With over 50 combined  years experience as harbormaster and maritime consultants, Gray Dawn members have drafted, implemented, and managed slip and marina policies ranging from vessel berthing and moorings to nuanced issues involving fishermen, slip permittees, liveaboards, visiting vessels, and abandoned watercraft. We’ve implemented working-harbor policies, balancing the needs of recreational and working vessels in a fair, equitable manner that serves the needs of both and the demands of sound public policy.

Reconciling competing interests at local, state, and federal levels—a core part of public service—Gray Dawn is eminently qualified and perfectly positioned to help mitigate disputes and assist collaboration on tough marine-resource matters. Marine Protected Areas, fisheries infrastructure, mitigation for oilfield or wind-farm impacts, or marine resource legislation, Gray Dawn is your best, most experienced choice to navigate challenges and work toward fair, mutually beneficial outcomes.

Sustainable fisheries remain critical to ocean health and dependable ocean food supplies. With extensive experience in fisheries policy development, Gray Dawn has worked with fishermen, regulators, legislators, and constituent groups to advocate for policies that balance utilization and conservation of marine resources. We’ve been at the table for many impactful negotiations involving fishermen, regulators, scientists, conservation interests, and Native tribes.

Gray Dawn’s partners have long managed the salvage and disposal of beached, abandoned, and derelict vessels. We offer first-hand knowledge of state and federal boating laws, local regulations, environmental protections, cost-recovery strategies, and vessel-removal techniques.

Coastal access and sound parking policies are inextricably linked. Without adequate parking, who can get to the waterfront or beach? Gray Dawn’s partners have worked for years to accommodate these twin needs. We’ve helped draft ordinances that prevent vehicle storage or camping in public lots, accommodated visiting RV’s, maximized access to public lots, and set fair prices that support budget requirements while encouraging patronage from visitors and waterfront users who, in turn, boost local business. Gray Dawn has intimate experience with this balancing act, and can help you balance it, too.

From harbor festivals to seafloor-debris cleanup, nautical swap meets, July 4th fireworks, and boat parades, we’ve managed myriad waterfront events, concept to completion. Permitting, safety protocols, staffing, volunteer strategies, health-and-safety regulations, crowd control—if you need assistance with a waterfront event, contact Gray Dawn.

Whether it’s Harbor Boards, City Council, County Supervisors, State Fish and Wildlife, ocean scientists, or local, state, and federal regulators, Gray Dawn’s managers have drafted countless reports and made hundreds of public presentations on a range of issues, to public and private entities alike. We offer award-winning writing skills, top-quality proposals and reports, and a track record that speaks for itself. If you need to inform the public or make your case to decision-makers, contacting Gray Dawn would be a great first step.

Gray Dawn partners bring 20 years’ experience in accommodating cruise-ship port calls, including vessel conflict avoidance, community relations, facilities security, and hospitality. Put simply, we’re your source for one-stop consulting on cruise-ship matters, large or small.

From tsunamis to wildfires, coastal storms to earthquakes, Mick and Eric have spent years on the front lines of emergency response. At the waterline or in an Emergency Operations Center, they have repeatedly helped coordinate field operations, logistics, planning, and financial accountability necessary to address local or regional emergencies head-on. Often working with other city departments and mutual aid from other jurisdictions, they have repeatedly demonstrated a knack for addressing immediate needs, dispensing public information, coordinating with the Red Cross, and planning operational periods that accommodate logistical needs for field responders to perform their work, plus eat, sleep, and be provided with communication services that streamline safe and successful outcomes for responders and their communities alike.

Gray Dawn has broadly participated in the development, implementation, and enforcement of clean-marina policies that include education, pollution-control measures, debris cleanup, anti-pollution boater accommodations, and enforcement of anti-pollution initiatives. We have developed Clean-Marina programs from the bottom-up and inspected many marinas for compliance with statewide programs. From inception to completion, we’ll help get you certified as a “clean marina,” which translates not only to environmental protection, but more visitors, increased income, and an enhanced reputation.

Gray Dawn managers have worked to ensure public access to the coast and ocean by boat, vehicle, bicycle or on foot. In Morro Bay, that includes access to iconic Morro Rock and prioritizing an Embarcadero that hems the harbor with visitor-serving businesses. A gem of California’s central coast, Morro Bay’s natural-resource protection has always remained a priority. Whether working to protect local dunes and dune vegetation, or partnering with the Morro Bay National Estuary Program, Eric Endersby has helped maintain a thriving natural environment—a key to Morro Bay’s legacy. Mick Kronman helped support a parking program for eight public lots, offering daily or annual permits, while successfully eliminating unwanted storage vehicles. He has worked with kiteboarders to facilitate ocean access and managed beach storage programs for outriggers and small catamarans. Above all, Mick and Eric have for years worked with federal legislators, the Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Coast Guard to keep entrances to Santa Barbara and Morro Bay harbors dredged and open to vessel traffic.

Acutely attuned to the balance between budgetary constraints and the need to hire and retain high-quality staff, Gray Dawn managers have worked for decades to achieve this goal. This effort has included working with City Administrators, Finance Departments, Human Resources personnel and internal staff. Eric Endersby worked with other Morro Bay city executives to draft a comprehensive reorganization proposal. Mick Kronman was “at the table” four times during labor negotiations between city management and a union representing harbor patrol, airport patrol, and water/wastewater employees. He was widely known as a voice of reason who could find middle-ground compromise that reflected the interests and met the needs of all parties involved.

Non-profit and industry-supporting organizations, from commercial fishing associations to community beautification groups, remain intimately involved in various aspects of maritime affairs, Gray Dawn’s partners have over 50 combined years of experience working with and/or serving on the boards of numerous associations, organizations, and non-profits, giving us a discernable edge in relationships with these important entities.