For other uses of this word, see Marina (disambiguation)

Marina (disambiguation)

A marina is a place for docking pleasure boats. It is also a Serbian and a Croatian female name.Marina may also mean:-Places:* Marina Alta, a comarca in the province of Alicante, Spain...

.

A marina (from Sp. or It. "marina", coast or shore) is a dock

Dock (maritime)

A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...

 or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

 in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters.

In the United Kingdom the word marina is also used for inland wharves on rivers and canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

s that are used exclusively by non-industrial pleasure craft such as canal narrowboat

Narrowboat

A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...

s.

Emplacement

Marinas may be located along the banks of rivers connecting to lakes or seas and may be inland.
They are also located on coastal harbors (natural or man made) or coastal lagoons, either as stand alone facilities or within a port complex.

Facilities and services

A marina may have refueling, washing and repair facilities, ship chandler

Ship chandler

A ship chandler is a retail dealer in special supplies or equipment for ships.For traditional sailing ships items that could be found in a chandler might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch , linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools A ship...

s, stores and restaurants.
A marina may include ground facilities such as parking lots for vehicles and boat trailers. Slipway

Slipway

A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...

s (or boat ramps) transfer a trailered

Trailer (vehicle)

A trailer is generally an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. Commonly, the term trailer refers to such vehicles used for transport of goods and materials....

 boat into the water.
A marina may have a boat hoist well (a traveling crane

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

) operated by service personnel.
A marina may provide in- or out-of-water boat storage.

Fee-based services such as parking, use of picnic areas, pubs, and clubhouses for showers are usually included in long-term rental agreements.
Visiting yachtsmen usually have the option of buying each amenity from a fixed schedule of fees;
arrangements can be as wide as a single use, such as a shower, or several weeks of temporary berthing.
The right to use the facilities is frequently extended at overnight or period rates to visiting yachtsmen.
Since marinas are often limited by available space, it may take years on a waiting list to get a permanent berth

Berth (moorings)

A berth is a location in a port or harbour used specifically for mooring vessels while not at sea.-Locations in a port:Berth is the term used in ports and harbors to define a specific location where a vessel may be berthed, usually for the purposes of loading and unloading.Most berths will be...

.

Boat storage

Some marinas offer boat storage including rack storage and dry storage yards.
Dry storage or dry stacking (as opposed to on-water storage) is mainly found in the USA and Europe.

Drystack boat storage stores boats vertically in rack systems up to four boats high.
It extends the life of the boat by keeping the hull dry, provides storage at seasonal marinas,
and allows for storage of smaller boats in marinas lacking wet slip capacity.
Drystack is particularly useful out of season, and important where winter temperatures are cold enough for the water to freeze.

In dry storage, boats on trailers or dollies are stored on a hard surface, often in a fenced-in area.

Moorings and access

Boats are moored on buoy

Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...

s, on fixed or floating walkways tied to an anchoring piling

Deep foundation

A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...

 by a roller or ring mechanism (floating dock

Floating dock

A floating dock is a platform or ramp supported by pontoons. It is usually joined to the shore with a ramp that rests upon the dock on rollers, to adjust for the vertical movement of the dock...

s, pontoons

Pontoon (boat)

A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, floatplanes or seaplanes. Pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A...

).
Buoys are cheaper to rent but less convenient than being able to walk from land to boat. Harbor shuttles (water taxis), may transfer people between the shore and boats moored on buoys.
The alternative is a tender such as an inflatable boat

Inflatable boat

An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull beneath it is often flexible. On boats longer than , the floor often consists of three to five rigid plywood or aluminium sheets fixed...

. Facilities offering fuel, boat ramps and stores will normally have a common-use dock set aside for such short term parking needs.

Where the tidal range

Tidal range

The tidal range is the vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth...

 is large, marinas may use locks to maintain the water level for several hours before and after low water.

Economic organization

Marinas may be owned and operated by a private club, especially yacht club

Yacht club

A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to sailing and yachting.-Description:Yacht Clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there are some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations...

s — but also as private enterprises or municipal facilities. Marinas may be standalone private businesses, components of a resort, or owned and operated by public entities.