Marinas 2011, the bi-annual international conference and exhibition, hosted by the Marina Industries Association of Australia (MIAA) ended last week in Melbourne at the Convention and Exhibition Centre with its annual closing reception and awards ceremony.
This year, the MIAA recognized three marinas for their excellence. Categories included best large marina (greater than 140 berths), best small marina (up to 140 berths) and best Yacht Club. The larger marina category was awarded to Empire Marina Bobbin Head, Soldiers Point took home the award for the best under 140 berths, and the Yacht Club of the year went to Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay.
The award ceremony is one of the highlights of the conference. Marinas across Australia compete every two years for the highly coveted title of Marina of the Year. The MIAA started the award in 2007 following from the BIA Marina of the year awards dating back to 2000. The award recognizes marinas for their excellence in the provision of marina services, facilities and operations.
“We are still buzzing with the excitement of the accolade,” said Karen Baldwin, General Manager of Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay.
“Having won Marina of the Year in 2007, we are absolutely ecstatic to have won this highly regarded award again,” said Soldiers Point Marina Manager, Darrell Barnett, CMM.
Upon accepting the award, Director of Empire Marinas, Darren Vaux said, “It is such a great honor to be a part of an industry that strives for excellence in all aspects of its business. Winning this award for the second time affirms our vision to operate our marina and service facility to exceed our stakeholders’ expectations and it motivates us to strive to achieve more and always be on the top of our game.”
High praise was also given to Bellingham Marine – dock and marina builder to the three awarded facilities. “It goes without saying to win such an award the facility requires a first class marina and obviously Bellingham Marinas are the world’s best,” said Peter Moxham, Marina Manager of Royal Motor Yacht Club.
Bellingham extended a huge congratulations to the staff of the winning marinas. “The awarded marinas are exceptional in the way they present their marina,” said John Spragg, General Manager of Bellingham Marine Australia. “These marinas truly go the extra yards for their customers.”
2011 Marina of the Year (marinas with greater than 140 berths): Located within the magnificent Ku-ring-gai Chase National park and just 30 minutes from Sydney, Empire Marina Bobbin Head is one of the most advanced marine service facilities in Australia. The marina has 199 berths and 10 swing moorings suitable for boats ranging in length from 10m to 30m.
2011 Marina of the Year (marinas with 140 or fewer berths): The ultimate resort marina, Soldiers Point Marina, located in Port Stephens, is second to none in the area of service. The state of the art facility caters to boats 7m to 45m in length with 100 berths.
2011 Yacht Club of the Year: Situated on the shores of Pittwater in Newport, Royal Motor Yacht Club, Broken Bay prides itself on delivering excellent customer service. The facility was recently rebuilt and now offers 218 berths and 49 swing moorings. In addition, the marina has a 300m long floating Bellingham attenuator, which offers excellent casual berthing and access to three-phase power.
As the world’s leading marina design-build construction company, Bellingham Marine produces Unifloat® concrete floating dock systems as well as timber and metal frame systems. The company also produces Unistack® dry stack systems for marinas worldwide.
Contact: Bellingham Marine, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; www.bellingham-marine.com.au
Leading marina builder, Bellingham Marine, recently announced the introduction of a new timber dock system. The new product has higher load capacities than other currently available commercial timber systems and has been engineered to meet Bellingham’s strict design standards. This innovative new design also utilizes top of the line materials to insure the highest level of quality and product consistency.
The introduction of this unique product also includes the first timber system designed to maximize shipping efficiencies and decrease installation time.
“We are excited to be able to offer this new and innovative timber dock system to our customers,” remarked Everett Babbitt, President of Bellingham Marine. According to the company, the new timber system is the strongest commercially available pre-designed system on the market.
Bellingham’s timber dock features a continuous waler system with steel reinforced connectors. These features in conjunction with linear torsion beams provide not only increased strength but vastly increased stiffness to the dock system.
The dock’s core system is built around a compressed frame module, which uses Bellingham’s proprietary design to significantly reduce the footprint of the shipped components.
“Its revolutionary design gives it an advantage over other timber systems,” said Babbitt. Mark Johnson, General Manager of Bellingham Marine’s Timber division added, “The dock’s compressed modular system provides over 400% greater shipping capacity, which results in a huge savings to our customers and allows us to effectively reach a large geographical area.”
Mark was appointed to the position of General Manager of Bellingham Marine’s timber division following the opening of the new division. Mark joins the company following 28 years of timber dock experience.
“We are particularly pleased that we were able to attract Mark Johnson and his team to run this new division for us”, said Babbitt. “Mark brings with him a strong background in timber dock systems and a great reputation.”
With the introduction of its timber system, Bellingham Marine intends to reach out to freshwater customers and to boat harbors that have a strong preference for timber.
As the world’s leading marina design-build construction company, Bellingham Marine produces Unifloat® concrete floating dock systems as well as timber and metal frame systems. The company also produces Unistack® dry stack systems for marinas worldwide.
Contact: Bellingham Marine, P.O. Box 8, Bellingham, WA 98227; www.bellingham-marine.com.
Unifloat, Unideck and Unistack are registered trademarks of Bellingham Marine.
A large new jetty system known as Cunninghame Quay for use by recreational boat owners and charter boat operators has been completed at Lakes Entrance, on the expansive Gippsland Lakes in Victoria, Australia. The main contractor was local Gippsland company Jarvis Norwood, Bellingham Marine was hired to design, manufacture and supply the floating berthing for the project.
The new jetty at Cunninghame Quay blends a traditional piled jetty with a modern floating mooring system. A public gazebo located at the end of the jetty provides a focal point and gathering place for visitors to sit and take in the ambience of the waterway.
“Cunninghame Quay is an important addition to the area for pleasure and commercial boaters at Lakes Entrance,” said Nick Murray, CEO of Gippsland Ports. “This is a new and safe destination for skippers passing through Bass Strait. It is also a new destination for both power and sail boaters cruising the Gippsland Lakes system.”
The eastern side of the jetty caters to the general boating public. It has ten floating berths that provide short term moorings for vessel up to 15 meters in length. Commercial charter operators are well catered for too. On the western side of the jetty six 20 mt. fully serviced floating berths support the needs of the commercial charter operators based in Lakes Entrance. Several additional berths are also available for rental by long term visitors to the Gippsland Lakes.
The fixed portion of the jetty has serviced mooring berths for larger vessels; boats can stay for up to 48 hour at a time. Marina Service Pedestals were supplied by Marine Technologies from Nerang, Qld. and include reticulated water, power and lighting.
The development and upgrade of the new facilities at Cunninghame Quay were carried out and managed by Gippsland Ports and East Gippsland Shire. The project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under the Gippsland Lakes Community Grants program.
As the world’s leading marina design-build construction company, Bellingham Marine produces Unifloat® concrete floating dock systems, Unideck® metal frame floating dock systems and Unistack® dry stack systems for marinas worldwide.
Contact: Bellingham Marine, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; www.bellingham-marine.com.au
Organizers of Yacht & Boat Korea 2011 wrapped up another successful show in Gyeongsangnam-do. The show ran from May 4th – the 8th in one of Korea’s busiest leisure boating ports, Jinhae.
The show was opened with a keynote address by Everett Babbitt, President of the industry’s largest marina construction company, Bellingham Marine. Mr. Babbitt’s presentation focused on Korea’s emerging boating market and the country’s need for properly designed infrastructure to support its growing boating public and to ensure a financial return on its initial investment. In addition, Babbitt provided an overview of the current marina market and trends worldwide
The theme for this year’s show was “awakening the dream.” According to individuals involved in the local industry, the Korean government has approved the development of more than 40 new marina facilities along the Korean coastline. “Building a marina is more than just placing pontoons in a body of water for boats to tie up to,” said Babbitt. “Proper engineering, detailed planning and a commitment to building it right the first time will ensure the long term success of Korea’s plan to significantly grow its boating industry.”
Delivering a similar message to the emerging market in China, Bellingham Marine’s General Manager of the company’s Asian operations, John Spragg, spoke at China’s Shanghai show in April. Spragg echoed Babbitt’s statements about proper design and offered suggestions on future yacht club development in China.
“Taking the right approach to marina design and construction is absolutely critical to the long term success of these emerging markets,” remarked Spragg.
As the world’s leading marina design-build construction company, Bellingham Marine produces Unifloat® concrete floating dock systems, Unideck® metal frame floating dock systems and Unistack® dry stack systems for marinas worldwide.
Contact: Bellingham Marine, P.O. Box 8, Bellingham, WA 98227; www.bellingham-marine.com.
Unifloat, Unideck and Unistack are registered trademarks of Bellingham Marine.
Renovation work is underway at Westhaven Marina located in downtown Auckland, New Zealand. The marina is replacing 106 of its berths with modern concrete floating pontoons.
Bellingham Marine New Zealand was awarded the design/build contract for the project in December 2011. According to the company, crews arrived on site on March 13th, and the project is expected to be completed in July.
The marina’s metal tube, timber-decked pontoons, which were installed in the 1970’s will be replaced with like kind berths utilizing Bellingham’s Unifloat® floating pontoon technology and fitted with new service pedestals provisioned with water and power. New concrete piles will be driven for anchoring the Unifloat system and for the outer mooring piles. Existing intermediate timber mooring piles will be reused.
The project also calls for a large diameter steel pile and concrete panel wave screen to be installed. “The marina currently gets quite a bit of wave action from boat traffic in the area which was previously protected by an old dinghy rack structure,” remarked Peter Anderson, General Manager of Bellingham Marine New Zealand. “
Westhaven Marina has had a long standing relationship with Bellingham Marine and we have confidence working with them on this project,” remarked Russell Mathieson, Marina Manager of Westhaven. “We already have some of their docks in our harbour and have been very pleased with the quality of the Unifloat system, and the professionalism of the Bellingham team.”
Westhaven Marina is one of the largest marinas in the southern hemisphere. The marina provides moorage for more than 1800 boats with berths from 9 meters to 30 meters in length. Westhaven is owned and operated by Waterfront Auckland, a CCO of the Auckland Council, tasked with revitalizing the Auckland Waterfront including the Wynyard Quarter, home of Auckland’s marine cluster.
As the world’s leading marina design-build marina construction company, Bellingham Marine produces Unifloat® concrete floating dock systems, Unideck® metal frame floating dock systems and Unistack® dry stack systems for marinas worldwide.
Public Relations Contact: Bellingham Marine New Zealand, 15 – 17 Springs Road, East Tamaki, PO BOX 51053 Pakuranga, Auckland, New Zealand; ph. 64-9-273-5311 fax. 64-9-273-5312; bmnz@bellingham-marine.co.nz; www.bellingham-marine.com
Unifloat, Unideck and Unistack are registered trademarks of Bellingham Marine.