Shore facilities for sailing - the example of Great Masurian Lakes

The aim of the paper is the critical analysis of the current state of development of sailing facilities - marinas and berthing sites on the shores of the Great Masurian Lakes (Poland). The research is both of quantitative and qualitative character. Facilities and their capacity were counted and mapped. Field observations focused on how and by whom these facilities are used. The sailing trail of the Great Masurian Lakes consists of 32 interconnected lakes. 102 marinas with 6752 mooring places and 40 berthing sites (mooring places not counted) are situated on the shores of the lakes (fig. 1). Small and middle size ports dominate in the area (table 2). The shores of Sztynorckie, Niegocin, Tałty, Bełdany and Boczne are the most densely used (more than 20 mooring places per km of the shoreline, fig. 2). The highest number of mooring places is available in towns, with Giżycko being the biggest harbor of the Great Masurian Lakes. Although marinas in the study area are generally well equipped, terms of use of services vary highly. This could result in lower level of customers' satisfaction or in incorrect patterns of use. The project of ecomarinas - modern, nature friendly marinas is recently developed (fig. 3, 4 and 5). New objects have enhanced tourists facilities, but common rules of use of services has still to be developed. The pattern of tourist transfer between water and land depends on availability of services both in marinas and in their surroundings (fig. 6). Sailors who meet all their needs directly in marina are less willing to go outside. At the same time marina that offer wide range of entertainment or gastronomy amenities usually attract also land based tourists. The less services or tourist attractions are available outside, the more people tend to spend their time in the marina itself. Big marinas that offer big diversity of services, for example Sztynort, have high "absorption effect". If the marina has limited offer, but it is situated in an attractive and well developed area, tourists tend to penetrate into its surroundings. The lower is the diversity of facilities both in the harbor and its vicinity, the more homogeneous are users. For example berthing sites have usually just one function - they allow sailors to penetrate the shore. The majority of marinas in the Great Masurian Lakes tend to absorb tourist traffic rather than support further penetration. We suggest that construction of some simple berthing sites could increase transfer of tourists between water and land. This could help to expand tourism offer, make water tourism more profitable and contribute to a better sharing of natural and cultural va lues of the area