THE HISTORY OF OX BOW MARINA
The founder and original developer of Ox Bow Marina in the early 1960s was Lloyd Korth. He was also the owner of Korth’s Pirates Lair Marina.
Lloyd Korth was born in 1925 and went to the local schools of Isleton Elementary and Rio Vista High School. He joined the Navy after high school and went on to study engineering. His parents, Albine and Josephine Korth, bought 50 acres to farm on Andrus Island in the 1930s, which they turned into a fishing resort that later became Korth’s Pirate’s Lair Marina.
Lloyd came to help his parents at their fishing resort after marrying Pamela Yorkman and helped to develop it into a marina that today has 212 covered boat berths, a launch ramp, a cafe, and a mobile home park.
A DEVELOPMENT VISION
In the 1960s, Lloyd started thinking about developing a second marina. He’d noticed a perfect spot of an oxbow in the river on Georgiana Slough and envisioned how a new marina and a waterfront home subdivision could be built there.
He purchased the land for Ox Bow in the 1960s and did an original dredging of a 30-foot deep lagoon. The dredged materials were then used to build a tall waterfront berm around the future lagoon harbor. This berm became the future site of 95 waterfront homes, the marina office buildings, a clubhouse and swimming pool, a launch ramp, several restroom and laundry facilities and some industrial shops.
BIRTH OF A MARINA
Clint Sudweeks Construction Company was hired and did all the construction to build the Ox Bow Marina boat berths and marina buildings.
Due to the difficulty in getting permits and bank loan financing, the actual building of Ox Bow Marina was delayed for many years and sat as a pristine lagoon harbor, which many boaters used as their own private anchorage area.
Finally Lloyd and Pam Korth formed a business partnership with Jules and Marilyn Duc and were able to secure Wells Fargo Bank financing to build the 423 Ox Bow Marina boat berths, the additional marina buildings and to complete the entire infrastructure for the waterfront mobile home subdivision.
HOMES GO IN
In 1978, sales of the mobile home lots, with an approved double-wide mobile home unit, began.
Each waterfront real estate lot originally sold for $29,500. Five mobile home models were brought in for buyers to review or they could purchase another mobile home of their choice. Mobile home prices ranged from $45,000 to $60,000.
Therefore, the price of purchasing a home lot and a mobile home at Ox Bow Marina, at the ground level stage, was between $75,000 and $90,000.
Lloyd Korth’s daughter, Kimberly, sold 80 of the 95 waterfront home lots, and her sister, Kandace, also helped with the sales of the mobile homes.
MARINA LAUNCH 1979
In 1979 with the infrastructure completed, as well as the building of the marina facilities and berths, the Ox Bow Marina was open for business and the customers started pouring in.
THE LEGACY CONTINUES
Today, Ox Bow Marina continues to be a 50/50 business partnership between the Korth and Duc family descendants.
Lloyd and Pam Korth with Jules and Marilyn Duc