are basically 70 percent transients and 30 percent seasonal." Bassett said the average stay for transients is four or five nights, but some of the seasonal rentals stay for the entire summer. Once the Boat Basin is full, the town pier is offered the overflow, although there is no connection between the two entities. Bassett said Beinecke built the Boat Basin as a state-of-the-art marina, and when Winthrop took it over it was still successful and relatively new, so that company did not need to put a lot of work into the facility. Karp, on the other hand, has spent sizable amounts on the basin's substructure of pilings and underpinnings, repairs the boating public does not see. Roughly 100 pilings are replaced annually, said Bassett. Other key improvements under Karp include the remodeling of 18 bathroom and shower facilities. "That's a huge improvement for the boaters," said Bassett. "It's like going to Disneyland. Believe me, you can have the nicest marina in the world but if your bathrooms are dirty or rundown, that's what they remember. It's a key part of hospitality." The Boat Basin also provides more than 200 whiskey barrel-style trash containers, 30 sets of recyclable barrels and approximately 50 big flower pots filled with sand for cigarette disposal. "That is all in keeping with the cleanliness of the water and Nantucket," said Bassett. Before Karp took ownership of the Boat Basin, the no-name storm of 1991 caused the necessary replacement of electrical, TV, phone, water and sewage provisions, but Bassett said within the last two years Karp has invested heavily in upgrading the system to offer the 150-to-180-foot megayachts a three-phase power supply geared to international boaters who need alternate electrical outlets. DIFFERENT TIMES, DIFFERENT CLIENTELE Bassett said when he first began at the Boat Basin 100-foot vessels were considered mega-yachts and were brought here by wealthy statesmentypes who wanted to relax and enjoy Nantucket. The clientele today tend to be glued to cell phones conducting business even as they dock in a tranquil environment. "They are here for the beauty of Nantucket and the world-class restaurants, but they can't let go of business. You just don't see them kicking back and relaxing on their boat," said Bassett. "I don't mean anything in a demeaning way, we've just gone from the yachtsmen to the people who want to make money." AMENITIES AND PRIVACY PROVISIONS The Boat Basin is essentially open to the public, but there are some security measures in place. Bassett explained that security in the daytime is handled by the dock crew and at night by a paid staff who walk the wharves. Citing the fact that someone recently attempted to jump on a boat and make off with a cooler of beer, he said this measure is important to those tied up in the marina. Three locations have gates: the tanker dock near the Angler's Club, the outer portion of Old South Wharf where people lease cottages, and at a point on the Joe Lopes pier so gawkers do not disturb the privacy of boaters docked there. Amenities include a full concierge service providing golf and tennis appointments, bike and scooter rentals, fishing charters, dinner reservations, a dog or child sitter, after-hours dental and medical care and catering. Each incoming boater receives a Welcome Aboard bag that includes rules and regulations associated with the Boat Basin and free biodegradable soaps. There is a full fuel service dock and continental breakfast cart that circulates every morning with freshly baked goods and beverages. LOVING THE WORK - AND EVEN THE BOSS Lopes, who recently turned 89, said if he was ever going to work again he would want to return as a dockmaster and be employed by the same people, praising Beinecke for being "a great man." He said he only retired because he knew Beinecke was going to sell the marina and he was concerned that a new owner would not live up to the standards he had set for business and customer relations. But Lopes now has compliments for Karp, whom he has met twice. "Steve Karp has done a considerable amount of work," said Lopes. "He is one hell of a wonderful man - a superb person. My insurance still comes from him through Walter's insistence." Apparently, for the right individual, being a dockmaster at Nantucket's Boat Basin is a dream job. Bassett, who has already put in 22 years and entertains no plans to retire, said, "I love it. I'm a very lucky person in that I'm 65 years old and I've had two jobs in my life - one with the Coast Guard and 22 years at the Boat Basin, and I look forward to being here a few more years," he said. "It's just a happy environment. You're with people coming to a wonderful place so they are automatically in a good mood. And since Mr. Karp has had it we've increased training in the hospitality field so we consider ourselves a hotel over the ocean. This year, one-third of the 44 summer employees are Nantucket people, with eight kids still in high school. That's our future." I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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