In recent years, Southport Yacht Club’s Junior Yacht Club building, partly in the intertidal zone of Cozy Harbor, has been threatened by flooding on more than one extreme high tide.

“The water’s never come right in,” said Commodore Geoff Chatterton. “But it’s been a couple of inches from lapping over.”

Several years ago, the decision was made to move the building up and back, away from the intertidal zone in which it has sat since 1968.

The project involves three stages, said Chatterton: Ron Jewett’s team has lifted the building off the foundation, raised the building about 10 feet and moved it back some 14 feet north and east. Next, Fuller Marine will set new pilings and pour a new foundation. Finally, once the structure has been lowered into place, there will be some carpentry work, including installing two new overhead doors on the east side to match the  doors that are on the west side of the building

Work began Jan. 2. The building is now perched on temporary stands some three feet higher than where it will end up.

“The existing dock will remain but there’ll be two new decks – one at dock level and one above it at building level. The higher one will have stairs at either end going down to the deck below,” said Chatterton. “You’ll be able to get to the dock from either ground level, like today, or through the Junior Building. For larger functions or weddings and private parties, we’re talking about maybe having sail shades over the lawn. Right now the two areas are pretty separate but this will tie everything together.”

He said the club revolves around the kids’ sailing program. “We have 250 kids in the summer. It’s important to support that. Recent high tides have been inches away from flooding the building. Any kind of wave action would have brought water in.” Plus, he said, to continue being used for the program, the structure needed some work.   

Some of the supports were no longer up to code, said Chatterton. “This project is not only moving the building but it’s also improving it structurally, which will increase its functionality.” He said the interior is changing very little, and not everything will be 100% signed off. “It’s important that the layout works so we’ll try things this summer, get some feedback from Will Jacobs, the sailing director, and then see where we are. We don’t want to do this more than once.”

The project is slated to be finished early summer. “The program opens June 22,” said Chatterton with a smile. “So it has to be done by then!”