Dear SI Community,

The crew organizations who use the Lake Merced Boathouse—St. Ignatius Prep Crew, the Pacific Rowing Club, the Dolphin Boat Club, the South End Rowing Club and the San Francisco Rowing Club—must replace the Lake Merced Boathouse shell launching dock which is in considerable disrepair. We are asking for your help to raise capital for this purchase.

We are purchasing a rowing-specific dock system from Dockside Products of Castaic, California. The dock system, Connect-A-Dock-1000 Series, is made of two interlocking aluminum, steel and fiberglass modular units. Connected, these two sections will measure 13 feet 9 inches wide by 120 feet long. Our present forty-year old dock is roughly 8 feet wide by 100 feet long. The purchase price for the new dock system is $60,617.20.

The new dock, combined with a new, custom made 10-foot wide by 49-foot long aluminum rowing ramp leading to our new dock that SF Park and Recreation has purchased and installed, will give the rowers a safer and much-needed upgrade.

As the two primary crew programs who will benefit from a new dock, St. Ignatius Prep and the Pacific Rowing Club are the lead organizations to purchase the dock. The St Ignatius rowing program is asking for your help in this endeavor. It is a significant investment for our school’s rowing program and will ensure a safe, secure platform to launch St. Ignatius boats for the next 50 years. We are committed to providing $30,000 of the funding and need your support.

No donation is too small. Donors who contribute more than $500 will be acknowledged on a plaque that will be placed next to the NEW ramp entrance.

Row like a CHAMPION !!!

Tom O’Connell

Head Crew Coach