NATCHEZ ON THE WATERFRONT23
Overcoming challenges to build a marina during the pandemic
By Dan Natchez* I
magine having spent years in the design, planning and approval process for a massive new marina resort complex and finally getting
shovels in the ground last Winter – great big shovels, many of them, along with pile drivers, dredging equipment, contractors in many different trades and a small army of labourers. Then, March comes in like a lion, so to speak, and just about the whole world shuts down. There are lessons to be learned. Whenever one is looking into taking on a project, whether for something new or a retrofit of an existing facility, it always makes sense to include some contingency planning and especially some contingency budgeting. Most of us, of course, have not figured ‘global pandemic’ quite into that equation (alien invasion perhaps, but pandemic not so much). So what do you do? Time for BAJA – no, not that Baja (though some sunny days in Mexico sounds really nice about now), but follow the acronym – Breathe, Assess, Juggle, Adapt. First and foremost ‘Breathe’, socially-distanced and wearing a mask if you’re not with folks in your bubble, but breathe. Panic is rarely, if ever, useful.
Assess Once you’ve calmed down slightly, find out just where are you on any given front? Try to get as clear a picture as you can of every aspect of your project. What supplies and equipment are on hand or already on their way? How much more dredging is needed to complete the marina basin? What work would be considered essential? What are the additional government requirements? Will your suppliers be able to keep producing? What is the status of your local health care support? Can and will your workers be able to show up? What might help facilitate them showing up? What does your financing look like?
Surveying the site prior to construction of superyacht facility Marina Coast Homebeach Club Peru.
Are there any governmental or other support programs that might apply? Just where are you on the overall schedule? Finally, of course, just how much toilet paper is in stock?
Juggle Next, the really fun part – face the facts because your original schedule is pretty much toast, but take the information gathered through the assessment to reschedule your plans based on availability of resources
and what you can do. If you have to suspend construction, can you use the time to have your working- from-home design/consulting team look at possible alternatives or refinements that might make the project better or cheaper (or both)? If your pontoon manufacturer has to stop work because of lock-down or due to their decking supplier being shut due to problems with availability of raw materials, can you help find an alternative source and maybe even
end up with a better product? Does it make sense to set up a workers’ camp to create your own bubble of sorts, just like many pro-sports teams and the Great British Baking Show on TV have done? What can be done to create the framework for implementing the new government requirements, including developing your reopening/operating plan narrative and all that might go along with it, such as providing a means of recording who is on site (for possible
Dredging the excavated basin. MARINA INDUSTRY • DECEMBER 2020
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