South Lake Tahoe native returns home and is new owner of Boat Docks Inc

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Spending his workday outdoors and on the water in Lake Tahoe wasn't hard for Tanner Hart to imagine, and since buying Boat Docks Inc from life-long local Doug Gayner in January its something he gets to enjoy every day.

Gainer started the company over 40 years ago, specializing in boat docks in the Tahoe Keys. Now Hart has hit the waterways with the new Boat Docks Barge, something he designed, engineered and built with the help and support of Dan Benson.

We caught up with him recently as he and his crew were installing an over-the-water platform and new fixed boat dock in the Tahoe Keys. The company's new barge and its crane lifted the parts of the dock as they maneuvered it into place.

Many of their current jobs include removing old docks with exposed styrofoam and replacing them with new, environmentally friendly sealed plastic floats.

Tanner works primarily in the Keys but is looking to expand soon to lakefront dock and pier needs. On his new barge, Tanner and crew can work in the Keys until the ice builds up and then start again in spring as soon as it melts. On the lake they wouldn't have to be concerned with ice, just weather conditions.

Tanner was born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, then left town at the age of 18 to become a helicopter pilot. He earned his airframe/aviation mechanic license and lived in Costa Mesa and Visalia. His goal was to return and work and live in Lake Tahoe, and his new company allows him to do just that.

Both Hart and Gayner come from families with long ties to South Lake Tahoe. Hart's great-grandmother Dorothy Lockett and Doug's mother were two of the three school teachers at the first Tahoe school house in 1947. Dorothy Lockett told stories of making the trip to Tahoe from Texas in a covered wagon with her father and sister when she was a young girl. His great-great-aunt Lulu Hawley's family had a cabin on Hawley Grade and she owned the Hawley Sundeck Motel near Ski Run Boulevard starting in 1949.

Lockett went on to become the first school psychologist in South Lake Tahoe. Tanner's grandmother Trudy Greenough taught for the Lake Tahoe Unified School District for 36 years and his mother Holly just retired after 29 years (his aunt Jamie Greenough is still teaching at South Tahoe High).

Tanner is engaged to another resident with long-time family ties, Taryn Bourne.

For more information on Boat Docks Inc, visit https://www.boatdocksinc.com/ or call 530.541.1111. Tanner is also looking for people with construction experience to join his team.