Skip to content
(904) 327-3931

Jacksonville & Northeast Florida

The First Coast Authority for Bulkheads, Seawalls, and Waterfront Construction.

Marine construction built for water that does not sit still. We build and repair the structures that hold Northeast Florida's waterfront in place — and we will tell you honestly when yours does not need our help yet.

Get a Free Estimate Call (904) 327-3931

Exceptional Structures, Uncommon Quality, Un-matched Protection for your Investments.

What we do

Three things we do more than anything else

Bulkheads, seawalls and docks are the bulk of our work. Each has its own section of this site because each deserves more than a paragraph.

The Barefoot advantage

Built on water. Trusted on land.

Marine construction goes wrong in places nobody can see — below the mudline, behind the wall, under the waterline. The difference between contractors shows up years after handover, which is exactly when it is most expensive to discover.

We have been working this coast since 2009, for residential, commercial, municipal and military clients. Owned and run by Rick Powell, Founder & CEO.

About Barefoot Marine See our work

  • Insured for work over water

    Workers' Compensation and USL&H (Longshore & Harbor Workers') coverage — federally required for maritime work that falls outside state workers' compensation. A contractor without it working over your water leaves the exposure with you.

    What USL&H is, and what to ask for

  • Certified General Contractor

    Florida CGC #1533461. Licensed for the structural work, not just the parts that are easy to see.

  • Diagnosis before scope

    The parts of a wall or dock that decide its future are underwater or underground. We look there before writing an estimate.

  • Local since 2009

    Jacksonville-owned, working this coast for 17 years. We know what the St. Johns does to a structure because we have been repairing it the whole time.

What our customers say

Unedited from our Google Business Profile. Bulkheads, seawalls and docks across the First Coast.

Read them on Google

  • Rick and his team are extremely knowledgeable, experienced and very easy to work with. The repair/replacement of our community bulkheads look great and will last for years to come. Highly recommend.

    Jimmy Semrau

    3 years ago Google review

  • We had Rick and his crew demo my old bulkhead and rebuild it brand new. Great people, reasonable pricing and professional. Lookin forward to the next projects they will do for me in the future

    Michael Bunch

    3 years ago Google review

  • The entire Barefoot team was great! They showed up on time every day, worked hard, are courteous, and cleaned up the site at the end of each day. Our new bulkhead looks great!! Highly recommend!

    TJ Vranicar

    2 years ago Google review

Read all 22 reviews

Our work

Structures we have built and saved

Residential, commercial, municipal and military waterfront across the First Coast — including the dock and marine wall at the St. Vincent's pavilion in Jacksonville.

View all projects
Interior of a covered waterfront pavilion with an exposed timber roof structure, wide plank decking and open sides looking out to the water
St. Vincent's pavilion
Interior of a timber boathouse looking out over the water, with boat lifts and vessels under the roof structure
Bolles School boathouse
Timber bulkhead with armour stone riprap placed along its toe, lawn running down to the wall and a railed deck above
Bulkhead with riprap toe
Timber boathouse with a vessel on a lift beneath the roof, with a railed dock running alongside over open water
Timber boathouse and lift

More services

Everything else we do on the water

See the full service list

Service area

From the First Coast to Florida's coastline

We work the waterfront of Northeast Florida — the St. Johns, the Intracoastal, the creeks and the canals. Locally owned and based in Jacksonville, which means our crews are not travelling four hours to reach your property.

  • Residential
  • Commercial
  • Municipal
  • Military

Questions we get asked a lot

What areas do you serve?
Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties in Northeast Florida. See the service area pages for detail on each.
Are estimates really free?
Yes, and that includes the ones where we tell you the work does not need doing yet. We would rather be the contractor you call in four years than the one who sold you something you did not need.
Is a bulkhead the same thing as a seawall?
In everyday use on the First Coast the words are interchangeable, and we answer to both. Where a technical distinction is drawn, a bulkhead retains soil and a seawall resists wave energy. The full explanation is here.
Do I need a permit for work on my waterfront?
Usually, and often from several agencies — potentially FDEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the St. Johns River Water Management District and your county or city. Requirements depend on your site and change periodically, so confirm current requirements with the reviewing agency. We handle permitting on the projects we build.
How quickly can you come out?
Call and we will tell you honestly where we are. After a regional storm, every marine contractor in Northeast Florida is committed, and we will not promise a date we cannot hold.
Bulkhead FAQ → Seawall FAQ → Dock FAQ → Resources & guides →

Your waterfront project, our expertise

Free estimates across Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties. Send photos of what you are seeing and we will tell you what it needs.

Get a Free Estimate Call (904) 327-3931

Certified General Contractor #1533461 · Workers' Comp + USL&H Insured · Serving Northeast Florida since 2009