Waterfront Area

The populous seaport that is Cape Suzette would not be half as attractive as it is, to residents and merchants owners alike, without the giant, water-filled basin which forms Cape Suzette's bay and accompanying shorefront. To visitors by air and sea, the gentle waves of Cape Suzette harbor — several miles in breadth and a hundred feet deep in places — make an ideal berth for ocean vessels and seaplanes. Recreational boaters and yachtsmen also take to the bright blue body of water on pleasure cruises past the picturesque skyline and into canals that cut through the city. Authorities such as the harbor patrol and Air Police keep a vigilant eye on all sea and sky traffic. Seagoers navigate according to buoys, equipped with bells and flashing lights, that mark portions of the bay.

The terms harbor and port, used interchangeably, actually differ in meaning: a harbor is any protected body of water that can shelter ships (including rivers and ocean estuaries), but only when facilities for handling cargo are added does it become a port. Except for a few spots of beach, the Cape Suzette shorefront is overrun by docks, wharves, and piers, and the connected services that handle the transfer of millions of tons of goods annually. Major installations include tanks and refineries for imported petroleum, and processing plants and canneries for exported seafoods. Port authorities lease waterfront property to a plethora of private companies that hire dock workers ("longshoremen") to load and unload general cargo. Other facilities include repair shops and dry docks, tug services, and ship bunkering (refueling) stations.