Boat ramps should be resilient against hurricanes, king tides and sea level rise

Ed Killer, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·4 min read
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Treasure Coast residents have a love affair with boating. Of the more than 42,000 registered vessels across the three-county area, half to two-thirds are regularly trailered to one of the 26 saltwater boat launches in our area.

A critical juncture in a boater's day is where the ramp meets the water. Launching from a trailer requires the perfect ramp slope and water level. When the slope is too flat or the water is too high, a boater may have to dunk his or her vehicle's rear axle into corrosive saltwater. Repeated exposure can cause undue damage.

Just ask David Underhill of Fort Pierce, who occasionally launches his 19-foot Sea Ray into the Indian River Lagoon at Jaycee Park in Fort Pierce.

“People use this (ramp) every day — king tide, low tides. It’s unsafe in its current condition. If you come back at low tide, it’s almost not useable because it’s so low,” Underhill told TCPalm in June.

Improperly planned boat ramps can cost boaters tens of thousands of dollars in vehicle repairs. As city, county and state officials begin to analyze how king tides, tropical storms and sea level rise affect infrastructure, they must include boat ramps in the planning processes — more than they are now — lest they become unusable.

What is a king tide?

Full moon and new moon phases in September, October and November create higher than normal high tides in Southeast Florida. These "king tides" can be as much as 12 inches higher than normal, according to NOAA.

Hurricane winds can compound that, such as when Hurricane Nicole made landfall between Fort Pierce and Vero Beach in November 2022. The hurricane arrived as king tides were affecting local shorelines.

Full moons will occur Sept. 29, Oct. 28 and Nov. 27. High tide at the Fort Pierce Inlet, for example, will be 13-14 inches higher than a typical high tide during a first quarter-moon phase, according to NOAA. That will create a problem at some boat ramps.

Low tides can also pose a problem. If the slope is too shallow, a boater may not be able to back far enough to sink the trailer low enough to load the boat. Sometimes, a boater may back beyond the poured concrete of the ramp, causing the trailer axle to plunge off the end of the ramp.

Boat ramp repair projects

Fort Pierce is planning to replace the three fixed docks at Jaycee Park with three floating docks. Although the $808,000 being spent on new docks will make it easier to load a boat from the dock, it won't make it any easier to launch a boat in high-water or low-water conditions.

These boat ramp projects aren't addressing king tides, storm effects or sea level rise either:

David Underhill, 67, eases his 19-foot Sea Ray boat into the Indian River Lagoon at the Jaycee Park boat ramp in Fort Pierce on June 6, 2023. The city is expected to spend $808,000 to replace the three wooden docks with floating concrete docks.
David Underhill, 67, eases his 19-foot Sea Ray boat into the Indian River Lagoon at the Jaycee Park boat ramp in Fort Pierce on June 6, 2023. The city is expected to spend $808,000 to replace the three wooden docks with floating concrete docks.

  • North Causeway Island Boat Ramp, Fort Pierce: $1.27 million to redesign, improve and increase trailer parking. Largest grant ever awarded by Florida Inland Navigation District. Expected completion date is July 2024.

  • Riverside Park Boat Ramp, Vero Beach: $550,000 to replace two floating docks damaged during Hurricane Nicole. Expected completion date is summer of 2024.

Local planners should to take a cue from Martin County.

Every fall for several years, high-water events caused problems at Sandsprit Park in Stuart, one of the most heavily used launches on the Treasure Coast. Martin County Parks & Recreation knew it had to do something.

A $2.4 million project is underway to redesign the two boat ramps for resiliency to king tides and rising sea level. The Shoreline Foundation Inc. began the project May 1 and expects to complete it in October. Martin County officials expect it to significantly help boaters.

Jon Fallen, of Downey Yacht Sales in Riviera Beach, guides a boat as it is loaded for transport to Canada at the west boat ramp in Sandsprit Park on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, in Martin County. Renovations to the west boat ramp will begin after the east boat ramp is finished. The infrastructure improvements include a sea level rise resiliency plan.
Jon Fallen, of Downey Yacht Sales in Riviera Beach, guides a boat as it is loaded for transport to Canada at the west boat ramp in Sandsprit Park on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, in Martin County. Renovations to the west boat ramp will begin after the east boat ramp is finished. The infrastructure improvements include a sea level rise resiliency plan.

"We have a resiliency approach. We want to get our boat ramps to the point where they are the most useful during king tides and big-water events," said Martin County Parks Director Kevin Abbate.

After the Sandsprit Park project is complete, the county will begin working on upgrades at Stuart Causeway, Jensen Beach Boat Ramp and Leighton Park in Palm City, he said.

It's all part of a larger $5.5 million infrastructure project Martin County is undertaking along MacArthur Boulevard on South Hutchinson Island to stabilize shoreline, utilities, roads and Bathtub Beach's frequent erosion problems.

Vero Beach is in the process of a state-funded resiliency study, but the Riverside Park boat ramp repairs may not be included, Public Works Director Matt Mitts said. It might be summer 2024 before the floating docks damaged in Hurricane Nicole are repaired, as the city still needs to request bids, award a contract and get permits before that can happen.

Until then, boaters must beware the risks there.

Ed Killer is a columnist for TCPalm. This is his opinion. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Boat ramps should be resilient to storms, king tides, sea level rise