Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine 2015

SEPTEMBER 2015 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 10
MODERN PHOTO STUDIO (2)
‘THERE IS AN AIR
OF OPTIMISM
IN GRENADA’
So stated Dr. the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada,
Carriacou & Petite Martinique on August 5th at a ceremony marking the completion
of Phase One of the rebuilding of Clarkes Court Boatyard & Marina on Grenada’s
yacht-dotted south coast. Confidence in the country’s recreational marine sector was
exemplified by the official “launching” of the yard’s new 242-ton boat lift. Dubbed
“The Hulk”, this huge mobile boat hoist — the largest in the southeastern Caribbean
— raises Grenada’s growing yacht service industry to yet another level.
As Clarkes Court’s developer and Director, Kelly Glass, explained, obtaining a boat
hoist of such capability “future-proofs” Clarkes Court as catamarans become
increasingly popular, longer and wider; and boats of all sorts become ever larger. The
lift will accommodate monohulls up to 130 feet long with a 13-foot draft and multihulls
with a maximum beam of 38 feet.
At the ceremony, Tourism Minister Yolande Bain-Horsford said, “This [yachting]
sector makes a major economic contribution to Grenada, Carriacou & Petite
Martinique. Marine support services and the overall yachting industry provide great
potential and excellent opportunities to address the provision of sustainable livelihoods
for our people.” However, she noted, “All of the persons employed in Grenada’s
yachting sector must be well-trained. The Government of Grenada is therefore committed
to continuing its work with the National Training Agency, the TA Marryshow
Community College, and the Marine and Yachting Association of Grenada (MAYAG)
in making additional training opportunities available to the people employed in the
yachting sector.” She stated that so far this year marine training and certification
has been provided for approximately 40 Grenadians. “This on-the-job training and
certification programme continues, and so we expect to see more trained and highly
qualified persons coming out of the yachting sector.” (See related item on page 14.)
The Tourism Minister added that, “the private sector plays a very critical role in
helping to build the international and regional recognition of the high level of quality
that is consistently shown in Grenada’s yachting businesses and industry. To the
30-plus yachting businesses that are registered in Grenada today, I therefore extend
grateful thanks on behalf of the Government of Grenada.”
Also speaking at the event was the Honourable Alexandra Otway-Noel, Minister for
Implementation, who noted, “Grenada’s yachting industry provided approximately 17
percent of its stay-over visitors in 2014, and we are sure to see this number rise in the
coming years.” The Grenada Tourism Authority worked with the OECS Commission in
2014 and continued in 2015, to market Grenada’s yachting products and services in
Canada and North America. The Minister for Implementation also related that yachting’s
annual contribution to Grenada’s economy is in excess of EC$130,382,099
(approximately US$4,865,000) and that employment and on-the-job training are provided
for more than 1,000 persons at Grenada’s nine marinas and four boatyards.
Left to right: CCBM Site Manager
Carlyn Haynes, Hon. Yolande Bain-
Horsford, Kelly Glass, Dr. the Rt.
Hon. Keith Mitchell, Republic Bank
Managing Director Keith Johnson,
CCBM General Manager Conor
Holmes, Hon. Alexandra Otway-Noel
During the first construction build-out phase of the Clarkes Court Boatyard &
Marina, which began in August last year and included the replanting of mangroves
as well as boatyard construction, 100 persons were employed. This number is
expected to increase as the project progresses through its second and third phases,
prior to the full completion of the boatyard and marina in 2017. Future phases of
the project will include the marina (including a dedicated berth for a Marine
Protected Area vessel), a chandlery and a sail loft, Customs and Immigration offices,
a boutique hotel and spa, a restaurant and provisioning services.
There will also be facilities for “weekend warriors” — those who, as Director Kelly
Glass says, “want to splash their boat on Friday or Saturday, haul back out on
Sunday afternoon, get a wash-down, flush their engines, and be parked next to their
own storage locker with water and power outlets under a covered area to save their
boats from the UV rays of the sun.”
Compass asked Kelly, best known in his adopted homeland of St. Vincent & the
Grenadines for introducing cable television and for the recent refurbishment of Blue
Lagoon Marina, why invest in marinas now? “Because I love boats — and marinas
are the future.” Why Grenada? “Below 12 degrees north, great people, and excellent
governance with a public service that works with the private sector. I am happy to
endorse Grenada as a great place to do business and get things achieved.”
Thanks to Arlene Telesford and Lynn Fletcher for information in this report.
For more information on Clarkes Court Boatyard & Marina see ad on page 23.