| Marty
Colburn has enjoyed living, working and playing on
Kentucky Lake for most of his life. His love for the
outdoors stems from family outings on the lake, where
his parents taught him how to ski and handle boats.
Being a Boy Scout and Eagle Scout gave him even more
appreciation for KY Lake and the Land Between the Lakes.
As a teenager, he worked at KY Dam Marina (old location)
and as a lifeguard at KY Dam State Park for 3 summers.
He was also involved in starting a local ski club,
called the KY Lake Ski Nuts.
In
June of 1977, Marty established Kentucky Lake Sails. The
first office was a 32’ mobile office trailer located on
Hwy. 62 in Calvert City. The first two years Marty sold
AMF Sunfish, Catalina, Cape Dory, Irwin, Macgregor and
various other sailboats. In 1978 he picked up the
Hunter, J Boat, and San Juan sailboat lines.
In the
fall of 1979, the business was moved across the highway
to higher ground and more permanent buildings including
a small service shop. Tim Colburn, Marty’s brother, came
onboard in the fall of 1979 to help service and
commission the sailboats. They had to hire a 'Cherry
Picker' from a local construction company to come and
load the boats on a trailer which they then moved to KY
Dam Marina where it was launched. Most slips in the
area were covered and open slips were hard to get.
Marty
started considering options for a marina.
Brenda
joined the team in the spring of 1980 as bride,
bookkeeper and boat cleaner. Stiletto catamarans,
Windsurfer, Hobie Cat, a canoe line and rowing shells
were added to their inventory. Brenda learned to sail
that spring on a 27' Stiletto catamaran. They spent a
lot of time sailing and often took people for rides
showing them how much fun sailing on Kentucky Lake can
be.
Dreams can come true. In 1982, Brenda and Marty bought
a run down marina known as Grand Rivers Boat Dock and
moved KY Lake Sails to the new location. There were
about 50 dilapidated slips that were eventually torn
out. Extensive dredging and excavation was done over a
period of years, eventually making room for 190 boats up
to 46'. As KY Lake Sails continued to expand from a
marina with sailboat sales and service to a resort and
marina with sailboat sales & service the name was
changed to Lighthouse Landing.
Lighthouse Landing Lighthouse was built to celebrate
their 25th year in business. Keith Steele
construction was hired to build the first Lighthouse on
Kentucky Lake. The Lighthouse, located on the south
break wall was started in the fall of 2002 and completed
in the spring of 2003. The 186' lighted boardwalk leads
you along the top of the break wall to the Lighthouse.
The top of the Lighthouse stands 40 feet above the water
at winter pool and the view from the Lighthouse platform
is beautiful. Lighthouse Landing Lighthouse is a welcome
sign to all those who visit Lighthouse Landing.
After
extensive dredging (4 times), several extreme floods and
building new slips, break walls, cottages, and various
other buildings, the original marina with 50 dilapidated
slips and rundown campground was gradually transformed
into the full service resort Lighthouse Landing is
today.
Lighthouse Landing currently has 190 boat slips, 60
campsites, 22 cottages, 2 Guest rooms, Meeting Room,
Ship's Store,
Marty Colburn Wildlife Photography Gallery, sailboat rentals, sailboat service,
sailboat sales and one of the finest sailing schools in
the country.
Listed
below are employees, who have been with Lighthouse
Landing 5 years or longer and helped Lighthouse Landing
grow to what it is today.
Marty Colburn,
Owner/President - 1977
Tim Colburn, Service Mgr and Sales
- 1979-2006
(in our hearts forever)
Brenda Colburn, Owner/Bean Counter - 1980
Robin Colburn, Rental Manager - 1987
Wayne Barnes, Service Tech - 1989
Chris Harwood, Service Manager - 1993
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