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JOHN CRUGEIVHANSEN'5
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an a Danish boatbuilder who spent 10 years running a private marina in warm, sunny Marina del Rey find happiness working for the city of Berkeley? You bet, says John Cruger-Hansen, who on January 1 celebrates his first anniversary as harbor-
Would you walk barefoot on this dock?
master of the Bay Area’s largest public marina. That John would find the job of Berkeley harbormaster to be challenging, exciting, demanding, as well as frustrating, is no sur¬ prise to anyone who understands the move
now, but it could be a superb one. This is an older facility and part of it needs to be rebuilt and modernized. Take the old wooden docks that some people think are the greatest. They are becoming splintery. Right now you can’t fold a sail or walk barefoot dn some of the docks,” said John. When John took over a year ago, the Berkeley Marina was in the midst of a rehabilitation program that started in 1984. “I took a very close look at the physical plant based on my knowledge as a boatbuilder and of wood rot. I started making numbers of papers and then called in the engineer on the project and a consultant. It did not pay to repair. The wood docks should be replaced with the state-of-the-art concrete thru-bolt system that will.last for at least 30 years. It might be a little more sterile, but it is more practical,” said John, who appeared before the Boating and Waterways Commission in November to change the scope of the Berkeley project from repair to rebuild. He also wants to broaden the project to include other sections of the marina. But his ideas don’t stop at just rebuilding the existing docks. There is a lot more he wants to see done. “We have one of the best windsurfing areas around, but the facilities aren’t equal to it. There isn’t enough parking and the dirt parking lot is full of pot holes. There is no place for the windsurfers to shower. This is something for the future we need to
my mind, it is totally worn out. The friction surface on the ramp is gone. It is as smooth as silk and it is getting harder and harder to pull boats out. The parking lot is gravel so you can’t stripe it. If the first one in parks cross ways, half of the parking is lost.” from the private (read — big bucks) to public (read — bureaucratic) sector. What is a sur¬ prise is that this 43-year-old amicable Dane thrives on the problem-solving aspect of his work To put it simply, he likes his job. “The Berkeley Marina is a great marina
The Cal Sailing Club, a longtime fixture in the Berkeley Marina.
address.” Then there is the launch ramp. “I want to apply for a grant to replace it. In
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i 1 nd the houseboats. “We are probably one of the only marinas that have legal houseboats. They are in regular berths with just three-and-a-half feet between the sides of these boats. That’s just
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