6 minute read
MARINA VISIT
from Marina Industry April 2022
by ASTAC
Ocean Village Marina, Southampton, England
Established in 1973, MDL Marinas is now Europe’s leading marina group currently operating 20 major marinas and boatyards and managing over 7,000 berths. Its flagship facility, Ocean Village Marina, is nestled in the heart of Southampton and is so much more than a marina. Surrounded by shops, bars, restaurants and a cinema, the waterfront is bustling and sophisticated, where eating out, enjoying a glass of wine or watching a film at the Harbour Lights Picturehouse is as much a part of the nautical lifestyle as the sailing. The basin, formerly used for commercial shipping, is deep enough to offer mooring facilities for tall ships and large yachts. It has also become famous for hosting the start or finish of round-the-world yacht races. The marina is home to the luxury five-star Southampton Harbour Hotel and Spa, where berth-holders can access exclusive discounts at its café, restaurant, and beauty parlour through MDL’s Platinum Berthing package. It also features the city’s tallest building and visitors can enjoy exciting new restaurant and retail experiences. Just a short walk from the city’s popular West Quay shopping centre, the marina was originally part of an ambitious expansion plan of Southampton’s dock area and enjoyed life as a busy ferry terminal for the France and cross-Channel ferries in the 1970s. Virtually abandoned by the end of the decade, it wasn’t until 1984 that a developer sought to create the mixed residential marina development seen today. Set up for berthing vessels of all shapes and sizes, including superyachts, the deep-water Ocean Village Marina has 326 berths, with a maximum LOA of 60 metres. The nearest pumpout station is located at Hythe Marina Village and both petrol and diesel can be obtained from fuel docks at Port Hamble and Hythe.
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Boat lifting and storage ashore are provided by MDL’s nearby Saxon Wharf Marina.
Although Ocean Village doesn’t have its own boatyard, there are convenient local facilities at MDL’s Hamble Point Marina, Hythe Marina Village and Shamrock Quay. Boat lifting and storage ashore can also be provided by MDL’s nearby Saxon Wharf Marina, which has a 200 ton boat hoist and heavy duty, fully serviced pontoons accommodating boats up to 80 metres. The facility’s dry stack operation offers secure dry berthing and on-demand launching and lifting for boats up to 13 metres. Ocean Village Marina has the usual shower and laundry facilities, but also offers MDL WiFi, Tesla and Universal Type 2 electric car charging facilities, secure storage for stowing boat gear and boasts the 776-space multi-storey Ocean Car Park, which is in easy walking distance of the marina.
Ocean Village Marina oceanvillage@mdlmarinas. co.uk www.oceanvillagemarina.co.uk
3 Continued from page 13 that formal – or even technically a newsletter. The point is to keep in contact and provide reasons/ reminders for customers to come to your marina.
Education and training
Another set of reasons to come to visit your facility might involve boater education or skills training. For example, most US states now require boating licences or boater education cards, with many targeted at children and younger adults. Working with groups such as the Coast Guard Auxiliary or other online entities can be very helpful to your customers and eases the pain of finding places for obtaining the required training for the licences. It also helps to bring people together. I know of one marina that arranges such approaches three times a year. The marina does not run the courses, but offers a room for them – and they even supply hot chocolate and cider with mini-doughnuts. That facility also provides other training opportunities in navigation, electronics and other aspects of boating that are offered as a means for advancing boaters’ knowledge as opposed to just a class to fulfil a regulatory requirement. For those who are not ready or prepared to host classes on site, there are ever more on-line courses/trainings available that you may want to encourage your boaters to follow. You might even want to organise a group to take the same course together, so they can subsequently discuss what they learned and follow up with each other. The American Sailing Association is just one entity with an ongoing provision of such programs. The more confidence and ability boaters have, the more often and extensively they are likely to use their boats and the more likely they are to invite friends along.
When Covid-19 is not a limitation, picnics, regattas, socials, etc, are always a big hit. I am always in awe of people showing up for a free burger or hot dog to complement their several hundred thousand dollar boat. It’s not, of course, the free food they are really showing up for, it’s the event and the opportunity to mix and mingle with fellow boat-owners.
Other facilities have followed the automobile industry in offering minor service specials for such things as oil changes, spark plug replacements, engine inspections or tune-ups. Just be sure that any additional work recommended in addition to the relatively simple item they came in for is really needed. Never sacrifice your customers’ trust for a few extra dollars across the counter!
Also remember that keeping customers is a lot less expensive than attracting new ones, so talking with customers and making them feel wanted, appreciated and respected is priceless. Years ago, particularly in family-operated marinas, there was oftea a warm pot of coffee for customers to use and talk with the owner or manager. In many facilities, that warmth and camaraderie has been lost. Bringing back such opportunities can provide significant insight into what customers are thinking, what they like, what could be improved upon, what bothers them and so on – and for all of us tea-drinkers out here, you might think of having both at the table!
My consultancy would appreciate hearing from you with your suggestions of how to keep the boating interest fire burning, even in good times.
An instructor provides guidance to a group of boaters as part of their training course before they venture out on the water.
*Dan Natchez is President of Daniel S. Natchez and Associates Inc, a leading international environmental waterfront design consulting company specialising in the design of marinas and marina resorts throughout the world. Your comments and enquiries are invited on Tel: +1 914 698 5678, by Fax: +1 914 698 7321, by E-mail: dan.n@dsnainc.com or on his Website: www.dsnainc.com
Naval Tecno Sud
Naval Tecno Sud specialises in the design, production and supply of equipment for use in boatyards and to store and transport leisure craft in marinas. It offers a high quality range of cradles, boat stands, safety steps, work platforms dry stack storage racks and fixed and mobile booths for painting and other maintenance tasks. Versatile boat trailers, both self-propelled and towable, are also available.
