New Workboat Facility Debuts in San Francisco

Shoreside facilities for commercial boats up to 350 ft. have become scarce on San Francisco Bay, but three veteran Bay Area boatyard owners have built an innovative new facility dubbed SugarDock. Rick Wood and Bill and Grace Bodle's SugarDock, located in the waters of the Richmond Inner Harbor, is specifically for boats up to 350 ft. The trio bought the old C&H Sugar transshipment dock in the East Bay town and converted it into a modern big boat service center. In a banana belt region just eight miles in from the Golden Gate, the facility has 34 ft. of water depth alongside at low tide, as well as a total of 760 linear feet of modern floating side-tie docks. Shoreside access is easy over a long, new, 45 ft. wide concrete apron leading to wide aluminum gangways. Metered electrical service is provided up to 600 amp and 480 volts with transformers to provide any kind of juice a vessel requires. Boats are served by direct sewer hook-ups and 2-in. potable water line, delivering 90 psi; plus a major fire main covers the facility. The SugarDock is on an inner-harbor channel protected from weather and handy to a large turning basin. For large jobs aboard, there's a 40-ton walking hydraulic crane, forklifts, on-shore storage and workshop space and an active railhead for pickup and delivery of large, heavy equipment. New, modern bathrooms with showers are handy ashore, along with full time security, multiple phone lines and plenty of parking. The SugarDock has major freeways close by with easy access to the Oakland and San Francisco airports, the Golden Gate and Oakland bay Bridges, and within walking distance is historic downtown Point Richmond with restored luxury hotels, restaurants and entertainment. Two major boatyards boatyards are close enough to hit with a heaving line, and in the immediate neighborhood are three chandleries and scores of marine service industries from prop shops to spar builders, high-tech welders, composite fabricators, machine shops and boat carpenters. Fuel is readily available at the SugarDock via tanker-truck from nearby refineries.