Bristol Harbormaster Gregg Marsili offered a progress report on the state of the marina expansion, receiving authorization from the council to set rates on everything from the 200 amp power that will be available to large luxury vessels visiting Bristol’s transient slips, to the rate at which the Town will sell fuel from the open-any-day-now pumps on the State Street dock.

“Right now, we’ve set the pumps at 75 cents more than what we pay for the fuel…75 cents to $1 will keep us in range with everybody else,” said Marsili. “I don't want to be the lowest guy and I don’t want to undercut other businesses that are established. This is in keeping with with other marinas are charging.”

Bristol-only bennies

Marsili also proposed special rates for Bristol residents at both the transient dock and the fuel pumps.

“We thought was a good idea to to offer a discounted rate to Bristol residents, if they want to come and take a take a dock space overnight,” he said.

The new dock will include 79 new slips; 50 for Bristol residents and 29 for transients. “We have such an extensive list of residents on the wait list — we’re up to about 179 now,” he said.  “Every time we we get into the paper or on TV, we get 10 to 15 more applications.”

As Marsili and other town officials have said all along, the plan is for the facility to pay for itself and not become part of the taxpayer burden; the transient slips, and the facilities that will draw visiting boaters, are key to the funding and operation of the marina.

Marsili proposed offering a rate of $2 a foot to Bristol residents (regularly $5) who want transient space for the night. He also suggested a 5 percent discount on fuel for boaters whose registration and licenses prove Bristol residency.

Float technology, explained

“People don't understand that you can actually make concrete float by putting flotation inside of it,” Marsili said.

This summer, Bristol residents and guests will have the opportunity to see that in action, walking the public main pier of the marina. The 16 foot wide concrete floats will be anchored by Seaflex, a technology that is both safe and secure while causing minimal disruption to the seafloor.

The most technologically advanced mooring system on the market today, Seaflex moorings are self-regulating depending on the water level, slowly elongating and retracting as the tide rises and falls. Moored docks remain stable and not exposed to unnecessary wear. The Seaflex anchors (think giant elastic bands) are always under tension, even at the lowest tide, which adds stability to the dock. Seaflex technology allows floats to endure even hurricane-strength wind without breaking.

Basically, the technology itself is “new” but not so new that it had not been well tested in the field — Seaflex is currently in use in over 1,500 applications worldwide.

“They’ve been in existence 25 plus years and they haven't had any problems,” said Marsili. “We are going to do annual inspections for about three to four years, and that will help us see if there are any wearing points, and we’ll make adjustments.”