Naval Air Station Whidbey Island held a grand opening for Crescent Harbor Adventures on the seaplane base, April 4.

The marina facility was closed in 2004 due to a lack of funding, but the new facility will be open Thursday through Monday for the enjoyment of NAS Whidbey service members and their families.

“There’s a lot of excitement being generated and it’s shown by you folks being here,” said Russ Gale, NAS Whidbey recreation director. “We’re happy and we hope you’re happy with this facility, too. At Crescent Harbor Adventures, it’s our desire to rekindle the love of boating and sailing and combine it with our outdoor recreation equipment rentals and programs so our patrons can experience the great outdoors to its fullest.”

The conveniently located facility negates some of the need for the approximately 15 minute commute between the Seaplane Base and Ault Field Base, where the outdoor recreation rental was formerly part of the base auto hobby shop.

“This is way cool to me, because we’re going to start teaching sailing again,” said Capt. Gerral David, NAS Whidbey commanding officer. “We’ve moved almost all of the outdoor recreation gear here, even though we said we weren’t going to until June. We’re right here next to the commissary and Navy Exchange and we’re right where you put your boat in the water. Now you don’t have to go to Ault Field to get a boat and drag it over here to put it in the water.”

Members of the NAS Whidbey morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) department are excited about the amenities offered and feel it will help Sailors get the most enjoyment out of their tour on the island.

“When the sun’s out, this is going to be a busy place because we’re going to be reserving boats months in advance like it was before,” said Mike Rowe, Crescent Harbor Adventures manager. “I think the opportunities here are great. We live on an island, people should be able to go out on a boat. We live in one of the greatest camping areas in the world, people should be able to get camping gear and we have good stuff.”

The facility features a classroom for training which will also decrease the need for transit and will be made available to other entities to support training they conduct.

“The environmental department does their oil spill training out here on the water, motorcycle safety does their classroom work on the other base then come all the way back here to practice it in the Exchange parking lot,” said Rowe. “They can now use this classroom, it’s all about opportunities.”

After the ceremony, sail boat rides were offered by members of Whidbey Island Naval Sailing Association (WINSA) to attendees for their enjoyment.