By Maddy Vitale
Bob Woolery, a married father of two, is raising his children in the same way as he grew up, in Ocean City and on the bay.
Woolery, a dentist whose favorite hobby is boating, enjoys all that comes with living in the quiet Gardens section of town
He and his wife, Brigid, moved to their home in 2015. It is at the end of Bay Avenue. Their home and boat slip overlook North Point Lagoon, also known as Gardens Lagoon.
The young couple are bringing up their two sons, Jack, 5, and 1-year-old Luke, to appreciate life on the water and the world of boating and other water sports.
But at low tide, hobbies on the lagoon and water sports can be a bit tricky – or less fun, if not impossible, local residents say. Sometimes it is hard to get in or out of the channel. In a small boat it is doable, but something larger than, say 30 feet, is nearly impossible.
But for Woolery and the other residents in the upscale neighborhood along the North Point Lagoon, relief is coming.
City Council has set aside $3 million for dredging projects as part of a $9 million bond ordinance, which includes other citywide improvements to roads and drainage.
Dredging is scheduled to start in the fall.
“It’s great, not only for boating, but also swimming,” Woolery said. “You can’t really swim at low tide. Even to go out paddleboarding, you could get your oar stuck.”
Woolery can maneuver his 20-foot boat with no problem, but he still has to carefully navigate the lagoon during low tide.
“There are shallow parts at the entrance and exits of the lagoon. Sailboats have trouble and big boats can’t get in or out at low tide,” he noted.
And until dredging is completed, Woolery said he worries about bacteria in the sediment and when it is low tide, he doesn’t let the kids take a dip. And over time, he said, he wonders what silt does to the boats.
“Any time your boat gets bay mud on it, it can’t be good for it,” he added.
Hugh McIntyre and his wife, Fran, have lived on the lagoon since 1993. They love their home on Bay Avenue.
“I think this is the greatest lagoon on the coast,” Hugh McIntyre said.
The family once had a large boat, but they opted for a 24-foot boat for the grandkids to enjoy. They swim, boat, go tubing and go paddleboarding. And having a larger boat was more of a hassle than anything else considering the muddy sediment that chokes the lagoon.
“I feel like it has depreciated the real estate values. The main asset on the lagoon is boating,” Hugh McIntyre said. “We have a little boat, but guys with large boats can’t get in and out. Some of them leave their boats at the Yacht Club.”
For Rick McIntyre, the dredging project has been a long time coming. “It’s finally happening. They have been talking about it for years,” he said.
George Savastano, Ocean City’s business administrator, said the main problem in North Point Lagoon is that sediment has built up at the mouth of the channel.
He sympathized with the homeowners who have been waiting for the lagoon to be dredged.
“This needs to be done. If you live there, you probably say it’s bad,” he said.
In the past three years, the city has been spending millions of dollars to methodically clear out channels and lagoons along the back bays that are laden with mud and silt.
Savastano characterized the North Point dredging project as the “right thing to do” for the neighborhood.
“It’s the only remaining lagoon that has not been dredged like the others,” Savastano said.
