July 20, 2010
Jeff Goubeaud can easily guide you into Mitchell Park Marina in the Village of Greenport, out on the east end of Long Island. He's lived near this part of New York all of his life and now manages the marina. Plus, he's pretty good with directions; he repairs marine compasses on the side.
Goubeaud grew up 5 miles away in Southold and with his history as manager of Shelter Island Yacht Club and dockmaster at Brewer Yacht Yard in Greenport, Goubeaud is decidedly local. He has navigated the waters since when, at age 8, he bought his first boat and by age 10 held his first sailboat crew position with a neighbor.
"My family were not really boaters," Goubeaud said. "I guess I'm the odd duck in the family."
He had also worked as relief captain and crew on a ferry that ran from Long Island to Plum Island, the United States location for offshore animal disease research. Luckily, he was never exposed as he ferried scientists and staff back and forth, on call at times, as they researched foot-and-mouth disease, equine encephalitis, swine flu and other contagions at facilities on Plum Island.
Now, he can be found at Mitchel Park Marina. There are 13 dock staff and five people in the office during the season, but it's Goubeaud who is the connection year round. The marina is open May 15 to Oct. 15, but he said he assists boaters in the water as late as the end of November.
"And all during the winter I come in two to three days a week and make the phone calls, work on advertising, the marketing plan and whatever needs done."
The original Mitchell Park Marina burned.
"It was an icon," he said, "and this new marina is the opposite of rustic."
The property was bought by the village after a failed attempt by developers, he said, and although it took years, the village eventually got the job finished. The new marina has been up and running for five years with 61 floating slips in the center of the Greenport Village waterfront. The floating docks can accommodate vessels up to 70 feet and standing piers with more than 1,200 linear feet of dock space can accommodate yachts up to 220 feet.
"Archemides, at 220 feet, was in here," Goubeaud said of the Feadship.
"As far as local knowledge, it's clearly navigable with deep water of 90 feet," he said. "At the end of the pier we have 30 feet."
Greenport has about 12 restaurants, several bars, three or four wine and cheese places, and art galleries within walking distance, Goubeaud said. There's a movie theater and several hotels. Preston's hardware is next door and the nearby boatyard, the historic Greenport Yacht and Shipbuilding, has a 300-ton railway for all types of repairs.
The marina is directly across from Sag Harbor with Shelter Island in between, he said. The marina looks over to the popular ferry to Shelter Island, near the train station and bus depot.
"Yachts are finding out about Greeport and they love it here," he said. "The commercial businesses have learned about the yachts and even the IGA delivers."
Goubeaud said amenities are great for yachts but that he has requested upgrades to the electric on the docks.
"We have 100 amp single phase but many of the yachts that need three phase use a smart box," he said.
Boating is seasonal in New York and although there are several thousand residents in the village year-round, the number triples in summer.
"I love it here year-round, but we can get some nasty storms with three to four feet of snow off season."
So he gets to read a lot in the winter, and focus on his biggest hobby: rebuilding compasses.
"People always think they have to get a new one and I tell them they can rebuild it," he said.
He learned that skill when he served as a quartermaster in the U.S. Coast Guard.
"The quartermaster's the guy that keeps the plot and the charting," he said. "I worked under the navigator; I did the grunt work."
He joined the military while attending Southhampton College for business management and spends his spare time in his shop doing compass repairs and he also does compass adjusting.
Always a boater, Goubeaud said he still holds a 200-ton near coastal license.
"If I wasn't working here," he said, "I'd be looking for a job on a boat."
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