Sunset Isle Marina escapes Hurricane Isaias unscathed, despite being almost directly in the storm’s path

A marina in the Panhandle survived Hurricane Isaias without any storm damage, despite being almost directly in the Category 2 hurricane’s path. Owners of Sunset Isle Marina attribute the marina’s storm survival not to luck, but rather advanced planning and quality engineering. Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin as a Category 2 storm, according to the National Hurricane Center. Before landfall, the storm had peaked as a Category 3 with sustained winds reaching 120 mph. The storm made landfall less than 5 miles from Sunset Isle Marina, putting it on the bay side of Okaloosa Island and almost directly in the storm’s path. While the storm made landfall as a Category 2, at least one wind gust was clocked at nearby Santa Rosa Sound of 116 mph, a level that, had it been sustained, would have put the storm into Category 3. Nevertheless, after inspecting the property following the storm, marina officials found no damage. Not a single board was missing from the marina’s 1,400-foot pier or from any of its 144 slips. That, marina owner Robert Guidry said, is no accident. “From day one, our goal was to build the finest marina in Northwest Florida, one our slip holders could trust in any weather. Isaias was the test we hoped would never come, and this marina passed it. I’m grateful to our engineers, to David Weber, to Scott Burt and his team, and to everyone who worked so hard to make Sunset Isle what it is,” Guidry said. Weber owns What’s Up Docks in Milton, which was awarded the marina’s construction contract. “We built every piece of this marina knowing that one day a hurricane would test it. Seeing it come through Isaias without losing a single board is the proudest moment of my career. That’s what happens when you get the engineering right before you ever drive the first piling,” Weber said. Burt owns Coastal Marina Management, which operates Sunset Isle. “It’s very rare for one individual to design, fund and build a marina of this magnitude and bespoke construction,” he said. “Our team secured the marina, followed our hurricane plan, and the structure did the rest. When we inspected the docks after the storm, there was nothing to fix. Boaters can count on Sunset Isle being open and ready.” Guidry, a longtime Destin-area resident who has been boating for more than 65 years, set out with his associates to build the best-built and best-run marina in Northwest Florida. His company, Okaloosa Island Prime Properties LLC owns the marina, which opened in 2024 and can berth yachts up to 300 feet long. Together, the team worked to ensure the marina was constructed to withstand a powerful hurricane. The pier at the heart of the marina is 12 feet wide and 1,400 feet long and made of fixed timber. Fixed piers are built upon pilings, unlike other non-fixed piers that float on the water. For extra stability, the pier’s pilings were driven 20 feet below the mud and sand line on the bay bottom. Meanwhile, the pier’s deck is 44.5 inches above the mean high-water line. The pier is constructed using stainless steel fasteners, which resist salt corrosion to avoid weakening over time. In all, there are $742,000 worth of stainless steel fasteners used to construct the pier, with more than 642,000 stainless steel screws. The marina’s infrastructure was also constructed with the Panhandle’s hurricane risk in mind. Each slip is equipped with power, fresh water and in-slip pump out, and a three-phase service for mega yachts will be installed this month. The lines for all features run the full length of the pier and are secured by a complex stainless rack system, which is designed to keep the system in place through both wind and waves. While the Panhandle has seen plenty of storms stronger than Isaias, the marina’s ability to weather even a weaker hurricane than others past is remarkable when considering damage elsewhere in the storm’s path. Nearby boat houses in Destin were reduced to rubble. Docks were swept away in some sections of Western Lake, and storm surge in Grayton Beach leveled sand dunes. Fallen trees were also commonplace, even outside the storm’s center, according to CBS12. The post Sunset Isle Marina escapes Hurricane Isaias unscathed, despite being almost directly in the storm’s path appeared first on Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..