Barbour River Public Boat Ramp at Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge

Folks,
If you're driving all the way down to the Harris Neck Wildlife Refuge boat ramp on the Barbour River, its closed until further notice. I've looked at it several times and the storm didn't damage anything other than mud and flotsam on the ramp. The ramp historically has some design issues with the stop logs at the bottom and a hole at the end. It's had those issues for many years before Irma hit, so it appears they are using the storm to close it and get enough attention to secure funding to upgrade the ramp. That could be indefinitely unless we can get some pressure put on them to reopen. It impacts the crabbing industry and just about everyone on the North end of the county that ramps in. Unfortunately, it's managed by the Feds and not the State. Any ideas??

They have done the same thing at Sunbury ramp..closed and cabled up. I understand the pier and dock are gone, but the ramp can still be used by small boaters, kayaks etc. This is really not a very good call and stops the residents from having access to the outdoors.

Ramp

Cpt Stan,

Any ideas on who we can contact to have the most impact in opening this back up? Everything is functional there, so it's a shame to play this public access point as a pawn for more Federal funding, which is slim pickings right now.

Not sure as I've lost contact with the folks I used to know. I'm gonna try contacting the CRD as I believe its their agenda to maintain boat ramps and all coastal access / regulations.

Link to e mail the CRD. Its midway down the page...Start e mailing folks, hopefully we can get an answer.

http://coastalgadnr.org/ContactCRD

Its been a week..no response from CRD..real nice guys!!!

CPT Stan, I'll send them an email and see if I can solicit a response, but I don't think they'll have any leverage with Harris Neck since it's a Fed operation and not State facility. The Fed manager is using this situation to obtain funding, but she even armitted she didn't think there was much chance of funding. They had funding in 2009 to fix it but the contractor they awarded the work to wasn't capable of doing the work, thus the project lapsed and the funding was lost. Classic example of Federal management at it's worst.

Contacted CRD and never got a response.

I finally got a call back yesterday..(mon) There is nothing the y can do about Harris neck, in fact the ranger told me they were forbidden from flying a drone over the area to record any damage that incurred. totally up the the feds on harris neck.

On Sunbury, The county told the DNR to close the ramp. Apparently they have been catching a lot of grief over it. The ramp area has been cleared of debris. I was told the reason its not open yet is because they have to ensure that under the ramp wasn't washed out from the severe tides. So they need to get a side scanning sonar unit to ensure its still safe in that aspect. He said they are trying to do that this week hopefully.

Also they need to ensure that there isn't any debris piled up that may interfere with launching. the Ranger said they weren't worried about small boats, but if a larger offshore vessel tried to launch, the weight of it could collapse the ramp if it was washed out underneath it. The ramp cant just be opened for one class of boats and not everyone. So It does seem to be a valid concern I can understand. He also stated they spent a couple hours just picking up nails at the ramp by hand from all the debris once it was cleared.
The last thing he mentioned, if anyone has a side scanning sonar unit on their boat and would be willing to allow him to get on the boat and look at the ramp, it would be quicker then the DNR trying to get the equipment in place to do it. Call the Brunswick office and let them know and he will contact you back.

CPT Stan, That explanation makes more sense, but I physically walked all over the Barbour River ramp and dock and could pretty easily tell there wasn't any damage. As far as checking for wash out under the concrete, it could be pretty easily checked with probes on a minus tide. With bureaucrats it's always easier to say no than go the extra mile to help the public (IMO).

perryrip said:

CPT Stan, That explanation makes more sense, but I physically walked all over the Barbour River ramp and dock and could pretty easily tell there wasn't any damage. As far as checking for wash out under the concrete, it could be pretty easily checked with probes on a minus tide. With bureaucrats it's always easier to say no than go the extra mile to help the public (IMO).

Click to expand...

I agree

I sent a letter to Senator Isaakson. We'll see if that generates any support?

Some good news on Sunbury, I drove by Sunday.The ramp is back open. There is also a barge and a crane there, so they may be starting to do repairs on the dock as well.

I live out at Sunbury just a couple houses up from the boat ramp. I would still be very cautious of putting in there. The sign that is posted looks suspicious(homemade). May be a good idea to call DNR. I did see boats putting in over the weekend though. Just don't want to see someone tear up a motor.

Barbour Island Harris Neck Public Ramp

The public ramp at the Wildlife Refuge is back open on a “Use at your own risk” status. You will not be able to put in or take out at low tide. You must stay centered on the ramp or your tires will wedge into the large crevice in the middle of the stop logs. You must also be careful not to back off of the end stop log or you will lose your axle.

Its good they are opening it. What do you mean by stop logs? can you maybe post a picture of ramp at low water?

Pics of Ramp

Cpt Stan,

Here's some pics of the ramp. It's not a minus tide. If it was a minus tide you'd see it better. Some of the stop logs are broken and they have a substantial gap in the middle which will trap a tire. If you stay centered you're OK, so long as you don't back off of the end. Then you're screwed.
I'll try to take some more pics at a minus tide and post. You wouldn't be able to load or unload a boat with the tide shown in these pics.

Gotcha, now I get what your saying. Yea you can see how its all been washed out. Hopefully they will get it repaired soon.

Sunbury ramp is good but there is no dock available. It hasn't been replaced so you have to get wet to get on/ off your boat by wading in at the ramp. No place to tie up your boat. beach it..climb on and go.

Ramp

CPT Stan,

The dock is in great shape. It's the ramp that has suffered over the years. As bad as that ramp looks, it's been like that for a number of years. Given the Federal funding for the Federal Wildlife Agency, I doubt it will be repaired anytime soon. It's still functional as is, if one is careful and can back a boat down with some accuracy.