December 2004 Vol. 1, No. 9
Caprice captain describes engine room fire, lessons learned By Capt. Chuck Limroth This is the follow-up to the article in the September edition of The Triton concerning the engine room fire onboard the M/Y Caprice in July. Caprice is a 123-foot Oceanco built in 1994, all aluminum with an aft engine room. We were on a tandem charter with the 115-foot M/Y Claire under the command of Capt. Bruce Cardish.
Our guests were an extended family of 17 – nine onboard Caprice, eight onboard Claire. The charter began July 24 at Atlantis, Paradise Island. Following is a briefing of the events for informational purposes. On Sunday, July 25, at 1800 hours, Caprice and Claire were making their approach toward the southwest shore of Norman’s Cay, Bahamas. About two miles offshore, Caprice’s engine room fire alarm sounded.
Engineer Ian Morris checked for the temperature of the engine room’s main deck-level door (which he exited 20 minutes prior after a full engine room check and log entry) and found it to be normal. He discovered smoke at deck level upon slowly cracking open the door and looking inside. He immediately closed and secured the door and reported to me via radio. Main engines were shut down from the pilot house.
I instructed chief stewardess Simone Seckington to locate and muster all guests to the foredeck and to instruct chef Cherry Kannemeyer to shut down all galley equipment and assist stewardess Madeline Tusler with mustering guests and getting life vests. Engineer Morris then checked the temperature of the engine room’s transom door. He found it to be
See CAPRICE, page 8
Syncrolift collapses, Sacajawea falls in river Captains seek compatibility in new hires By Lucy Chabot Reed
The 130-foot M/Y Sacajawea slid into the New River at Fort Lauderdale Shipyard on Nov. 18 after one of the hoists of the yard’s Syncrolift gave way. It was unclear exactly what happened or why, but Sacajawea slid about 12 feet forward, suffering three holes in her port bow, and rested bow down in the river. Damage to the megayacht was minimal, according to broker Mark Elliott with International Yacht Collection, central agent for the charter yacht. The real damage may have occurred to the yard’s Syncrolift. One of its four hoists was underwater. At least some of the remaining hoists were still operable and Sacajawea was refloated a few hours after Preliminary reports indicate damage to the 130-foot M/Y Sacajawea is the accident, said Rick Roughen, PHOTO COURTESY OF A TRITON READER president of Fort Lauderdale Shipyard. minimal. “We don’t know what the damage professionals at the scene, it appeared damage appears to be minimal,” is yet, and we have no idea what that the port forward hoist of the Elliott said. “It was not as bad as it caused it,” Roughen said a day Syncrolift collapsed into the water, looked. There was minor water in the after the accident. “The evidence is and the yacht appeared to have bilge, but not up to the floorboards as underwater. It’s too early to tell.” collided with the hoist. everyone thought.” The fiberglass-hulled Hatteras was Divers with TowBoatU.S. Ft. Repairs to Sacajawea’s fiberglass towed to Bradford Marine on Nov. 20, the same day The Triton went to press. Lauderdale patched three areas in the hull should be straight-forward and port bow about 2 square feet each, swift, he said, noting that the yacht Sacajawea was expected to be hauled said Capt. Larry Acheson, president of is expected to complete her charter out at Bradford and her damages the towing and salvage company. schedule. more thoroughly assessed. “It floated right away and the According to several industry See SACAJAWEA, page 13
Recreational yachts exempt from ANOA in South Florida, page 10.
OSHA to investigate dangerous welding situations. See Getting Under Way, page 15.
Part of the routine before the winter season begins each year is the interview dance to fill open posts onboard and, hopefully, find that magical, perfect crew. So we asked 11 captains gathered for The Triton’s monthly Bridge luncheon what they see in the megayacht crew FROM THE BRIDGE labor pool. Do interview candidates LUCY CHABOT REED have the experience captains are looking for? What exactly are captains looking for? As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page 7. The most important quality most captains said they look for in potential crew is the ability to get along. “You’re looking for compatibility more than anything,” one captain said. “Experience is one thing, the CV is another. But it’s how this person is going to get along with the rest of the crew that really counts.”
See THE BRIDGE, page 7
Captain finds gem in old European city, page 29.