A new hot spot for tourists, boaters and local residents opened on Lake Macquarie. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held April 18th, marking the completion of phase 1 and the opening of the marina.
Johnson Property Group and key supporters celebrate grand opening of Trinity Point Marina. A luxury boating facility design and built by renowned dock builder Bellingham Marine.
Trinity Point, NSW, Australia – 17 May 2019 – April 18th was a significant milestone for Johnson Property Group and Managing Director, Keith Johnson. Mr. Johnson first began planning Trinity Point in 1999. His vision – a luxury resort destination/residential lakeside development. The development would place Lake Macquarie on the map as favorite spot for locals and travelers alike.
“It’s been a long and challenging journey but worth it,” shared Johnson. “The opening of the marina is a big step forward in the $388 million overall project.”
Former Lake Macquarie Mayor and Local MP, Greg Piper attended the grand opening. Piper echoed the crowds’ comments, “I have to say, everything out here is first class.”
For those seeking best in class marina facilities, look no further than Trinity Point. The marina is a showcase of modern marina construction and environmental responsibility. It also exemplifies the live /play lifestyle younger generations find appealing.
Johnson hired, international marina builder, Bellingham Marine to help with detail design and construction. “It was critical we did the marina right,” said Johnson. “It was a major key to what we aimed to achieve. It had to be something special.”
Learn the secrets to replace your docks on a tight budget without sacrificing quality or style.
Take a tip from Santa Barbara Harbor. Enlist Bellingham early in your marina construction process and get the marina you want with your limited funds.
For Santa Barbara Harbor rebuilding 500 of their slips without imposing large rate increases seemed impossible. Set to find a way, the Harbor enlisted the help of top marina builder, Bellingham Marine. Together the two set out to achieve the impossible.
With an open mind and a willingness to invest time in the process, you too can rebuild your tired marina without breaking your budget.
Follow these 3 marina renovation tips and discover how.
1. DON’T HOLD BACK ON THE PLANNING PHASE
The tighter the budget the more valuable the planning phase. Get a good understanding of the big picture. Then, sit down with your marina builder and begin to construct a plan that will take you from point A to point B.
Planning Phase Focus
The planning phase should include more than design and material choice. Identify and define these key items:
- Business goals
- Market demand
- Site conditions (including limitations)
- Sticking points (what are you not willing to compromise on)
- Budgetary constraints
- Funding sources
This important step will give you the lens you need to make critical decisions going forward. Everything should point back to your business goals and market demand.
Your site’s conditions – water depth, wave environment, boundaries, entrance channels and your sticking points will guide you toward what’s possible.
Armed with the above information and your ideas on dock type and amenities, your marina builder will be able to identify your options.
Your options package should include:
- A range of approaches including phased construction options
- Permitting requirements and possible workarounds
- Possible system trade-offs
- Optional features and amenities (upgrades and downgrades)
- Future add-ons
A marina builder worth their weight in gold will know what trade-offs can occur within your project. The goal? A solution that is a best fit for your business, your budget and your customers.
Whether you are an investor, developer, owner, operator or just someone interested in the industry, this is one marina development FAQ you won’t want to miss. The pros at Bellingham Marine (and a few of the company’s trusted engineers) tackle owners’ top 12 challenging site questions.
A design/build, single source approach to marina development is often the best way to keep project costs down and meet tight deadlines.
Topics Covered
- Extending existing docks
- Mitigating wave from boat traffic
- Building for high density
- Building and operating in freezing temperatures
- Building in tropical, high-salinity environments
- Rebuilding on a tight budget
- Placement and design, launch docks for human-powered craft
- Options for meeting grating requirements and bans on treated wood
- Building for mixed-use
- Dock that will ground out at low tide
- Dealing with debris on rivers
- Extending pile height
If you don’t find the answers to your question, contact us. Every site is unique and comes with its own questions. We love to talk about marina design and would love the opportunity to talk with you about any questions you have.
Whether you are considering a renovation or you are building a new marina from scratch, there is one thing we can all agree on: You can’t afford to not do it right the first time! That’s why we’ve made it our goal to equip owners with the tools they need to make the best decisions for their business and the operation of their marina.
Your marina is a big investment, it’s important to plan ahead for construction and make sure things are done right the first time.
Building on Water: The Ultimate Resource Guide is a fantastic and easy-to-use planning tool. The book will guide you through everything from the dock systems that are available to the best construction methods for getting your job done on time and on budget.
Here are 3 tips that every successful marina developer swears by…
Tip #1 – Know What Dock Fits Your Needs
Choosing a proper dock system for your site is one of the most crucial factors to a successful marina.
- Are you on a lake or the coast?
- What is your wave environment?
- What types of boaters would you like to welcome into your facility?
These are all important questions to answer, and Building on Water will help you learn which kind of dock will work best for your situation.
By Robert Wilkes
Having bought Rybovich in 2004, Wayne Huizenga, Jr., made a multi-million dollar gamble. He thought his location in West Palm Beach, Florida, had the potential to attract large yachts from around the world. His vision for a superyacht marina and service center had not been executed on this level before. On the other hand, there were few suitable alternatives in the area for superyachts passing through. To test the idea, he would have to dredge the basin, an expensive undertaking.
Rybovich’s transformation from longtime shipyard to world-class superyacht destination marina put Robovich in a league all it’s own.
Huizenga, as it turned out, was right. Since setting up the world’s first integrated superyacht marina, Rybovich has enjoyed steady growth and expansion. The marina and refit center has acquired a worldwide reputation among superyacht owners, captains and crews that is arguably unmatched in the world.
Without doubt, Rybovich has benefited from the continuous building of new superyachts. There are just under 5,000 superyachts over 30m (100 ft.) worldwide and shipyards are turning out 150 new ones each year. But expanding market size is only part of the story. Huizenga is from a very successful South Florida business family. So it’s no surprise that his success has more to do with sound business practices, most importantly listening to the customer, adapting to market needs and having a clear, “big idea” and staying with it relentlessly.
Changes at Rybovich
Rybovich in West Palm Beach is a Bellingham Marine-built floating dock facility with 57 slips up to 120m (390 ft.) in length. The heavy-duty docks support scissor lifts and a fleet of golf carts. The marina provides fresh water connections, in-slip pump out for gray and black water and superyacht-capable shore power. New power pedestals with increased capacity have recently been installed and the electrical capacity continues to be upgraded. Much of the service work is done in water, and the marina also has 10 dry-space locations for on-land refit for vessels up to 600 tons and 59m (195 ft.).
Soon after purchasing the marina, management could see more space was needed for out-of-water work. In 2006, a 14-acre site two miles north at Riviera Beach was purchased and put in operation. A property improvement plan for the Riviera Beach location is process.
Called the Rybovich North, once complete, Rybovich’s Riviera Beach location will have a 1,100-ton Travelift to complement their 2,500-ton floating dry dock. A 400-ton Travelift will also be added to the facility.
A channel had to be dredged to 4.5m (15 ft.) before the two sites could be operationally linked. Permitting took seven years. The channel allows transfer of very large yachts from one site to the other. Bellingham Marine built a 400 ft. floating dock at Rybovich North to stage 75m to 85m (250 ft. to 280 ft.) yachts for servicing. In 12 to 18 months the facility will have haul out capabilities for large yachts. The goal is to move the industrial work to Rybovich North and have the two sites work seamlessly at the same level of quality and service.
Meanwhile, at the marina, the outside of the east dock was dredged deeper to allow 90m (300 ft.) yachts to tie on the outside. The arrangement provides easy maneuvering and offers the owner’s guests a Palm Beach Island view. Bellingham Marine wave attenuators are planned and permitting is in place for expansion of the north side on the marina that will accommodate several more superyachts.
A global player
Francois Van Well is vice president of business development for Rybovich. “We’re not just a shipyard,” said Van Well, “we’re a full-service marina and we try to keep it full like any other marina. Our customers come here because of the quality of our facilities to maintain and repair large yachts. Our clientele includes larger and larger yachts as our reputation and capabilities have grown.”
Huizenga did more than put up a “superyachts welcome here” sign and wait for business. He hired Chris Denhard as their business liaison and customer relations manager. Denhard travelled the world creating relationships with owners and captains that would later turn into service visits to Rybovich. Van Well and his team approached large yacht manufacturers in Europe and offered to acquire the specialized capabilities, tools and training needed to make Rybovich a provider of warrantee services for their yachts.
The presence of Rybovich in Florida, the growing number of superyachts and congestion in Mediterranean ports combined to alter cruising patterns of large yachts. “We’ve become an integral part of the itinerary for many yachts,” said Van Well. “They plan a stop for annual maintenance either on their way to the Caribbean or on the way back to their home port.”
“As these boats get bigger,” said Van Well, “their capabilities are greater. A steel-hulled vessel 40m and up can go anywhere any time of year and doesn’t have to be put up for storage in winter. They can leave the Mediterranean, go to either coast of the Americas, or go to the Galapagos, Fiji, New Zealand and Asia. We’re helping to encourage yacht visits to our area. We are a co-sponsor of the St. Barts Bucket Regatta held in March for sailboats over 30m (100 ft.), and it attracts many superyachts to the area.”
Taking care of the superyacht customer
“This was uncharted territory,” said Van Well, “when we pioneered the superyacht marina and refit concept. We had to listen to the customer and adapt quickly, and we still do. We learned that the key is to take stress off the captain by removing risks and uncertainties. For example, we have our own fleet of tugboats specifically designed for superyachts. We are taking delivery of a new, larger tugboat and training new crews to transfer large yachts between the West Palm Beach marina and the Riviera Beach Facility. When there are movements there are potential risks, so we make it as stress free as possible for the captain.”
“We have in-slip refueling and that’s fine for boats up to 40m to 45m (130 ft. to 150 ft.),” said Van Well. “Very large yachts need faster refueling. We’re one of the larger fuel distributors in South Florida, and we know the captains don’t want to wait all day for fuel trucks to arrive. So we have fuel trucks back to back, sometimes six or seven of them, to expedite refueling. We tailor our operation to be seamless, accommodating and up to the standards of the boats themselves.”
“Larger boats have larger permanent crew, 30 people on some boats,” said Van Well. “We normally have 500 to 600 crew staying in the marina. They may be here for two months or more. We basically run a hotel where the guests bring their own room. This is their chance to take care of medical and dental needs, go shopping, and relax. We have a crew lounge which acts as a hotel lobby, a restaurant, a pool and a complete exercise facility. Our concierge helps them with any non-technical needs. They used to rent cars, but that was expensive and created a parking problem. Instead we have a complementary shuttle bus to take them anywhere they want to go.”
An economic boost to the region
Relocating out-of-water work allowed Rybovich to begin multi-acre, nautically-themed real estate development at the West Palm Beach site that will include a number of new buildings that will host retail, restaurant, residential and other commercial tenants.
“When you have a marina like ours it’s buzzing with activity, like other ports around the world,” said Van Well. “That’s what we want to capture in our real estate development, a nautical feel that people will want to be around. Instead of fences and security guards we want it to be open to the community and be a place where they can enjoy the atmosphere and excitement created by these large, beautiful yachts.”
Rybovich is having a big impact on the economy. The company and its subcontractors provide hundreds of jobs. They hire and train people from all economic levels of the local area.
Wayne Huizenga, Jr.’s concept of a large-boat integrated marina and service center continues to expand and add capabilities, much to the credit of his management team. As they have from the beginning, they listen to the customer and adapt to their needs. Along the way they have changed the large-boat yachting world and benefited the community they serve.