Waterfront Projects Done Right
Trent Hollis · July 19, 2026
The myth that dock electrical work is simpler than house wiring because it’s outdoors costs people money every storm season. I watched a homeowner in Destin spend $8,500 replacing a corroded dock system that failed after Hurricane Ian because the original installation—done by a contractor who “knew what he was doing”—used standard indoor receptacles and … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 19, 2026
Twenty years of finishing rope ends on the Gulf Coast taught me to wince whenever someone grabs a lighter to melt the tip of a braided line and declares the job finished. Heat-shrink gets synthetics through an emergency — I won’t argue that point — but it is not what a sailmaker’s whipping delivers. That … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 18, 2026
A corroded aluminum ladder with seized bolts cost my neighbor $340 to replace and took him out of the water for an entire weekend while we waited for the new one to arrive. The mounting hardware had worked loose sometime over the winter months, and nobody had thought to inspect it. That’s the moment I … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 18, 2026
Check your dock cleats first thing when you walk the structure in daylight. Not the bumpers — the cleats. Because cleats fail before bumpers do, and a failed cleat during surge means your boat owns the dock until something gives. Twenty years working marine construction along the Gulf Coast taught me to read a cleat … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 17, 2026
You’ll hear it at the marina bar or the lumber counter: “Just go with wood—aluminum’s too expensive and doesn’t look as good.” Then five years rolls around, and that wood pergola is soft at the base, the fasteners are streaked with rust, and the owner is looking at a $2,000 replacement bill. I’ve watched that … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 17, 2026
Gulf Coast spring tides expose a problem that snap hooks and fixed loops can’t solve. When water levels swing two to three feet between dawn and dusk, a boat held rigid to a piling will either chafe itself to pieces or pull free entirely. That’s what happened to a center-console owner near Pensacola—his lines were … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 16, 2026
This morning, I’m looking at a corroded cleat where someone secured a 24-foot center console with a reef knot tied in wet 1/2-inch three-strand nylon. The line capsized under lateral load from a wake, the boat drifted into the neighboring slip overnight, and now there’s a $400 fiberglass gouge to repair. I’ve spent the last … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 16, 2026
When a marine electrician quotes you $400 to $600 for a professionally installed dock lighting system, then you price out the materials yourself for a Saturday afternoon project, the gap is telling. You’re usually looking at $80 to $150 in actual hardware — wire, fixtures, connectors, maybe a transformer. The rest is labor, liability, and … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 15, 2026
Most waterfront property owners believe erosion control requires heavy machinery and contractor budgets — and that misconception has cost them tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary expenses. The truth is simpler: erosion control systems work reliably when you address the root cause — water energy — instead of just building barriers. Over twenty years … Read more
Trent Hollis · July 15, 2026
Mixing galvanized fasteners with stainless steel hardware will eat through your dock in saltwater faster than you’d expect. After two decades driving pilings and bolting frames together on the Gulf Coast, I’ve watched structural decisions kill otherwise solid builds—and the biggest one isn’t about engineering at all. It’s whether you pick floating or fixed. Depth … Read more