2011 brought with it the completion of a number of unique marina projects. Bellingham’s Best of 2011 list pays tribute to several such projects.
At the end of each year it’s nice to look back and reminisce about all that took place that year. Time goes by like a blur and after a couple months it’s often hard to recall all that was actually accomplished over the years’ time.
Below are the projects that topped Bellingham Marine’s Best of 2011 list.
Salvaged from a nearby marina, the Unifloat pontoons at a Wynyard Public park offer a great example of how a concrete dock can be given a second life.
We’ve all head the phrase reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce our level of consumption, reuse a product for another purpose rather than just throwing it away, and once a product can no longer be used recycle it.
When I was young my mom would save every glass jar that came into our house — relish jars, mayo jars, peanut butter jars, pickle jars you name it. If it was glass, once the contents has been devoured she’d carefully remove the label, wash the jar and place it in the cupboard where it awaited its next life. If it was a “good” jar it would become one of our drinking glasses, if it was a big mouthed jar it was used for canning (those must have been the bad jars). If it didn’t fit into one of those categories she inevitably found a use for it somewhere around the house – cotton ball holder, money jar, and my favorite – caterpillar home.
You may have heard someone boast about the hundred different uses for duct tape. My mom had a hundred different uses for glass jars. She was creative in her thinking and was never bound to the confines of the jar’s origination.
I recently received some photos from a gentleman in New Zealand. The pictures were of a public park in New Zealand’s Wynyard precinct. What stood out to me was the park’s creative landscaping. Carefully integrated throughout the park were old Unifloat® concrete dock modules that had been cleaned up and strategically placed. Some were used to provide seating areas around the basketball court and other general gathering spaces; while others were functioning as retaining walls. They did not look out of place but rather purposeful and intriguing in their use and placement.
Keep an eye out for damaged electrical equipment.
Preventative maintenance is an easy way to keep things running smoothly and to identify issues before they become a problem. We perform preventative maintenance on our cars, our houses and even our teeth.
The ideal preventative maintenance program includes a schedule of planned maintenance actions aimed at the prevention of problems before they occur. Among the industries that benefit most from a proper preventive maintenance program are the electrical and mechanical industries. Studies show that the failure rate of electrical equipment is three times higher for components that are not part of a scheduled preventive maintenance program as compared to those that are.
The modern marina invests heavily in its electrical system. Large facilities operate as miniature distribution centers managing expensive equipment and with it huge amounts of electricity. On average, a large marina catering to mid-sized boats will require approximately 10,000 amps to service all its slips; for those catering to mega yachts it’s closer to 22,000 amps. In comparison, the average home requires just 200 amps.
By setting up an electrical preventative maintenance program, marinas can potentially save themselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and lost business, and may also qualify for lower insurance rates.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Alamitos Bay Marina on September 17, 2011.
If you’ve ever been involved in a laborious permitting and funding process you know all too well the feeling of victory and the heavy sigh of relief that comes once you receive your final OK to proceed. You’ll also know that without an iron will and a true passion for what you’re doing you’ll likely be eaten alive.
Anyone who’s spent much time at all with Mark Sandoval, Long Beach Marine Bureau Manager knows he’s a man of integrity and determination. After 10 years of planning and three years of delays, Sandoval received his final OK from Long Beach City Council to move forward with the first phase of his planned $90 million dollar renovation of Alamitos Bay Marina in Long Beach, CA.
A rebuild can create opportunities for a marina to improve their revenue streams.
North Harbour, a city owned marina in Powell River, British Columbia, Canada recently completed a rebuild and reconfiguration project that effectively increased the marina’s moorage space by 19% from 7,943 feet of chargeable moorage space to 9,500 feet.
The goal of the rebuild was to address failing infrastructure and a growing waiting list for larger berths. According to the City of Powell River, there had been an increasing demand for larger berths in the area, and there was a large waiting list of boat owners with vessel 28 feet and larger wishing to moor at North Harbour.