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Oceanco Launch

alyssa_haak — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:04:00 GMT

Oceanco has just launched another 86-meter yacht, Hull Number 706, designed by Nuvolari-Lenard.

Her owner's suite includes a lounge and deck with a whirlpool, and she can also sleep 12 in her 6 VIP suites. Her exterior swimming pool can be raised into a helipad.The two 4,680-hp MTUs are capable of reaching 20 knots.

But enough talk, here's a photo:

Call out to Passagemakers

alyssa_haak — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:34:00 GMT

The Pitcairn Islands Study Center has issued a call for stories of travels and visits to Pitcairn Island. It's time for their second editon of Pitcairn - Port of Call, a maritime history of the island that includes every vessel to call on the island.

If you've captained, crewed, or rode along on a visit, send the following information (or questions) to hford@puc.edu:

Your name; the name and details of the vessel; date of visit; where you came from and where you were going.

The book is set to publish the middle of next year, and this could be your literary debut.

Broward County Sea Tow Offers Automated Radio Checks

patrick_sciacca — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:13:00 GMT

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How many times have you heard the VHF airwaves flooded with boaters looking for a radio check? Well, Sea Tow of Fort Lauderdale believes it has the solution to clear the VHF airwaves for south Florida boaters that will enable them to check their own radios. It's an automated marine radio-check system offered on VHF marine channel 27.

According to Sea Tow, "Many boaters continually request radio checks on VHF channel 16 , which is the hailing and distress frequency, monitored by the Coast Guard and Sea Tow, 24/7. Radio checks on channel 16 are a safety issue and a violation of the Communications Act. Often, distress calls to the Coast Guard are interrupted by boaters requesting radio checks. Imagine a boater who is having a medical emergency or sinking, then tries to use his radio to call for help but can’t get through due to boaters doing radio checks on channel 16."

Sea Tow of Fort Lauderdale, working with MariTel, are prividing the Broward County area with this service. To check your vessel's radio, simply put your "VHF to channel 27, key the microphone and ask for a radio check. The system will record your radio check and then replay your transmission back to you, allowing you to hear how well your radio is working."

For more information on the radio check service, contact Donna Martinson with Sea Tow Fort Lauderdale at (954) 525-0037 or via email at dmartinson@seatow.com.

Flaky Flaky Flaky

bill_pike — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:32:00 GMT

No, the device shown here is not a battery charger,although it certainly looks like one. Rather, it's a Lester Battery Discharge Unit (or BDU), a gizmo I have been using recently to establish baseline data for some battery testing I'm planning to do onboard Betty Jane. What this particular BDU does is fairly simple--by means of a large interior coil it short-circuits a given battery in a very controlled way, precisely measuring the amount of time it takes for peak voltage to be drawn down to approximately 10.5 volts at a rate of 75 amps. This measurement (in minutes and seconds) gives a fair idea of the health of the battery being tested.

I used the device shown above last weekend on one of my three Deka Dominator 4D gell-cell batteries--I spared the other two mostly because I was slightly suspicious of the BDU's seemingly amicable personality. The point was to see what state this particular 5-year-old Deka was in--I'd synopsize it as flaky, flaky, flaky, given the numbers the dang thing spit out--so I can subsequently test the efficacy of a solar-powered product from an outfit called Pulse-Tech. This coming weekend I will hook the Pulse-tech product up to the Deka, expose the solar panel that comes with it to the sun in a semi-permanent way, and see what happens.

The Pulse-Tech is supposed to reverse some or even most of the sulfation activity that tends to sap a battery's strength. Of course, because tearing my Deka apart to determine exactly how much of its present weakness is due to sulfation and how much is due to other factors is an untenable option, there's no way to say exactly how effective any resulfation-type activity that may occur will actually be. But then again, an increase in battery strength after a little Pulse-Tech action would nevertheless be a fairly good common-sense indicator that the technology actually works.

I plan to let the Pulse-Tech run for approximately two months and then do another discharge test. With any luck, the Deka will be at least a little stronger.

Said test, by the way is just a tad spooky. The Lester tester gets almost hot enough to fry an egg on, any loose paint burns off, and the coil inside snaps, pops, and crackles. Of course, all this stuff is almost as much fun as some of the crazy experiments (the best entailed the inspired reinvention of gunpowder) I used to do as a kid. You'll be able to read about the results in the pages of PMY somewhere down the line.

Satellite Phone Demonstration

alyssa_haak — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:56:00 GMT

If you're in the Fort Lauderdale area next week, Global Satellite USA is running a free seminar on the latest satellite phones.

The event is Wednesday, September 8 at 5 pm at 1901 South Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.

RSVP to: Sharon@GlobalSatellite.us.

Jay-Z and Beyonce on a boat

alyssa_haak — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:05:00 GMT

As I get acclimated to the megayacht world, I am increasingly entertained by breathless descriptions of megayachts by non-marine press.

For instance, Gatecrasher is reporting that Beyonce and Jay-Z have chartered a 180-foot Bennetti for $377,000 a week, which is not an outrageous reasonable rate.

Anyways, they are on Altitude, of the coast of Italy or maybe near Cannes. Here is a running shot from Charter World :

With room for 12, think they brought anyone else along for the ride?

Ahhh Yes--It's That Time Again

bill_pike — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:45:00 GMT

About this time of year--every year--my thoughts turn to a favorite (or sorta favorite) topic: varnishing. One of Betty Jane's more gorgeous aspects (and something that lots of folks comment upon) is her brightwork, consisting of teak rails, teak caprails, teak trim strips, teak nameboards, and teak sidelight boxes (is there a recurring theme here and could it be the word: teak?????????). And keeping this brightwork looking presentable for public consumption is far from a full-time job although it's certainly a once-a-year job.

To deal with it as devilishly as possible, I've got myself the little varnishing kit shown above. My kit is housed in an old fishing-tackle box and includes one quart can of Awlgrip Awlspar varnish, one quart can of Pettit Flagship varnish, a tack cloth, several pieces of 220-grit sandpaper, a drop cloth, one cheap three-inch brush (disposable), one expensive three-inch badger-hair brush (I can't remember for sure but I think the darn thing originally cost me $25), a couple of Scotch-Brite pads, two rolls of blue varnishing tape, a bag of inexpensive rubber gloves (over the years I've virtually bathed in diesel fuel while working on commercial boats and later while hooking up magazine test gear on diesel engines and anything that's even close to diesel, whether aromatically, chemically, or genetically, inflicts a rash on me that's dang-near tantamount to leprosy), and a bottle of aspirin to be used only in emergencies.

Because I've got so many coats of varnish on Betty's brightwork already, I don't have to get too tangled up in prep work each year. I just start out with a piece of sandpaper on Betty's flying bridge and lean on it pretty hard as seen above. Then I proceed downwards, in large part thanks to the help of momentum, gravity, and exhaustion, and finish off with the nameboards at the transom.

The critical thing with the whole shebang is to make sure the new layers of varnish truly adhere to the old stuff, which tends to be fairly weathered and dull after a year of languishing in the Florida sun. I use Flagship for my topcoats mostly. It imparts a nice amber color to everything and, I believe, has the highest UV rating going. Maybe this latter claim isn't true, but hey--the stuff hangs in there like fish smell in a fish box. I use the Awlspar for spots that, for one reason or another, have been rendered bare, either by scratches, gouges, or other difficulties. Two or three coats can be applied in a day and then the Flagship applied after that. The two types are quite compatible, by the way.

The happy result is a glowing finished product, of course. I am not an expert on varnishing by any stretch of the imagination--about the only true expert I know of is Brian Hicks, a guy who lives and varnishes in Panama City and actually varnished Betty for a couple of years--but I do have three little tips that seem to be working for me these days.

The first is use the tack cloth liberally--no sense having bumps in your finish. The second is keep your coats thin--I know the thick stuff looks glassy and good going on but it tends to look uneven and problematic upon drying. And the third is don't be in a hurry--in this age of super-computerized, attention-deficit-disordered, multi-tasking mayhem, there are few jobs that require, nay, even induce a meditative state of mind and varnishing a boat's brightwork is one of them.

Up with the varnish! Down with the iPhone!

Cuppa Joe (and then some)!

bill_pike — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:56:00 GMT

So, believe it or not, I don't spend all my time onboard my trawler Betty Jane. In order to pay for all the essentials (and a few of the foibles) that keep Betty comfortable and well-cared for, I have to spend a lot of time working, pounding out marinized prose on one laptop or another. After all, as most any long-time boat owner will tell you, the list of essentials (and foibles) I just mentioned is typically long and stunningly expensive.

Let's see. You've got the monthly bill for insurance (a whopper in Florida, unfortunately), the monthly bill for the slip (a not inconsiderable sum), the monthly bill to the mortgage holder (also a not inconsiderable sum), the fuel bill (a pittance thanks to Betty's highly economical propulsion plant), and a whole bunch of incidentals, like (hmmmm, just this month so far we've got:) a quart can of Awlgrip Awlspar varnish from Jamestown Distributors, a quart can of Pettit Flagship varnish also from Jamestown (I use the Awlgrip to build coats and the Flagship to add a sun-resistant amber patina to the whole extravaganza), a small tube of West Marine silicone, and finally, for now at least, a general chart of the area Betty is now calling home.

The photo above gets to the heart of the matter, of course--your's truly ticklin' the ivories in the ol' home office, with rather large coffee cup I've just recently started using in order to keep me going when the going gets tough.

I try not to overdo, by the way. Just two cups per day, one in the morning, one in the late afternoon. Imbibing much more than this modest amount tends to make me just a tad skittish and mercurial, or so says my wife BJ, although I've been known to opt for a third cup when intense deadline pressures loom in simultaneous league with the monthly arrival of the AmEx bill, whereupon an appalling list of Betty-related purchases is ocassionally (and often quite painfully) writ large.

If you're as seriously into boats as I am (and you are supporting your habit with either one job or several) you may want to consider getting a rather large coffee cup yourself. I got mine--or rather my wife purchased mine for me--from Ron Jon's, the famous surf shop in Cocoa Beach. I'm not sure whether it was Ron or Jon who had the thing labeled "The Big Kahuna," but whoever it was hit the nail on the head. Top this baby off with a couple of quarts o' Starbucks and you can rave on 'til midnight--how great is that!

Evo: The Evolution of Filippetti Yachts

alyssa_haak — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:22:00 GMT

Filippetti Yachts has introduced their new line of flying bridge yachts designed in conjunction with Fulvio de Simoni. The line will be comprised of three models: the Evo 760, 890 and 980. At 23, 27 and 30 meters, none of the yachts lack for space.

Renderings of the 890 were released first. She will have four guest and two crew cabins. A sunpad on the flying bridge as well as the bow, where there will also be an outdoor dining area. Now, let's take a peak at the renderings:

And her master suite:

(Where I'm even a fan of the shoes left behind...)

The concept behind the 890 is one I can get behind: relaxation first. The cabins are designed to be spacious so each guest can relax in their own space, and crew are given their own dinette, head and cabins separated by a hallway.

The 890 will be powered by two 1,825-hp Caterpiller engines

What did you do this weekend?

alyssa_haak — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:49:00 GMT

This weekend I was invited down to the Mid-Atlantic Marine Group's Ocean Alexander rendezvous at Bay Creek Marina in Cape Charles, Va.

View Larger Map

Bay Creek Marina hosted the 75 guests and their boats for the 3-day affair.

Bay Creek combines 130 slips (and when the boat you're staying on is at the end of the pier, it is a looong walk to the shore), Palmer and Nicklaus Signature golf courses and the "jelly bean" houses - condos for sale or rent.

Friday kicked off with with a cocktail hour(s) on the dock:

With all the boat owners having such a fabulous time, the cocktail hour stretched far past its intended end.Owners were happy getting to know other Ocean Alexander owners and Mid-Atlantic customers.

I was fortunate enough to have dinner at the on-site restaurant with Clyde Hensley, the captain who brought the Ocean Alexander 68 up from Florida for the event, his wife Brigid, and his mate Jim. They regaled me with stories of the sea, including Clyde's time spent in the Merchant Marine fighting pirates in the Straits of Malaka.

The next morning, many of the owners and their guests loaded up their dingies and headed to the nearest sandbar. For reasons that will become clear in upcoming issues, I had other things to attend to. (My pale white skin thanks me for sparing it from the sun.) One meeting lead me to Eyre Hall:

A house built in 1758 and lived in by the same family ever since. Their gardens are open to the public for a casual stroll. Divided into squares, there are three paths running one direction and 5 running perpendicular. The garden was filld with boxwood and crate myrtles.

There's also an orangerie, or greenhouse precursor.

A quiet afternoon was followed by an evening clam bake, where many boat owners exchanged contact information over clams, pork sandwiches and local corn.

The showstopper at the rendezvous was the Ocean Alexander 68:

With her 18' beam, she had a completely spacious and roomy interior. I have to admit that my favorite part were the floors. From the saloon's pinstriped woodwork to the bathrooms' beautiful pearly floors, I kept staring at what was beneath my feet!

Another Ocean Alexander owner gracious enough to grant me a tour was Bob Barber, owner of Crawdaddy:

All the owners were thrilled to discuss their yachts. I plan on telling some of their stories here in the future.

And just as quick as the event started, it was over with a low-key breakfast of pasteries (sweet potato biscuits!) Sunday morning before the crowd scattered...

Journey To The East

bill_pike — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:23:00 GMT

Departing the Gulf of Mexico was a sad affair for both Betty Jane and I, I think. As I worked through two entire weekends in a Panama City boatyard discombobulating aspects of Betty's flying bridge in order to get her air draft (when loaded on Bob Paquette's low-boy trailer...Bob is Atlantic Marine Transport's one and only owner/driver and he's based in Navarre, Florida) down to approximately 13' 9", she seemed to be feeling just a tad gloomy.

So before Bob showed up with his trailer and big red Freightliner, I managed to give Betty's mast and windows a fresh coat of Pettit Easypoxy paint, touch up her Sea Hawk bottom paint, and add a set of brand-new transom and prop zincs since galvanic-corrosion issues in the marina Betty's called home for many years had apparently rung the final bell on the ones I'd installed only a month or so before. And Betty seemed to appreciate all the attention, one way or the other.

It had taken me quite a while to find Bob. I'd spent six hours at least talking with friends, interviewing folks over the phone, comparing prices on the internet, and calling boat yard owners (who typically deal with marine-type truckers all the time). And I'd asked Bob for a bunch of references, insurance paperwork, and various other odds and sods, a move I think he had a certain grudging respect for, by the way.

It took us about four hours to load Betty, a process that involved centering her on the low-boy, precisely measuring her height, removing her compass and engine control from the flying bridge (to reduce the air draft by an additional 4"), precisely measuring the height of the load, and finally attaching and tensioning a whole raft of cargo straps. Bob and I spelled each other while cinching down these latter babies due to the incredible heat--somewhere between 100 and 105 degrees. I'd do a few while he sat in the air-conditioned cab of his Freightliner and he'd do a few while I sat in my air-conditioned Prius.

Zooming down I-10 at 70 mph or thereabouts--Bob's in his 60s but doesn't let middle age slow him down even a lick--was a wild experience. I shot the above photo from the driver's seat: I know, it wasn't a very safe thing to do, but I simply had to photographically memorialize what I figure was the fastest trawler in Florida (or perhaps even the whole United States) at the time. Bob had what he called "a pole car" leading the way, about a mile ahead. It was really a truck with a pole sticking up that was slightly higher than our load. "If the electronic alarm on that pole even sniffs a bridge," he said before we hit the trail, "we stop and assess stuff immediately."

We arrived at our destination just about sunset, having endured a veritable maze of back roads (to avoid bridges that were too low) and several rain squalls and a lightning storm of cosmic proportion. And, after some seriously clever maneuvering (followed by a visit to the local Subway for a couple of sub sandwiches), Bob got the trailer strategically positioned near the boat yard's launch/haul-out slip for an easy and efficient Travel Lift unloading the next morning. With the last long rays of the sun glowing the way they do in Florida sometimes, Bob posed for a quick photo before he sacked out in his sleeper. I thanked him profusely--the journey to the east had gone off without a hitch.

It took me another couple of weekends (and about a half a quart can of Dolphinite bedding compound) to put Betty back together again. The engine control was the pip of all pips, mostly due to poor access--did I say poor...let's call it catastrophic--under the steering station on the flying bridge. Ultimately, though, Betty went back into the water a couple of Saturdays ago. Check her out below. With a few projects still obviously languishing (among them weather cloths, windshield, compass, and depthsounder module) she's tied up near the boat yard's launch/haul-out slip awaiting a series of holding-tank flushes (with fresh water) followed by a fine, final, cleansing pump-out.

"Your boat seems to be happy to get back in the water," said the boat yard guy helping me with the do-do hoses. At the time Betty'd been out of her element for dang near two long months. "Right on, brother!" I replied.

Arcoa 62

patrick_sciacca — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:20:00 GMT

European builder Arcoa Yachts recently launched its new 62-footer, which is powered with twin 800-hp Caterpillar diesel inboards. She's designed with a deep-V hull form and is reportedly making 28 knots (32.2 mph) out of the box.The boat also features a full-beam master and a teak interior.

Wisconsin Visit

alyssa_haak — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:27:00 GMT

A couple weeks ago, I headed home to Wisconsin to visit some family and decided it was the perfect time to get a look at the local shipyards. The plan was to visit Palmer Johnson, Burger Yachts and the Marquis / Carver yard. But like any well-plan, things didn't work out.

My grandpa lives in Sturgeon Bay, just down the road from Palmer Johnson. So though I was unable to tour the yards, I drove past, and it looked quite busy:

Instead of the tour, my grandpa and I headed to the Door County Maritime Museum, where this guy was hanging out front:

As far as a local museum dedicated to local industry goes, the Door County Maritime Museum is great. They have photos and history of all the local shipyards through the years - models and plans and equipment. They also had an exhibit dedicated to the Haunted Lighthouses of the Great Lakes. The exhibit explored the many legends surrounded lighthouses haunted by their former keepers. (There's also a model of a ship's bridge...with working horn. Awesome.)

I was also scheduled to tour Burger Boats in Manitowoc, but unfortunately was unable to see the launch of the 142-foot Sea Owl.

The yard I ended up touring was Carver/Marquis in Pulaski. I was actually quite excited to see their yards after researching the Nuvolari-Lenard story appearing in this August's issue. And their yard was bustling with workers and 28 boats in production. They've recently hired back some local workers as production picks up.

They are also working on a new model for yacht sales by bringing the boat show experience of climbing aboard boats to their dealerships. In fact, tonight is the launch party for their Lake Lanier location. The party will also include Rolls Royce, Lamburgini and Patron.

The shipyard even had some new models under construction for debut at this season's boat shows. In addition some of their changes to the interiors of the continuing models are fantastic. They are pairing a high-gloss trim with a matte front to the drawers and cabinets for a very modern finish. I can't wait to explore the finished products at Monaco. Hopefully then I will have dozens of photos to share!

Jimmy Buffett versus the Oil Spill

alyssa_haak — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:30:00 GMT

Jimmy Buffet is known for his beachy music and his quest for the perfect cheeseburger. But the Gulf Coast oil spill is threatening that way of life for him and others who depend on the waters for personal and commerical fishing and boating.

On July 11, he performed in a benefit concert in Gulf Shores, Alabama, for those livelihoods have been impacted by the spill. Video of Buffett performaning "When the Coast is Clear" can be found on his Web site, Margaritaville.

Now, he has donated a shallow-draft boat to Friends of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, a non-profit organization that supports Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located in coastal Alabama and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The boat will be used to collect oil-soaked animals and bring them in to be cleaned off.

The Shallow Water Attention Terminal (SWAT) was built by Dragonfly Boatworks and based on their similarly hulled fishing boat. She has an eight to ten inch draft and was specially modified to include a canopy to protect workers and animals, a misting system for cooling, and Wi-Fi and video cameras to view inaccessible areas.

“The S.W.A.T boat will be added to the fleet of 14 wildlife recovery boats, and it will work initially around our local national wildlife refuges,” stated Greg Vergari, wildlife recovery operations coordinator, in a statement. “The crew can inspect habitat conditions for oil contamination while they search for injured wildlife.”

More information on Bon Secour Wildlife refuge can be found here.

New Viking 70 Launches

patrick_sciacca — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:24:00 GMT

Viking Yacht's latest launch, the 70 Convertble, is currently streaking her way down the mid-Atlantic coast. Fresh from the factory in New Gretna, New Jersey, she's powered with a pair of 2,600-mhp MTU V-16 Series 2000 M94 diesels. During the initial sea trials, the 70 made a top hop of 43 knots (49.5 mph). The Viking crew will be campaigning their latest battelwagon at the White Marlin Open in two weeks, followed by some fishing out of Pirate's Cove before returning to Cape May, New Jersey, for the Mid-Atlantic 500. If you're competing, be sure to take a stroll down the docks and take a look at the new flagship, which is outfitted with a Palm Beach Towers' tuna tower, outriggers, and an Atlantic Marine Electronics' navigation package.

A Psychic Octopus

alyssa_haak — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:56:00 GMT

It is approximately a billion degrees in New York this week, and it seems like it's all anyone can talk about. And when it gets this hot, it's difficult for me to write about anything serious.

So, let's talk about something only tangentially related to boats. An octopus.

Paul the Octopus lives in a tank in Germany. And he has predicted the outcome of every game this World Cup. He choses by picking between two plastic bins with treats, each featuring the flags of the competing countries.

After the heat breaks, it'll be megayachts as usual over here.

(photo from getty via huffington post)

World Cup Championship 2010

alyssa_haak — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:17:00 GMT

I can hear you already. "What!?" you're exclaiming. "This is not a sports blog. Give me boats! You better not write about soccer, and if you dare call it football..." While you're angrily shaking your first at me.

But hold on. Let me explain. There is a possible reason for megayacht enthusiasts to be excited about the Championship game on July 11. You see, Roman Abramovich, owner of Pelorus and the soon-to-launch Eclipse, is part owner of the Chelsea Football club.

Unconfirmed rumors are circulating that he wanted Eclipse to be in South Africa to watch the championship game. As far as I can tell, she hasn't left Blohm + Voss yet, and it will take 10 days for her to go from Hamburg, Germany to South Africa.

But England did lose to Germany. And this is just an unconfirmed rumor. Eclipse could still be heading to the Med for the season...

But with a net worth of $11.2 billion, who says he couldn't have it all?

Note: Apologies to any soccer fans or Twi-hards who may have accidentally stumbled upon this blog looking for news on the World Cup or the new Twilight movie, Eclipse.

Spotlight on Sanlorenzo

alyssa_haak — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:04:00 GMT

I'd like to introduce you to the newest members of the Sanlorenzo family. I've been paying far too much attention to the Northern European shipyards, I know. So lets look south. Not just because the landscapes are far more beautiful, but also because there are some interesting things happening.

First, I'd like to introduce Mentxu. She comes from the Ameglia shipyard and is an updated version of their SL 100 series. In addition to a few aesthetic modifications, the designers made her hullside windows much larger. Also, hidden off her swim platform is a shower. She is powered by 2/2,435-hp MTUs.

The next two boats were launched at the same time, and look remarkably similar to my eyes despite being named with two names. Let me know if you can spot the differences.

I present Genie 2.

She is the 11th in the SD92 series and the first Sanlorenzo yacht to sport a metallic hull, which is why I hope you'll share my skepticism that this next boat is the 10th in the SD92 series.

Meet Lady Jane.

Or at least according to the publicists' photo titles.

Anyways, the SD92 line was introduced in September 2007 and has a 92-foot length and 23-foot beam. The line was designed to mimic 1930s transatlantic ships.

Then the 108-foot Dandy Six:

And finally, let me introduce the first Sanlorenzo yacht with a steel hull, launched in March. The previous ships featured composite hulls. The Sanlorenzo 44 Steel is appropriately 44 meters in length. Among her features are an aft beach club with gym equipment and a spa and a garage large enough for a 20-foot tender just forward.

There's also a lower level hallway for the crew to access technical equipment, service needs such as the laundry and cold and frozen storage, and access to the engine room. She is powered by two Caterpiller engines capable of 17 knots. Her cruising speed is 15 knots, but she has a range of 4,000 nautical miles at 12 knots.

Big Rock Top Fish Disqualified

patrick_sciacca — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:57:00 GMT

A winning 883-pound, record-setting blue marlin worth just about $912,000 caught on the first day of last week's The Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City, North Carolina, was disqualified by the tournament's board of directors yesterday.

The massive first-place marlin caught by the team onboard Citation, which had been sitting atop the leaderboard since day one of the weeklong event, was called into question on the evening of thewards at the colucsion of the tournamnet last Saturday. The controversey surrounded the whether or not the mate onboard possessed a valid North Caorlina.

In a press release from the tournament on June 22, 2010, the board said:

"After interviewing members of the crew of the fishing vessel “Citation,” review of the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament rules, consulting the division of Marine Fisheries as well as the North Carolina Attorney General’s office, it is apparent that there has been a substantial violation of Tournament rules. The Board of Directors has unanimously determined that they have no choice but to disqualify the 883 pound blue marlin caught on June 14, 2010. The rule violation did not involve “dishonesty” or “cheating” on the part of the owners or angler of the “Citation”.

The rule violation involves the “mate” not having a Coastal Recreational Fishing License. This license is required by North Carolina law. It is required by the Tournament as written in our rules. Participants and crew were reminded of the license requirement at the Captains meeting prior to the Tournament. The mate engaged in fishing activities without a valid license and later obtained a license at 5:51 pm while heading to the weigh station. The fish was boated at 3:16 pm."

As a result of this action, the crew of declare Carnivore, which weighed in a 528.3-pound blue marlin, will now move into first place and is going from about a $240,000 payday to perhaps a million-plus. The team onboard Wet-N-Wild, which nabbed a 460-pound blue marlin, moves from third place to second place.

The Big Rock Goes Big!

patrick_sciacca — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:09:00 GMT

The Big Rock Goes Big!

Congratulations go out to Morehead City, North Carolina's, Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament this week for seeing a record-size blue marlin come to the scales and for seeing an uptick in participation at this year's event.

That's right, in spite of the still struggling-to-get-to-its-feet economy, this tournament is enjoying a slight rise in competing boats, which number 156. The event even saw a few boats travel up the coast from the Gulf of Mexico as many of that area's tourmaments, thanks to the oil spill, have been cancelled. And at the end of the day, passionate anglers want to fish, and they'll do what it takes to make that happen. Even if it means moving a boat a couple of thousand nautical miles.

With 156 teams in the event, which continues through Saturday, June 19, total prize money is more than $1.6 million. Right now, a boat called Citation, out of Hatteras, N.C., is sitting atop the leaderboard with a tournament-record-setting 883-pound blue marlin that it caught on Monday, the first day of compeitition. It's the biggest blue marlin brought to the scales in the event's 52-year hstory. You could call it beginners luck as the boat's captain Eric Holmes is participating in his first Big Rock tournament. Yesterday, a second place fish, weighing 528.3 pounds, which would've been good enough to win last year's tourmament, was brought in by the team onbard Carnivore.

For more information, photos, updates, and live streaming video from the weigh-in daily from 4pm-7 pm, visit The BIg Rock's Web Site.

Going Dutch

alyssa_haak — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:43:00 GMT

It had been my noble intention to continue to update while I traveled. Unfortunately unreliable internet coverage and extreme fatigue often won out.

So our next stop was Holland. First to Amels, where they are working on a couple lines of their Limited Editions. Also in the works are their Sea Axe boats - for when your megayacht is too small for all your toys and crew. I'd shown a picture here before:

But the Oberon simply shadows a megayacht with crew and toys.

The next day: Moonen and Heesen. I encourage you to pick up the September issue to read about what Heesen will be presenting at the Monaco Boat Show. Right now, let's talk a bit about Moonen.

Right now, amid some new builds, they are working on a refit of a Moonen 52, Trojan, that was originally launched in 1988. To her current owner. She's on her third refit, and though her exterior style is slightly boxier than you'd see being built today, she's still in remarkable condition.

But at 52 feet, she's a tiny thing compared to what Moonen is currently building! To the right of this image you can see a 97-foot yacht rising behind her.

Our final stops were at the Feadship yards - both Royal Van Lent and De Vries. Royal Van Lent is gearing up to deliver a yacht that will be presented at Monaco, and De Vries is working on Project and Project . They were incredible, and I can't wait to tell you more...

A Sad Boat Ride

bill_pike — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:14:00 GMT

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 was a grim sorta day. Over the preceding weeks I'd tracked the slow easterly crawl of British Petroleum's oil spill across the blue-green waters of the Gulf, driven in part by an unusual spate of winds from the west. Eventually, I'd decided that there was little chance my trawler Betty Jane would be spared an oily encounter should I leave her in the marina she's called home for several years now, not given the possibility that BP's crude would continue to flow well into August and perhaps beyond. So I checked my boat's vital fluids early Tuesday morning, fired up her engine, coiled her shorepower cord, removed her canvas flybridge cover, and otherwise prepared her for the long sad trip to Miller Marine, a boat yard to the north where a truck will eventually pick her up and transport her to a marina my wife BJ and I've picked out in Jacksonville.

The atmosphere on the docks as I made ready was pensive, inconclusive. Friends and acquaintances wanted to know what I was doing, what my plans were. Most of them were planning to wait a few more days to decide whether to haul out, stay put, or try to run for the safety of more southerly waters. I've always been a tad conservative concerning navigational matters and other marine-related decisions. My take on the whole mess, particularly in light of reports about oiled-in boats I'd got from a friend in Pensacola some few days before, was simple, if none too pleasant. Better safe than sorry!

My friend Ed helped me with Betty's lines just before I pulled out. As I stood on the old girl's flying bridge during the rousing back-and-fill turn that typically puts me square in the fairway and headed in the right direction, I shot a few glances over my left shoulder to see Ed waving goodbye. There are some goodbye gestures you tend to remember and I guess that was one. I waved back and yelled, "Goodbye Ed."

The day itself was misty for starters but soon turned gorgeous, the best the Florida Panhandle has to offer. The sun shown like diamonds on the green depths and white sand guarding the opening of Grand Lagoon. As I crossed into the main channel I could see the Gulf of Mexico over Betty's stern stretching south to a bright steely horizon. The presence of commercial vessels, construction barges with cranes, and what I took to be skimmer boats in the vicinity of Shell Island constituted an unusual sight off the starboard side. As Betty and I toodled along a few memories bobbed inevitably to the surface.

Three decades ago, I worked as a commercial seafarer on the Gulf of Mexico, and I've lived alongside its immense loveliness much of my life. During one period, for a whole five years straight almost, I never once set foot inside a house, living as I did on a Bristol sloop on the fringes of St. Petersburg and working weeks and sometimes months at a time on oil-field supply boats and oceangoing tugs, sometimes plying the Gulf, sometimes not. I remember the whales we used to see from the decks and wheelhouses of those vessels and the giant hammerheads and how we used to go swimming in the evenings sometimes, jumping off bollards and exhaust trunks like kids at a swimming hole. In hundreds and hundreds of feet of water that was clearer than air, bluer than ink.

I especially remember a trip from Tampa to Houston, to load grain for Haiti. One afternoon, myself and another guy were standing at the rear of the Betty Culbreath, a big oceangoing greyhound, in the shelter of a giant towing winch. The weather was atrocious, with heavy seas, white horses for miles, and a gloomy sky. However, the colors, shapes, and power of the scene as we looked aft, off toward the barge we were towing and the miles of emptiness beyond, were indescribably spectacular. "You know," I said to the other guy, as we both stood there semi-stunned by the stormy beauty of it all, "You see stuff out here in the Gulf that you simply can't explain to people ashore. This is magnificent." "Yup," he replied, "It is."

Pelicans are about my favorite sea bird--I love their droll facial expressions and their seeming sense of purpose. And I saw plenty of them diving and flying around on my way for the haul-out at Miller. I saw plenty of dolphins too. They love to ride Betty's bow wave for just a while. Betty's so slow that they soon tire of the modest levels of speedy excitement she's able to provide. The pelican above sort of followed along for a while, long enough for me to snap a picture. The presence of the bird made me wonder. What will happen to all the aquatic birds, dolphins and other animals I was seeing if the oil eventually comes to this part of the Panhandle.

Up in North Bay I came across a long, seemingly unending strip of brown sludge riding the tide line. In light of recent news reports and the periodic oil-spill trajectories put out by NOAA, the stuff was most likely something other than oil but I'm a suspicious sorta of guy, especially when it comes down to promises and pronouncements made by governmental and/or corporate entities. Call me a paranoid, mistrustful, old combat veteran of the Vietnam War, but hey! I found a spot where the strip was comparatively narrow and zipped though as quickly as possible, vaguely wondering the while whether a quick frothy shot of BP sludge might be enough to gum up the raw-water pump on Betty's engine.

Just before turning into the creek that leads up to Millers I passed a fishing boat headed south. The guys onboard waved and I waved back, rather poignantly perhaps. Over the years, I've known shrimpers and commercial fishermen of all sorts, from Texas to Florida. I've worked with a few, too, guys who started out on shrimp boats and found their way into the oil patch or some other commercial line of work. Many of these people were superb boatmen, with biographies that included nothing but boats, boats, and more boats. Seeing this little vessel set me to wondering again. What will happen to all the Gulf's fishermen over the next few years, as well as everybody else who lives a life touched by the Gulf, whether deeply or not?

German Shipyards

alyssa_haak — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:43:00 GMT

This week, I am touring some of the largest shipyards of Germany and Holland. Though most of the building process is off limits to photos, some things are allowed and some are just too big to hide.

Yesterday, our first visit was to Blohm & Voss. Though there were many interesting ships under construction, the only photos I was able to take were of Eco and Golden Odyssey.

These mini megayachts are part of the Blohm & Voss memory wall of to-scale-sized miniatures for every yacht they've produced.

Today we visited Abeking & Rasmussen in the morning and then Lurssen in the afternoon. One yacht too big to hide is the 78-meter Titan, which is docked out front of A&R. She's just returned from sea trial and is getting polished and ready for delivery to her new owner.

And unfortunately there were no ships I was able to photograph at Lurssen. Though I did get a lot of good information for the PMY Top 100. I hope you're getting as excited as I am for our 25th Anniversary.

Navionics Charts for Apple's iPad Are Here

patrick_sciacca — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:59:00 GMT

With a million-plus iPads already sold domestically, one would think there are a lot of boaters onboard with this technology. And if you are on of them, Navionics now has its charts available for your iPad. The Navionics apps (there are 29 to choose from) will run you about $19.99 and you can choose marine charts from around the world and lake maps of the United States and Canada. You can build routes, set waypoints, and share them on Facebook or see them on Google Earth. In addition, you'll get tide and current data as well as moon-phase information. If you have a Wi-Fi-model iPad, you can also get your GPS position.

World Superyacht Awards

alyssa_haak — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:18:00 GMT

On May 22, the 5th Annual World Superyacht Awards were named during a ceremony at London's Guildhall. Below, the results of the motoryacht categories. (There were sailing yacht winners too, but really, that's for another blog.) The winners are awarded the Neptune Awards and a bottle of champagne - perhaps to break on the bow?

Though there can only be a winner per category, the chairman of the Superyacht Awards wrote, "When standards are thus high, success is but a narrow shave from defeat and every owner is in reality a winner."

But - drumroll please - the winners who took home the awards were:

BEST DISPLACEMENT MOTORYACHT (1,300GT AND ABOVE)

Lürssen's Northern Star

Name:
Length:
Builder:
Naval Architect:
Exterior Styling:
Interior Design:

Northern Star
75.40m
Lürssen Yachts
Lürssen Yachts
Espen Oeino
Pauline Nunns

BEST SEMIDISPLACEMENT OR PLANING MOTORYACHT 40M+

Hessen's Celestial Hope

Name:
Length:
Builder:
Naval Architect:
Exterior Styling:
Interior Design:

Celestial Hope
47.00m
Heesen Yachts
Heesen Yachts
Omega Architects
Intarya

MOTORYACHT OF THE YEAR

Lürssen's Arkley

Name:
Length:
Builder:
Naval Architect:
Exterior Styling:
Interior Design:

Arkley
60.00m
Lürssen Yachts
Lürssen Yachts
Espen Oeino
Mark Berryman

Arkley also shared the award for the Best Displacement Motoryacht (500GT - 1,299GT) with Viareggio's Candyscape II.

JUDGES’ SPECIAL REBUILD AWARD

Name:
Length:
Refit Yard:
Naval Architect:
Interior Design:

Freedom
31.70m
McMillen Yachts
John Trumpy
Elizabeth McMillen Designs

Originally built in 1923 across the river from the signing of the Declaration of Independence, she took five years to rebuild.

Photos From the Superyacht Finalists Announcement.