Careers in the Marine and Maritime Field
Marina Manager Tara Regan is the marina manager at Kingman Yacht Center on Cape Cod . Kingma n is a bu sy p lace year-round, even th ough th e sum mer boating season is relatively short. In th e summer months, the place is packed w ith peopl e w ho keep th eir boats th ere, live-aboards, and transient boaters. Th e marina is also home to nautical supply and gift shops and a very popular restaurant that you can get to by both ca r and boat. In th e fa ll, boat owners wa nt to get their vessels ready fo r w inter storage. Most boats get hauled out of th e wate r and are cove red w ith shrink w rap, w hil e a sma ller percentage stay in the water all yea r. In the w inter months, the marin a crew wo rk on maintaining th e fl eet of boats in th eir ca re, tending to the docks and moorings, and planning for the next summer. Come spring time, everything has to be prepped for the sailing season and th e re-opening of th e summer shops, marina services, and the restaurant. It is a lot to orchestrate, and the marina manager is in charge of making sure everyth ing runs smoothl y. Some peopl e liken thi s job to being an ai r traffic controller, conductor of an orchestra, or movie director-without any of the glamour. The hours in the summer season are long. Tara is at the marina six or seven days a week, putting in ten- to twe lve-hou r days. During the w inter months, things sl ow down a bit and th e job is more li ke a regular fortyhour-a-week job. Tara has been working at Kingman Yac ht Center in a vari ety of jobs since she was a teenager. She grew up in the area and always loved bein g on th e water. She grew up sailing her Sunfish in Bu zzard s Bay and dri ving her fa mily's powerboat to nearby islands. W hen she turn ed fo urteen and was old enough to wo rk, she gave sailing lessons at a local ca mp and got a job working on the docks at the marin a during the summer. In the summer, Kingm an Yach t Center has 365 seasonal As th e marina manager, she splits her tim e between custom ers with an additional 800 nightly transients who th e offi ce and being out on th e water. In addition to workmaking a stop during a longer voyage along the coast. ing w ith customers and supervising staff at the marina, Tara is also a licensed marin er and realtor, as th e marina se lls "dockominiums" in add ition to renti ng dock space. (A dockominium is a water-based versio n of a condominium, w here peopl e purchase a slip in th e marina as opposed to renting.) She monito rs the V HF radio at all times fo r boaters w ho are coming in for fuel and supp lies, lunch, or temporary dockage. In th e office, her co llege bu siness degree helps her manage co ntracts, plan events w ith other yacht cl ubs, and run the day-to-day operations of the marina.
''Going to work is something I enjoy and it changes every minute. You can never predict what is going to happen on the water. Changing weather, mechanical problems, or operator error can throw something unexpected at you at any time, so you always need to be prepared for all kinds of situations. If a boat breaks down in the middle of maneuvering to the mooring, you need to rush out and get it under tow before it damages boats in the harbor. Other times, customers show up unannounced, and you need to drop what you are doing to work with them. Marina managers have to be good at multitasking and thinking on their feet. 11 -Tara Regan
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