The British West Indies is weeks away from the opening of a new 110-slip megayacht marina that reportedly also will be the first eco-marina situated on the Atlantic Ocean.
Island Global Yachting, the same firm behind Yacht Haven Grande in St. Thomas and similar megayacht developments from St. Lucia to Dubai, will operate the new Turks & Caicos Yacht Club at the 423-acre Nikki Beach Resort & Spa in (you guessed it) the Turks & Caicos. If you’ve done your fair share of travel, then you likely know the Nikki Beach name: a place for the see-and-be-seen, fashionable crowd.
Even though the 100-room resort won’t open until next year, the 50 slips, suitable for yachts to 200 feet, and facilities like on-site Customs and Immigration and a captain and crew lounge will be available next month. (Naturally residences will be available for purchase, too, with the first open house being held April 5 and 6; visit the Web site for further details.) Owners and crew of sailing yachts will be particularly glad to know the Turks & Caicos Yacht Club has direct entry from the Atlantic Ocean via the “Leeward Cut,” which has a 12-foot depth at MLW (Mean Low Water) and an average depth from 14 to 20 feet. The entry channel has a lighted international buoy system from the Atlantic Ocean to the marina, permitting 24-hour access to the docks, a 1½-mile distance.
Those of you paying particular attention to your carbon footprint will appreciate how the marina will exceed all 22 Guidance Notes to the Blue Flag Marina Criteria, which state that an eco-marina must be designed, built, maintained, and operated to preserve the waterborne ecology surrounding it. How? For one, the yacht club will have a pressurized central grey- and black-water vacuum system within the floating docks as well as pump-out connections in each slip. Upon entering the marina, yachts are required to indicate the size of their holding tank(s) and the number of people onboard. Marina personnel enter the information into a computerized system, which notifies both the crew and the marina staff via telephone and electronic messages whenever it perceives that a holding-tank pump-out (provided for free) is needed. (And in case you’re curious, the waste water goes into a pressurized sewage-collection system, which connects to the Turks & Caicos’ central waste-water and sewage-treatment and disposal facility.)
Another eco-friendly measure: spill-protection systems for the fuel pumps, for both the megayachts themselves as well as the Water Sports Marina, for boats 25 to 49 feet. Big yachts in a big hurry needn’t fret: The 65-gallons-per-minute fuel-pumping system means a motoryacht with two fueling points can reportedly take on 4,000 gallons in half an hour.
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