Will the last boat out of Braddock please hang up the oars?
By: Dave McKinley
Updated: August 29, 2007
Unless mankind intervenes, forces of nature threaten to land-lock Braddock Bay from Lake Ontario and in the view of many boaters, ruin a watercraft paradise.Sediment and sand have collected in the outlet from the bay to the lake to the point where the depth of the water is now well below two feet, meaning all but small craft can make the passage. Some say unless the government intervenes, there will soon come a day when even they won't be able to make it.
Though the problem is not new, it was held in check in prior years by regular dredging. However, a decision by the Greece Town Government a few years ago to stop dredging has caused boaters, fearing the inevitable, to make an exodus of the once bustling bay.
The evidence of this can be seen most dramatically at the Braddock Bay Marina. It has seen the occupancy rate of its slips dip from 90% a few years ago, to about 16 percent today.
"Three years ago it was hard to find a slip here," mused marina operator Steve Gibbs, as he stared out at his mostly empty docks.
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