HAVERHILL — Mayor James Fiorentini said, via press release, the city will expand its public boat docks and make other improvements to the area behind the Tap Brewing Company off Washington Street as the docks prepare for another summer season.
The expansion to the William “Captain Red” Slavit Municipal Dock comes as Plum Island Kayak will offer its services for a third year downtown. The public docks will also welcome the arrival of Newburyport-based Yankee Clipper Tours for their first season with passenger riverboat cruises.
Last week, the Haverhill City Council unanimously approved the request from the Harbor Commission to transfer $8,000 from its Waterways account to purchase the three additional docks to the previous six dockings already along the Merrimack River.
According to Harbor Commission Chairman Sam Amari the docks should be ready in the coming weeks and are already ordered.
This summer marks the third season for Plum Island Kayak to operate its ticket booth along the Washington Street dock and store its kayaks there. The Newburyport-based, kayak-outfitting business offers both rentals of single and double kayaks and guided tours.
Yankee Clipper Tours is expected to bring its riverboat to Haverhill by mid to late June. It will offer both day and night time cruises with room for 35 to 44 passengers.
The tours are expected to be modeled after their current offerings in Newburyport and its scenic-harbor tours along the Merrimack River in that location, Captain Paul Aziz, owner of Yankee Clipper Tours, told the Harbor Commission in January. Tours should include 90-minute sunset cruises, one-hour public trips and accommodations for private charters on its catamaran-style boat. Aziz said during that January meeting that the 30-foot boat will also be available for “some pro-bono work and environment groups.”
Additional lighting and security cameras surrounding the public docks will be installed in collaboration between Haverhill police and the Harbor Commission.
