Deep River Marina

Deep River Marina
Name	Deep River Marina
Country	USA
State/Province	Connecticut
City	Deep River [1]
Postal Code/ZIP	06417
Latitude	41° 23.5
Longitude	72° 25.5

Deep River Marina is located on the Connecticut River in Deep River, Connecticut. The marina is on a calm stretch of tidal fresh water off the main channel and is well protected from passing wakes and foul weather. Deep River is well sited, above popular Essex and below Hartford. Its only neighbor is the Essex Valley Railroad, which makes several tourist runs a day along the marina's property line. Within 2 miles (3.2 km) are 5 other marinas and boatyards, with a combined boat population just under 1,000. The boating season runs from mid-April to mid-November. The original boatyard was built in 1955.^[2]

Deep River Marina has become a full-service marina and a very attractive home port to boating families from New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Canada.

The marina has 200 slips and mooring capacity for 35 boats. Boat sizes range from 16 to 45 feet (14 m) with the average boat at 28 feet (8.5 m) LOA; 90% are powerboats. All but 23 slips were leased for the summer, with the remaining used for transient visitors. The VanDyke's four full-time and two part-time summer staff manage the docks, moorings, pumpout, fuel dock, and ship's store. Four staff remain year-round to store 150 boats on land.^[2]

Management measures

Deep River Marina complies with the marina management measures for storm water runoff control, sewage facility, sewage facility maintenance, and solid waste, as well as water quality assessment, shoreline stabilization, fueling station design, liquid materials, petroleum control, boat cleaning, and public education.^[3]

Environmental improvements

Deep River Marina won NMMA's first Boating Facilities Environmental Responsibility Award for its clean marina in 1993. It is just one of several national and regional awards earned by Doug and Karen VanDyke for their environmental consciousness.

Storm water runoff from the parking lot is controlled with 50-foot (15 m) grass buffers. With picnic tables, shrubs, trees and flowers, the marina looks more like a park than a boatyard. All parking areas and driveways are covered with crushed stone. A special drain traps silt and skims oil from the work yard and parking area before it can reach the water. A portable oil-changing unit that uses a vacuum tank to suck oil out of engines through the dip-stick tube makes oil changing easy and spillproof. It is available for rent at the marina store.^[4]

Color-coded trash containers reduce the volume of waste going to the landfill by collecting bottles, cans, cardboard, and plastic for recycling. Waste oil is also collected in an aboveground 400-gallon tank, contained inside the lower half of a cement septic tank, for recycling at no cost to the marina. At the fuel dock, more than 100 feet (30 m) of oil containment boom is stored in a locker for emergency use during spills. Boaters are encouraged to use bilge oil absorption pads, which are also sold in the marina store.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Department of Environmental Protection Brewer Deep River Marina Retrieved 19-08-2008
2. ^ ^{a b} U.S. INVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY - Polluted Runoff (Nonpoint Source Pollution)- The river marina Retrieved 19-08-2008
3. ^ U.S. INVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY - Polluted Runoff (Nonpoint Source Pollution)- Management measures Retrieved 19-08-2008
4. ^ ^{a b} U.S. INVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY - Polluted Runoff (Nonpoint Source Pollution)- Environmental improvements Retrieved 19-08-2008

Coordinates: 41°23.5′N 72°25.5′W / 41.3917°N 72.425°W / 41.3917; -72.425