Oct 10, 2017

Carl F. Wolf, CMM CMI with Merritt Alves, IMI Training Coordinator at IBEX 2017

Do you perform a Daily Marina Assessment at your marina? I gained a greater appreciation for the importance of a Daily Marina Assessment when I attended the Marina 101 seminar put on by IMI, the International Marine Institute at IBEX in Tampa on September 18. The session was delivered by Carl F. Wolf and he broke the day into nine different sections. The first was titled, “The Daily Challenges of Managing a Marina on a Day-to-day Basis” while the second section was “Daily Marina Assessment”.

I will bet that a good many Marina managers arrive in the morning and go straight to their desk to start digging through the emails and answering the voicemails but Carl Wolf did a very persuasive job of saying that every day should begin with the daily assessment of the Marina.

Think about your own checklist – do you cover all of these bases every day?

The priorities of Marina manager should look for in his or her daily assessment of their marina includes safety issues, first as they apply to your customers and second as they apply to your staff in their workplace. Next manager should consider the first impressions that every customer gets as they arrived and what they will see as the two are your facility. In addition, you should do a dock walk both at the opening and the closing of the facility every day.

In terms of safety issues for customers, make sure you’re no swimming signs are clearly posted that you have safety and rescue ladders, life rings well located first aid equipment and that tripping hazards and slippery decks are rectified quickly.

Workplace safety starts with your employees’ knowledge of the Marina’s safety policy and that they are wearing appropriate clothing and personal protective equipment. 

While all this is important to the well-being of your customers and your staff, your insurance company will appreciate the effort as well.

Don’t forget about the first impression anyone gets as they arrive at your facilities. This applies to people arriving by car or by boat, the condition and appearance of the buildings how well-organized the dock master’s office is in your Marine radio and ships store if you have retail. Perhaps the most lasting impression will come from the restrooms and showers for the neat and orderly appearance of your boat yard and equipment.

That takes us back to the issue of a morning and evening dark walk to make sure that all slip usage is properly accounted for and that anything unusual or out of order has been rectified.

All this is both good business and also an investment into the future of the facility.

The IMI is managed by Association of Marina Industries (AMI) which is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated exclusively to the marina industry. Today, AMI is responsible for internationally acclaimed Certified Marina Manager (CMM) program and small topic-specific conferences, plus the annual International Marina & Boatyard Conference (IMBC). AMI was formed when the Marina Operators Association of America (MOAA) and the International Marina Institute (IMI) merged in 2005.

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