Waterfront Projects Done Right
Trent Hollis · July 13, 2026
Twenty years into marine construction on the Gulf, and one claim I hear constantly proves itself backwards: most people think snake problems at docks are something you can solve with panic or a garden hose. Neither works. What actually happens is you either trap yourself indoors avoiding your own property, or you misidentify a harmless … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 12, 2026
Eighteen months back, I dismantled a structure I’d originally constructed during 2019 — positioned directly along Perdido Bay’s shoreline in Alabama. That build incorporated composite decking on one segment, #1 grade pressure treated southern yellow pine on another, and ipe hardwood on the third. Each section experienced identical saltwater conditions, endured the same vessel maintenance … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 12, 2026
Most waterfront property owners don’t realize that knowing how to tie one specific knot can be the difference between a successful rescue and a tragedy — yet they’ll spend hundreds on safety gear and never practice the fundamentals. That’s backward. The bowline on a bight rescue knot creates two fixed, independent loops from the middle … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 11, 2026
Between 316 stainless and hot-dip galvanized hardware, stainless wins for saltwater durability every time — but the clove hitch beats both of them when you need a knot that works right now, on any cylindrical surface, in conditions that would jam a mechanical fastener. The clove hitch is one of those essential skills every waterfront … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 11, 2026
Spend any time walking through a marina after heavy weather and you’ll spot hulls with fresh gelcoat gouges streaked across their sides. Twenty years of building and repairing Gulf Coast docks taught me to recognize that damage pattern instantly — it’s what happens when a boat’s protection system fails. Most of the hull damage I’ve … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 10, 2026
Stand over a corroded cleat where someone wrapped a bow line three weeks ago, and you’ll see rust bleeding down the concrete in rusty streaks—salt crystals crusted in the divots, the metal underneath turning orange and white. That cleat’s still holding, technically. But pull on that line under load, and you realize how fragile the … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 10, 2026
You’ll hear it at the marina or the lumber counter, usually from someone who’s never actually driven a piling: “Just rent the cheapest hammer and get it done fast.” What sounds smart on a Tuesday afternoon falls apart the moment saltwater enters the equation. The wrong equipment choice—or worse, the right equipment operated in the … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 9, 2026
Hurricane season along the Gulf Coast has a way of exposing what people don’t understand about their waterfront boundaries. When storm surge and flooding recede, property owners discover that the dock they built, the seawall they reinforced, or the fill they added sits partially on someone else’s water corridor — or on state-owned submerged land … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 9, 2026
Right now, I’m standing over a corroded cleat where somebody wrapped a bow line three weeks ago, except the rope slipped straight through the fairlead and let a 22-foot center console drift into its neighbor’s slip. Clean gouge down the hull. The bitter end had nothing on it — no stopper, no knot, nothing. That … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 8, 2026
A marine contractor quoted my neighbor $8,500 to install a custom boat canopy on his Gulf Coast dock. He built the same structure himself on a Saturday afternoon for under $900 in materials. That gap — between contractor pricing and what the job actually costs when you’re holding the drill — is exactly why I’m … Read more