Marina

muh-ree-nuh (mə-rē'nə)
-noun
a boat basin offering dockage and other service for small craft..

The Back Story
Going back to that book I read a while back (The Interpretation of Murder) and a that other book I've completed since but have yet to blargh (new name for blog).. both used the word in totally different scenes but this fit the given description. If this was the end of this story, it'd be pretty boring & so this is not the end.

I've mentioned a friend of mine that runs rowthree who goes by the name of Marina. Now by the given meaning this doesn't seem to fit, I mean as far as I know she's far from being Russell Crowes' tug-boat friend.

.. & so I looked further at the origins of this word. I found that in the late 1700's, it was the Italian and Spanish that made the word Marina to equate a feminine equivalent to Marino. Marino derived from the word 'marine' meant "belonging to the sea", which seems a much nicer name. I approve. Part of the approval comes from the meaning, the other part from the linguistic equivalence that these Spaniards & Italians have with the fellow Indians. We too have many dual words one for the feminine and one for the masculine - though the overall meanings be the same.

Right, on that note I'm off to the Italian diner. Man's gotta eat!