Volunteers toil in mud and dark to finish Phase 1 of rail system at Gig Harbor’s Eddon Boatyard

Dirt and mud everywhere. Working late nights and early mornings.

That was the life of eight or so Gig Harbor residents who worked to reconstruct the outside rails of the marine railways at Eddon Boatyard, Phase 1 of a three-phase project.

They finished the project in eight days, a construction job initially thought to take two months.

“The volunteers set 900-pound steel members in the dark, cold and mud because they wanted to be there,” emailed Allison Bujacich, Gig Harbor BoatShop’s community development director. “They are passionate about the BoatShop and our community. They see the value and public benefit that will be realized when the marine railways are completely restored. Their effort was quite moving.”

A marine rail system is made up of tracks that extend from a shop where boats are built or repaired to the mean low-water level. Boats are placed on an electric carriage which allows them to gently slide into the water once work on them is finished.

Phase 1 of the project consisted of installing the outside rails. The inside carriage will be installed as part of Phase 2 with the outside carriage being installed in Phase 3.

Phase 1 needed to be complete by the end of December before a federal permit expired.

“We had the materials on site but didn’t necessarily have the cash on hand to pay a contractor to install them — it probably would have cost at least $20,000,” Bujacich said. “We knew we had the expertise and enthusiasm within our volunteer base.”

The railway and house are the two final unfinished components of the Eddon Boatyard restoration, which has been underway for nearly 15 years.

Tides restricted work on the outside portion of the rail system to late nights and early mornings.

“The work was outside on a muddy beach and completely exposed to the elements,” Bujacich said. “Despite this, volunteers were enthusiastic and cheerful and got the job done more quickly then we’d ever imagined.”

To this date over $50,000 has been raised for the project and was used to complete Phase 1. Fundraising for Phases 2 and 3 is underway, with the estimated cost being around $330,000. The BoatShop is constantly attempting to find ways to reduce the cost, with volunteers already hinting that they would be willing to install the final two phases of the project.

Once the money has been raised, Bujacich is confident installation would go fairly quickly.

Bujacich said once these railways are completed, it will enhance the public’s ability to fully experience and enjoy the historical working waterfront.

For more information on the completion of Phase 1, watch the video at http://gigharborboatshop.org.

For more information on the Gig Harbor BoatShop and its campaign to finish the railways, visit http://gigharborboatshop.org/marine-railways-capital-campaign/.

This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 9:00 AM.