Wind wrecks havoc on Mar Don

70 mph wind knocks out docks and rental fleet

With less than a week before the Rod Meseberg Spring Walleye Classic, havoc struck the Mar Don Resort.

Winds swept through the marina of the camping and fishing resort, nearly destroying the entire dock system and completely wiping out the rental boats owned by Mar Don. The 70 mph wind showed no favorites, sinking a customer's boat near the shores of the marina and crashing another into the dam along the west side of Mar Don Resort.

The only salvation was a lone boat, still attached to a dock about 100 yards away from the shore in perfect condition.

Marilyn Meseberg said the wind did most of the damage Tuesday evening, destroying nine rental boats, six outboard motors, a party barge and four paddle boats in excess of $80,000. Wednesday morning, they found the docks splintered into about a dozen pieces.

"We went to bed with a heavy heart, actually," Meseberg said.

Meseberg added that the dock system was put into place about 12 years ago, costing $250,000. All this happened with the resort's biggest tournament two days away.

"Everyone is pushing for us to cancel, but we are not going to," Meseberg said. "We are going to have a tournament."

The tournament has 80 boats guaranteed with a maximum limit of 150 boats and Meseberg said Mar Don plans to hosts as many as 110 boats. She added that the crew was ready, had the docks set up and were in preparation of adding more fingers to the docks to hold the number of fishermen showing up for the tournament.

Even with most of the docks damaged by the 70 mph winds, which caused 12-foot swells, according to Meseberg, Mar Don said it should be able to maintain the accommodations needed for the fishermen coming in and out of the marina during the two-day event.

"I think we are still going to have a good tournament," Meseberg said. "They hold a tournament in Moses Lake with two small docks, so I think we can get it done."

Meseberg faced a similar situation four years ago when the marina was holding about 80 boats when a major wind blew 10 boats away from the dock. She added that boaters got caught in the lake, unable to return to the docks and had to get rescue help from the resort and the sheriff's department.

The docks survived that windstorm. This time, Meseberg said the crew is evaluating the damage to see if the docks are salvageable.

"The problem for us is, you can't insure docks and insure against wind damage," Meseberg said. "I am not sure, but I think if we are able to put our docks back together, I don't think we are going to have as expensive docks as we have had before."