So much of the community and economy in Homer is intertwined with what happens on the water. There are the salmon seiners, the halibut charters, and the dive tenders that serve pipelines and utilities. But before the 1980s, it was difficult for larger boats — whether commercial or recreational — to dock or get serviced in Homer; the city didn’t have a boatyard for hauling such vessels in and out. Husband-and-wife team Ken and Snooks Moore started Northern Enterprises Boat Yard in 1981 to tap into the huge potential they saw to support the local marine industry.

As a thriving boat repair and maintenance facility with a 40-year history, Homer, Alaska-based Northern Enterprises Boat Yard has periodically undergone expansion and infrastructure improvements. But the 35-acre boatyard, which is located about 220 miles south of the state’s capital and biggest city, Anchorage, has never faced as massive a project as the one completed in the past few months.

Located on Kachemak Drive, the boatyard currently operates a 75-metric-ton travel lift, but is installing a new machine that will extend the carry weight to 220 metric tons, and is constructing a new dock, which will allow much larger vessels to be raised from Kachemak Bay.