Letter from the Helm:
The marina survived a Nor'Easter on Thursday Feb 25! Considering that the Associated Press reported "hurricane force winds of 91 mph off Portsmouth," we survived with flying colors! After the storm, I checked the GOMOOS weather buoy for the Gulf of Maine and it had a max wave height of 32 feet.
Some of the minimal damage included parted dock lines, popped fenders, a couple sheared cleats and some bent stanchions. My thanks goes out to Spencer (our returning Dock Master) and his dock hands for keeping a close eye on the boats into the wee hours of the morning and replacing fenders/dock lines as necessary.
I can not stress enough the importance of having adequately sized dock lines (with chaffing gear). In addition, it is important to leave several spare dock lines in the cockpit of your boat so the dock hands can deploy them in an emergency. Keep in mind that the shrink wrap acts like a large sail therefore providing increased stress on the dock lines. My staff and I would be happy to help any member to review if they have adequately sized dock lines and if they are placed in the most efficient manner to check the vessel's motions as she "dances in her slip" during the winter weather.
On Saturday May 15th, I will be hosting a Continental Breakfast with a "Meet the Marina Manager" theme. I've been fortunate enough to meet dozens of members during the course of the winter, yet I look forward to meeting the rest of the membership. I will be providing coffee/tea and pastries on this Saturday morning.
In addition to the Continental Breakfast, we have scheduled several marina parties:
1) Kick Off the Summer! Saturday May 22nd
2) Mid Season Summer Dance! Saturday July 10th
3) Greek Party! Aug TBD
4) End of Season-Chili/Chowder & New England Patriots Festival! Sept 11 or 12th
The docks will be open May 1st for our summer members. This will provide time for the departing winter members to either vacate their slip or shift into their usual summer slips.
On a more administrative note, Ann M. (our returning Office Manager) is sending our invoices for the summer utility charge that is due by April 15th. Also, the 2nd half of the dock payments were due March 1st.
I am pleased to announce that I have contracted with Beacon Wi Fi, a very well known and growing marina Wi Fi provider that is found up and down the east coast, to provide complimentary Wi Fi throughout the docks. All dock members will be provided with a user name and password upon checking in. Beacon promotes "AAA/Radius" level security that will allow our members the ability to conduct secure banking, trading or VPNing online, as well as the usual emailing and social networking that we have all grown to enjoy!
I recently returned from a few weeks sailing in the Caribbean Sea, spending most of my time around the British Virgin Islands (Tortola and Norman's Is.) as well as Curacao in the ABC islands, and the Miami boat show. In hopes of securing more transient customers, I proudly passed out my Wentworth Marina business card and met with owners and crews of a dozen large yachts. It impressed me to see that they all immediately recognized the WM logo on my business card and 90% of them have visited in marina in the past five years. Even though they all frequent the large marinas found throughout Florida and the Islands, most of them stated that, "the Wentworth was always their favorite." My staff and I look forward to maintaining that same high level of service and appearance that was provided in the past and is synonymous with the name "
Wentworth by the Sea." In closing, I look forward to the warm weather and smooth seas this summer and the chance to meet the rest of the membership!
Sincerely,
Capt. Doug Voss
Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Starting April 1st, the marina will be open on Saturdays 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
Winter Fuel Dock Hours:
Monday to Friday 9 am to 3 pm
Starting April 1st, the fuel dock will be open 9 am to 3 pm
Please note: During the winter we will only be pumping diesel.
Stop in the marina office and see Bill's collection of note cards for sale.
