Annapolis, MD - During the pandemic, thousands of people discovered or returned to boating. Now the work begins—keeping these new customers happy and continuing to enjoy boating.
This spring, the Department of Natural Resources partnered with the Marine Trades Association, Boat U.S. Foundation, and Annapolis School of Seamanship to offer "Welcome to Boating" skills clinics at Sandy Point State Park. This is just one effort to make new boaters feel welcome and teach them safe and smart boating skills. Smart, safe boaters make for a better experience for everyone on the water.
What can marinas and marine trades professionals do? They can take advantage of free marketing materials available at the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation website where you can find the Get on Board toolkit to recruit and retain customers. Above all, they can listen to what their customers want and provide great customer service. This can be hard in the pressure-filled world of daily marina operations but it will pay dividends in future years.
Recertified Marinas Keeping it Clean!
This spring the following Maryland Clean Marinas were re-certified for another three years:
- Annapolis City Dock
- Baltimore Yacht Club
- Bluhaven Piers
- Burr Yacht Sales
- Hyatt Rivermarsh Marina
- Orchard Beach Marina
- Parkside Marina
- Piney Narrows Yacht Haven
- W&P Nautical
By getting re-certified, these businesses demonstrated their continued commitment to reducing pollution from routine operations, educating their customers/guests, and protecting our waterways.
Clean Marina Practices for Summer Operations
In the midst of the busy summer season, there are simple things marina managers can stress to staff to help keep the marina clean and safe. Here are just a few:
- If you see something on the ground, pick it up!
- Keep dumpsters and trash cans closed.
- Keep cigarette off the ground - they contain harmful plastic.
- At fuel docks, routinely use oil-sorbent pads when transferring fuel nozzles and portable tanks to capture drips.
Invite the Clean Marina staff to your facility for a customized review to see ways your crew can improve operations and keep customers coming back. Contact donna.morrow@maryland.gov.
How to Get Clean Marina Certified
The Maryland Clean Marina Program recognizes marinas, boatyards, and yacht clubs that voluntarily exceed legal requirements by adopting a portion of "best management practices" in the Maryland Clean Marina Guidebook.
Benefits to Clean Marina certification include:
- free technical assistance
- marine insurance discounts
- free education items for boaters
- improved operations
- good public relations
A list of certified Maryland Clean Marinas is available online.
To learn how to get started, just contact donna.morrow@maryland.gov. The Clean Marina Program allows the industry to show its commitment to protecting our environment—join us!
Best Practices for Boaters to Protect Our Waters
The support and patronage of boaters is key to the success of the Maryland Clean Marina Initiative. In order to promote environmentally responsible boating, the Initiative incorporated six Clean Boating Tip Sheets into the Maryland Clean Marina Guidebook. Marinas, boatyards, and yacht clubs are encouraged to link to these resources from their own web pages and to share hard copies at the facility.
Other materials such as clean boating tip cards, posters, pocket ashtrays, and oil absorbent pads are available to boaters, boating clubs or safety groups, and marinas. Please send an email to donna.morrow@maryland.gov to request free boater education items (supplies are limited).
