By Nathan Mayberg
As the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Ian nears, the owners of Fish-Tale Marina now have plans in place approved by the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council to proceed with repairs to its docks, dry storage boat facilities and other buildings, which will also include a 
restaurant.
The property incurred extensive damage from Hurricane Ian. The timeline is to have the work completed in stages over the next year, said Brock Petrak, a civil engineer based out of Boca Raton with the Edgewater Group.
The Loggerhead Fish-Tale Marina property at 7225 Estero Blvd., Fort Myers Beach, is owned by Equity LifeStyle Properties through a Texas-based subsidiary. The property was purchased in 2020 from the former ownership group headed by the late Al Durrett.
Illinois-based Equity LifeStyle Properties out manages and operates the marina, while Walker’s Marine FMB leases property for boat servicing and boat sales. Freedom Boat Club has an agreement for slips on site and for boat rentals.
Under the plans approved by the council, two of the dry storage facilities will be built to accommodate larger boats though slightly fewer boats. The marina’s dry storage facilities will now be able to handle 434 boats, down from 441 with a total square footage of 68,000 square feet of dry storage.
The wet slips will also be reconfigured to make room for larger boats, which will reduce the 
number of wet boat slips available from 120 to 99. A new boat club with a rental office will offer bait for sale, ship store, ADA compliant restrooms, showers and ice.
Petrak said the marina work has been permitted through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and is nearing completion of its approvals for its docks through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Construction is expected to begin late fall, with temporary fueling stations available during the buildout of the docks.
The new layout will have a larger center lane for boats to make for easier access to forklifts and dry storage. The marina could also be a future stop for a water ferry shuttling to the future Arches Bayfront hotel. Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt, a proponent of water ferry and water taxi services, highlighted the plans of the Arches Bayfront hotel for a water taxi stop at Fish-Tale Marina, stating the stop would be “critical” to alleviating concerns of residents that local residential canals would be used for a water ferry. Atterholt said the ferry could hold up to 49 people and also private water taxi services.
Nathan Mayberg is a reporter for the Cape Coral Breeze.
