More than wet parking lots

More than 13,000 marinas in the United States -- from mom-and-pop types with 50 slips to 8,000-boat sites -- contribute to the $20-billion industry that markets more than just docks. “People think a marina is something you park your boat in,” says Brooke Fishel, spokeswoman for the three-day International Marina Conference that starts Sunday in San Diego. “But a successful marina can have repairs, sales, a general store. It’s making the marina a destination.” The Long Beach Marina, below, serves as a gateway to Southern California attractions. Some 350 conference attendees -- a quarter from countries as far afield as Ireland, Australia, Japan and Brazil -- will confer about shoreline access, environmental issues and tourism as well as browse more than 80 booths hawking boat lifts and repair kits at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina. Herb Eldean, who owns a 300-slip marina on Lake Michigan will speak on a panel about what award-winning marinas do right. His advice sounds like Mom’s bathroom cleaning tips: Scrub the sink and don’t hog the hot water. “[Boaters] always talk about who has dirty bathrooms and cold showers,” he says. Some marinas offer high-end amenities such as wireless Internet, cable TV hookups and upscale boutiques. Eldean fixates on details at his marina in Macatawa, Mich., which won a 1995 trade magazine award. He stores boats in a brick building with smoked glass windows “so it doesn’t look like a boat barn.” As for the tiled showers, they blast “enough hot water to run a carwash.” Go to www.internationalmarinaconference.com.

-- Ashley Powers