Lake Jennings in Lakeside, CA has just completed a complete replacement of their 25-year-old wooden docks with a state-of-the-art Bellingham Marine dock system.
The rebuild of the marina features 18 double slip concrete floating docks designed and built by Bellingham Marine. The docks are match-cast and built with wood walers. The project included a new 23’ x 23’ Match Cast Platform and storage building, an aluminum entry gate and gangway and kayak launch. In addition to the new dock system, the project also included a renovation of the adjacent boat launch ramp. The new construction includes updates to the infrastructure that maximize energy efficiency and sustainability through the application of a full solar panel system, replacement of fluorescent lighting with LED bulbs, and replacement of facility materials in construction with ecologically friendly material options.
The new marina system is resistant to both fire and rot while boasting a 50+ year lifespan with minimal maintenance due the improvements in materials used for the project. The docks are made of concrete shells filled with polystyrene and finished with wood walers. There is a total of thirty six slips that feature vinyl bumpers.
With a reputation for leading the marina industry in design excellence, Bellingham Marine looks toward the future with its eyes firmly fixed on innovation and user experience.
Bellingham Marine now has an option for an FRP through-rod. The innovative product provides clients with a non-corrosive alternative to the traditional galvanized through-rod.
The company’s unwavering commitment to customer service, engineering excellence, and its R&D program are key elements of Bellingham’s success in the marina industry and some of the key motivations behind buying a Bellingham Marine dock system.
“Our R&D efforts have long focused on improving user experience,” remarked Bellingham Marine President and CEO, Everett Babbitt. “Higher freeboards for greater user comfort; increased load capacities to support large crowds and vehicles on the docks; improved aesthetics and design details to set high-end facilities apart; and continued product refinement to promote greater longevity have been at the core of many of the company’s product advancements over the past ten years.”
“Now, new technologies and major breakthroughs in engineering are allowing us to elevate our product offerings and improve user experience on a whole new level,” added Babbitt.
More and more marinas are embracing a “green” approach to the design, construction and operation of their facilities. So, how do marinas that have taken this approach leverage their efforts to market their brand and increase their goodwill? We interviewed Jamie Welsh, CEO and founder of the environmental-services consulting firm 10% Solution to learn more.
Concern for the environment is not just good marketing—a healthy environment is essential for the future of boating.
As every operator knows, the marina industry is changing. Boat owners are becoming more conscious of the environment; they are beginning to see the earth’s resources are finite and the environment as fragile. Marina operators with an ecology story to tell can develop effective marketing programs that reach out to current and new generations of boaters.
Ecology marketing has power for three reasons. (1) An ecology story evokes universally positive associations. (2) Ecology is a simple, direct message that appeals on an emotional level. It commands attention and is easy to remember. (3) Marinas can leverage their ecology story to build connections to the community. While “cause marketing” has been misused at times, marina operators, as a group, should embrace it. We have much to be proud of. The industry’s record on the environment is excellent.
Concern for the environment is not just good marketing—a healthy environment is essential for the future of boating. The past 30 to 40 years have seen outstanding technical breakthroughs. Pollution-leaching materials are virtually gone and in-dock pump out systems, fuel-dock leakage-control devices and bilge-oil containment systems are becoming commonplace.
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.
Green words are seeping into our everyday vocabulary but do we know what they really mean?
We are entering an era where green and environmentally friendly products and practices are more in demand than ever before. Nowhere is this truer than in the marina industry. Marinas operate in some of the world’s most sensitive habitats and are often found in the environmental spotlight. Around the world, federal, state and local agencies among others are pushing marinas and ports to become more environmentally conscious.
Developers, marina owners and port districts are stepping up to the plate and are looking for solutions to be better stewards of their environment. Specifying “green” or “environmentally friendly” products is becoming a more common practice in the marina industry.The challenge for many on the purchasing as well as manufacturing end is navigating the wilds of green advertising. Continue Reading…