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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, sailboat rentals, sailboat service, sailboat sales and
one of the finest sailing schools in the country. Also, opening
June 2006, Marty Colburn Wildlife Photography Gallery.
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, Office/Rental Mgr – 1987
Wayne Barnes, Service Tech – 1989
Chris Harwood, Service Tech – 1993
Barry Watkins – Dockhand/Housekeeping - 1998 |
