The Sandy Beach Marina members are comprised of Sandy Beach Property Owners only; however, not all Sandy Beach Property Owners are members. There are three reasons for that:
- There are only 24 Slips, compared to 68 properties. Due to this ratio, the bulk of property owners cannot be members of the marina.
- When the marina was formed, the majority of property owners were not boaters and did not wish to share any monetary or functional obligations of the marina.
- The Sandy Beach Marina was thereby formed as a separate financial and operational entity at the maximum size for a minor marina to avoid more expensive State requirements for a major marina.
The Rules and Leases of the Sandy Beach Marina state that the slip ownership of members of the marina will be attached to their Sandy Beach properties when sold. It is extremely rare for a slip-holding property owner to turn in their slip to go to the next person on the waiting list. For prospective buyers who would like to have a slip with their property, their best bet is to purchase a property that has a slip included. Otherwise, they could wait for many, many years for lease-derived slip ownership.
The river in front of the marina has not been dredged for decades. No dredging is currently scheduled or planned. Water in the marina is not extremely deep. At the Pebble Drive marina location, Slip #1 (at the west end) is shown on our 2004 construction marine survey to be 18” deep at Mean Low Water (MLW) and 48” deep at Mean High Water (MHW). During extreme (but not unusual) tides, the depth reaches zero. Most boats need to enter and exit the marina at higher water levels than normal low tide.
The marina is classified by DNREC as a minor marina, established at the maximum size for a minor marina. As a minor marina, the marina is not required by the State to provide parking and bathroom facilities. To increase the size of the marina would require the huge investment of purchasing expensive waterfront property plus the costs of constructing and maintaining parking and bathroom facilities. The 24 members of the marina have decided such ventures are cost prohibitive. Instead, some members occasionally offer their slips to the Marina Committee (marina management team) for subleasing to property owners who have requested that their names be added to a waiting list. Gaining a sublease for one season at a time cannot be guaranteed in any given season however.
There is a boat ramp and main pier at the Sandy Beach Drive location that is open for use by all Sandy Beach property owners. The ramp provides boating access without a marina lease or a sublease.
The two marina locations already occupy the only suitable (deep enough water) locations for boat slips. The river in front of the marina has not been dredged for decades. No dredging is currently scheduled or planned. Water in the marina is not extremely deep. At the Pebble Drive marina location, Slip #1 (at the west end) is shown on our 2004 construction marine survey to be 18” deep at Mean Low Water (MLW) and 48” deep at Mean High Water (MHW). During extreme (but not unusual) tides, the depth reaches zero. Most boats need to enter and exit the marina at higher water levels than normal low tide. The shallow water illustrates a major reason why the marina was not built for more than 24 slips.
PLEASE READ DELWARE CRAB LAWS
The annual dues (maintenance fees) for the marina were $225 per year in 2020. As the marina ages, the need and cost of maintenance is expected to increase.
