At a meeting of the Yachting Committee of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) held in Grenada on 8th November 2013, the Dominica Marine Association (DMA) signed up for membership of the Caribbean Marine Association (CMA) bringing the total number of countries now actively participating in the CMA to ten.
President of the newly formed Dominica Marine Association, Hubert Winston, was welcomed into the CMA by the CMA President who was also attending the OECS Yachting Committee meeting.
Dominica is a useful addition to the ranks of the CMA as they are already operating the new pre-arrival notification system for yachts known as SailClear which is gradually being rolled out across the eastern Caribbean.
Dominica is one of the Caribbean’s yachting destinations which has been well known to family cruisers for many years for its unspoiled nature but less well known to the superyacht market.
As yachting in the Caribbean continues to expand, Dominica is set to become one of the favoured superyacht destinations.
Other islands with embryonic or developing yachting sectors which are being encouraged to form marine associations and join the CMA are Anguilla, Montserrat, Nevis and St. Kitts.
Also, with Martinique and St. Maarten already being a CMA members, closer ties are being developed with the French and Dutch islands in the hope that more of them will join the CMA.
The Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council’s (CCLEC) SailClear pre-arrival notification system for yachts, which is already in use in many islands, is one of the products which is unifying the various islands particularly those of the OECS.
SailClear is very much a result of co-operation between the public and private sectors within the yachting and marine industries and could not have evolved without the active participation marine associations and the CMA.