At 2:23 AM, February 17, 2006, Mary Kuhn’s phone rang at home. It was hotel security.
Kuhn is Dockmaster and Manager of the 466-slip Marriott Hotel Marina in San Diego, California. The marina is in the heart of San Diego Bay with hundreds of large, luxury yachts. The value of boats in her marina is close to the GDP of some countries.
The marina’s location is so prime it has a 10-year waiting list for larger slips. The Marriott Hotel and Marina is among the few places in the world where the marina is completely woven into the fabric of a premier hotel.
Hotel security professionals at the Marriott are masters of the low-key, nothing-much-happening tone. “We’ve had a little incident,” they usually say.
This call was different. “There’s a fire in the marina,” the voice said excitedly. Kuhn raced to the marina as quickly as the law allows on the waterfront highway.
Minutes earlier a burning electrical panel had set off a smoke alarm onboard a 42-foot Chris Craft, waking the couple on board. They quickly decided the best course of action was to leave and get help.
The Challenge of Fighting a Marina Fire
Time is of the essence in a marina fire. Boat fires can spread quickly, especially with wind or if the fire occurs under a covered moorage.
A fire in a marina presents many problems for the firefighters. The heat is intense and the smoke is black. “If the smoke comes at you, you can’t see your hand in front of your face,” said one firefighter. The docks can feel narrow and may be crowded with equipment and firefighting personnel.
In the dark it’s hard to see your footing. Fully charged 2.5-inch hoses don’t like to go around corners, and marinas are full of corners. Put all this together, and you can see that middle-of-the-night marina fires can be a challenge. If a firefighter wearing 50 pounds of equipment falls in the water, he can soon be in a survival situation.
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MAGAZINE: Marina World
ISSUE: May/June 2006
Building or refurbishing a marina can be, and usually is, a long and complicated process. One of the major obstacles in Europe these days is the permitting procedure. each country has its own set of requirements, but most follow the familiar pattern of local planning, environmental and in some cases, central government approvals. It’s not unheard of to even require Royal approval in some countries. In order to achieve these approvals a good deal of time and money is required to complete concept designs, impact studies and environmental assessments, which are then submitted, amended, resubmitted, discussed and (hopefully) finally approved.
Euromarina Review, Vol. 5 Issue 1 2006
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It’s safe to say that the boating public appreciates placid moorages but has no idea how much science and engineering goes into planning and designing them. That’s my job. I’ve been a structural engineer specializing in marina design for the last 20 years.
For most of that time, I have developed solutions consistent with the site-specific marina engineering system employed by Bellingham Marine. This has afforded me the opportunity to learn, test, study, and solve breakwater, wave wall and wave attenuator challenges all over the world.
A smooth ride in a marina delivers more than just a higher level of comfort to your tenants and a less stressful berth for their boats. It can turn a parking lot for boats into a revenue-producing machine.
In my work with developers and operators around the world, I’ve heard an often-repeated story. The more tranquil the marina basin, the more likelihood your tenants will come to the marina and use your services.
A few years ago, Bellingham Marine Australia replaced a fixed-wood-dock marina for the St. George Motor Boat Club in Botany Bay, Sydney, Australia. The old docks were replaced by concrete flotation and a wave attenuator. One year after the new marina opened, Ralph Gibbons, the General Manager, said,
“People come to the marina for the weekend and stay on their boats. They enjoy just being in the marina with the other boat owners. They use the restaurants and stores. Our revenues continue to go up beyond our planning expectations.”
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MAGAZINE: Marina Dock Age
ISSUE: January/February 2006
Fort Pierce Marina Tells a Story of Hurricane Fury and Destruction
Marina Dockage May /June 2005
Everyone wonders how much force a well-designed marina loaded with boats can survive during a hurricane. In Florida, a portable tower weather station was set up close to Fort Pierce Marina, a municipally owned marina, and it captured the strength and fury of Hurricane Frances as it battered the marina on Sept. 4-5 2004. This is the story of how that reborn marina was caught in a most unusual and devastating storm. Where it goes from here is a work in progress.
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Floating pontoons have been in use around the world for decades and are favoured, usually in association with wave attenuators or breakwaters, as the most user-friendly and versatile means of equipping a modern marina. With input from concrete systems specialist Bellingham Marine (BMI) and several of its recent customers, Marina World examines the advantages of concrete floating systems over fixed docks.
Marina World, March /April 2005
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