Westhaven News - October 2022

New Zealand Marina Operators Association awards

It was a clean sweep for us at the New Zealand Marina Operators Association (NZMOA) awards night in Blenheim last month and we couldn’t be prouder!

Entered in three award categories, we came away as the winner of each; Westhaven Marina was named:

• 2022 NZMOA Marina of the Year
• Winner of the NZMOA Best Environmental Performer award
• Winner of the Outstanding Initiative category for the launch of our digital parking management system

We also received NZMOA Clean Marina recertification, which recognises our efforts to minimise the impact the marina has on the environment. Read More

Gold Anchor

It was great to have Marina Industries Association CEO Suzanne Davies visiting last month to present us with our Gold Anchor flag. We are New Zealand's first and currently only Gold Anchor accredited marina.

While presenting the Gold Anchor flag to our quality manager David Marginet, Suzanne said, “It’s an amazing achievement and a credit to the Westhaven team in creating such an incredibly comprehensive marine facility.”

Keep a look out for the flag flying next time you’re down here.

Change of hands for Buoy Café and Eatery

Buoy Café is back and is under new management!

We welcomed Buoy’s new team to Westhaven last week and have already sampled some of their delicious coffee and latest menu offerings (including soft serve ice-cream from the blue container outside the café!).

You’ll find a range of meal options on offer at Buoy, which is currently open from 6.30am – 4pm Monday to Sunday, with evenings coming soon. Bring on the pizzas and Italian food! Pop in to welcome them if you're in the neighbourhood.

Team update

We’re very happy to announce that Gareth Wilson has taken on the role of Westhaven Marina manager.

Some of you will already know Gareth as he’s been our maintenance manager since early 2020. As well as managing the team who look after the marina’s day-to-day maintenance, Gareth has developed our asset management plan and budgets to ensure our marina assets are taken care of for the next 10 to 20 years.

Having lived up to the challenge of the maintenance manager role, it’s fitting that Gareth takes on this new role and works with the Westhaven team to deliver the performance expected of a world class marina.

We’re looking forward to the positive outcomes we’re going to achieve together.

Customer Service update

From boats to planes, after deciding to pursue her travel dreams, the incomparable Ngapoko (Poko) Taripo finished up with our Customer Service team last month and has joined Air New Zealand as a Flight Attendant.

We are pleased to have Amy Sparkes on board filling the customer service role. Amy joins our team after spending the last four years working as a coordinator at a mental health unit. Please join us in welcoming Amy and say hi if you spot her around the marina.

Staff training

We’ve been making the most of the winter season at the marina by giving our staff some extra training.

Kicking off with a safety refresher course, staff learnt the basics of fire science and got hands-on training in how to use fire extinguishers.

Since then, we’ve had on-the-water training with the team at Powerboat Training, where staff brushed up on their barging and berth assistance skills. Some of our staff are going through their two-yearly skills assessment and are now qualified to drive all our vessels.

This training strengthens our capability to help you on and off the water. Hopefully we won’t need to put the fire response training into action!

New location for the start tower

You may have noticed that the start tower and the outer distance mark were recently moved to create more space between the start line and the harbour bridge.

The original course area got very congested during summer, increasing the risk of accidents.

We apologise if this move caused any inconvenience.

Construction and maintenance update 

T pier bathroom facilities upgrade
We’re pleased to announce that the newly refurbished T pier toilets are now up and running, using the award-winning Exeloo product.

We thank you for your patience while this work was underway and apologise for any disruption or inconvenience that may have been caused. Read More

Sustainable environment

Have you seen our new and improved waste oil bins? We recently replaced the marina’s old bins with high-quality, double skinned 1,000 litre waste oil containers. The second skin allows the new bins to hold one hundred per cent of the oil bins’ contents.

Over the coming month, we’ll be making some adjustments to the oil bins to improve usability, so keep a look out for the modifications.

Westhaven Marina customer satisfaction service survey – your comments addressed

Thanks again to those who gave feedback in our annual customer service survey. We appreciate your feedback and have been working through the responses to identify areas for improvement.

One of the themes that came through in your feedback relates to trolleys – the number of trolleys available and the cleanliness of trolleys. We’re currently assessing our trolley situation and will update you on outcomes in the December newsletter.

Reminder about electrical safety

Did you know that fire and electrocution are the biggest marina hazards and electrical wiring is a known high-risk cause? To help reduce this very real danger, we require every boat that’s connected to Westhaven Marina’s shore power supply to have an Electrical Warrant of Fitness (EWoF) and a tag of compliance located at the shore end of the power lead.

Doing your part to keep your boat’s electrics in order will help to keep everyone safe, so we’d like to remind Westhaven boat users to check the expiry dates on your shore power leads and EWoF. When you get either of these updated, please remember to send us a photo by emailing info@westhaven.co.nz.

If you have any questions regarding electrical compliance, please call us on 0800 MARINAS.

Auckland Climate Festival – Stellar Climate Cycle

Part of the 2022 Auckland Climate Festival, the Stellar Cycle Challenge is an ‘amazing race’ style event where groups of five bikes relaxingly race around Auckland’s inner-city cycleways, including a visit to Westhaven’s promenade.

The event, which is about celebrating cycleways and highlighting interesting sustainable projects in the city, will run from 10am – 2pm on Sunday 9 October 2022, starting from 8-34 Brigham Street, Auckland Central. The organisers intend to showcase how fun and safe riding bikes around the city is.

Teams of five will have to complete a series of challenges to continue progressing through the race. The course is approximately 15km, is designed for all fitness levels and electric and non-electric bikes welcome, although each group will be required to have a non-ebike member to keep the race fair.

For more information about the event, please visit the Auckland Climate Festival website.

Run the city – Auckland Marathon

The Auckland Marathon is back on Sunday 30 October 2022, and will see thousands of running enthusiasts take to the streets to get their dose of cardio.

The marathon will attract more than 15,000 participants and will require some temporary road closures and parking restrictions across the city centre and waterfront.

Days and times for when and where to expect parking restrictions and road closures can be found in the table and map below.

To find out more information about the event, please visit the Auckland Marathon website. If you have any questions, please contact the organisers by calling (09) 601 9590.