Bird Key Yacht Club christens kayak lift

Bird Key Yacht Club members celebrated the completion of a new kayak lift with a christening June 17.

The lift, which is the only kayak lift at a Sarasota club, is the first phase of a $2.6 million renovation of the marina, which will have 45 slips to accommodate boats of up to 50 feet in length. The project will be fully completed this fall. The Sarasota Power and Sail Squadron safety checked the kayak lift before its first launch.

“We’re going to qualify as a clean marina with the Florida Environmental Protection Agency,” said Board of Governors member Brian McCarthy, who manages the marina renovation. “This is a celebration of what’s ecologically great.”