HOLMES BEACH – City and county officials hoped to use businessman Jake Spooner’s boat slip in the Waterline resort marina as a Gulf Islands Ferry stop, but the current county-owned pontoon boats are too large to safely navigate that limited space.
To be used in conjunction with the Island Bazaar commercial building that Spooner is developing on the former Wells Fargo bank property nearby, Spooner’s boat slip is located in the far southwest corner of the boat basin.
On April 1, Spooner, Holmes Beach Commissioner Dan Diggins and Waterline dockmaster Tom Jones met ferry captains Nick Francis and Jonathan Davis, ferry operators Trisha and Dennis Rodriguez and Manatee County Project Manager Jeff Anthony when they arrived at the resort aboard the pontoon ferry boat that traveled from downtown Bradenton.
With the ferry docked at the rear of the Waterline resort property, the group discussed whether it was safe to bring the ferry boat, which is 50 feet long and 15 feet wide, into Spooner’s slip. Leaving the ferry where it was, the group walked over to Spooner’s slip and quickly determined the navigable space was too narrow for the ferry boat to safely navigate – a space made narrower by the motors projecting from boats docked on either side of the navigation lane.
Diggins and some of the others then walked over to the northwest corner of the boat basin to examine a large corner slip in the Keyes Marina portion of the boat basin. Dockmaster Jim Keyes told the group the slip that was then vacant is occupied long-term by a boat that departed earlier that morning.
They also looked at a slip located next to the Keyes Marina boat ramp and agreed that none of the options examined that day were viable for the ferry boats, but a smaller boat (30 feet long and 10 feet wide) already owned by the ferry operators might work. Although intrigued by that idea, Diggins acknowledged the smaller boat would pose some logistical challenges as to how and where passengers transition from a larger boat to a smaller boat.
The Kingfish Boat Ramp on Manatee Avenue has also been discussed as a potential ferry stop. That area would provide ample docking space but would require docking renovations that could cost the county a few million dollars. The boat ramp is located about a half-mile from Manatee Beach and does not provide the walkability and easy access to restaurants, businesses and other destinations as the boat basin in the heart of the Holmes Beach business district.
Last year, Diggins and Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione met with Waterline management about using the spacious docking at the rear of the resort as a ferry stop, but for various reasons the resort management doesn’t want that docking space used as a public ferry landing.
With the ferry stop at the hurricane-damaged Anna Maria City Pier currently out of commission, the Gulf Islands Ferry service runs between downtown Bradenton and the Bradenton Beach Pier in Bradenton Beach. The ferry schedule can be viewed and tickets can be purchased at the Gulf Islands Ferry website.
