As the home port for the Cayman Islands International Fishing Tournament, the Barcadere Marina will be the focus of much of the excitement during the tournament. According to Neville Scott of the Barcadere Marina, this involvement is part of building towards the the long term dream of a marina community at the historic Barcadere Marina site, which is coming ever closer to fruition.
The area was mentioned in the very first land allotment in Cayman and has been an important site ever since. It was the original port of entry into the Cayman Islands for those who travelled by air, as passengers from the PBY flying boats that served the Island were brought ashore there in the years before the establishment of Owen Roberts International Airport. In fact, the current airport is just a minute down the road from the marina, making it a perfect location for those who cannot wait to get on the water.
During the construction of the marina, a lot of work had to be done to rehabilitate the area, which had for many years been used as a repair site for boats and had therefore become littered with discarded equipment. In fact, Neville recalls that during the construction, a drill got stuck while drilling down for a pilling and once they had managed to get it out and dig down to find the cause, they found that they had drilled right through a Volkswagen Beetle that had been buried there! However, Neville decided to not only rehabilitate the area, but build a marina that would be as environmentally conscious as possible, from the design and materials all the way through to the Valvetect fuel supplied at the marina. Barcadere Marina even offers free sewage tank pumping for boats, because as Neville points out, the alternative is also free, but has a much more damaging impact on the environment as some unscrupulous boaters just empty their sewage tanks into the ocean.
“The North Sound is what we rely on for our business, so it doesn’t make sense to do anything that could damage it,” he says.
The marina has recently added a 100 ton travel lift – the biggest in the Cayman Islands, which will allow them to lift boats out of the water and roll them over to the new Scott’s Marine building that is under construction at the moment. The building will feature a large showroom, as well as a service area, and a clean room for engine overhauls. Massive windows will let in the light for the showroom, while enormous roll-up doors will allow boats to be rolled into and out of the showroom and service area.
Another section of the project, a bar and restaurant, is also set to break ground soon, turning the marina into a great spot to visit and hang out. For Neville, the aim of the Barcadere Marina is to reintroduce the people of Cayman to an area that has held great significance over the years and to help promote the tradition of enjoying the ocean on a boat.
The marina’s signature is its lighthouse, which started out as a memorial to Neville’s brother in law, who lost his life in a boating accident in the North Sound in 2007. However, the lighthouse has become a metaphor for the marina, as it has grown well beyond what Neville had envisioned originally to a towering structure that lights the way into the marina.
For more information, call 949-3743
or visit barcadere.com