Waterfront Projects Done Right
Trent Hollis Trent Hollis · July 4, 2026
A boat drifted from its mooring into a neighbor’s slip at 3 a.m., leaving a $2,000 gel coat repair bill and a very awkward conversation. The anchor line was attached with a simple half hitch. One properly executed anchor bend fisherman’s bend knot would have prevented the entire mess — and the owner would have … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 3, 2026
Run your thumbnail across the oxidation bleeding from a cleat where someone wrapped a bow line three weeks back, and you’ll feel the grit—that chalky corrosion that forms when salt air meets steel. In twenty years of marine work along the Gulf, I’ve developed opinions about a lot of things, but few are as rock-solid … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 3, 2026
Picture this: 2019, Perdido Bay, a new dock build where the property owner wanted to economize on fastener costs. I sourced 304 stainless hardware and laid out the technical distinction. His response was immediate—”stainless is stainless.” Eighteen months passed. Then came the phone call. Orange discoloration had claimed the decking screws. Bracket bolts wept rust … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 2, 2026
Every boater knows the feeling when it arrives. Your dock line has cinched itself into a stranglehold against the load, the cleat is buried under tension, and you face an impossible choice: release the load and watch something break, or cut through a perfectly serviceable rope. Working Gulf Coast moorings for two decades has put … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 2, 2026
Right now, I’m kneeling over a section of decking where the boards have cupped so badly they’re holding standing water — a telltale sign that the fastening pattern wasn’t tight enough when they went down, and UV exposure has warped what’s underneath. My neighbor’s dock had been like this for two seasons. He’d called three … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 1, 2026
A contractor I know charges $12,000 to replace fasteners on a neglected 40-foot dock. A Saturday afternoon with the right hardware costs maybe $300. The gap isn’t about labor — it’s about what happens when you buy the wrong fasteners and let them sit in saltwater for three years. I once dismantled a dock section … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 1, 2026
Plenty of waterfront owners assume that any knot you throw will work just fine — weight it, tie it, toss it, problem solved. That assumption costs them money and occasionally costs them boats. A poorly constructed heaving line doesn’t just miss its target; it can come apart mid-throw, leaving you with a useless pile of … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 30, 2026
Mixing metals underwater will corrode your fasteners in months, not years — and that’s just the beginning of what goes wrong when boat owners rush the lift selection. Over two decades pulling apart failed systems, I’ve seen owners choose based on what fits the slip or what their buddy owns, skip the weight calculations entirely, … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 30, 2026
Walk out to a dock that’s been neglected for a couple of seasons, and you’ll see the difference between a knot that was tied properly and one that wasn’t. The failed connections—the ones where fishing line parted under load, where people lost fish they should’ve landed—those stand out. They’re the reason I’m writing this. If … Read more
Trent Hollis · June 29, 2026
Out on a job near Gulf Shores, I got called back to a property where the homeowner had installed a kayak rack two seasons prior. The structure looked solid enough at first glance — pressure-treated lumber frame, galvanized bolts, foam cradles. But when I ran my hand across one of the posts, the wood was … Read more