The Triton 200607

Way down low

Vol. 3, No. 4

From ashes

Captains explore, analyze 219-footdeep wreck.

Traces of the fire in Argus V are gone.

A28-29

A8

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A32 In memoriam Remembering Eng. Darren Coulson.

July 2006

Embargo against Cuba bans U.S. money, not Americans U.S. crew on foreign-flagged megayachts run the risk of prosecution. Not a big risk, but a risk just the same.

By Mona Birch Here’s the scenario: You are American. You crew on a foreign-owned, foreign-flagged yacht headed to the Caribbean. The itinerary includes Cuba. Can you go?

Last year, Capt. James Smith (not his real name)

had just this dilemma. Capt. Smith skippers a yacht that is registered in the Cayman Islands. He is British, but two members of his crew are American. The yacht spent much of 2005 in the United States, and during part of that time traveled the Caribbean islands, including Cuba, American crew and all.

As a foreign-registered, privately owned pleasure vessel, there were only minor restrictions on the yacht itself. (For example, the visit to Cuba needed to be sandwiched between foreign ports to avoid a direct line of contact between the two countries.) Generally, regulations stemming from the United States’ embargo against Cuba apply only to U.S. vessels, or

vessels assimilated without nationality.

So Capt. Smith’s boat was free to make the itinerary, as were he and his foreign crew.

A question arose over his American crew members.

Since the yacht’s owner is based in Asia, he applied for Cuban visas for all crew members from there; the American crew members received visas just like the rest of the crew. The visa was in the form of a piece of paper, not a passport stamp.

Americans, adhering to the embargo, are not forbidden from visiting Cuba, but they are forbidden

California keeps longer offshore sales tax loophole

As the United States celebrates its 231st birthday this month, San Diego entrepreneur Troy Sears is sailing his newly purchased America, a 139-foot replica of the first boat to win the America’s Cup, around San Diego Bay. Built in 1995, he’s reportedly planning her refit. Sears owns Next Level Sailing, a fleet of America’s Cup yachts that also includes the famed Stars & Stripes.

By John Freeman The temporary one-year law in California that requires residents to keep new yachts offshore for a full year if they wish to avoid paying state sales and use taxes appears headed for a year’s extension.

The law, which applies to all yachts purchased after Oct. 1, 2004, was set to expire on June 30. It extends to 365 days the traditional 90-day window that yacht owners used to avoid taxes.

Called Chapter 226, the provision is included in the state’s proposed 2006-07 budget and would push the expiration date for the law to June 30, 2007. A final decision by the state’s legislature was expected July 1.

The extension was strongly opposed by the yachting industry.

“I felt like I got kicked in the gut when I found out it was back in the budget,” said Paul Trusso, a San Diegobased maritime attorney who has followed the situation. “This law was drafted and designed to automatically sunset after one year, but it looks like we’ve lost this one.”

The state’s official Legislative Analyst’s Report concluded that the temporary one-year law had not resulted “in the sharp reduction in

See CALIFORNIA LAW, page A25

See CUBA, page A18

PHOTO/JOHN FREEMAN

Bridge: Medical preparedness a matter of risk You are walking out of a restaurant in Antigua and a gentleman in front of you collapses on the sidewalk. Are you prepared for the medical emergency at your feet?

Many captains are, thanks to licensing requirements that include some first aid proficiency.

From the Bridge But the extras that Lucy Chabot Reed could mean life or death on a remote Caribbean island or out at sea are more than worth the expense, according to this month’s Bridge captains.

On the suggestion of a captain in his 60s with a boss of the same age, The Triton’s monthly captains’ roundtable

discussed medical emergencies and how yachts are prepared for the occasion when the boss, a guest or a crew member gets ill or injured in a place with limited or questionable medical services. Do most yachts run with standing orders for such things as a medical evacuation?

As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A26.

“We’re getting ready to sign on with MedLink,” one captain said. “They’ll come on board and train you. The previous owner had it. We’re private, not charter, so we don’t have a lot of the issues other boats have.”

For feedback about last month’s Bridge discussion concerning contracts, see page A24.

“I’ve been looking into getting a defibrillator,” another captain said.

“We’ve all been trained and we have a lot of equipment on board” including oxygen and a comprehensive first-aid kit.

“That’s the first line of defense isn’t it?” a third said. “We need to make sure we all keep our certifications up to date.”

“And have a second line of communication,” replied another.

“The whole system of MedLink works around communication.

See THE BRIDGE, page A26

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WHAT’S INSIDE Regatta organizer killed in Venezuela, page A5

Pierre Roelens, owner of PR Yacht Services in Puerto La Cruz, died June 12. PHOTO COURTESY OF ELLEN SANPERE

Advertiser directory Broker news Calendar of events Classifieds Cruising Grounds Features: Crew News How I Got My Start Columnists: In the Galley In the Stars Latitude Adjustment Nutrition Personal Finance

B20 A15 B26-27 B14-18 A39 A6,8,B2 B3 B6 B23 B2 B12 B20

Photography B13 Predictions B24 Rules of the Road B4 Well Read B21 Features A16,28-29 Fuel prices A33 News A1,5-15,25 Photo Gallery A22-23,30-31 Puzzles/answers B19/B5 Recipes B7,9 Restaurant Review B11 Technology A32-38 Triton spotter A30 Write to Be Heard A42-43

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NEWS

July 2006

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Venezuelan boatyard owner, wife shot dead at entry gate

By Ellen B. Sanpere PUERTO LA CRUZ – As was their custom, María Eugenia had driven her husband, Pierre, to start the workweek when violence struck just outside the PR Yacht Services gate at Marina Bahia Redonda in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela.

Yard owner Pierre Roelens, 53, and his wife of 26 years, María Eugenia Cañes, 45, were shot to death at about 8:30 a.m. on June 12. She ran out of the car and was hit in the back; he was shot in the chest through the car windscreen.

Boatyard and marina personnel, friends, yachties and clients were in shock as word got around. Not one could think of anybody who would want this beautiful couple dead. One friend, however, said that Pierre had been worried about something in the days before his murder and mentioned leaving the country for a few weeks.

Two days later, rumors abounded about possible reasons for the shootings as those who knew Pierre and María Eugenia gathered for the double funeral. Colleagues believe the murders weren’t random, but police had no comment on the motive and were still looking for the shooters.

Buses were hired to take friends to the viewing and cemetery. Employees wearing yellow PR Services shirts carried the two carved wooden caskets from the hearses. After the ceremony, tropical floral arrangements formed a mountain over the couple’s grave.

Newly widowed, Pierre’s mother flew in from France, his brother from Grenada. María Eugenia’s family came from the state of Táchira, south of Mérida. Their sons, 7 and 15, were with friends and did not attend the funeral.

Pierre shined as a man with the desire and the means to make the Puerto La Cruz experience a good one for any cruising boat needing service.

María Eugenia brought genuine grace and beauty to those endeavors.

Seeing a need for more catamaran marina space, he opened a Catamarina in Lecheria just weeks before his death.

When friends started Fundación La Tortuga to help the environment in the islands near Puerto La Cruz, Pierre donated space and a haul-out to restore an old 44-foot Hatteras for research and beach clean-up projects. Many of the cruising community knew and admired Pierre, even after hauling out in his boatyard.

Aside from his work, Pierre loved racing his S&S 39 Kemy III. To promote Puerto La Cruz as a destination, he initiated the Clásico Regatta in 2004.

Last year, 37 competitors raced in the two-day event. Racers and non-racers with boats were encouraged to “dress ship” and come party Saturday night.

When asked how he’d improve the race in 2006, he said, “better party – more beer – champagne!”

Race committee Chairman Andrés

Ivanyi says the 2006 regatta will take place as scheduled on Oct. 7-8. Pierre’s boatyard crew plans to race Kemy III in his memory. Yard manager Rolando Palacios will continue Pierre’s dream of bringing boats and their crews to Puerto La Cruz for competition, fun and friendship. Boats scheduled for work in the yard will see no change, except for a little less cigar smoke in the late afternoon air.

Ellen B. Sanpere is a regular contributor to The Triton. Her last story about Montserrat appears on page A39. Reach her through editorial@the-triton.com.

Pierre Roelens, owner and operator of PR Yacht Services in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, was shot to death in June with his wife, María Eugenia. In addition to being an accomplished sailor, he cared deeply for Venezuela. He donated space in the yard and a haulout for an environmental group’s boat. The restored boat launched just a few weeks before his death.

PHOTO/ELLEN B. SANPERE

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NEWS FROM CREWS

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Notice from Mariners:

French checking PWC licenses; Customs mixed on reporting in With this new feature, we encourage captains and crew to let each other know of rules, regulations or procedures that you run up against.

If you have updates to help your yachting colleagues, e-mail Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.

Also, sign up for our weekly e-mail blast and get the news first.

From Liz Teage, a freelance chef on a charter yacht in the Med: After a busy charter, we’re finally back in Antibes. The charter was NiceSt. Tropez-Monaco-Corsica-SardiniaCapri-Naples and back – all in 10 days.

The cruising tax of 10,000 euros per season that the Sardinians are charging was not charged to us as a commercial

registered charter yacht. However, private yachts are said to be getting charged. How long this lasts remains to be seen.

Also, the introduction last year by the French that all riders of Jet Skies or similar personal watercraft must be licensed is being upheld and checked.

The Italians are pulling guests up and asking they wear helmets while on these craft.

Thierry Voisin of Partnership in Nice, replies: Regarding Jet Ski rules in French waters, the position of the authorities is as follows: the rule of the flag will prevail.

That means, for example, that if a

Jet Ski is British registered, the British regulation will be applied concerning a license. If the Jet Ski is American registered, the American rules will be enforced.

We heard from a lot of captains about our front-page story last month about the requirement that all foreignflagged yachts must report in to U.S. Customs each time they move.

Here are a few comments: From Capt. Rusty Allen of M/Y Cracker Bay: Regarding the recent revelation of reporting in to U.S. Customs while traveling in the United States, I had a nice conversation about this with the homeland security representative at your immigration seminar a few months ago.

This reporting-in requirement has been the rule for years, but he admitted that it was not being implemented due to budget cuts. He wouldn’t say this while you were taking notes, but said it in a sidebar discussion with me.

I tried to report in when I was in Ogdensburg, N.Y., and they got downright nasty about it. They said they didn’t know anything about the requirement, even when I quoted to them the pamphlet number and rule.

From Capt. Peter Vazquez aboard M/Y Blind Faith: As the captain of a foreign-flagged yacht, I read your recent story regarding U.S. custom’s reporting-in rule with great interest. Capt. Doc and The Triton did us all a great favor in detailing that experience.

We recently returned to the United

States from the Bahamas and made our entry at Savannah, Ga. First let me report that the customs/ immigrations officials that met our yacht were outstanding. They arrived promptly and made our foreign crew feel very comfortable regarding visas, procedures, etc. They were polite, friendly and very knowledgeable about yacht crews in general.

From Savannah, we proceeded up the East Coast stopping in various ports such as Charleston and Southport, S.C.; Beaufort, N.C.; up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C.; and eventually to Newport, R.I. for the charter show.

We reported in at all of these ports.

Some of the cities clearly understood the reporting-in procedures, but a couple did not know exactly why we were reporting in.

Also, we were never given any clearance numbers at these ports.

Most of them said they do not do that; instead, we just took down the officers’ names and entered that info into our log book for future reference.

With respect to phone numbers, on more than one occasion we had to call at least two or three numbers before we got the right one. Even at Newport, we called the local number and were given another number in Maine. We called that number to report into Newport.

While these procedures have actually been in effect for quite some time, it has just been recently that they are being enforced. A close look at our cruising permit as detailed in your article does clearly state this procedure.

Hopefully, these procedures and phone numbers will eventually be made easier and clearer for us all. Thanks again for the great informative article.

The crew of M/Y Blind Faith, from left: Eng. Mark Hol, Chef Jacquie Antoinette, First Mate Kim Thomas, Capt. Peter Vazquez and Stewardess Donna Killeen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPT. PETER VAZQUEZ

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BIRTHDAY XXXXXXXXXX BASH

July 2006

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IN MEMORIAM

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The memories of Darren Coulson live on The first time I saw Lucia Ferreira, she rubbed her fingers across Darren Coulson’s right temple, smoothing down a curl as he lay in a casket. She was crying softly, but wouldn’t leave. Every time someone wrapped an arm around and led her away, she returned to be with him, holding on as Editor’s Notebook long as she could.

Lucy Chabot Reed It’s been a hard year for Ferreira as she has worked to rebuild a life that was so intertwined with his. Darren Coulson was the engineer on M/Y Mirage, a 132-foot Heesen.

He died July 17, 2005, in a motorcycle accident. He was 36.

Ferreira, 47, couldn’t talk about Darren in the days and weeks after his death. It’s taken this year for her to heal enough to hold a conversation about her partner of more than three years.

And she does now, for over an hour, only stopping for tears twice.

“He will always be in my thoughts and heart for having been a very special person I had the privilege to share my life with,” Ferreira said. “Darren had many passions in his life but the ocean and engines were in his blood.”

And that’s where they met, on motorcycles riding near the ocean on Ft. Lauderdale beach.

Darren had five motorcycles: a Kawasaki Ninja, two Suzuki 500cc 2-stroke bikes, and two Aprilia 250cc 2-stroke bikes, plus one he was building in a storage-unit-turned-workshop.

After he and Ferreira started dating, they drove to Daytona Beach to watch Capt. Duncan Macdonald race.

Darren admitted that he would love to race like that, and Ferreira encouraged him.

“Some people have a dream that they can’t reach, but he could reach his,” she said. “It was perfect for him. He was a good mechanic and could handle anything on a bike.”

For more than two years, he raced in the Championship Cup Series with his Aprilia 250cc, No. 860.

“I was happy helping him take care of his racing bike, sometimes overnight,” Ferreira said.

She knows that the riding and racing, repairing and building of motorcycles was a big part of what made Darren happy in the months before he died.

Darren was a very responsible and careful person, she said, but on that Sunday morning he made the terrible mistake of crossing the boundaries of safety, racing on the road with his powerful Kawazaki.

“If he had an accident on the race track, I could understand it,” she said.

At top, Darren Coulson poses with partner Lucia Ferreira at the track.

Coulson, a passionate racer, took comfort in Ferreira’s support of his hobby. Left and above, Coulson could flash a brilliant smile, on a motorcyle or in the water.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LUCIA FERREIRA

“But for me it’s unbelievable what happened. His hobby was racing. He didn’t need to race on the road where it’s very dangerous.”

Darren was riding with friends in the maze of ramps around U.S. 441 and State Road 84 when he lost control of his bike and hit a guardrail. He died in the ambulance on the way to Broward General Hospital.

Darren was scheduled to fly to England in two weeks time to sit

for his Y1 engineer’s license, and he and Ferreira had just found an apartment together in South Florida.

They celebrated with champagne and fireworks.

“We were really happy,” she said.

“Some people told me that it was just his time or that he died for a reason. I appreciate everyone trying to comfort me but I don’t believe that. It wasn’t his time. He had so much happening in his life. To me, it was just an accident.”

Then she pulls out her cell phone.

She has kept Darren’s text messages.

“Lucia,” one says, “thank you for your love, race support and good times.”

She rubs her fingers softly across the phone and lets out a soft “mmm,” and I am immediately transported back to that day at his funeral. It’s been a long, hard year for Lucia Ferreira.

Contact Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.

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NEWS

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EU authorities cracking down on schemes to minimize VAT In their current snooping about, Dutch, French, UK and German authorities seem determined to look beneath the surface.

By Ayuk Ntuiabane What is it that has got the combined force of the Dutch, French, German and UK Customs asking baffling questions of the yachting industry recently?

It is the so-called Artificial Export

Scheme.

This is the practice whereby yachts or other means of transport are removed out of the EU for the purposes of Community VAT, only to be returned for use in the EU under the provisions of the Community Customs Code – for no other purpose than to avoid VAT. The practice has attracted attention lately because it is perceived as successful.

Typically, an EU yacht builder may set up a non-EU company to which he exports the yachts he builds for onward sale to customers who end up using

their yachts in the Med. No EU VAT is charged or paid anywhere.

By the book, the yacht builder will have declared his supply as a zerorated export and the yacht user will have entered his yacht as a VAT-free “temporary import,” because a non-EU company legally owns it.

One plan equals less than 1 percent In one brazen, eye-popping variant of this scheme, the non-EU company would contract with an independent non-EU yacht charter company, which would charter the yacht to an EU-based

intermediary, who would import the yacht back into the EU in a chartering capacity and report and reclaim the import VAT due in a single VAT return.

Then the intermediary would charter the yacht to the end user (often the beneficial owner) for a token fee plus VAT. By this convoluted structure, the yacht owner is said to be able to reduce his VAT liability to a fraction of 1 percent of the yacht’s purchase price.

The fact that artificial schemes like these were being promoted as legitimate solutions within the yachting industry was already a cause for concern.

But what appears to have triggered the strong and co-ordinated response by several EU tax authorities is because such schemes are now being linked, rightly or wrongly, to some influential industry advisers.

This, together with the legal certainty engendered by the recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgments in the cases of University of Huddersfield, BUPA Hospitals Limited and Halifax plc, has made the authorities more eager to challenge aggressive VAT planning schemes that are based on literal application of Community VAT law with no apparent commercial purpose.

Leading questions

In their current snooping about, the Dutch, French, German and UK authorities seem determined to look beneath the surface.

Even yachting services providers involved indirectly or inadvertently at various stages of these “export” supply chains are being asked on/off, oblique or leading questions as the authorities assemble their case.

As always, the penny is likely to drop with their real targets only at the last moment.

But the consequences for the wider yachting industry are likely to manifest themselves much sooner in a number of ways: l tighter controls on yacht builders and yacht brokers; l a more skeptical attitude to temporary importation requests and hostility to non-VAT-paid yachts; l more arbitrary revenue raising/ protection measures directed at yachts entering individual EU member states; l and in more onerous VAT registration and reclaim procedures for yacht owners and operators.

Ayuk Ntuiabane is a director of Moore Stephens Consulting Limited, a financial services firm in the Isle of Man that handles European Union value-addedtax advice, ship ownership structuring, ship registration, crew employment and accountancy. Contact him at +44 (0)1624 662020 or through www. moorestephens.co.im.

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NEWS

Standing on the 600-ton elevator at the Kingship yard are, from left: Robert Roscioli; Phillip White, manager of Kingship; Tom Glass of Roscioli; Walter Riley of Bimini Bay Boatworks of New York; Wes Dickman of The Dickman Group consultants in Ft. Lauderdale; and Jeff Knowles of Knowles Mobile Marine in Ft. Lauderdale. The yacht in the center of the photograph, the yard’s first in its new 110-foot explorer series, recently PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROBERT ROSCIOLI launched. See boat news, page A21.

China trip shows future

By Lucy Chabot Reed Robert Roscioli, owner of Roscioli Yachting Center in Ft. Lauderdale, traveled to China this spring and returned impressed, motivated and wishing he was 20 years younger.

“I was blown away at what these people are planning to do over the next 20 years,” he recounted to members at a recent meeting of the Marina Mile Association, a group of businesses with interests in State Road 84 in Ft. Lauderdale. “They are taking whole cities and making Venices of America.”

The Chinese government is giving developers land on rivers, tax free for the first few years, to build their dreams, enormous projects that include marinas, living and working areas, Roscioli said. In one project, a 10mile breakwall was built in six months to create its own beaches.

But tied into the vision and the spare-no-expenses attitude is a need for guidance, he said. The Chinese can build the infrastructure – its workforce is large, labor costs low – but they aren’t sure how to build the business.

“We’re encouraging the export of our knowledge,” said Bob Swindell, of the Broward Alliance, an organization of Broward County business leaders that organized the trip with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida. “Some see that as scary, but we’re selling ourselves short.”

One small business owner at the meeting expressed the fear of sharing knowledge, then having Chinese companies run with it, putting American companies out of business.

Both Roscioli and Swindell said the Chinese are looking to partner with

American companies to produce goods and provide service, which opens doors, not closes them.

“It is scary, but it’s not going to change,” Swindell said. “We have to understand it. There are opportunities for your business to be a part of it.”

The five-day whirlwind tour of three cities included Shanghai, several outlying areas and 12 yards and manufacturing facilities.

One thing that flabbergasted Roscioli was the number of skilled workers. One yard had 200 certified welders.

“We can’t find 200 certified welders on the entire East Coast,” he said. “It’s just incredible. It’s the new frontier over the next 10 years, believe me.”

Roscioli said he is making plans to welcome in Ft. Lauderdale the owner of one Chinese shipyard that he and Tom Glass, one of his senior managers, visited. He would not elaborate on the potential business venture.

“This is someone we want to do business with so the trip was very productive for us,” he said.

Whether that meeting turns into new business for Roscioli Yachting Center or not, the 40-year veteran in South Florida’s yachting community said American business owners should take part in the opportunities there.

“Every place we went to they had a vision what they wanted to do in 10 years, but they need help,” Roscioli said.

“They have a plan and money, but they need help getting it started. They asked me to and I said, ‘Yeah, if I was 20 years younger.’”

Contact Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.

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NEWS BRIEFS

July 2006

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Two Lionwind crew members guilty of stealing from wreck The captain and one crew member of M/Y Lionwind were found guilty in June of stealing artifacts from several World War II shipwrecks in Palau lagoon, according to a story in Marianas Variety. Sentencing was scheduled for June 28.

Three other divers charged in May settled, paid restitution or pleaded guilty, the story reported. All five men had originally pleaded not guilty to 29 criminal charges, which ranged from damaging a historical site to grand larceny and conspiracy.

According to news reports from Palau, one crew member mentioned the dives and artifacts to someone who alerted police. In a search of the yacht, police recovered six items from several wrecks the crew said they dove in February.

In a related action, the owner of Lionwind paid US$40,000 to settle a civil lawsuit filed against the yacht by the Attorney General’s Office in Palau, according to a story in Pacific Islands Report. The law sets a maximum fine for the removal of an artifact at US$1,000, so the maximum fine for the six artifacts found on the Lionwind is US$6,000, the publication reported.

FBI storms Saudi-owned yacht

Officers from the U.S. FBI stormed the Saudi-owned M/Y Le Pharaone as

it set sail from Malta in June, looking to arrest the owner, according to a story in Malta Today. The owner is wanted by the United States for a series of federal and international crimes including fraud and financing terrorism.

The 200-foot (60m) yacht had spent May in Malta Drydocks, according to the newspaper, and visits the island regularly. Police did not find the owner on board.

For the full story, visit www.malta today.com.mt/2006/06/11/t9.html.

Picasso recovered

The Picasso sketch stolen from a 147-foot yacht at Jones Boat Yard in July 2004 has been recovered. Police have charges Orlando Granados, a Cuban-born handyman, with the theft, according to local news reports. The sketch – valued by police at about $200,000 – is a partial draft for the Picasso painting “Les Trois Danseuses,” an oil painting that now hangs in London’s Tate Gallery.

Hawaiian islands protected

U.S. President George Bush designated in June nearly 1,200 miles of Pacific islands northwest of Hawaii as a national monument, creating the world’s largest marine protected area. The designation puts massive protections in place for the 134,000

square miles of coral reef and deepwater habitat.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) are a chain of small islands, atolls, submerged banks and reefs beginning about 120 nautical miles west of the main Hawaiian Islands.

The NWHI ecosystem, larger than Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, contains more than 3.5 million acres of some of the world’s oldest living coral colonies and is home to more than 7,000 marine species, including the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, endangered green sea turtles and countless reef and seabird species.

The NWHI is the most remote largescale coral reef ecosystem on Earth, containing some 70 percent of the nation’s tropical, shallow water coral reefs. It is larger than all of the United States’ national parks combined.

An early outline of the management plan proposed for the sanctuary would see fishing end in the area within five years, require permits for visitors wishing to dive and snorkel, and prohibit anyone from taking fish, wildlife, or coral from the area.

Sunken Shazam

Capt. Michael Murphy of M/Y Kakela reports in that the 47-foot sportfish Shazam sank in mid June at

Port Lucaya Marina on Grand Bahama Island.

“It sank slowly, allowing the occupants time to safely get off,” he said.

A salvage boat was soon on the scene to refloat the boat. It was unclear why the boat took on water.

EU considering unified coast guard

An EU transport policy due to be published this month is contemplating, among other things, a unified Coast Guard, according to a story in Maritime Executive Magazine. The European Commission says a European Coast Guard could be deployed to enforce maritime legislation and have the authority to intercept shipping across all of Europe’s traditional maritime borders, the report says.

See NEWS BRIEFS, page A14

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NEWS BRIEFS

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New records, caution over port-state control inspections Discounted transport

NEWS BRIEFS, from page A13 According to the document, the advantages of a Coast Guard policy would include control and enforcement of safety at sea and environmental protection legislation. According to the European Maritime Safety Agency’s Web site, the purpose of the EMSA, a key maritime arm of the EU, is to ensure that the European transport of passengers and goods is “safe, secure, and clean,” which are the tenets of traditional Coast Guard roles in most countries.

Geronimo sets new Pacific record

At 00h43 GMT on June 12, the trimaran Geronimo crossed the finish line setting a new west-to-east Pacific record from Yokohama, Japan to San Francisco, U.S. Having set out from Japan on 29 May 2006, Olivier de Kersauson and his crew of eight took 13 days 22 hours 38 minutes and 28 seconds to conquer the 4,482 miles of the voyage. They beat the former record held by Bruno Peyron by 18 hours and 44 minutes.

Peyron to take on Atlantic record

The maxi catamaran Orange II remained at Newport Shipyard in June, awaiting a weather window to begin another attempt at the North Atlantic crewed crossing record. Its skipper is

Yacht interested in attending the St. Maarten Charter Yacht Exhibition in December or the St. Maarten-St. Martin Classic Yacht regatta in January 2007 will be eligible for a discount on their Atlantic crossing transport with Sevenstar Yacht Transport. For details, visit www.sevenstar.nl or e-mail info@ sevenstar.nl.

French adventurer Bruno Peyron.

Already the holder of the round-theworld record, Orange II will be trying to beat the record of 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 6 seconds set American Steve Fossett in October 2001. For more information, visit www.orange-sailingteam.com.

Sailor Jobson in flotilla

America’s Cup tactician Gary Jobson is the celebrity sailor in a week-long flotilla in the British Virgin Islands in December.

The Sunsail Celebrity Flotilla is scheduled for Dec. 9-16, leaving from the company’s base on Tortola. The flotilla will make trips to Norman Island, Peter Island, The Baths, Jost Van Dyke, and the island of Anegada, and a stop at the famed Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda.

For more information, call 800557 7307 or e-mail the company at sunsailusa@sunsail.com.

Insurer: owners take control

In a mailing to its members, the North of England P&I club is urging its ship-owner members to take more control of port state control inspections.

A management checklist has been distributed to the owners, operators and masters of all 2,850 entered ships setting out the pragmatic steps they should take to avoid potentially costly detentions.

“Port state control inspections are a fact of life and are here to stay,” said Tony Baker, head of risk management for the club. “Rather than criticize the process, it makes far better operational sense to take pragmatic steps to manage it. The better the control of the process, the better the control of the outcome.”

Over the past few years, the top five port state control regions have carried out more than 60,000 inspections a

year and detained about 3,500 ships annually.

The club’s loss-prevention executive Andrew Kirkham said the first question masters should ask themselves is, “Have I been targeted?” Reasons for this range from it being more than six months since the ship last had a port state control inspection to calling at a region for the first time.

Rather than allowing inspectors immediately to tour the ship and discover potential problems for themselves, Kirkham says masters should provide them with comprehensive information on where access is restricted for security or safety reasons, where maintenance working is taking place, what deficiencies currently exist and what is being done to correct them, and what accidents or near misses have been reported recently.

“In addition to being polite and cooperative, ships’ officers also need to be assertive,” Kirkham said. “They need to know their facts and their rights, and learn about the port state control process.”

Bill: Reorganize NOAA

A U.S. Congressman from Michigan introduced the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act (H.R.

See NEWS BRIEFS, page A15

The Triton

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BROAKER / BOAT NEWS

Kingship launch, Trinity’s new sportfish In May, Chinese builder Kingship launched the first yacht in its 110foot (33m) expedition-style series.

The yard says it is also the first yacht in Asia built to Lloyd’s and MCA classifications.

The yacht, temporarily called Kingship Expedition 110, has a fulldisplacement steel hull and aluminum superstructure. She has a cruising speed of 12 knots and can carry 12 guests and six crew.

A notable feature is the complete separation of crew flow, which follows independent passageways and ensures the privacy of both guests and crew.

The crew includes Capt. Barry Cross, Eng. Craig Milner, Chef Kresta Baul, Chief Stewardess Alice Alexander and First Mate Jacques Stander.

For more information, visit www. kingshipyacht.com.

The propulsion will be from twin Caterpillar engines providing a top speed of 25 knots. She also will have an advanced stabilizing system featuring the Quantum MagLift with three-axis digital control and Zero Speed as well as trim tabs. This combination will enable the Mary P to be a stable platform at high speed, trolling, at anchor and – a first for any yacht – stabilization while going astern.

She will be ABS classed and is due to launch in 2008.

Trinity building sportfish

Sacajawea sells

Trinity announced it is building a 122-foot (37.2m) aluminum sportfish yacht to be named Mary P. Designed and built by Trinity Yachts, she will have an interior design by Judy Bell Davis, who designed the interior of the owners’ current 86-foot (26.2m) sportfish by the same name. The yacht will accommodate an owner’s party of eight and a crew of three.

Mark Elliott’s central listing M/Y Sacajawea, a 130-foot Hatteras, was sold by David Nichols. The men are colleagues at International Yacht Collection in Ft. Lauderdale. The recently refit Sacajawea, which fell off the Syncrolift at the now-defunct Ft. Lauderdale Shipyard in November 2004, will be available for charter this summer in New England and the

Caribbean this winter.

Jim Eden’s new construction project, Maratani X, the 150-foot Sensation, was delivered recently and is available for charter out of Nassau, Bahamas year round.

For more information, contact IYC at +1-954-522-2323, at info@ yachtcollection.com or online at www. yachtcollection.com.

Sacks growing, making sales

The Sacks Group announced the sale of the 84-foot Monte Fino Silver Lady to charter clients. The buyers used the firm’s “Try Before You Buy” concept to determine what they wanted. Renamed M/Y Lady Di, the yacht will be based out of the Bahamas for private use.

Michael DiCondina of Colonial Yacht Sales was also involved in the sale.

Broker Curtis Stokes sold a new 157foot yacht support vessel to accompany an owner’s 165-foot Hakvoort on a world cruise. The vessel will be built in Louisiana by On Site Marine and should launch in early 2007.

The Sacks Group also added six yachts to its fleet: M/Y Quivira, a 121foot Benetti; M/Y Impulsive, a 116-foot Norship; M/Y Blind Faith, a 115-foot Crescent; M/Y Off Duty, a 106-foot Westship; M/Y Cocktails, a 100-foot Hargrave; and M/Y Renaissance II, an 80-foot Lazzara.

Boat with 11 corpses found adrift off Barbados NEWS BRIEFS, from page A14 5450) to require NOAA to develop a reorganization plan and publish it in the Federal Register to obtain public comment, according to a story in Maritime Executive Magazine June 1.

Boats with corpses found

An unnamed, 20-foot boat drifted into the waters around Barbados in late April, carrying the partially petrified corpses of 11 young men huddled in two separate piles in the small cabin, according to a report in The Guardian of the UK. It was intercepted by rescue boats 70 miles off Ragged Point, the most easterly point in the Caribbean islands chain.

The yacht was towed into the port at Willoughy Fort, Bridgetown. Police found a ticket from Senegal Airlines and a note written by one of the men as he was preparing to die. Apparently, the newspaper reported, the boat had set off four months earlier from the Cape Verde islands and had been heading for the European soil of the Canary Islands.

The evidence reportedly points to them having been cut adrift in the Atlantic. Barbados police told The Guardian that the cause of the deaths was starvation and dehydration.

The 11 men along with as many as 40 others believed to have started the journey are part of the growing death toll on the newest immigrant route into Europe from Africa. This route, from the west African coast to Cape Verde, opened up late last year. By March, Spanish authorities claimed more than 1,000 had drowned.

That has not stopped the flow. The number of immigrants to have reached the Canaries this year is close to 7,000, the newspaper reported.

making the sailboat difficult to control.

Teper was rescued by another vessel and abandoned his yacht, Delaney said.

Ghost ship reaches Hawaii

The Pineapple Cup-Montego Bay Race, traditionally run the first week of February, will begin Feb. 16 in 2007.

Jointly hosted by the Storm Trysail and the Lauderdale and Montego Bay yacht clubs, the biennial competition runs 811 nautical miles from Ft. Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Among the fleet are PHRF and IRC boats ranging from 30-85 feet.

“The problem we are having with the original date is that Superbowl XLI is scheduled for Miami on Feb. 4,” Race Chairman Ken Batzer said. “There are no accommodations available in the area during that weekend.”

For more information, visit www. montegobayrace.com or contact Batzer at kenbatzer@aol.com or +1-954-2750839.

A 33-foot Nautica sailboat abandoned in bad weather off Costa Rica last year apparently drifted for six months and more than 4,500 miles before it was sighted a few miles off the southwestern coast of the Big Island, Hawaii, according to a story in the Honolulu Advertiser in June.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney said owner William Teper “just about passed out” when authorities reached him in his car in Southern California to tell him the Chaton De Foi had been found, the paper reported.

Teper told Coast Guard officials the boat’s engine failed near Costa Rica on Dec. 2, and the weather grew rough while he was trying to make repairs,

Pacific Cup announces race times

The West Marine Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Hawaii starts July 3rd from the St. Francis Yacht Club. This year’s race marks the 100th anniversary of racing from California to Hawaii. For more information, visit www.pacificcup.org.

Montego Bay race changes dates

July 2006

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July 2006

DESTINATION PROFILE

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Looking back on Savannah from the Trade Center on Hutchinson Island, her marine industy looks bustling, with river cruise ships docked in front of City Hall (the domed building) and yachts docked at the Hyatt Regency on PHOTO/ANGELA MENSING Savannah River Street.

Savannah’s yacht businesses are reinvigorated

By Angela Mensing Ask former employees of Intermarine Savannah and/or Palmer Johnson’s Savannah facility about their lives in 2003-04, and the response may be too colorful to print. Multiple changes in ownership and management of Savannah’s two largest boatyards left employees, vendors and customers wondering if the city’s yachting industry could survive the chaos.

When Palmer Johnson left in October 2003, Thunderbolt Marine resumed operations at the yard on the Savannah River. Intermarine Savannah, the megayacht new build and repair yard PJ had bought just eight months earlier, was sold to locally owned and operated Global Ship Systems in 2004.

Many long-time employees lost their jobs amid the changes, and those who didn’t worried that they would. Subcontractors were hit pretty hard, sometimes waiting months to get paid. Some went out of business.

But like the tide, time kept coming, and with it has come opportunity.

For those surviving the turbulence, a bustling global yachting industry has made it possible to bounce back. An increased demand for yards that can handle large yachts opened opportunities for yachting communities outside of Ft. Lauderdale, the traditional hub of U.S. yard work.

And Savannah’s businesses stepped up.

“The future is very bright in Savannah,” said Rob Creech, president of GSS. “We’ve been able to stabilize the work force … and, I think, put to bed a lot of the ghosts that were associated with the previous years.”

The renaissance is showing: GSS celebrated its second anniversary in June, welcoming a record 18 yachts in the yard at one time last fall; October marks three years since Thunderbolt, a company in business in Chatham

County since 1965, resumed control of its former yard; Hinckley Yacht Services across the river turned 3 in June; and the city has its first charter company, about 18 months old.

“Most vendors in our area were adaptable enough to weather the transition, and are now growing again as our volume increases,” said Page Hanson, sales manager of Thunderbolt Marine.

Much of the growth has been felt at Thunderbolt and GSS. Each handled more yachts this year than last and both are focused on growth with hundreds of thousands of dollars of infrastructure investments.

Thunderbolt repaired its sea walls, installed new floating docks, and increased services by developing an interior completion team. GSS added a $300,000 air caster system to improve the yacht transfer and shift process, dedicated $500,000 to upgrade its railway, $150,000 for modifications to its 535-foot graving dock, and $225,000 to renovate its office space.

Hinckley Yacht Services is installing a new Travelift to haul vessels up to 65 feet. On the outskirts of Savannah, three former SeaRay executives opened Savannah Yacht Company in February and began production in April on what they call “distinctive cruising motoryachts.” And the area also welcomed its first ever megayacht charter company, Sapphire Seas – a subsidiary of Ft. Lauderdale-based Wright Maritime Group – opening its doors in January 2005.

“The number of superyachts being built in the world today is growing exponentially, increasing the demand for both skilled craftsmen and quality shipyard facilities in our country,” said John Mann, an organizer of the U.S. Superyacht Association and president of Bluewater Books and Charts in Ft. Lauderdale and Newport. “Savannah

is seizing the opportunity, and taking advantage of the increased demand.”

The one hurdle, as it has been in yachting communities across the United States, is the critical need for skilled labor. Skilled sheet metal workers and pipe fitters from Ware Metalworks have been working on yachts at both Thunderbolt and GSS, helping that business rebound from the tough times of a few years ago.

“It’s been a slow and painful process, but it continues to get better over time,” said Bobby Ware, owner of Ware Metalworks.

GSS has felt the shortage. It has applied for a $1 million federal grant for an apprenticeship program where high school graduates will enter the program through Savannah Technical College and have a certain number of hours of classroom instruction coupled with a certain amount of hand-on work at the yard. The program will include apprenticeships for all trades, including joiners, he said.

“We have to develop new talent,” Creech said. “We have to sustain the people, and the only way to do that is by training new people.”

That’s one thing Savannah has – a large pool from which to pull potential new labor for training programs. Add to that a moderate year-round climate, affordable housing and a reasonable cost of living and this charming city is poised to push the throttle down.

“I’ve always been pro on Savannah,” said Thom Conboy, former president of Intermarine Savannah and current director of sales and marketing for Heesen Yachts Worldwide. “There are too many plusses to Savannah for it [the yachting industry] not to be a long-term success.”

Contact freelance writer Angela Mensing through editorial@the-triton. com.

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July 2006

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July 2006

FROM THE FRONT: CUBA

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Under 2004 order, ‘fully hosted travel’ no longer acceptable CUBA, from page A1 from engaging in any transactions with Cuba or Cuban nationals. Under U.S. law, they cannot exchange any money, receive any services, or aid in any commerce with Cuba. That means, technically, that they cannot pay even the stamp tax needed to purchase a visa.

So the owner of the yacht obtained the visas for the crew. In addition, he gave each of the two Americans $500 to make “purchases on behalf of the vessel.” The boat, which traveled to Cuba via the Bahamas and returned back to Florida via the Cayman Islands, faced no “rigorous customs” on its return to Florida, Capt. Smith said.

“It actually was pretty straightforward,” he said. “I didn’t hide anything. They knew where we had been.

The way I understand it, there is no prohibition in American law against going to Cuba; you just can ‘give succor to the enemy.’”

U.S. embargo controls money, not people

Capt. Smith’s understanding of the law is technically correct. The embargo is about controlling dollars. That is why the regulations and their enforcement are handled by the U.S. Treasury Department, not the State Department. Specifically, it is the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) that administers the sanctions, and issues licenses and permits to travel and/or spend money in Cuba.

Over the past two years, since President Bush signed Presidential Proclamation 7757 in February 2004 that specifically targets vessels traveling to Cuba from U.S. ports, those licenses and permits have been harder to come by.

Once, groups traveled legally to Cuba for reasons of academic research or humanitarian aid under a category called “fully hosted travel,” meaning the individual participants had no financial dealings with the country. Their expenses were hosted by a third party, presumably doing business with Cuba legally.

In 2004, the language “fully hosted travel” was removed as a travel category, slimming an applicant’s chances of obtaining a license.

Accompanying these challenges is a stricter interpretation of laws. According to Molly Millerwise, spokeswoman for the Public Affairs office of the U.S. Treasury Department, the 2004 rule changes can be simplistically defined this way: “As an American, you can swim to Cuba, touch the shore and come back, and as long as you don’t spend any money, you won’t be breaking any laws. That’s about the extent of it.”

‘As an American, you can swim to Cuba, touch the shore and come back, and as long as you don’t spend any money, you won’t be breaking any laws. That’s about the extent of it.’

– Molly Millerwise U.S. Treasury Dept.

Therefore, the word from OFAC is: A U.S. citizen or U.S. Permanent Resident Alien may not provide crewing services – neither as captain nor crew – on any vessel, including a foreign-owned vessel, en route to or from Cuba unless that individual or the vessel’s trip is licensed by OFAC. According to a lawyer at the Treasury Department, the very fact that they were working on a vessel that is trading with Cuba makes them culpable. They are seen as trading with the enemy by providing support

Despite crumbling infrastructure, Cuba still has all the natural beauty of a Caribbean island.

PHOTO/JORGE TUTOR

to a vessel, or assisting a vessel that is bringing travelers to and from Cuba, and therefore may be prosecuted.

Enforcement differs from letter of law

OK, so that’s the law. What about enforcement?

What about people like Capt. Smith who made the trip with American crew and had no problems? What is this murky water that sits between law and luck?

“Unfortunately, there’s no cookie-cutter answer to that,” said one yacht manager in Ft. Lauderdale.

“But the boats we manage [foreign-flagged, some with American owners] do go back and forth to Cuba without any problem.”

Another yacht manager in Ft. Lauderdale who has worked with several boats traveling to Cuba, advises her foreign-flagged boats with American crew to anchor out (thereby avoiding paying for dockage that might be construed as helping Cuba) and leave the American crew onboard.

One American captain says he just won’t go to Cuba, and recommends the same to any American crew. It’s just not worth it, he said.

“Before Bush, it was kind of like a don’t-ask, don’ttell policy regarding Cuba,” he said. “You know, don’t go waving a cigar under customs’ nose, that sort of thing.”

Now there are fines and threats of jail.

Exchanges between Cuba and the United States increasingly have come under challenge since President Bush came to office in 2000, helped in no small way by the Cuban-American vote.

That year, according to an article in the Washington Times newspaper, OFAC sent out 188 prepenalty notices, which is essentially a letter entitled “Requirement to Furnish Information,” asking for the purpose of the trip, activities and expenditures in Cuba.

Pre-penalty notices do not necessarily lead to penalties – at that time, most did not, the newspaper reported – but they can.

In 2001, 697 notices were sent out. In 2002, 447 notices were sent, and in 2003, 350 notices were

sent. Carter concluded that the increase in numbers was attributed to enforcement, and the decline in numbers of notices was attributed to the fact that word was getting out. Violations of the travel ban were subsiding.

At the same time, it appears prosecutions are on the rise. In 2004, the Treasury Department announced the appointment of three Administrative Law Judges to start reviewing cases dating back to 1999 and sometimes later. In the first quarter of 2005, OFAC fined 307 Americans for violating the embargo, almost the same amount that had been prosecuted in all of 2004, which saw 316 Americans get fined.

Since 2004, visits from Americans down

The Bush Administration is using all the available resources of the Homeland Security Department for aggressive enforcement of the regulations – and it appears to be having the desired effect, at least according to the government of Cuba, which complained about the embargo in a recent report to the United Nations.

The report claimed that only 57,145 Cuban Americans visited Cuba in 2004, fewer than half the 115,050 who visited in 2003. Also, according to the report, 85,809 “other Americans” (that is, non-Cuban Americans) visited Cuba in 2003, and 51,027 visited in 2004. The figures do not distinguish between legal and illegal American visitors, since, other than for public relations purposes, that is not a Cuban concern.

The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a nonpartisan group based in New York that monitors trade with Cuba, estimates that about 30,000 Americans traveled to the island nation illegally in 2003, but that number may have dropped by about 20 percent since then.

So it appears that the aggressive enforcement of regulations that began in 2004 seems to be having an effect. Or perhaps it is the “fear factor” that is doing all the work. There is no doubt that the

See CUBA, page A19

The Triton

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FROM THE FRONT: CUBA

July 2006

USCG: U.S. crew taking risk must ‘consider the unexpected’ CUBA, from page A18 Bush administration has Cuba in its crosshairs, and has made embargo enforcement a national priority.

At the same time, even some within the Republican Party complain that attempting such enforcement diverts already stretched resources.

Others insinuate that letter-of-thelaw enforcement is impossible; there is neither the man-power nor the inclination to do it effectively.

But that’s not a solution: that’s the murky water.

Calculating the risk

So, what are the options? What are the circumstances under which an American crew member or even an American vessel can travel to Cuba?

The answer is the bottom line: What are the risks?

Here is the American government’s position on the matter: U.S. vessels wanting or needing to have transactions with Cuba must apply for three sets of licenses or permits: A cruising permit from the U.S. Coast Guard (www.uscg.mil); a license from OFAC, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (www.ustreas. gov/ofac); and a Bureau of Industry & Security Export License from the Department of Commerce (www.bis. doc.gov).

In conjunction with these licenses, concerned captain and crew of pleasure yachts need to be aware of two sets of regulations – one put forth by the Coast Guard, and one put forth by

One crew member’s perspective:

OFAC. The Coast Guard regulations are relatively simple: They state that all U.S. vessels (as well as vessels without nationality) that are less than 328 feet in length must obtain a Coast Guard permit when they leave the 12-mile U.S. territorial waters and thereafter enter Cuban territorial waters, regardless of intervening entry into or passage through any other territorial waters.

In order to obtain the Coast Guard permit, however, applicants must have a license from OFAC – and that’s where things get complicated.

OFAC rules, while they affect lives, generally focus on the exchange of money: First, no vessel – regardless of flag – that enters a port or place in Cuba to engage in the trade of goods or the purchase or provision of services may enter a U.S. port for the purpose of loading or unloading freight for a period of 180 days from the date the vessel departed from a port or place in Cuba.

However, if the vessel is coming into a U.S. port for a purpose other than loading or unloading freight, the 180day rule does not apply.

Second, no vessel carrying goods or passengers to or from Cuba or carrying goods in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest may enter a U.S. port with such goods or passengers on board. This rule is usually limited to vessels carrying goods in commercial quantities and to vessels carrying passengers to or from

See CUBA, page A20

As an American who has spent more time in the Third World than the First World, I looked forward to cruising Cuba for the first time. I arrived with preconceptions and, sadly, the cruise didn’t meet our expectations.

Bureaucracy and a failing national and economic infrastructure have taken their toll on Cuba.

From having a cast of thousands board – to deal with the paper trail (as well as a detailed search for any stowaways) for international arrival/ departure as well as every port-to-port – to not being able to provision because the shelves are bare became an ongoing hassle.

For years Cuba has been the bogeyman for the Caribbean tourism industry; I personally don’t think it has much to worry about.

Havana was great to wander about, but it was so sad to see the Colonial and Art Deco architecture crumbling away, soon if not already beyond repair.

We, as many tourists do, made a pilgrimage to Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bars and proceeded to critique the house specialties. The diving we did on the southern coast was good – not great – and enjoyed by all.

The people we met in our travels were friendly and helpful. Of course, the poverty is a shame for a country on America’s doorstep, but that’s politics, and a whole other story. The government’s setting of the exchange rate and taking 20 percent off the top doesn’t encourage foreign capital to filter down to the people. In reality, it has dramatically slowed the tourism development.

Killed the golden goose, if you will.

Would I return to Cuba? I must admit, all-in-all the cruise was interesting, but personally I will give Cuba a miss, at least for the near future. As changes in politics and policy occur, Cuba is in an ideal position to become a remarkable destination, and I’m sure that it is only a matter of time.

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July 2006

FROM THE FRONT: CUBA

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With all its promise of dominating Caribbean tourism someday, one yacht crew member said Cuba wasn’t all that. (See ‘One crew member’s PHOTO/JORGE TUTOR perspective,’ page A19.)

USCG: Foreign vessels need not fear retaliation for visit CUBA, from page A19 Cuba as a ferrying service as opposed to a pleasure boat.

So what about pleasure vessels?

Well, U.S.-flagged vessels cannot go without the proper permits Ê and licenses from OFAC. Do such documents exist? Yes, but they are becoming increasingly harder – some cruisers say impossible – to get.

What about an emergency? A boat with U.S. crew forced to head to Cuba because of an emergency at sea is supposed to (and should) contact OFAC Licensing Division (+1-202-6222480) or have someone contact OFAC on their behalf as soon as possible to obtain a proper license.

Foreign vessels don’t have issues

and Cuban ports on their itinerary.

According to a U.S. Coast Guard officials who declined to be identified,

*-]Ê -Ê Ê /they need not fear any retaliatory measures regarding future cruising permits and the like, assuming the vessels are privately owned pleasure / , ",Ê - -Ê ",Ê9 /vessels. It is unlikely that they would get caught up in a legal tangle merely for exercising their right, as nonAmericans, to travel between the two countries.

The U.S. Coast Guard and OFAC work independently of each other. One is a governmental office and the other is part of the military. The Coast Guard issues cruising permits for foreign vessels, and the laws regarding their issuance (and renewal) are not matters within OFAC’s jurisdiction.

So what about the original question: As an American crew on a foreignflagged yacht, can you go to Cuba or not? What’s the bottom line, and what happens if you get caught?

Foreign pleasure vessels that cruise U.S. waters as well Cuban waters fare far better. They are subject to some minor regulations – such as the aforementioned intervening port stops – but are free to include both U.S. ports

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See CUBA, page A21

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The Triton

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FROM THE FRONT: CUBA

July 2006

A21

If you get an official letter, tell the truth, get a lawyer CUBA, from page A19 The scenarios are many and, however they play out, the risk is potentially high.

Chances are, like with Capt. Smith’s crew, there will be no repercussions. On the other hand, just because no one saw fit to report the fact that the Americans onboard had broken the law, it doesn’t exclude a different outcome.

As Capt. James Maes, head sector commander for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Sector Miami explained, when you make the decision to break the law, “you have to consider the unexpected.”

It well may be that as crew you will clear back into the United States without problems.

When a crew member makes a decision to break the law, ‘you have to consider the unexpected.’

– Capt. James Maes U.S. Coast Guard Commander Sector Miami On the other hand, if something comes up, if there is an unexpected problem that draws an officer’s attention, then consequences – particularly future consequences in terms of black lists, never mind the fines – can be serious.

Rule No. 1: don’t lie

What if you get caught? The International Bicycle Fund (IBF), which defines itself as “a non-governmental nonprofit advocacy organization promoting … international understanding,” devotes several pages of its Web site to this predicament (www.ibike.org).

The primary rule to remember is to be honest – to a point. Lying to the U.S. government is a felony for Americans, and will get you what it got Martha Stewart: jail time. Remember that technically it is not illegal to go to Cuba.

If it wants to prosecute you, the U.S. government must prove that you spent money in Cuba, were an unlicensed traveler to Cuba, and that you knew it was illegal, according to IBF. After confirming that you have been to Cuba (which is not illegal), you have a right to refuse to say anything more. The onus is on the government to prove you have broken the law.

Keep in mind, however, that OFAC does have written regulations that presume that anyone traveling to Cuba has spent money there. Therefore, they may seek – and reportedly have obtained – civil fines in an administrative proceeding, forcing the offender to agree to settlement.

Here’s how it could happen:

Somebody – an official from U.S. Customs and Border Protection perhaps – reports you to OFAC. OFAC will then send you a letter asking you about it. Although it might go away with no follow-up on your part, there is a five-year statute of limitations on violations, so the threat hangs around awhile.

It is best to respond with your own letter stating that you did not violate any federal law or regulation. IBF offers a sample response letter on its Web site.

If you get another letter notifying

you that a civil penalty will be imposed, respond within the time stated. And again, says IBF, don’t lie but don’t admit you violated the law, and don’t waive defense rights.

What often happens next is an OFAC official may contact you to negotiate a settlement, which you may decide to pay. The maximum fine paid by a violator, up to this time, is about $7,500, but the full fury of the law can subject the violator to almost 10 times that amount, and include prison time. Alternatively, you may request a hearing. At that point, though, it is time

to find a lawyer.

Mostly, the waters around the United States are woven with friendly international partners, and the rules of exchange are pretty straightforward.

But Cuba, since the first arms embargo of 1958, remains problematic. Just how problematic, ebbs and flows – like politics, like the tide.

Freelance writer Mona Birch lives in Dania beach. Her last story for The Triton was on cave diving in Andros Island in the April issue. Contact her through editorial@the-triton.com.

A22

July 2006 SPRING CHARTER YACHT SHOW – NEWPORT

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Makin’ friends in Newport More than 120 captains and crew attended the annual crew party that kicked off the four-day Spring Charter Yacht Show in Newport last month. Sponsored by Newport Shipyard, the new U.S. Superyacht Association and Bridge Liquors of Newport, the event welcomed crew from the more than 30 boats in the show.

“It’s a way for us to give a little back to our customers and to get to know them on a personal level,” said Tim Davey of Global Marine Travel and a member of the USSA. The Triton is also a proud member of USSA and attended the event.

PHOTOS/DAVID REED

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July 2006

BRIDGE FEEDBACK

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MCA does not require contracts, but does expect agreements EDITOR’S NOTE: A yacht manager wrote in questioning a comment in last month’s Bridge discussion about employment contracts. One captain said that UK-flagged vessels with more than four paid crew are required under MCA to have crew contracts of at least six months. The yacht manager suggested masters of such yachts read MGN 149, which discusses “crew agreements,” and makes no mention of a minimum.

Marine Guidance Note 149 is summarized below. For the full note, visit www.mcga.gov.uk, click on “Guidance & Regulations”, click on “M Notices” and click on “MGNs”. Then search for 149.

MGN 149: Approval of Crew Agreements – Yachts

Notice to all Owners/Agents of Private Yachts with Paid Crew.

1. Section 25(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 provides that, unless specifically exempted, an agreement in writing (a “crew agreement”) “shall be made between each person employed as a seaman in a UK ship and the person(s) employing him.”

Regulation 4(1) of the Merchant Shipping Regulations 1991 provides that the requirement to have a crew agreement shall not apply to pleasure yachts engaged on coastal voyages or engaged on any other voyage provided that not more than four members of the crew receive wages for their employment. In this context “coastal” means a voyage between places in the British Islands (including the Republic of Ireland) or from and returning to such a place during which, in either case, no call is made at any place outside of those islands.

2. In summary, a crew agreement is

required to cover those employed on a yacht unless specifically exempted.

3. The Agency has produced a minimum standard agreement for yachts. The crew agreement is available from the MCA Web site. The standard agreement is an approved agreement and, subject to the comments in paragraphs 9 and 12, may be used without individual submission to the Agency for approval provided it is not modified in any way.

4. Employers who wish to use agreements other than the standard form, or who wish to use modified versions will be required to submit them to the Agency not less than 14 days before the agreement is to be used.

5. Non-standard agreements, indefinite agreements, modifications to standard agreements or applications for an exemption from the requirement to have a crew agreement should be submitted to MSPP 3 C, Seafarer Health & Safety Branch.

(The following six items apply to all crew agreements:) 6. Although the MCA provides crew agreement documentation, there is nothing to prevent owners from producing their own, providing they replicate the information on the Agency’s versions. Computer-generated versions are acceptable provided they are sent in printed form to the Registry of Shipping and Seamen. The entry for each seafarer in the crew list must indicate the rate of pay at which he is serving. If more convenient, company pay scales or individual agreements with seafarers, from which this may be determined, may be annexed to the agreement. The entry “as agreed” is not acceptable.

7. The Agency will expect a crew agreement to contain contractual provisions governing the following: the persons between whom the agreement is made; the description of the voyages to which the agreement relates; the capacity in which each seafarer is to be employed; the pay, hours, leave and subsistence; the terms under which either of the parties may give notice to terminate the agreement; and the circumstances in which, the agreement

may be terminated.

8. The standard agreement does not preclude the employer and the seafarer entering into a separate contract of employment, covering matters such as discipline, holiday entitlement.

9. The clauses dealing with the duration and scope of the voyage and the rate of wages require the insertion of further particulars. Subject to the limitations in paragraph 12 the particulars may be inserted within the approved provisions.

10. To open the crew agreement, the employer or master completes and signs the contractual clauses. As each crew member signs on, he should read them. If he agrees to sign on, his details should be fully entered on the crew list.

11. Changes to the crew list must be notified to the employers/managers/ owners by the most expeditious means.

(The following two items are for a standard agreement:) 12. The voyage clauses approved for use in the standard agreement may leave open the details of the voyage or the duration of the agreements.

13. The crew agreement and crew list together with the Official Log Book must be forwarded to a superintendent or proper officer within three days of the expiry of the agreement.

(The following item is for indefinite crew agreements:) 14. The concept of fixed-term crew agreements embodies certain features.

It would be inappropriate to apply these conditions to agreements that run indefinitely and so, in addition to the requirements of Paragraph 7, such agreements must state: the intervals at which wages are to be paid; the method of calculating leave entitlement; the maximum period that a seafarer can be required to remain on board between leave periods; the notice required from each party to terminate a seafarer’s employment under the agreement.

For more information, contact MSPP3C, Seafarer Health & Safety Branch, Maritime & Coastguard Agency, Spring Place, 105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG, UK; 44-002380-329246, fax 44-0-02380-329251.

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The Triton

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Rule linked to teacher tax CALIFORNIA LAW, from page A1 vessel-related sales that some had feared.” According to the report, the law resulted in a $20 million increase in state and local tax revenues from yacht sales made to California residents. The law also applies to the taxation of vehicles and aircraft.

Though that figure was relatively small, the yacht buyer’s provision is tied to a much higher tax-producing law called the teacher tax, which eliminates the $250 deduction state’s teachers could claim for purchasing school supplies. That tax brought in $175 million to state coffers last year. Legislators had to extend the yacht provision in order to get the teacher tax passed, according to a source in the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Prior to the passage of Chapter 226, it was common for California yacht buyers to take delivery of their vessels in international waters, then travel to Mexico or the Northwest and remain out-of-state for at least 90 days.

Many yacht owners would berth in Ensenada, Baja California – some 60 miles south of San Diego – to avoid paying taxes. Indeed, the 90-day “offshore” period has been so much a part of yacht transactions that Trusso named his firm’s Web site www.offshoredelivery.net.

In 2003, 1,150 out-of-state usage exemptions were filed. By contrast, once the one-year law was enacted, that figure dropped to 209, a decline of 82 percent.

“What I’m feeling from the industry these days is that the increase in fuel prices and increase in interest rates figures to slow down the state’s marine industry,” Trusso said. “It’s my feeling that if this law is continued, our state’s marine industry will be hit by a perfect storm of higher fuel costs, higher interest rates and higher taxes.”

Contact freelance writer John Freeman through editorial@ ASH-136_HP_AD_T 3/21/06 11:17 AM Page 1 the-triton.com.

MARINA NEWS

July 2006

New marinas in Baja, Bahamas Construction is slated to begin this summer on a new marina and resort in Baja California.

Set on 16 acres, Porto Hussong is located on the edge of Todos Santos Bay along the west coast of the Baja Peninsula. The Mediterranean-themed resort will include homes, a hotel and a superyacht marina for 250 yachts up to 200 feet. It is being built by Meridian Development Group (MDG) and the Hussong family of Ensenada.

New marina on North Andros Andros Isle Development Corp. announced in June that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire a 198-acre parcel of beachfront property in North Andros Island just south of Morgan’s Bluff on the eastern coast.

The company has cancelled its Development Agreement with the Campbell/Storr family and plans to move forward with a planned luxury, resort development on this new parcel.

The development concept includes plans for a 120-room hotel, an 80-slip marina for vessels up to 100 feet, 60 marina

townhouses, a golf course with clubhouse and retail, up to 200 condos, and a small, oceanfront residential community.

Andros Isle Development Ltd. expects to file its development plan with the Foreign Investment Board, and begin pre-sales as soon as the engineering studies are complete, the company said in a news release.

Roscioli expansion begins

After a year of delays, construction began on the $10 million expansion to Roscioli Yachting Center in Ft. Lauderdale.

“We’re digging and pouring concrete,” CEO Robert Roscioli said. “We finally got the permits.

It’s been a real struggle. We’re finally building on land that we bought 12 years ago.”

This first phase of the expansion will build the slabs and four sheds on the north side of the property just west of the yard. The sheds will be 130 feet long, 48 feet wide and 50 feet high and include workshops and bathrooms. Two have already been leased, Roscioli said. Work on this phase should be complete

by this fall.

The second phase will build the remaining four sheds, plus a two-story administrative office building with a lounge and conference room. Roscioli said he expects to begin the second phase early in 2007.

– Lucy Reed

Jamaica marina renamed

The Marina at Port Antonio has a new name. Westrec Marinas has renamed it Errol Flynn Marina.

The major film star’s connection to Jamaica began in the 1940s while he was on a sailing trip destined for the Galapagos when a storm blew his boat Zaca off course. He discovered the northeast coast’s harbor of Port Antonio, which would be his home for decades.

Errol Flynn Marina is a 32-slip yacht complex for vessels up to 350 feet with a maximum depth of 17 feet. It has single and threephase power and shore storage, and is an official Port of Entry.

Boat repairs and maintenance are available at the full-service boat yard, which features a 100ton boatlift.

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July 2006

FROM THE FRONT: THE BRIDGE

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Communication is first, best piece of medical equipment THE BRIDGE, from page A1 Communication is key to an emergency, especially for someone who’s not a doctor.”

All the captains agreed that backup communication was necessary, including a satellite phone, a back-up sat phone, cell phones, single-side band and VHF radios.

“We have a very clear plan on board,” one captain said. “We have a defibrillator and the AED people train us once a year with new techniques.

We’re all trained at the same time, so we know what each person has to do. We have two people who are fully trained so that if one of them is the injured person, there’s someone to work on them.

“And we carry a lot of oxygen,” he said. “Oxygen will keep you alive. If you give them [an injured person] oxygen and CPR, their chances are pretty good.”

This captain noted that his yacht carries three medical kits, much The only service mentioned at the lunch was MedLink, a subscription service that gives yachts access to doctors and medical advice over the phone, as well as information on hospitals, ground and air ambulance services, and other medical resources at destinations around the world. Other captains have noted that they use the service for consultation in handling on-board medical situations, even those not emergencies.

MedLink is part of MedAire, a company that specializes in remote medical care. For more information, visit www.medaire. com, and click on “Luxury Yachts”.

like the old-fashion doctor’s bags, in different parts of the boat. Each contains pretty much the same items, with one that carries medicines such as morphine.

Another captain who worked with an owner who drank a lot and often fell while on board also equipped his boat with several medical kits.

“We got an Inmarsat C on board, because that’s the only thing we had then,” he said. “That owner knew he needed to take precautions because he liked to drink and because he liked to go to isolated places. My current owner is coastwise so he’s not too concerned about it. We have a sat phone and the coast guard is never too far away.”

He described the owner as conservative and, because of the limited risks associated with his style of cruising, won’t spend the money to sign up for something like MedLink.

“The master can be absolved of the safety of the owner, but nothing can absolve him of the safety of the crew,” another captain said. “Flag states require some medical training.

Someone on the boat has to have it, not necessarily the captain. So we do the drills, and we play the ‘what if ’ game all the time. If I fall down the steps, what happens? We’re launching the tender and I’ll say what happens if a strap breaks?”

“My situation is a little different,” one captain said. “I’m a single captain with a pick-up crew. I’m privately owned and the owner doesn’t want a lot of crew running around. I hire temporary crew for deliveries and I’ll pick up a chef/stew for some longer trips, so we don’t have much time to work together.

“If something happens to him or his wife, and I get him stabilized, my feeling is he wants a jet there with a flight doctor,” he said. “That’s what

Attendees of The Triton’s July Bridge luncheon were, from left, Edd Jennings of M/Y Moon River, Herb Magney (behind) of M/Y Lady Francis IV, Joe Schumann of M/Y Contrarian, John Leder of M/Y Blue Guitar, Craig Jones of M/Y Carry-On, Lee Rosbach of M/Y Mostro, Rick Rahm of M/Y Delicious, and Tom Serio of M/Y Ya Ya Tina.

PHOTO/LUCY REED would happen in his corporate life.

That’s what should happen when we’re out at sea.”

No one had a separate flight plan established with an evacuation company, and several captains noted that sometimes the yacht’s insurance policy will cover medical evacuations.

Also, some international health insurance plans offer it, and one captain noted that platinum-level American Express card offers it.

While several captains said they know everything they need to know about their boss’ medical conditions, others said they don’t. Is this something a captain should know, and if so, how do you go about asking about it?

“We use a closed envelop,” one

captain said. “We ask everybody who comes on board that if something happens, what do we need to know?

Most have been forthright with the information and say, ‘thanks for asking.

Here’s my doctor’s name and phone number.’”

“Something as easy as a bee sting, a guest could die,” one captain noted.

“My boss is 82,” another said. “I know his medical needs. He likes his airplane, so when we go someplace, the plane sits nearby. We can call the pilot and he’ll be there in an hour.”

There was some discussion about what the yacht and captain’s responsibilities are to the crew and all

See THE BRIDGE, page A27

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

FROM THE FRONT: THE BRIDGE

July 2006

Captain, too, needs a back up while at sea THE BRIDGE, from page A24 agreed that whatever conditions are expected for the owner – in terms of equipment, treatment or evacuation – would apply to any crew member as well. And then, the captains talked about themselves.

“I have to say that I’ve often thought when we go to the Caribbean, what would happen if I get hurt?” one captain said. “It would be nice to have an extra hand. Yes, the mate can handle the boat, but then we’re one man down.”

“We do the same thing, we take on an extra guy,” another said. “It’s worth it.”

“You have to ask yourself, how many people does it take to handle an emergency?” a third captain said. “I say at least three: one to communicate, one to handle the boat and at least one to handle the emergency.”

One captain who works solo often moves the boat great distances alone.

Several captains thought that approach was unnecessarily risky.

“If it’s just me on a delivery and I get hurt, I can handle that,” the solo captain said. “If it’s someone else who gets hurt or killed, I don’t want to ask someone to do that.”

“What if you fall down and break a leg?” a captain said. “You can’t even get to a radio and you’re still running at 20 knots.”

“As a professional, you have got to have watch and by definition that means more than one person,” another said. “My biggest fear is your foot gets tangled in a line and you fall overboard.

The boat’s going away and I’m in the water. That’s my biggest fear.”

There was a lot of discussion about assessing the risks on a particular yacht, a particular journey or with a particular contingent of guests. The higher the risk, these captains agreed, the more precautions they would take from an emergency standpoint.

“You have to make a risk assessment,” a captain said. “My crew and the boss’ family are all the same. We operate in pretty narrow parameters of risk. We have a back-up airplane, but I still think it’s a good idea to have a defibrillator.”

“I want oxygen and a defibrillator onboard,” another said, “but the owner said, ‘I’m healthy, what do I need that for?’ I told him it wasn’t for him, it was for me and he said OK.” For owners who don’t want more crew or equipment, one captain suggested engaging in a little self preservation.

“Take some action,” he said.

“Research and recommend something to the boss, then if he doesn’t buy it or hire the service, write that down. That way you aren’t solely responsible or liable if something goes wrong.”

“And it’s important to know what your options are in getting someone somewhere,” another captain said, recalling the incident a few years ago in the Caribbean of a teenager on a jet ski who ran over another child.

The injured child was shipped to one hospital then another in places like Guadalupe before he finally died, the captain said.

If they had had something in place

or knew where to go, that might not have happened, he said.

“With my background, we always relied on the coast guard,” another said.

“If I ever have a problem, they’d be the first one I’d call.”

Each month, The Triton invites yacht captains to lunch to discuss industry issues and trends.

To share some knowledge regarding this topic, e-mail Editor Lucy Reed at lucy@ the-triton.com.

If you are a hired yacht captain and find yourself in Ft. Lauderdale on July 5 or Maine on Aug. 2, e-mail Triton Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton. com for an invitation.

Come be part of the conversation and meet your peers.

Space is limited to eight.

Emergency plans only required under ISM Emergency response, both medical emergency and evacuation, is required under several sections of the ISM Code, but mostly Section 8. This, of course, only affects commercial yachts over 500 GT. There is no requirement for contracting of an evacuation company. Passenger (cruise) ships must have specific evacuation plans, along with special endorsements required by the STCW Code, but that is a whole different area that we could spend days discussing.

Medical response is covered through training and drills. The training mentioned by the captains at your monthly lunch is found in the STCW Code. Depending on the vessel’s navigational allowance (for example, unlimited trade), there may be a requirement for one deck officer to have an STCW Medical Personin-Charge endorsement. This is just short of being a Paramedic/ EMT. Most yachts escape this requirement by subscribing to MedLink or a similar service.

Also, some commercial yachts have a navigation restriction between 60-175 nautical miles. This is seen as close enough to provide medivac services by helicopter, if needed.

Capt. Jake Desvergers U.S. Maritime Institute

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July 2006

TAKING TIME OFF

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Explorers Club makes hearts race and stimulates the imagination VV `>Ì }ÊÌ iÊ9>V Ì } `ÕÃÌÀÞÊv ÀÊ ÛiÀÊ£ÓÊÞi>ÀÃ

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By Capt. David Hare In May, I attended an Explorers Club meeting in Miami where Capt. Tim Taylor was the guest speaker. Capt.

Tim’s talk was about his exploration of Pulley Ridge, which at 225 feet is North America’s deepest coral reef. It’s located northwest of the Dry Tortugas.

Our meeting led to my application for membership to The Explorers Club, which requires participating in a clubsponsored expedition. So Capt. Tim invited me aboard his vessel during a four-person dive expedition to an unexplored cargo schooner at 219 feet.

Capt. Tim referred to the wreck as the HMS Surprise as we had absolutely zero data on her.

When I stepped onboard R/V Tiburon in early June, Capt. Tim turned to me and said “You’re going to run the ship.” When I composed myself and got into captain mode, I realized that this was going to be Capt. Tim’s first chance in a long time to focus just on diving, a luxury he told me later he had not experienced in more than 20 years.

So here I was, on vacation, skippering the 70-foot Tiburon for an important research dive. My reward for the 11-hour watches was the occasional stop at a pristine dive site known as Sherwood Forest, communing with huge groupers that greeted me nose-tonose, one after another.

At 65 feet, Sherwood Forest has the most pristine corals left in North America. Capt. Tim’s discovery of this reef last year gained him a fellowship to The Explorers Club, an honor that puts him in the company of explorers such as Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong. Founded in 1904 by a group of the world’s leading explorers, The Explorers Club’s mission is to preserve the instinct to explore.

Which is what drove me to the group in the first place. I spent this entire winter and spring stuck on the docks of Ft. Lauderdale, keeping M/V Thunder in pristine condition for her someday sale, waiting, showing the boat, waiting, showing the boat again. I needed to get out on the water.

I arrived at the research vessel to a flurry of last-minute activity with a film crew setting up an editing studio

I had been looking at Explorer Flag No. 53 folded neatly on my bridge for the entire trip. We unfolded it at the end for photos and a giddy feeling of PHOTO/BROOKE TAYLOR accomplishment washed over us all. on board. I was quickly put to work removing an old rusty freezer and installing a new one. The process of loading a ton of supplies, water and diesel had all 13 crew walking like zombies by the time we fell into our bunks at midnight.

The mission’s focus was for two dive teams to each spend 30 minutes on the wreck at 219 feet. Team A, consisting of Capt. Tim Taylor and Doug Rice, used rebreathers. Team B, Richard von Trapp and Kelly Felton, used a mixture of helium, oxygen and compressed air.

Diving to this depth requires an almost military-like rigidity to procedure. Every piece of equipment is checked and double checked before a

Ready for your own adventure?

Capt. Tim Taylor and the R/V Tiburon are available to assist yachts with diving or exploration programs. With his 20 years diving the Florida Keys and Tortugas, few have a better knowledge of the area’s wrecks, reefs and fish population. After a day of diving, just imagine the bonus of having

diver gets in the water. Each diver has a safety diver to help him suit up, check equipment and prepare for the dive.

Now multiply that by four.

Capt. Tim’s briefing the first few days boiled down to: There will be no heroes.

Divers who do not come up to the 50foot line for decompression cannot be rescued. The divers accepted that they were on their own. There was to be no panic or reaction if someone didn’t ascend. The death was to be accepted, and everyone agreed.

In the middle of this bluntness were Capt. Tim’s two young children, 8-year-old Brooke and 10-year-old

See EXPLORERS, page A29

Capt. Tim in your salon providing a humorous, knowledgeable narrative for the boss.

Contact him at +1-305-849-0352 (cell), +1305-768-7770 (office), ttaylor@rvtiburon.com or through www.rvtiburon.com.

For more information about The Explorers Club, visit www.explorers.org

The Triton

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TAKING TIME OFF

The directive from the captain was clear regarding potential tragedy: If one of the divers did not come up to the PHOTO/BROOKE TAYLOR 50-foot line for decompression, no one would attempt a rescue.

Brisk current shortened Day One to 3 minutes EXPLORERS, from page A28 Garret. Both accomplished divers, they helped when they could by fetching gear, learning the process and being kids. After the divers were in the water, Brooke – who can free dive to 40 feet and has custom scuba gear to fit her petite size – caught sight of a pod of spotted dolphins. Within about 2 minutes, she and Garret were suited up and in the water to play.

Day One had me cranking over the mains at 0430 for our six-hour run to the dive site. Locating the wreck with DGPS and sonar was not as painful as I had expected, but getting the buoy anchor aligned perfectly on the wreck was, as the current was a solid 1.8 knots. The first day’s attempts to get divers to the wreck were met with only 3 minutes of bottom time.

We packed it in at 1530 for the twohour run to Fort Jefferson, the only place in the Dry Tortugas to anchor for the night. I enjoyed snorkeling around the wall of the fort, surrounded by purple fan coral and schools of snapper.

On my return to Tiburon I found Brooke and Garret feeding two 450pound Goliath groupers off the swim step. It looked as if these guys could swallow me whole but I could not resist attempting to hand-feed them.

My persistence was met with an earpopping crunch as one chomped a mahi-mahi head down with one gulp.

Day Two had us on the wreck by 0900. The divers looked like Apollo astronauts, suited up with hundreds of pounds of cumbersome equipment.

The goal of each daily dive was 30 minutes at 219 feet, requiring a whopping 2 ½ hours of decompression: 60 minutes at 50 feet, 40 minutes at 30 feet, and 60 minutes at 20 feet.

Doug Rice calibrates the matching computers that calculate the times of a dive, types of gases the body uses, and the time and depth of decompression stops. This dive was delayed about 30 minutes because Rice’s computers weren’t in sync.

PHOTO/BROOKE TAYLOR

As captain, my job was to watch for each diver’s inflated orange bag that was deployed at the 50-foot decompression stop. During this time, we often had pods of spotted dolphins wanting to play and, of course, crew who wanted to swim with them. Not only did I have to keep an eye out for the divers, I had to keep track of a half dozen more swimmers. All the while, I’m in charge of the boat that’s floating free with the current, props turning. No stress for me there. I thought this was supposed to be a vacation.

Of course, I was working with an incredibly talented crew. Capt. Tim’s brother Andy is an F-16 fighter pilot, as well as the lead photographer.

Divers Richard and Kelly are both Army officers. Diver Doug is a real estate developer from New York. Safety diver Pat, retired from the Library of

Congress, handled our documentation, and was the tender driver, too. Safety diver Jacqueline, a licensed captain and registered nurse, was also the ship’s cook. Currier is a veterinarian and was responsible for handling the decompression times, monitoring the safety divers’ activities and acting as my look-out on the flying bridge.

I, too, brought some expertise to the mission. With a background of sailing on wooden boats and a lifelong interest in history, the team relied on me to help identify the wreck, the type of vessel, its approximate age and the nature of the cargo. The wreck’s cargo of hardwood timber, chain and pipe gave us clues as to her age. Combined with the shape of the hull, bronze fasteners and copper sheathing, we figured the boat went down at around 1880. Further laboratory evaluation of the bronze, wood and copper will paint a clearer picture of the vessel’s age and hopefully determine her identity.

But perhaps the coolest part was flying The Explorer’s Club flag No. 53 over the wreck. This flag was with Lincoln Ellsworth on his transAntarctic expedition in 1933. In 1990, it traveled down the Maymecha River in northern Siberia on a canoeing expedition, and in 2005, Capt. Tim flew it over Sherwood Forest. Armstrong and Hillary had similar flags on their expeditions. These flags go where no one has gone before and it was exciting to part of it. Which begs the question for me: Where next?

Capt. David Hare runs the 70-foot Delta expedition yacht M/V Thunder and is a regular contributor to The Triton. He is currently looking for a captain’s position on a yacht over 100 GRT. Contact him at david@hare.com.

July 2006

A29

Latitude Adjustment

Finally in focus

M/Y Inspiration has a new crew; a 39-yearold chef challenges for a title in a young person’s sport, and a team finds joy.

When the proper balance is struck between f-stop and aperture, the photographer captures the speedy boat.

B2

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Free Classifieds Check them out, updated with loads of new categories and features.

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EarningYourStripes CAREER NEWS FOR CAPTAINS & CREWS

The Triton

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July 2006

It’s a job interview, NOT a date

By Capt. Rusty Campbell

Recently, I had the requirement to interview and hire a second stewardess for the 45m M/Y Cracker Bay. The chief stewardess and I interviewed about 15 candidates for this position. Some were not qualified, either by experience, initial attitude or expected salary. This was to be expected.

However, the one thing about this experience that caused me to pause and think was the overall appearance of these young women.

The majority of them were dressed in extremely casual, almost beach-like attire when they appeared for the scheduled interview. Bare midriff, flip-flops and shorts were the rule, rather than the exception.

Since the chief stewardess was doing the initial interview, I’m not sure who these women were expecting to impress.

This experience brought to mind a previous search for a chief engineer. I contacted the two crew agencies that I have dealt with in the past with my requirements, salary offering and benefits. We were offering the then-competitive salary of US$8,000 a month for an MCA Y4 or above engineer.

I received several resumes. The search was narrowed to two. I met the first man who appeared on time and dressed in smart, casual clothes. He was an older, more mature gentleman. It was obvious from the start that he was eminently qualified, if not overqualified. The interview revealed his requirements of both salary (too high) and living space (private room).

We departed friends, realizing this was not a good fit.

The second candidate was a younger engineer who had worked on several yachts. His interview was scheduled for 1000 hours at a popular restaurant. I arrived at 0950 to be there in case he was early. As I sat in the entrance alcove, I evaluated all the men

Tips on dress

A big part of hiring comes down to how the interviewer feels about the interviewee.

Nonverbal cues such as eye contact, handshake and attire can make or break a deal.

Err on the side of

walking in to the possibility that he was my man.

At 1010 when the man hadn’t shown up or called, I started to leave. I was hailed in the parking lot by my interviewee. As I turned to face him, my initial impression was one of shock, which soon turned to anger. Here was a man interviewing for the secondhighest-paid job on the yacht wearing dirty white shorts, a worn out T-shirt and flip-flops.

He introduced himself as my candidate. When no explanation was offered as to his tardiness or appearance, I told him that appearing as he did for

conservative attire when meeting a new captain or crew member for a job. While the yachting workplace can be casual, wear something more professional to an interview. For men, consider trousers with a

the interview was an insult to the job and me, not to mention the owner. I further told him that his appearance indicated the manner in which he would fulfill his responsibilities as chief engineer. The owner of the yacht was a well-qualified-engineering-oriented owner who, along with me, would not tolerate this level of performance.

I terminated the interview and called the crew agency that had presented him. The counselor was appalled as she stated that she had personally counseled him on proper appearance and interview techniques.

It has become apparent to me that the overall attitude of the crew industry has been degraded by the shortage of qualified crew. Out of necessity, owners and captains are willing to accept people who would not have been considered in the past.

Our industry is maturing and suffering the same pains and pitfalls that we humans do. My only hope is that other captains and owners will not accept this degradation of standards. There are good, qualified crew members who realize that the old axiom of “dress for success” is a sure way to land a good job.

Following an extensive interview period, we finally settled on a young lady from Denmark for our second stew position. She appeared dressed for an interview.

She is relatively inexperienced in the industry, but our philosophy for entry-level positions is “hire the attitude, train the skill.”

The boat or owner who is willing to accept a low level of professionalism is either one who is desperate or one who doesn’t know any better.

Capt. Rusty Allen runs M/Y Cracker Bay, a 147-foot (45m) Hakvoort. He has been in yachting for more than 25 years, including a 12-year relationship with one owner. Contact him through editorial@the-triton.com.

clean, neat polo shirt. Women can wear trousers or nice shorts and blouse. Avoid T-shirts.

Your face should be the focus; avoid clothes that distract from it, such as those with a plunging neckline or exposed midriff. For

those with tattoos, consider clothes that cover them for this interview. You want to keep the focus on your credentials.

Keep jewelry, make up and hair styles simple. Less is more.

B July 2006

CREW NEWS

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Inspiration boasts new captain, crew and helipad Capt. Will Keiser has taken command of the 156-foot Broward Inspiration, fresh from a refit at Lauderdale Marine Center. The yacht now sports a new helipad, making it perhaps the first Broward so equipped. Capt.

Keiser is just off the winter season in the Caribbean where he led the successful Latitude charter yacht Adjustment Symphony II Lucy Chabot Reed for several years. More new crew on the yacht include Capt. Keiser’s wife, Chef Oanh Keiser, and First Officer Rob Zavisza, most recently on M/Y Sovereign. Photographed from left are Capt. Keiser, Chef Oanh, Bosun Gert Cloete, Chief Stewardess Jamie Keiser, Zavisza, Stewardess Alicia Ewing, Deckhand Marco Seitz and Stewardess Nicole Ras. The ninemember crew also includes Eng. Kevin Richert, who was busy hauling parts in preparation of their crossing. Good luck and happy chartering.

Bore thought he had a good chance at winning. He spent three weeks in Maui training on trampolines and doing gymnastics work so his moves would wow the judges, and he did win his section on the first day, he said.

But the next two days had no wind, so there is no champion this year. Don’t give up, Leslie. All of us turning 40 wish you well.

Making 39 look good

Julie (nee McKeown) and Brett Scott were married in April at Rum Point in the Cayman Islands. The couple works on M/Y Babe, a 92-foot Monte Fino, as stewardess and captain, respectively. Julie sent in this lovely photo and told us that the owner stood in for her dad and gave her away.

Chef Leslie Bore took time off this spring and headed home to New Zealand to compete in the national kiteboarding championships. He was one of 65 competitors.

“This is definitely a young person’s sport,” said Bore, who turns 40 next year. “When you are 10 years old, you can do the gymnastics so easily.”

With a few years of training and working at this sport under his belt,

A Cayman Islands’ ‘I do’

Signed, sealed delivered

After six months of negotiations and yard delays, Capt. Brian Koch has taken delivery of the 68-foot Mikelson Reel Estate. The boat is not seen much on the U.S. East Coast, Capt. Koch said, but is popular on the West Coast. The yacht will fish from its base in Stuart, Fla., with several summer trips to the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.

Straight A’s for Kemper

Capt. Rick Kemper has taken over command of the new Aurora-A, a 161-foot Admiral Marine that used to be Evviva. The yacht and her crew are headed to the Mediterranean.

While refitting Evviva, Capt. Kemper’s boss also owned M/Y Mostro, a 120foot Palmer Johnson. Mostro sold just after the Miami show this spring and now has a new captain, Capt. Lee Rosbach. Congrats to you both and fair winds.

Send news of your promotion, change of yachts or career, or personal accomplishments to Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.

The Triton

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HOW I GOT MY START IN YACHTING

Shiloh Branham’s ability to ‘turn a wrench’ helped him land his first job aboard the M/Y Carib Queen.

PHOTO/LUCY REED

How a sister and the Navy launched a man into yachts

By Shiloh Branham I got my start as a yacht crew member on the recommendation of my sister, Cumorah, who was a stewardess at the time.

I had spent four years, 10 months and three days as an air traffic controller in the U.S. Navy and went to Utah to chill out with my parents. I was trying to figure out what to do and Cumorah suggested I give yachting a try.

So I drove the 2,500 miles from Salt Lake City to Ft. Lauderdale, got a room at Joanne’s Crew House and within 20 minutes had my first job.

Capt. Scott from the 120-foot M/Y Carib Queen called the house looking for someone who could “turn a wrench.” The guy who answered the phone couldn’t and asked me. I grew up working on cars and motorcycles, so I said “sure.”

I ended up getting a job on the 142foot Christensen M/Y Big Play and thought I was set for a while, but the boat sold four months later and the new owner replaced the whole crew.

I picked up day work and delivery jobs here and there, using my Navy

skills where I could. In the Navy, I worked radar mostly with some time in the tower and some time doing ground control. It’s cool how similar yacht radar systems are to what I worked on.

On one delivery, the boat had such a nice system I was picking up aircraft.

I ended up back in Ft. Lauderdale, dayworking on the 80-foot Burger M/Y Carry-On, when I got the call to head back to the West Coast. I’ll be the mate on a 105-foot Broward headed up to Alaska for the summer, then back down the coast to Mexico for the fall and winter.

Though it’s my second full-time gig in yachting, it feels like my first and I’m excited and ready for the adventure.

So thanks to Cumorah (who got her start from some crew who wandered into the punk rock bar she was working in) and the great captains I’ve worked for, I’m now a yachtie. I think I’d like to pursue an engineering certification but I don’t have the time or money right now for the courses. That’ll be the next adventure.

How did you get your start in yachting?

Send your story to lucy@the-triton.com.

Who knows? You might inspire someone.

July 2006

B

B July 2006 YACHTING REGULATIONS

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Ocean safety governed by United Nations’ IMO The London-based International Maritime Organization occupies a special position in the maritime community.

This specialized agency of the United Nations has 166 member states and an annual budget of nearly $90 million. It is the force behind

nearly all technical standards and legal rules for safety at sea and prevention of pollution by ships. Its priorities are reflected in its motto: “Safe, secure, and efficient shipping on clean oceans.”

The concept of the IMO was born after the RMS Titanic disaster. By modern standards, the design of

the Titanic made her appallingly vulnerable. Her “watertight” bulkheads, by design, did not extend all the way to the main deck because the designers calculated that it was impossible for the ship to take on a trim or list sufficient for water to cascade over their tops if the bulkheads Rules of the Road were of a certain Jake DesVergers height.

When Titanic struck the iceberg, these calculations were proven dismally incorrect.

In addition, when people began abandoning ship, it became obvious that not nearly enough lifeboats were available nor were there enough crew trained in their use.

learned.

Today, many of the new regulations that are developed unfortunately stem from an accident. Recent examples of this can be seen following the Exxon Valdez (oil spill), Scandinavian Star (fire), Estonia (flooding), and the events surrounding Sept. 11 (security).

The IMO adopts international shipping regulations and it is the responsibility of governments to implement them. Implementation of the standards is crucial to achieving the IMO’s objectives.

The flag state of the ship has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the ship meets applicable standards and for issuing certificates confirming the ship is seaworthy and the crew properly trained.

To do this, all ships must be surveyed in order to be issued certificates that establish their seaworthiness, type of ship, and Centralizing rules statutory conformity.

Many lives and much money were The flag state has the option lost in this tragedy. Until of performing these that time, each nation had The IMO adopts surveys directly or it may made its own rules about “entrust the inspections policies and ship design, construction, and surveys either to and safety equipment. governments surveyors nominated The Inter-Governmental must enforce for that purpose or to Maritime Consultative organizations recognized them.

Organization was formed by it.” in response to the Titanic In practice, event, but was put on hold these “recognized” when World War I broke out. organizations are often the After the war ended, IMCO was classification societies. The largest of revived and it produced a group of the classification societies – such as regulations concerning shipbuilding ABS, BV, DNV, LR and NKK – belong and safety called the International to the International Association of Convention for the Safety of Life At Sea Classification Societies.

(SOLAS).

IACS is a non-governmental Through the years, SOLAS and organization that was granted subsequent regulations have been consultative status with the IMO in modified and upgraded to adapt to 1969 and acts as the primary technical changes in technology and lessons source for the IMO.

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So knowing the structure of the IMO, where do all these regulations come from?

Believe it or not, they originate from the member countries. While there are a considerable amount of proactive initiatives established by the IMO in an effort for continuous improvement, it is a regrettable reality that most rules that are developed or revised initiate from a serious marine incident.

Take, for example, the fire in March aboard the Bermuda-registered cruise ship Star Princess while on passage between Grand Cayman and Montego Bay, Jamaica. The fire began on an external balcony and spread over several decks.

The cause is being investigated by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) on behalf of the Bermuda Maritime Administration in co-operation with U.S. authorities.

See RULES, page B5

The Triton

YACHTING REGULATIONS

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July 2006

From not enough regulation to too much?

Balance is needed Puzzle Junction.com RULES, from page B4

fire risk unless fixed water spraying systems, fixed fire detection/fire alarm systems are fitted, and that partitions separating balconies be constructed of noncombustible materials, similar to the provisions for new passenger ships.

Although the investigation is not yet complete, MAIB and the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) issued a safety bulletin and a safety notice, respectively, which include urgent safety recommendations pertaining How yachts are affected to the incident.

A related paper was It is important to monitor the Solution Sudoku 1 submitted to the IMO by the UK, which actions affecting large commercial the committee agreed to fast track. ships. As history has illustrated, result?

Amendments to

The regulations that are enacted to protect SOLAS higher risk vessels, such as passenger aimed at ensuring that existing regulations for primary deck ships and tankers, are always modified linings, use of ceilings and coverings, over time and customized to affect all combustible materials, and smoke vessel types and sizes.

generation potential and toxicity are This not only pertains to Puzzle Junction.com to cabin balconies on new

also applied international regulations such as passenger SOLAS and MARPOL, but also the ships.

For existing passenger

ships, the IMO approved relevant flag-specific Large Yacht Code enforced to require that furniture

provisions by the MCA, Cayman Islands, and the on cabin balconies are of restricted Marshall Islands.

Answers to puzzles on page B19

Solution Sudoku 1 Calm

Solution Sudoku 2 Stormy

d June 2006

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Is there an end to these regulations and the work of the IMO? Quite the opposite. In fact, there are new regulations being put forth regarding the actual number of inspections. It appears that upon review on their own work over the years, so many new rules have been developed that ships are now being over-inspected. The pendulum has swung from one extreme to the next, hopefully with something in the middle now the goal.

Capt. Jake DesVergers is president of the US Maritime Institute. Prior to his current role, he sailed as master on merchant ships, acted as designated person for a shipping company, and served as regional manager for an international classification society.

Contact him at 954-449-3444 or through www.usmaritimeinstitute.com.

Does a certain yacht regulation have you confused? Do you have a question about the implementation or enforcement of a rule that you may have heard about on the docks?

Ask Jake. He works in this world every day. No question is unnecessary.

You can bet that if you have a question about it, others do, too.

Contact Jake at info@ usmaritimeinstitute.com.

B

B July 2006 IN THE GALLEY

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Barbecue? Barbeque? Bar-B-Q? Spell it d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s instead Summer is in full force and if you History” (Crown Publishing, 1988, haven’t dusted off your barbecue grill pages 222-223) state that the colonists onboard, now is the time because not discovered the Arawakan Indians’ only are you missing great recipes and method of erecting a frame of sticks wonderful food over a fire to dry the meat they had that come off your caught. Their native tongue of Taino grill, but also the described this procedure as barbacoa. healthy benefits Other cultures such as the associated with Europeans erected raised platforms so grilling. rodents and snakes wouldn’t get to the With grilling meat but they did not use fire, or so we you don’t need presume from the writings of William the extra fat Dampier in his book, “New Voyage associated Round the World” of 1699.

Culinary Waves with pan frying The true difference between the Mary Beth or sautéing.

Old World and New World sauces and Lawton Johnson Bobby Flay’s styles of grilling is the addition of the new cookbook, tomato and the equipment. Even today, “Grilling for Life,” offers 75 new healthy one can disseminate the region or area recipes. from which a sauce originated based on No matter how you spell it its ingredients.

– barbecue, barbeque or Bar-B-Q – the In early European cultures, the use word has had the same meaning since of vinegars and fermented fish sauces the early 1600s. Cultural preferences, were typically used as marinades. local indigenous foods and cookery In North Carolina today, the use of techniques began the development of these same thin, watery vinegars and barbecue, which by brines are still in 1699 had become use, suggesting the Sutter Home Family a social event as it influx of Europeans is today. The state into the area.

Vineyards has launched a of Virginia had Americans in barbecue newsletter with to enact a ban on the South today all sorts of tips and recipes. weapon discharging use sticky sweet Read the first edition online during the barbecue sauces, also found socials because in Chicago. Texas at www.sutterhome.com/ people actually got is known for its email/06062006/ or sign up hurt attending. dry rubs and sweet for the e-mailed newsletter Some historians and hot sauces, at www.sutterhome.com. and publications borrowing from generally agree that the Southeast the actual practice and Southwest of barbecuing started before the 1600s. traditions.

When shipwrecked sailors, runaway Aside from the origins of barbecue slaves, and discards of general society sauces, we must also look at the discovered the Carib Indians on the equipment. Grills made for yachts island of Hispaniola using this method vary from the home variety. I called of curing and drying meats, it spread to yacht designer Claudette Bonville and France and to the colonies of the New Associates in Ft. Lauderdale to ask World. Food supplies during this time what kind of barbecue equipment were not a problem. for yachts is out there and what that The Carib Indians thinly sliced firm typically places onboard when meat and smoked it over green wood designing the galley or its equipment. lattices using animal hides and bones Cindy Gunther from Claudette said for the fire. In Spanish, the green wood most of the grills they design are grill lattice was called barbacoa, and this tops, not the whole unit. Whole, freetechnique of drying the meat was standing units are for the home while called boucan. The French later took space is the primary concern onboard. this word and method and translated it They do some built-in units as well. The to boucanier and later described their use of propane is replaced by electric. outcasts as buccaneers. Early South Companies such as Viking, American Indians were a little different Gaggenau, Miele, DCS and Wolf offer in that they dried their meats in the cutting-edge equipment for grilling sun. onboard. The yacht I work on, M/Y On page 66 of “Larousse Rebecca, took away a cabinet on the aft Gastronomique” (1988), barbecue deck and installed a grill top so guests is defined as an open-air cooking and owners can watch their dinner apparatus, usually charcoal burning, being cooked. for grilling or spit roasting meat or fish.

Other yachts have the grill installed Did you know that charcoal cookery is as a Jenn Air or ceramic electric unit the most ancient of cooking methods? in the galley. These new ceramic Caribbean sources in “Food in See WAVES, page B8

The Triton

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IN THE GALLEY: RECIPE

July 2006

B

Best-Ever Ribs Recipe and photo By Chef Mary Beth Lawton Johnson This recipe makes a really thick sauce and I coat the ribs thick, so it’ll feed about six people. These ribs are fall-offthe-bone good.

3 racks baby back ribs or country-style pork ribs Water for parboiling Seasoning. Consider garlic salt, onion salt, cracked pepper, paprika, rosemary and thyme. Use the seasonings of your choice, not necessarily the ones I have suggested.

Cut the ribs in half and place in water enough to cover.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium for one hour and a half. Remove the ribs and season.

Brush with the Best-Ever Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows) and place on the grill.

Best-Ever Barbecue Sauce 1 large sweet onion, diced 2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 cups freshly diced tomatoes 2 cans tomato puree 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1/2 cup brown sugar 3 1-ounce squares dark chocolate,

chopped 3 cloves roasted garlic, mashed 1 tablespoon chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, minced fine 1 teaspoon onion powder Salt, pepper to taste Tabasco to taste

Sauté the onion and minced garlic in olive oil for one minute.

Add the tomatoes, puree and rest of the ingredients.

Simmer for 45 minutes and adjust seasonings to taste.

Pass through a sieve if desired.

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B July 2006 RESTAURANT REVIEW

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Dinner in Newport: Try Cheeky Monkey

By Chef Peter Ziegelmeier NEWPORT, R.I. – On an off-season evening under an oversized umbrella, I ventured out from the yacht and made my way into town in search of a dynamic libation, excellent service and wonderful food. I had sought out some company and an icy cold beer a few nights before, but was met with poor service, unsmiling faces and an overall bad attitude.

I made my way down the uncrowded streets at about the traditional cocktail hour of 7:30 p.m. and thought of the young ladies I saw the other evening across from the Red Parrot. They were talking about the Cheeky Monkey, so I had this in my mind to try this local favorite out.

Upon entering the Cheeky, I was greeted by an attentive hostess with a nice demeanor and a pleasant smile. The dining room was empty, now about 8 p.m. on a Friday night, and two couples sat in the bar. I wedged myself and my oversized umbrella between them and was greeted by a huge, “cheeky” smiling face of a young bar maiden named Yolanda.

I was relieved, overjoyed and just downright glad to be here now. I sort of let the cat out of the bag when I told her

From left, Jenna, Chef Peter Ziegelmeier and Yolanda.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHEF PETER ZIEGELMEIER

that I was kinda, sorta thinking of critiquing this place.

She gave me an eclectic martini menu, the trend nowadays, from which I eventually ordered the “Spank The Monkey,” a libation prepared with Svedka Citrus Vodka, Mathilde Framboise (a French raspberry liqueur) and pineapple juice to finish. A refreshing cocktail that helped ward off that Rhode Island foggy feeling that had built up in my throat from the waltz over here.

Newport info@matthewsmarineac.com matthewsmarineac.com

See MONKEY, page B11

There are always new tricks to learn at the grill WAVES, from page B6

PROUDLY SERVING FT. LAUDERDALE, PALM BEACH, MIAMI AND NEWPORT

The Triton

grills mimic the grill effect found in conventional home units. Miele offers a 15-inch free-standing grill top that

of this small grill is that it can be placed wherever you have room, not being part of a whole built-in package if space is a concern.

As a professional chef I much prefer gas over electric as it heats faster and delivers a much more uniform spread in the heat. Foods cook quicker and more evenly. Using electric is like going back to the prehistoric era where men were first learning to make a fire; it took forever. Sometimes though, you have to sacrifice comfort for safety.

Hot off the grill

Just when you think you have seen it all, along come new books that offer even more in barbeque excitement.

Check these out when you have time to browse in your local book store or online.

“Italian Grill: Fresh Ideas to Fire Up Your Outdoor Cooking” by Micol Negrin features Italian seasonings and ingredients from appetizers to desserts.

“Asian Grill: Great Recipes, Bold Flavors” by Connie Trang features classical Asian foundations in cooking applied to grilling and barbecuing.

“Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food” by Warren Anderson is a complete guide to creating smoked foods at home.

“Let the Flames Begin” by Cris Schlesinger offers tips techniques and recipes for real, live fire cooking.

Here are some handy tips and tricks to use next time you barbecue.

Get an old kitchen towel and tie it into a bundle, dip it in olive oil and run it over your grill. The food won’t stick when grilling.

Charlie Trotter suggests using different hardwoods for your barbeque rather than charcoal. He suggests inserts into the counter. The plus side

blending the hardwoods for your own unique variety.

Make sure you practice mise en place before you start your grill.

That way you are not running all over looking for what you need when grilling.

Brine your meats for in-depth flavor and tenderness.

Place herbs soaked in water over hot charcoals for an infused flavor in your meats and vegetables.

Use rosemary branches or lemongrass branches for skewers. Be sure to soak in water first.

Use a paint brush instead of a pastry brush for more coverage area when applying the sauce.

Always heat your basting sauce or barbecue sauce because cold sauces slow the cooking process.

Modern barbecue techniques, machinery and trends allow us to use cross-cultural techniques while infusing cuisines onboard. Cuisines not normally paired together are now appealing to our senses of global fare in today’s society as we travel to experience them. It’s OK to fuse ancient Asian cookery methods mixed with Caribbean tastes.

Subsequently preparing a meal over flames – a basic prehistoric self preservation action derived from the hunter-gatherer times – satisfies a basic need for food.

Mary Beth Lawton Johnson is a certified executive pastry chef and Chef de Cuisine. A professional yacht chef since 1991, she has been chef aboard M/Y Rebecca since 1999. Visit her Web site at www.themegayachtchef.com or contact her through editorial@the-triton.com.

The Triton

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IN THE GALLEY: GUEST RECIPE

July 2006

B

Better Bruschetta Recipe and photo by Chef Peter Ziegelmeier Bruschetta is an Italian staple that will become a regular on your menu. And for good reason. It’s delicioso. Make bruschetta the real Italian way (olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and a lot of times, anchovies) but know that you can use a lot of different ingredients to vary it as I have below.

Finding the ripe, but not overripe tomatoes is no easy task. I suppose being in the right place at the right time has much to do with it. However, when all the right ingredients come into play, this little robust, powerhouse of a starter will wow your owners and or charter guests.

My Version of Italian Bruschetta 1 lb. plum tomatoes, concasse ½ lb. gold tomatoes, deseeded, concasse ¼ lb. cherry tomatoes, deseeded, quartered 4 cloves garlic, minced ¼ bunch basil, chiffonade Kosher salt to taste Fresh, cracked black pepper to taste Gazebo Room balsamic vinaigrette to taste Slice tomatoes open and deseed, small dice.

Peel, crush and remove germ (if present) from garlic and mince.

Destem basil, roll and chiffonade.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Squeeze in the balsamic vinaigrette (not so it is swimming), to taste. (The Gazebo Room dressing is manufactured in an old stompin’ ground of mine, Mechanicsburg, Penn. It is an old Greek recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation. The company, Best Dressed Associates, also manufactures an incredible Greek dressing.

Many other chefs I have spoken to use the Greek dressing for a beef and chicken marinade. I swear by the flavor profiles here.)

Serve with toasted, seasoned and toasted, or just fresh baguette or ciabatta bread. (I cut my baguette into crostini, season with clarified butter, great olive oil, dried Italian seasoning and fresh basil chiffonade.

I bake in the oven until just before crisp and serve

directly.

Finale: If you are a cheese-head, you can add any extras you see fit: Buffalo mozzarella, pepperoni, Parmesan Reggiano cheese, Parmesan cheese, anchovies, shredded carrots, kalamata olives (my favorite) or anything else that strikes your fancy.

Bon Appetito, always.

B10 July 2006 IN THE GALLEY: WINE

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How wine stored, served key to taste Storing and serving wine is something that many people consider confusing at best. Add in the complicating factor of doing all this at sea or on a yacht and things get a lot more interesting.

As far as storing wine is concerned, five key factors need to be considered: heat, humidity, light, vibration and odor.

By the Glass All can lead to the Mark Darley wine being devoid of fruit or tasting “tired and flabby,” as we say in the trade. Wine that has been heated will, in the case of red wine, develop a brown tinge throughout or even become opaque. The flavor can, in some cases, assume the taste of cooked prunes.

Also, the wine level drops to around the shoulder of the bottle. Look for signs of seepage onto the exterior.

White wine loses its freshness and the color assumes a golden hue, which unless it is aged Sauternes or great white Burgundy is distinctly unhealthy.

In addition, white wines may become bitter to the taste.

Essentially heat, light and vibration hasten the maturation process, leading the wine to be “over the hill” long before it should.

Heat is wine’s biggest enemy.

An hour in a car under tropical or subtropical sun will destroy even the most robust wine. With alcohol shipping laws in the United States becoming more liberal, more boat owners request that wine be shipped out of states, and we always advise to do this in winter months or by overnight air in warmer months. Air freight is expensive, but if the wine is good, the cost is worth it.

Storage on a boat should be away from obvious sources of heat such as the galley or proximity to a window that lets in a lot of heat and light. If possible, keep wine bottles in their Styrofoam shippers as this regulates the temperature better. Of course, many yachts have wine coolers on board that keep wine at the right temperature, but it is not always possible to use these for general storage when multiple cases are ordered.

Light is another source of potential damage to wine. This is why a lot of wine comes in dark glass bottles.

Consequently, it pays to minimize light exposure along with heat exposure, so try not to leave wine on deck for too long or at all before stowing it.

Wine should also be kept at the right humidity to avoid dry corks. This is not easy to achieve afloat, but try to avoid storing wine in too dry an atmosphere.

Vibration can also destroy wine.

While this is a constant issue on a boat, it is best to store wine as far as possible from obvious sources of vibration

Oenophiles, rejoice! New wine column We are pleased to add a new columnist to The Triton’s monthly galley section, Mark Darley of Seventh Street Wine Company in Ft. Lauderdale.

The store and tasting lounge opened Jan. 1 and quickly has become popular. In addition to 1,100 wines, it has eight machines that let visitors taste any of 96 wines (64 red, 32 white). For $25, visitors buy a debit card, then help themselves to samples, which cost $1 to $15 per one-ounce pour. The wines change every month or so, giving regulars a fabulous chance to gain a lot of knowledge, including the invaluable ability to recommend the perfect wine to the boss.

“South Florida is a very sophisticated market with all the yachts,” Darley said. “Ft. Lauderdale has a lot of wine stores, so ... when Chris saw those machines, we knew that was our niche.”

Chris Skillicorn and Darley are managing partners of Seventh Street Wine Company. Along with partner Phillip Henry and colleagues Hank Waranoff and Kyle Symons, they welcome yacht crew to their unique store with a 10 percent discount on everything.

Find them on U.S. 1 south of the tunnel on the west side of the road, 701 S. Federal Highway, or online at www.seventhstreetwine.com.

– Lucy Reed such as engines or other mechanical equipment. If the yacht is fortunate to have a Eurocave-style cabinet, these are designed to isolate wine from vibration, which is why they are so expensive.

Finally, odor can affect wine profoundly, particularly if it is chemical in nature. Store wine away from strong sources of odor such as gasoline, diesel or other chemical agents. Even though wine has a cork and lead capsule, this is no barrier to strong odor.

Storage space on yachts is limited, but simple awareness of the factors mentioned above should assist crew to store wine as safely as possible.

Serving wine is not as complicated as some would have you believe. While many publications include charts for serving wine at the ideal temperature, a few simple rules make the enjoyment of good wine on board more likely.

A storage temperature of 45-54 F is ideal. I keep all my wines at about 52 F, which means they develop well in storage.

In addition, they can be served straight from storage if the wine is red; after about 15 minutes in the fridge, a white wine will be ready to drink.

Some wines such as crisp sauvignons or dessert/ice wines benefit from longer cooling in the fridge. Too much cooling of a chardonnay, though, will kill the fruit. Often cabernet benefits from cooler serving temperatures but the red wines that benefit greatly from

cooling are pinot noir, Beaujolais and some Grenache/Garnacha wines. Some of the bigger Australian shiraz wines can be cooled slightly according to many of the makers and I always chill my Italian wines if they are left too long at room temperature as they start to taste bad if too warm.

Decanting is generally beneficial to all reds except the fragile pinot noirs.

Italian reds and syrah benefit from decanting as do older reds, though take care in decanting the latter as a sediment develops and is unpleasant to drink. It also makes the wine cloudy.

A good tip for these and vintage ports is to decant carefully using a proprietary decanting funnel or using a candle or light to illuminate the neck of the bottle so you can see when sediment comes out. At this point, stop pouring.

Discard the rest and clean out the bottle, then pour the decanted wine back in. From a presentational perspective, this looks good and guests are aware of the wine they are enjoying.

There is more to learn, but the simple points outlined should help crew to serve wine in the challenging environment on board a yacht.

Mark Darley is a managing partner at Seventh Street Wine Company in Ft. Lauderdale. Contact him at mdarley@ seventhstreetwine.com or +1-954-5225560.

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

RESTAURANT REVIEW

July 2006

B11

Phyllo-wrapped shrimp appetizer nets a perfect score MONKEY, from page B8 As I sat back and enjoyed the sippin’, the music in the background was a little Marvin Gaye. “Hey, what’s going on,” here that is. My smile was genuine, the conversation with Yolanda delightful and the atmosphere bordering on the sublime.

The menu was short and sweet, with such items as lobster bisque, spinach frisee salad (with warm bacon dressing, Maytag bleu cheese crumbles and crispy, “naughty” pecans, I like to call them.) For appetizers: Cheeky Monkey Calamari tossed in spicy prosciuttostuffed cherry pepper sauce, and Phyllo-Wrapped Jumbo Shrimp baked with herb butter and served with a traditional garlic aioli.

The entrée portion for this evening contained such items as: grilled Moroccan BBQ, Atlantic salmon filet ($24.95), 14 oz. choice Black Angus sirloin ($30.95), mesquite-smoked organic pork tenderloin ($26.95). The special of the day: local caught sea bass with lobster sauce.

I was intrigued by the sea bass after I saw it come to one of the patrons at the bar. And I was equally enthralled by the 14 oz. sirloin. What do you think I did?

Right, pondered it for a few minutes, but first the wonderful task of selecting an appetizer and a wine to pair with it.

There was no written wine list, and much like the menu – petite but potent – I saw the wine list on a blackboard, directly above the bar, with no pricing. I went with the Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Reisling, which I rarely find on menus anywhere I travel.

Enter Jenna, another wonderfully smiling, industry professional behind the bar. Wow. Two excellent service pros under the same roof on the same night; I was in heaven. I received my wine, smelling and sipping. I knew this bottle had been opened for a while, but paid no mind as my eyes were treated to the animalistic paintings and rain forest motif adornments all around.

The shrimp arrived in an excellent presentation. They were lined up ever so carefully on their sides, all facing the same direction, modestly adorned in the garlic aioli, laid upon a 4x8 unmarked white place atop a triangular plate lined with zebra stripes … hooray.

I asked about the water selections and was pleasantly surprised with something I had never seen before, a bottled water from Scotland: Speyside Glenlivet, of premium Scottish quality from the unspoiled mountain braes.

Who would have believed it?

The appetizer was just the right presentation; the right temp and the right time. An A+ all around.

I chose a combination of the entrées that caught my attention: The 14ounce sirloin with Cheeky steak glaze, and instead of the recommended home-cut fries I asked for asparagus

with a side of the lobster sauce. When I ordered the two I had envisioned drizzling the sauce on top of the steak.

When my entrée arrived I was excited about the plumpness of the steak and the waftings each component emanated. Then I began the assembly of the final plate. I took the asparagus and lined it and drizzled the sauce with nice hunks of lobster chunks and a smooth silky sauce across the green spears. I was now ready to divide and conquer. First bite … mmmmm… juicy, succulent and just plain awesome.

When I had just two bites left, I

asked to see the chef. Unfortunately, he had gone home to see his newborn.

Kudos to the chef in all aspects. The names listed on the menu were chefs Jeffrey Cruff and Jeremy-Ewing Chow.

I inquired about dessert and was delivered another unprinted and verbally transmitted item (a nice way for the staff to interact with guests, making you feel like you had a guide).

Being a chocoholic, I asked only about the chocolate items and wasn’t interested in a chocolate-infused something-or-other with raspberry sauce. I find that the modern chef

overuses raspberry with chocolate, something I just do not like.

Almost two hours into my evening, I was happy with the unpretentious and non-obtrusive service, delighted with the atmosphere, uncontrolled about the food, and just plain had an excellent dining experience.

So when you feel the need to be taken away, I suggest a trip to this tropical rain forest in Newport.

Chef Peter Ziegelmeier works aboard M/Y Been There Done That. Contact him through editorial@the-triton.com.

B12 July 2006

NUTRITION

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The Triton

Dietary supplements – Are you in need of one?

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Do you eat junk food on the run? Do Drug Administration. However, there you feel like you never have pep? Maybe are no set government standards for then, you think popping a vitamin pill the manufacturing of these and other will cure these ills? dietary supplements. Therefore, it is An estimated “buyer beware.�

40 percent of How can you be sure you’re buying Americans take a quality multivitamin-mineral some form of suppliment? There are several supplement. non-government agencies that set Technically, a standards for drug products and dietary supplement dietary supplements. One is the U.S. is defined as “a Pharmacopeia. product intended A dietary supplement that meets to supplement the USP standards will have the initials Take It In diet. It contains USP on the label. The only way that individuals can be sure a product Carol Bareuther one or more vitamin or mineral meets USP quality standards is if USP is ingredients.� Some supplements also specifically mentioned on the label. include herbs and phytochemicals.

There are a few key tips to consider Vitamins are organic compounds when selecting a multivitamin-mineral that we must have to maintain normal supplement. body functions. They are usually First, unless suggested by your available in foods, although many health care provider, choose a vitamins are produced synthetically. supplement that provides no more Minerals are found naturally in than 100 percent of the daily value foods and are essential to many basic for vitamins and minerals. Excessive tasks the body must perform. For amounts of some vitamins and example, they are especially important minerals may actually do more harm in bone structure and growth. Some of than good.  Second, vitamin A in multivitamins the minerals found naturally in foods include calcium, iron, phosphorus, may come in the form of retinol (the magnesium, potassium and sodium. fat-soluble form), beta-carotene (the In dietary supplements, minerals water-soluble form), or both. Excessive are not available amounts of retinol Food preferences and as single elements may be harmful, but rather as so try to select other factors may compounds. multivitamin prevent you from eating athat Therefore, a product has at least an optimal diet. label may say 50 percent of the “calcium carbonate� vitamin A in the for calcium or “ferrous sulfate� for form of beta-carotene. Keep in mind iron. Herbs are aromatic plants that the DV of vitamin A should not that offer medicinal benefits, while exceed 100 percent, regardless of the phytochemicals – such as beta carotene form. in carrots – are naturally occurring Third, most supplements will not chemical compounds in plants that provide 100 percent of the DV for offer disease protection. calcium because the added calcium If you eat a basic diet that, on would make the supplement too big to average, conforms to current dietary swallow. If extra calcium is required, recommendations, then you’re then look to take a separate calcium likely consuming all the nutrients supplement. necessary for good health. However, Fourth, choose a supplement that is food preferences, hectic lifestyles and clearly marked with an expiration date other factors may prevent you from far enough in the future to enable you eating an optimal diet. Therefore, a to use the entire product. Do not use multivitamin-mineral supplement the product after its expiration date, could be advantageous. In addition, you as certain vitamins lose their potency may benefit if you: over time, especially in hot and humid l are on a low-calorie diet for weight climates. loss of fewer than 1,200 calories a day; Fifth, remember that the price of l are a vegan (a vegetarian who the multivitamin is not always the best avoids all animal products including judge of the product’s quality. eggs and milk); Sixth and finally, look for a l can’t or won’t drink milk or multivitamin supplement that meets consume other dairy products, or USP standards. l are a woman of childbearing age who could soon become pregnant.

Carol Bareuther is a registered dietitian Multivitamin-mineral supplements and a regular contributor to The Triton. and other dietary supplements are Contact her through editorial@theregulated as foods by the U.S. Food and triton.com.

The Triton

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PHOTOGRAPHY

With shutter speed increased to freeze motion, the aperture must be larger PHOTO/JAMES SCHOT (a smaller f-stop) to let in enough light.

Photo success a balancing act Welcome aboard, photography enthusiasts. For the past couple of columns we have been discussing how your camera controls light to expose the photograph you take. This control revolves around the interplay between aperture and shutter speed, and understanding this relationship is essential to a basic understanding of Photo Exposé the photographic James Schot process.

In May, I published a photo of my friend speeding by in his boat. The good news was the exposure was perfect; just the right amount of light to see everything clearly. The bad news is that what we wanted to see clearly – my friend in his boat – came out blurry. It was dusk, meaning not much daylight, and my friend was near full throttle speeding by, and this creates difficult photo-taking circumstances.

So where did I go wrong? My shutter speed setting was 1/15 of a second and the aperture or f/stop was f/8. That’s what the available daylight would allow for a good exposure.

But at that shutter speed, which is quite slow, it is difficult to freeze motion for a non-blurry shot of a fastmoving boat. This is what the shutter controls – light and motion – while aperture controls light and depth of field, or what stays in focus from close to far distance.

There is no depth of field issue with this shot. All I wanted to have in focus is my friend in his boat. So as long as I pre-focus on the correct distance, any f/stop will do. And the lowest number – which gives us the widest and most open setting – is what we may need in this case. This adjustment of the aperture f/stop will give us flexibility to adjust shutter speed to stop motion, which is the issue with this shot.

Here’s the solution to getting the shot right, that is, stopping the motion to have a clear shot of a speeding boat at dusk with low daylight conditions.

For the well-exposed but blurry boat photograph, I had the aperture set at

Consumer Reports July 2006 issue rates various categories of consumer cameras. f/8, which provided more depth of field than I really need. My camera is capable of stopping down (opening up) to f/2.8.

I had a shutter set at 1/15 of a second, which ended up being too slow to freeze this fast-moving object. I need a faster shutter speed.

If I open the aperture from f/8 (past f/5.6, past f/4) to 2.8, I gain three full f/stops. Since each stop doubles the amount of light reaching the chip, I have to compensate by adjusting shutter speed to get proper exposure.

To that end, I increase shutter speed three stops from 1/15 (past 1/30 and 1/60) to 1/125. In terms of proper exposure, 1/15 at f/8 equals 1/125 at f/2.8. They are the same, but this change to the latter setting greatly improves my camera’s ability to stop motion. The faster the shutter speed, the greater this ability. The boat will be clearer, more frozen in space, and there will be less depth of field in front and behind the boat.

When you bring your camera to your eye, evaluate and set light reading for a proper exposure. To see f/stop and shutter settings, you can be in Av (aperture preferred), Tv (shutter preferred) or M (manual mode). Using symbol modes means shooting blind and hoping for the right result. At times when I really have to grab a shot real fast, I’ll most often dial to the P (program) mode.

After having the right exposure, determine your objective and adjust the aperture and shutter accordingly, keeping the proper exposure. With practice, the process develops quickly and you’ll know just by looking at the scene what you would like to do.

Until next time, permission to come ashore.

James Schot has been a professional photographer for 27 years and owns Schot Designer Photography. Feel free to contact him at james@bestschot.com with photographic questions or queries for future columns.

July 2006

B13

B20 July 2006 FITNESS / PERSONAL FINANCE

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Over the past year, I’ve outlined basic exercises that incorporate small hand weights and an inflatable ball, items you can have with you onboard to make fitness part of your life.

This month, I would like to discuss the simple idea of working out. You don’t have to have weights or equipment to get a good workout.

Go Figure Jumping jacks Pat Teodosio are a staple of my own regimen and I highly recommend them for their cardiovascular as well as muscle-toning benefits.

Plenty of yachties walk, run, cycle or swim for exercise, for down time and as a form of relaxation. These activities can easily be turned into “workouts” with slight modifications. Try these experiments in your normal course of exercise and watch the amazing results.

It’s not always necessary to add weight or run more miles to increase intensity – and get more benefits – from your workout. Think instead about taking every set to failure. I’m not talking about the “I’m-tired” type of failure. Do whatever you are doing until you simply cannot do any more, to a total failure of the muscle.

When you put a muscle in this situation, it will grow, strengthen and, more importantly, you will improve stamina. This is important to have a better and more objective approach to life, stronger lungs, healthier central nervous system, etc.

In essence, through exercising this way, your body will be better able to handle the things you love to do longer and with less stress.

If you cycle, swim or run, work on mastering a certain distance within a certain time, say 3 miles in 24 minutes.

Once you’ve accomplished this, don’t worry about adding more miles.

Instead, set goals to make your time better in 10-day intervals.

Try what we call a HIIT workout – a High Intensity Interval Training workout. With runners, for instance, start by jogging 30 seconds, then run at a good clip for 30 seconds. Repeat this for the first 5 minutes of your run, then finish the run as you normally do. Work on this for each of your next three runs.

Then kick it up a notch. Do it for 6 minutes on your next three runs.

Keep adding minutes until you get to 15. You don’t necessarily need a beach or field to accomplish this training. If you are stuck on board, try this little experiment by running in place.

By the time you hit 15 minutes of high-intensity interval training with each workout, you will notice a very appreciable difference in your cardiovascular condition and, of course, your stamina.

This all equals a stronger heart, lungs, kidneys, etc., which will also help you live a more comfortable life.

Pat Teodosio has been in the fitness industry for 30 years and owned Southport Gym in Ft. Lauderdale for 13 years. He now owns Go Figure, a 30minute workout studio on 17th Street.

Contact him through editorial@thetriton.com.

What to do when interest rates rise Many captains and crew have invested large sums of money into real estate. You may be just fine if real estate is part of your long-term financial plan.

However, most likely you did not go over your short- and longterm financial plan with your mortgage broker or banker.

Even though your financial Yachting Capital objectives make Mark A. Cline a difference as to what type of mortgage you should have, most brokers and bankers don’t go over how your loan will affect your taxes, overall finances or your retirement plan.

Several years ago when interest rates were at all-time lows, people got into adjustable rate mortgages. This let people afford a more expensive home or investment property than they may really be able to carry. Now, with

rates climbing, it is time to pay the price. Investors who have not reviewed their financial road map regularly are getting caught with a higher mortgage payment than they can afford.

If you have not gotten a notice from your bank yet about an increase or you have any doubt about what type mortgage you have, do yourself a favor and read through your “Note” terms and any addendums. This “Note” document will tell you the terms of the loan you agreed to. There are many documents you signed when you closed on your property. If you are not sure what and were to look for this information, then ask someone that you know and trust who does.

Paying the full term on a 30-year mortgage without selling or refinancing is almost unheard of today. The average homeowner moves or refinances every three to seven years. A favorite today is what’s called the Pay Option Arm or the 1 percent loan. This is a loan I have on my house. If used properly, it can get

See FINANCE, page B24

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

LITERARY REVIEW

July 2006

B21

‘Devils on the Deep Blue Sea’ delivers cruise ship industry Kristoffer Garin’s overview of the cruise industry became available in paperback in June. “Devils on the Deep Blue Sea: The Dreams, Schemes and Showdowns that Built America’s Cruise-Ship Empires” is a $16 investment in entertainment and education.

Garin’s premise is that the $13 billion Well Read cruise industry Donna evolved from Mergenhagen ships transporting immigrants from Europe to America. Packing steerage with human cargo, companies like Holland-America (clearly named to define its market position) made fortunes on the dreams of immigrants.

World War I and quotas instituted by the U.S. Congress put a damper on the industry until prohibition opened another window of opportunity – leisure ship travel.

After World War II, jet travel may have heralded the end of shipboard leisure if not for a few entrepreneurs who weathered repeated failures to build the industry. Cruise ships are the fastest-growing segment of tourism, one of the most profitable industries in the world and (with Carnival Corp. holding more than 50 percent of capacity) highly consolidated.

How did the efforts of Leslie Fraser – credited as the grandfather of modern day cruising – with two disintegrating boats based in the industrial port of Miami lead to the industry today?

Fraser saw the business as recreation, not transport, and introduced the concept of single class cruising.

Although he was out of business in a few years, his efforts paved the way. In addition, social, cultural and technical changes contributed: On-board air conditioning extended the season; the post-war economic boom increased the size of the middle class; and the ships operate in a gray area of regulators and enforcement.

As early as 1965, the lack of safety procedures and oversight was dramatically illustrated when a ship en route from Miami to the Bahamas caught fire and 91 people were killed.

Foreign-flag registration permits cruise lines to escape taxes, labor laws and government intervention.

Although it seems counterintuitive that a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and operating out of Miami would be essentially self regulated, Garin explains the perpetuation of offshore registration in detail.

The business acumen of early industry leaders set the stage for the profit margins cruise lines enjoy today.

Ships are routinely built in countries where governments subsidize costs to create employment. Staff is recruited from Third World countries without requirements of minimum wage, worker’s compensation or social security taxes. Accusations have been made that accommodations and staff treatment herald back to the third-class steerage of immigrant transports. The impact a cruise shop has on its ports of call (and homeport) put corporations in a position to dictate terms of fees, suppliers and costs.

“Devils on the Deep Blue Sea” is well-researched and evenhanded in the analysis of the industry. Garin segments the story into chapters that address business aspects of the industry while profiling characters past and present. Each chapter begins with a humorous quote. They are wellchosen to set the stage. “Cruise Ship Blues” and “Cruise Ship Squeeze” are great next reads for additional details of the current business practices of the industry.

Despite the fact that South Florida is inundated with cruise coverage, “Devils on the Deep Blue Sea” is the most suspenseful business book I have read.

Donna Mergenhagen owns Well Read, a used book store on Southeast 17th Street in Ft. Lauderdale. Contact her at +1954-467-8878.

ISM/ISPS code training integrated The U.S. Maritime Institute is conducting an integrated training course for auditing both the ISM and ISPS Code simultaneously. Its Integrated Maritime Auditor (ISM/ISPS) course is for ship managers, marine surveyors, flag-state inspectors, superintendents, yacht managers, senior officers, designated persons ashore, company security officers, and all others involved in the management, operation, and/or ownership of ships and yachts. The threeday classroom course will help students develop a practical approach to the interpretation and application of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code and International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.

The course will be held July 12-14 in Ft. Lauderdale. Cost is $1,495, which includes all course material, examination, certification, and meals. For details and to register, contact U.S. Maritime Institute at +1-954-449-3444, through www.usmaritimeinstitute.com or at training@usmaritimeinstitute.com.

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IN THE STARS

July 4 weekend boasts a conga line of planets

By Jack Horkheimer This 4th of July weekend, you’ll see Mercury, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter lined up, plus Leo’s brightest star Regulus.

Face west just before it gets completely dark out at dusk. If you’ve got a clear, flat horizon, you’ll see planet No. 1 out from the Sun, tiny 3,000-mile-wide Mercury. Then up to its left, planet No. 6 and the prettiest planet of them all, 75,000-mile-wide ringed Saturn. Just above it, planet No. 4, 4,000-mile-wide Mars. And up to its left, 2-million-mile-wide Regulus, the brightest star of Leo the Lion.

You may notice these objects lie along an imaginary line (the ecliptic). It is the line along which planets travel as they change positions night after night.

Extend that line up and toward the south and you’ll see a very bright light, which is the king of the planets itself, 88,000-mile-wide Jupiter.

Saturn heading on hiatus

If you don’t catch Saturn on the second weekend of July, you won’t see it in evening skies again until the end of the year.

On July 8-9, at about 45 minutes after sunset while there’s still a bit of twilight, face west. If you have a clear, flat horizon, you’ll see the first planet out from the Sun, tiny 3,000-mile-wide Mercury. Just above it is 75,000-milewide Saturn. And just above Saturn tiny 4,000-mile-wide Mars, which will be as dim as it ever gets.

If you’ve got a telescope, pull it out because even through a small one you can see Saturn’s rings. I suggest looking at it at about 100 to 150 power through any telescope. And if you see a bright

pinpoint of light close to it, that’s its largest moon, 3,200-mile-wide Titan.

Even though the spherical body of Saturn (75,000 miles diameter) is smaller than Jupiter (88,000), Saturn with its rings is exactly twice as wide as Jupiter, 176,000 miles.

The Mars-Regulus illusion

July 17, about 30 minutes after sunset, face west and you will see (if you have a clear, unobstructed horizon) two fairly bright objects. The one closer to the horizon will be the reddishorange planet Mars and directly above it only 2-3/4 degrees or 5 full Moons away you’ll see the bluish star Regulus.

If the tints are not obvious, try using a pair of binoculars.

Tuesday they’ll be 2 degrees apart; Wednesday, 1-1/2; Thursday, 1 degree.

Friday and Saturday they will be 2/3 of one degree apart, which means less than 1-1/2 full Moons could fit between them. Seen another way, if you hold a finger out at arm’s length, less than 1/2 of the width of your finger would separate them.

This super-close meeting is an optical illusion. Mars will be 20 light minutes away; Regulus 77 light years.

Regulus is over twice the width of our Sun, 2 million miles wide. And its blue color means that it burns much hotter than our yellow Sun. Jack Horkheimer is executive director of the Miami Museum of Science. This is the script for his weekly television show co-produced by the museum and WPBT Channel 2 in Miami. It is seen on public television stations around the world.

For more information about stars, visit www.jackstargazer.com.

July 2006

B23

B24 July 2006 PREDICTIONS

www.the-triton.com

The Triton

Positive income swing could be in Cancer’s immediate future CANCER (June 21-July 21) There are lots of loose ends to fix this month, but after the 19th, you’ll begin to make headway, and by the 25th, you are beam-on. First part of the month, a nagging detail comes back, just like a sea lawyer.

There’s something you missed earlier, and it has to be dealt with. Clean it up and move Looking Up on. The Moon Maya White enters your sign on the 22nd, the same day the Sun enters Leo. Is there a new vessel on the horizon? That or a change at work brings dramatic income improvements.

LEO (July 22-Aug. 22) It’s enough to make a lion roar. Two stories come to mind. The first is Alice’s Restaurant, and the second is Aesops fable of the lion and the mouse. You’re going to have antagonists and protagonists and every kind of mean nasty grifter come your way. But, there is a noble side to your nature that wins the day. You hold the marlinspike. Make some time at New Moon on the 25th just for you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Just when

you want to take it easy and enjoy the good life, family responsibilities come calling. Leading lights show the way. One situation ending means another one begins soon, with new relationships and commitments. Savor the sweetness of long summer days by planning a special outing for the 9th.

This will be a day to remember fondly.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 21) Yours is an action-starting sign, something others don’t always recognize. Justice and balance are Libra keywords, and neither is achieved without motion.

Your secret is a great big voom-bang – just hold on. Keep a steady watch, and make your move when the time is right.

Key days are the 14th and 26th.

SCORPIO (Oct. 22-Nov. 21) Jupiter, the planet of expansion and opportunity, moves back into direct motion on the 6th in your sign. Prepare for one more round of good luck. Planned growth combined with executed action is the way to go (include exercise.) This is a seed time, though, with Mercury retrograde most of the month. Make contact lists, and get ready.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 20) You may still be basking in the glow of last month’s developments. There is even more to come. The secret now is

to cultivate detachment. Watch your emotions and actions on the 14th; you may find yourself in a leeward wind if you’re not careful. You’ll have a tendency to focus on what you think you want, but maybe the bait has been moved. Re-evaluate at month’s end.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 21-Jan. 19) The Full Moon of July is always in your sign, Cap, so send it a special hello on the 9th & 10th. My secret oracles say that this is also your month to play, so make the most of it. Venus entering Cancer on the 18th even brings you a mate to enjoy the rest of the summer with. So go ahead and plan something romantic for the 26th.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 17) Would you rather just turn turtle? It’s not you who is the oddball; the rest of the world is not ready for your genius. Things ease up by the last week of the month, so don’t be sulky. Plan a night cruise on the 25th; its New Moon and the stars will be spectacular. Someone has a gift for you on the 26th; accept it graciously.

PISCES (Feb. 18-March 19) You can view your cup as half-empty or halffull. The half-full cup holds potential to overflow with correct timing. A messenger bearing good news comes on the 9th. You return the favor the 14th with a gift of consolation for someone who needs your attention.

Doing so opens up something new inside of you, so go the distance.

ARIES (March 20-April 19)

Compromise is your best ally this month; don’t let your desire to have things your way cloud your ability to see what is really happening. Slow down, especially the first week of July, or circumstances will see to it that you do. The 17th brings needed revelation.

Until then, watch, wait, and listen closely to what is really being said.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You probably feel the squeeze this month.

Certain situations should not go on, and it’s time to fish or cut bait. Careful thought and judgment is required; do not initiate confrontations, but don’t step down, either. Listen to your intuition on the 17th; there is a message for you in the recesses of your soul.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Mercury is retrograde between the 4th and the 28th. As your ruling planet, Geminis will be sailing too close to the wind. Expect delays and equipment breakdowns. This one, however, will hit home in the communication arena.

You’ll be misunderstood. It’s not you, though; people just aren’t listening.

Maya White is a professional astrologer living in South Florida. With 25 years experience, she is one of only 86 people in the world certified in AstroCarto-Graphy, a specialized branch of astrology that addresses issues relating to location and travel. Contact her at 954-920-2373 or through www. whitestarastrology.com.

Income flux? Consider a POA FINANCE, from page B20 you ahead financially.

There are several benefits to a POA besides the fact that you may be able to pay 1 percent, which helps on cash flow.

You should take the difference of what you would normally pay toward a more conventional mortgage and invest it into a tax-deferred account.

For self-employed people who work on boats and whose income can fluctuate, this program could work to their advantage. If you review finances and investments annually, you can determine, shift and pay tax-deductible interest in the year you make more income and need more deductions. In other words, if you don’t make the full interest payment, the interest you don’t pay goes into what is called “negative amortization.” This is common in areas that have high home appreciation.

The best way to analyze how this plan could be beneficial to you is to have an illustration done on this type mortgage. Take the difference of your interest payment that you have deferred and dollar-cost-average it into a tax-deferred investment. Then

see where your bottom line net worth could be five or 10 years down the road.

If you are disciplined and have a financial plan, this could be a way to expedite your retirement, but only if you have a plan and stick with it.

With this option you are in control of your money and would have access to emergency funds without refinancing and cashing-out if you need it.

The No. 1 reason for foreclosures is loss of income due to a medical or work situation. It is not easy trying to cashout when you have been unemployed for a period of time and your credit has been damaged. Banks won’t touch you unless you have a lot of equity.

Just as you would plot your trip to a new port, get your facts together and map out your financial course. It will make rough seas more tolerable. Take a look at how your mortgage will affect your personal financial plan.

A former captain, Mark A. Cline is a financial analyst and mortgage broker, and is a partner in Capital Marine Alliance in Ft. Lauderdale. Contact him at (954) 302-2372 or mark.cline@ capitalmarinealliance.net.

B26 July 2006 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

www.the-triton.com

The Triton

Tall Ships parade in Rhode Island Through July 1 Tall Ships Rhode

Island 2007, Newport Harbor, a parade of more than 10 ships from around the world. Visitors can board and explore the ships, including the Gorch Fock II (293 feet) and Tarangini (177 feet). Includes an international village marketplace in Fort Adams. ww.tallshipsrhodeisland.org.

EVENT OF MONTH

Through July 2 AVP Pro Beach

Volleyball Tour, Seaside Heights, N.J. This is the seventh tournament of the 2006 series featuring more than 150 of the top athletes in this sport. The local qualifier is on Friday (free), the main draw competition is on Saturday ($15), with men and women’s finals on Sunday ($15). www.avp.com

Through July 3 Ninth annual

Sunset Music Festival, Newport Yachting Center. Line up includes Bruce Hornsby, Judy Collins and Peter Frampton. 401-846-1600, www. newportfestivals.com

Through July 9 Wimbledon, London.

One of the six grand slam tennis tournaments with more than 5.8 million pounds in prize money. www. wimbledon.org.

Through July 21 Starlight Musicals,

Ft. Lauderdale, Holiday Park at U.S. 1 and Sunrise Boulevard. Every Friday, 7-10 p.m., free. Music styles vary. www. fortlauderdale.gov

Through July 29 Junkanoo Summer

Festival, Bahamas. Events and festivals held most weekends around the islands, including on Grand Bahama Island, Abaco, Nassau/Paradise Island, and Arawak Cay. www.bahamas.com

July 2 Sunday Jazz Brunch, Fort

Lauderdale, along the New River downtown, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., free. Five stages including a variety of jazz types. www.fortlauderdale.gov

July 4, 5 and 9 Semifinals and Finals of 2006 World Cup Germany The world is involved and the world is watching, so no matter where you are, you can connect with this soccer tournament that is held every four years.

Semifinals are scheduled for July 4 in Dortmund and July 5 in Munich, both at 9 p.m. in Germany. The final is July 9 at 8 p.m. in Berlin. This is the 18th World Cup, which began in 1930 (1942 and 1946 were skipped because of World War II.) Geography is a significant factor in teams’ success.

The tournament mostly has switched continents every time it is played and with the rotation placing it back in Europe, history predicts a European nation will win: Brazil, champion in 1958 in Sweden, is the only nonEuropean nation to win the event while it was being played on European soil. www.fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

July 3-7 West Marine Pacific Cup race. www.pacificcup.org

July 5-14 Bahamas Summer Boating

Fling (Extended Fling) to Bimini/Chub Cay/Nassau/Andros. www.bahamas. com, (954)236-9292 or (800) 327-7678.

July 10-16 Campbell’s Hall of Fame

Tennis Championships, 194 Bellevue Ave., Newport, R.I., featuring top men’s

professional players in the only lawncourt tournament played in the United States. Includes Hall of Fame induction of Patrick Rafter and Gabriela Sabatini on July 15. www.tennisfame.com

July 12-14 ISM/ISPS Code training in an Integrated Maritime Auditor

See CALENDAR, page B27

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

July 2006

B27

Fishing tourney raises money to repair Wilma damage CALENDAR, from page B26 course for captains, managers, DPAs, security officers and others involved in managing the operation of a yacht. Ft. Lauderdale, U.S. Maritime Institute.

Cost is $1,495, including meals for the three days. +1-954-449-3444, www. usmaritimeinstitute.com.

July 13-15 JVC Jazz Festival, Chicago.

Several acts in several locations. www. festivalproductions.net

July 16-18 Family Fish Off at Old

Bahama Bay, West End, Grand Bahama Island, to benefit the West End School on Grand Bahama Island, damaged during Hurricane Wilma. Entry fees, $295 for adults, $195 for anglers ages 13-17, $50 for anglers ages 6-12, $180 social registration only. www. oldbahamabay.com, +1-954-524-3007

July 19-21 6th annual MAATS (Marine

Aftermarket Accessories Trade Show), Las Vegas Hilton & Convention Center. www.nmma.org/maats

July 19-30 Bahamas Summer Boating Fling (Extended Fling) to Grand Bahama/Treasure Cay/Marsh Harbor/ Green Turtle Cay. www.bahamas.com, (954)236-9292 or (800) 327-7678.

July 21-23 Newport Bucket, Newport Shipyard, Rhode Island, www. newportshipyard.com

July 28-Aug. 5 150th anniversary of the New York Yacht Club summer cruise. www.nyyc.org

Aug. 2-6 Bimini Big Game Fling, 242347-3391, www.bahamas.com

Aug. 4-6 Dunkin Donuts Newport Folk Festival, Newport, RI. International Tennis Hall of Fame and Fort Adams State Park. More than a dozen acts, including The Indigo Girls, Cherish the Ladies, and Chris Smither. www. festivalproductions.net

Aug. 9-20 Bahamas Summer Boating Fling (Extended Fling) to Bimini/ Chub Cay/Nassau/Staniel Cay. www. bahamas.com, 954-236-9292 or 800327-7678.

Aug. 10-13 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball

Tour, Manhattan Beach, NY. This is the 11th tournament of the 2006 series featuring more than 150 of the top athletes in this sport. The main draw is on Friday, the women’s final is on Saturday, with men’s finals on Sunday.

Tickets $35. www.avp.com

Aug. 11-13 JVC Jazz Festival, Newport, Aug. 30-Sept. 4 Bimini Big Game RI. Held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, with John Pizzarelli Big Band and Jane Monheit. Tickets start at $30. www.festivalproductions.net

Aug. 17-20 AVP Pro Beach Volleyball

Tour, Coney Island, NY. This is the 12th tournament of the 2006 series featuring more than 150 of the top athletes in this sport. The local qualifier is Thursday, main draw is on Friday, men’s final on Saturday, women’s final on Sunday. Tickets are $20. www.avp.com

Aug. 23-29 Lucaya Marina Village,

Grand Bahama Fling, 242-373-8888, www.bahamas.com

Fling, 242-347-3391, www.bahamas. com

Sept. 13-18 29th annual Cannes International Boat Show, France, at the Port de Cannes. www. salonnautiquecannes.com

Sept. 13-17 6th annual YachtFest, San Diego, the U.S. West Coast’s largest yacht show, on Shelter Island Marina. www.yachtfest.com

Sept. 14-17 36th annual Newport

International Boat Show, Newport Yachting Center, 401-846-1115, www. newportboatshow.com

Sept. 20-23 16th annual Monaco Yacht Show, Port Hercules. www. monacoyachtshow.org

MAKE PLANS March-April 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 The tournament is to be played in 12 stadiums in nine countries around the West Indies. Opening ceremonies March 11 with semi-finals in Jamaica and St. Lucia in late April, finals in Barbados April 28. Ticket centers are open in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago.

GettingUnderWay T E C H N I C A L N E W S F O R C A P TA I N S & C R E W S

Pages A32-38

www.the-triton.com

Weather-beaten?

Not likely if WRI made the forecast

July 2006

ARGUS V ON HER WAY BACK

GettingUnderWay

By Capt. David Hare

Last year, I was southbound from Sag Harbor, N.Y., to Ft. Lauderdale for the boat show. This was to be an offshore rounding of Cape Hatteras, a must as my vessel’s draft prohibited an ICW transit.

While sitting in Portsmouth, Va., awaiting a weather window, Dave Cannon of Weather Routing Inc. contacted me twice a day with emphatic “do not go” messages. He was forecasting seas over 12 feet.

Dave, yacht operations manager and senior meteorologist with WRI, has gotten used to my go-for-it personality over the years and takes the lead in reining me in. I find it always cheaper to sit and wait for calm seas than to pay for a damaged interior.

Once conditions settled down for a cape transit, we were off. However, that passage was further altered when, off of Vero Beach, Dave e-mailed me with the news that the lowest pressure ever recorded would be over Ft. Lauderdale in five days. I immediately did a 180-degree turn and headed back north, seeking shelter 20 miles up the St. John’s River in Jacksonville at the River Front Brewery.

Over a decade ago, my search for competent weather forecasting led me to WRI. Owner Peter Wirfel has a master’s degree in meteorology and has participated in more than 50 eye penetrations while flying with NOAA into tropical cyclones. Each of his staff of 14 has degrees in advanced sciences, providing consulting on routing and forecasts for commercial fleets and private yachts.

WRI analyzes wind and sea conditions and converts them into a track for the fastest, safest course possible, taking into consideration all weather, cargo and special ship factors. For example, if your yacht can only handle a 3foot beam sea, that is noted as a “special ship factor” and all routing information provided will take that limitation into account.

Two days before a voyage, I always contact

See WRI, page A35

For more info Weather Routing Inc. P.O. Box 345 Glens Falls, NY 12801 Phone: +1-518-798-1110 Senior forecaster: Dave Cannon E-mail: wri@wriwx.com Web site: www.wriwx.com

T E C H N I C A L N E W S F O R C A P TA I N S & C R E W S

Above, the progress of the starboard side of the pilot house; below, post-fire in 2004.

PHOTOS/CAPT. IAN WALSH

Restoration is a real (sand) blast Capt. Ian Walsh was the build captain on M/Y Sea & H, a 90-foot Burger launched in 1990. Fourteen years later and renamed Argus V, the yacht caught fire in Lyford Cay and was thought destroyed. John Patnovic, owner of Worton Creek Marina and Boatyard in Maryland, bought what was left of the aluminum yacht in the fall of 2004 and set to work rebuilding her, with a little help from Walsh’s memory, video tapes and photographs of the build. Walsh wrote about his first visit to the boat in the December issue of The Triton. Here now is his next installment:

By Capt. Ian Walsh Once again, the Ft. Lauderdaleto-New England trip has come, but this time with the anticipation of stopping at Worton Creek to see how the restoration of M/Y Sea & H/Argus V is coming along.

I was running in tandem with M/Y Astrelle captained by my great friend and “brother from another mother” Capt. Thomas Cowley and his wife, Jennifer. We planned the trip to give us an overnight at

Worton Creek to see the Burger and still make our respective arrival dates.

I had been in touch with John Patnovic last winter and he kept me up to date with the progress, such as the painstakingly slow process of removing the debris by lowering two or three 55-gallon drums, by crane, through the burnt-away pilothouse roof. They were filled, hoisted, dumped and the process repeated,

ad nauseum.

Finally, with that done, it was time to sandblast the entire interior to remove the smoke and flame damage. Nine thousand pounds of sand later, it was time to cut out the burned, melted and warped aluminum, which included the pilothouse roof and window frames, starboard flybridge, forward

See ARGUS, page A38

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

NAVIGATION NEWS

IMO adopts new tracking rules The IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee adopted new regulations for on the Long-Range Identification and Tracking of ships when it met at in London for its 81st session from May 10-19. The following is a report from the IMO on the new regulation, which will affect all yachts over 300 gross tons, the same tonnage threshold as AIS. This report has been edited for space. To read the full report, visit www.imo.org and click on “Latest News.”

The new regulation on LRIT is included in SOLAS chapter V on Safety of Navigation, through which LRIT will be introduced as a mandatory requirement for the following ships on international voyages: passenger ships, including high-speed craft; cargo ships, including high-speed craft, of 300 gross tonnage and upwards; and mobile offshore drilling units.

The SOLAS regulation on LRIT establishes a multilateral agreement for sharing LRIT information for security and search and rescue purposes, amongst SOLAS contracting governments, in order to meet the maritime security needs and other concerns of such governments. It maintains the right of flag states to protect information about the ships entitled to fly their flag, where appropriate, while allowing coastal

states access to information about ships navigating off their coasts.

The LRIT information ships will be required to transmit include the ship’s identity, location and date and time of the position. There will be no interface between LRIT and AIS. One of the more important distinctions between LRIT and AIS, apart from the obvious one of range, is that, whereas AIS is a broadcast system, data derived through LRIT will be available only to the recipients who are entitled to receive such information. SOLAS contracting governments will be entitled to receive information about ships navigating within a distance not exceeding 1000 nautical miles off their coasts.

The regulation foresees a phasedin implementation schedule for ships constructed before its expected entry-into-force date of Jan. 1, 2008 and an exemption for ships operating exclusively in sea area A1 from the requirement to transmit LRIT information, since such ships are already fitted with AIS. It also identifies which authorities may have access to LRIT information.

The MSC also adopted performance standards and functional requirements for LRIT and an MSC resolution on arrangements for the timely establishment of the long range identification and tracking system.

Today’s fuel prices

One year ago

Prices for low-sulfur gasoil expressed in US$ per cubic meter (1,000 liters) as of June 15.

Prices for low-sulfur gasoil expressed in US$ per cubic meter (1,000 litres) as of June 15, 2005.

Region Duty-free*/duty paid U.S. East Coast Ft. Lauderdale 628/671 Savannah, Ga. 601/NA Newport, R.I. 623/NA Caribbean St. Thomas, USVI 763/NA St. Maarten 684/NA Antigua 685/NA North Atlantic Bermuda (Ireland Island) NA/NA Bermuda (St. George’s) 823/NA Cape Verde 603/NA Azores 627/NA Canary Islands 603/725 Mediterranean Gibraltar 595/NA Barcelona, Spain 634/1,239 Palma de Mallorca, Spain NA/1,202 Antibes, France 668/1,421 San Remo, Italy 737/1,420 Naples, Italy 759/1,428 Venice, Italy 715/1,417 Corfu, Greece 767/1,297 Piraeus, Greece 745/1,254 Istanbul, Turkey 615/NA Malta 604/NA Tunis, Tunisia 614/NA Oceania Auckland, New Zealand 686/NA Sydney, Australia 704/NA Fiji 632/NA

Region Duty-free*/duty paid U.S. East Coast Ft. Lauderdale 488/522 Savannah, Ga. 491/NA Newport, R.I. 518/NA Caribbean St. Thomas, USVI 619/NA Trinidad 502/NA Antigua 549/NA North Atlantic Bermuda (Ireland Island) 514/NA Bermuda (St. George’s) 566/NA Cape Verde 488/NA Azores 491/NA Canary Islands 487/NA Mediterranean Gibraltar 496/NA Barcelona, Spain 584/1,164 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 593/1,124 Antibes, France 433/1,013 San Remo, Italy 629/1,391 Naples, Italy 602/1,265 Venice, Italy 661/1,273 Corfu, Greece 627/1,022 Piraeus, Greece 648/1,046 Istanbul, Turkey 503/NA Malta 489/NA Tunis, Tunisia 460/NA Oceania Auckland, New Zealand 542/NA Sydney, Australia 559/NA Fiji 523/NA

*When available according to customs.

*When available according to customs.

July 2006

A33

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

FROM THE TECH FRONT

July 2006

“Since 1990, The Original Boat Blinds and Shades Manufacturer”

The WRI forecasting team: (front row, from left) Mark Neiswender, Darrell Converse, CEO Peter Wirfel, Craig Bourquin, Amanda Delaney, and Allison Murray; (back row, from left) David Wall, Pete Rossi, David Cannon, Mike Dore, Stasu Bizzarro. Not pictured: Jeremy Davis, Tammy Daly and Garrett PHOTO COURTESY OF WRI Gwiazda.

WRI offers 24- to 36-hour edge WRI, from page A33 Dave with my location, estimated time of departure, my destination and the route I am contemplating.

Dave pours through the computer models for that sector and decides if my planned route is optimal. If not, he will provide me with his version of a safer, smoother ride or more expeditious route.

I have found that the WRI staff will constantly review all significant weather phenomena that my vessel may encounter. If the team feels that I should alter my course, they will e-mail and phone until I confirm receipt of the updated information.

Started in 1961, WRI has established a reputation as an accurate and reliable forecasting center. I feel their empathy for my crew and passengers, my life and my ship being on the line.

Even though I have the latest marine weather satellite information downloaded to the bridge of M/V Thunder, I find it reassuring to receive confirmation that my intended route has the blessing of a highly trained meteorologist who is using the U.S. Navy, NOAA and other sophisticated computer models to prepare an indepth, long-term weather forecast.

When I travel northbound on the U.S. East Coast, Dave provides the

central axis of the Gulf Stream on a sixhour schedule. I find that between Ft. Lauderdale and Montauk Point, N.Y., I can arrive several hours earlier, saving significantly in diesel costs.

WRI provides this service to more than 1,500 yachts, 40 cargo companies and two cruise lines. There is no charge to set up an account; the company charges by the forecast: $55 for a verbal report, $60 for e-mails and faxes.

In addition to the personalized service on trips, WRI offers every mariner free daily tropical summaries (more often if significant changes occur). All a captain has to do is sign up at www.wriwx.com. WRI’s threat zone detection system will alert you with a warning via e-mail. WRI is usually 24 to 36 hours ahead of governmental organizations in tracking tropical systems.

After sailing into two tropical cyclones in the South Pacific before Sat phones and e-mail, I welcome the option of using a professional weather routing service. These guys have saved my neck more than once.

Capt. David Hare runs the 70-foot Delta expedition yacht M/V Thunder and is a regular contributor to The Triton.

He is looking for a captain’s position on a yacht over 100 GRT. Contact him at david@hare.com.

WOOD BOAT BLINDS: Color assortment includes teak, cherry, mahogany, and maple matches.

Custom colors. Satin or gloss.

SHEER HORIZONTAL SHADES: Patented 2” headrail system. Wire retention allows for offset installations and prevents sway.

CELLULAR SHADES: Compact 7/8” bright aluminum rails for tight installations. Moving rail and continuous cord lift systems.

1-800-242-3344 Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA www.boatblindsintl.com

A35

A36

July 2006

TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS

www.the-triton.com

The Triton

Awlgrip launches removable protective coating Awlgrip introduced in June a new temporary, peelable coating designed to protect a yacht’s painted surface from contaminants or damage during assembly, production and transit.

One application of Awlcoat TPC dries to form a light gray protective film to protect boats from dust, oil, grease and fly rust, as well as coating overspray. The single-component, water-based coating can be applied using standard industrial spray equipment, either conventional or airless spray. For smaller areas, a standard paint roller or brush can also be used. Awlgrip recommends using Awlcoat TPC over Awlgrip Topcoat and Awlcraft 2000.

Awlcoat TPC can be peeled off at a range of temperatures when it is no longer required or prior to the finished

yacht being delivered to the customer.

For more information, contact Awlgrip North America at +1-847-5996212 or visit www.awlgrip.com.

Italian OK for Sperry data recorder Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded type approval from the Italian classification society Registro Italiano Navale for its Sperry Marine VoyageMaster II Simplified Voyage Data Recorder.

The RINA type approval certifies that the Sperry Marine S-VDR meets the International Maritime Organization carriage requirements and performance standards for mandatory “black box” recording devices to be installed on ocean-going ships. Similar to the cockpit recorders on aircraft, the S-VDR provides a

permanent record of data from ship sensors and recordings of voice communications from the ship’s bridge for use in incident investigations.

The S-VDR has also received similar type approval from the German certification authority Bundesamt für Seeschiffahrt & Hydrographie.

For more information, contact Sperry Marine in Charlottesville, Va., at +1-434-974-2656, sales_commercial@ sperry.ngc.com, or online at www. sperrymarine.northropgrumman.com.

Simrad launches new EPIRBs ...

Simrad Yachting AS has launched a range of EPIRBs to offer a choice of manual and automatic release versions for professional SOLAS and recreational users, according to a report in BYM News.

The new range comprises the EP50 and the EG50, which activate automatically on contact with water.

Both versions are available with manual or automatic release. The EG50 is also fitted with a 16-channel GPS for increased position accuracy of the alert.

The compact EPIRBs feature audible and visual indication of activation. The 406MHz Distress Alert with 121.5MHz Homing Beacon provides rapid indication to the rescue authorities that the EPIRB has been activated. A high power strobe light enables immediate recognition by rescue services.

The specially developed batteries also comply with exemptions for hazardous carriage requirements for Lithium batteries.

For more information, contact a Simrad dealer or visit www. simradyachting.com.

... and a new AP50 joystick

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PH: +39-0584-426-140 FAX: +39-0584-945-166

http://www.marine-electronics.com

IN-HOUSE ENGINEERING DEPT. TO DESIGN YOUR SYSTEM 40+ SERVICE STAFF – GMDSS, SOLAS, MCA, IMO AND CRESTRON CERTIFICATIONS; FACTORY-TRAINED ON ALL MAJOR BRANDS http://www.vei-systems.com

Using VEI monitors ...

Lazzara 80 Flybridge Benetti Domani

Simrad Yachting recently introduced the new QuickStick (QS50), a joystick device that combines fingertip control with advanced auto steering features for motoryachts using the AP50 autopilot.

The QuickStick can be placed at the preferred station on a vessel. Its unique design provides easy fingertip control of NFU power steering with automatic centering of the rudder simply by pulling back on the stick. This key feature provides precise control by eliminating the need to jog the rudder over to steer a straight course.

Selecting from Standby, NFU or Auto Modes is achieved by a single press of the joystick. Thruster control can also be applied with a single press.

For more information, contact a Simrad dealer or visit www. simradyachting.com.

New foul-release coating

Performance Outdoor announced the commercial availability of PhaseCoat UFR, a slick foul-release coating that provides boaters with reduced maintenance costs, improved fuel efficiency and increased speed.

The smooth, clear coat works on entire hulls, rudders, trim tabs, out-drives or any surface that needs protected. It does not corrode aluminum and works with all hull types including previously coated hulls, the company said in a release.

PhaseCoat UFR was created for use by the U.S. Navy to provide a long-lasting, non-toxic foul release coating to reduce downtime and improve fuel efficiency. PhaseCoat UFR is VOC compliant and contains no heavy metals. It can be applied with a brush, roller or sprayed, and it will not peel off from ice, floating

See TECH BRIEFS, page A37

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS

Hurricane looming? Anchor your sailboat TECH BRIEFS, from page A36 debris or docking operations. It will also not peel or crack due to prolonged dry docking or trailer storage, the company reported. PhaseCoat UFR has a proven life span of up to three years.

Suggested retail price is $299 a gallon.

For more information, visit www. performanceoutdoor.com.

reading and other activities while remaining cool to the touch.

Shining through a lightly frosted glass lens, the 18-LED cluster provides more illumination than other LED reading lights. When measured at 18”, it produces as much light as a 10W halogen reading light. But unlike

Sailboat anchoring system

Marine engineering design firm Colligo Nautique has developed a unique system to help keep sailboats anchored securely during storm season.

The Hurricane Bridle Anchoring System allows for the placement of three anchors on a swivel and three lines back to the boat. The boat can then swivel on the anchors without getting anchor chains and lines twisted around each other. The minimum breaking strength for this heavy-duty system is more than 30,000 pounds. It comes complete with galvanized bridle plates, shackles and a swivel.

For more information, visit www. colligonautique.com or call the Arizona-based firm at +1-480-703-3675.

18-LED light is cool

Manufacturers’ Select new 18LED Cluster Reading Light from ITC provides a concentrated light for

from voltage fluctuations, which can decrease light intensity and shorten LED life. Easy on power, the 12V, 0.5W LED light draws only 0.04 amps.

The suggested retail price of the 69922 18-LED Cluster Reading Light is $75. For more information, contact the Michigan-based company toll free at 888-871-8860, via patrickw@itc-us.com or online at itc-marine.com.

Uniden recalls Mystic radio cradle

halogen lights, the Manufacturers’ Select light stays cool for easy adjustment.

With an expected life of 20,000 hours, 10 times that of a halogen bulb, the LED reading light also eliminates the hassle of bulb replacement. Its extended life is enhanced by a voltage regulator that protects the LED cluster

Texas-based Uniden America Corp. voluntarily recalled the charging cradles for its Mystic handheld marine radio after one report of a radio battery overheating. This recall only affects the cradle – not the radio itself – and the company will send a replacement cradle to consumers once the original is returned. This battery condition will not occur with the redesigned cradle.

Cradles subject to this recall can be identified by a serial number on the Mystic radio starting with 34, 44 or 54 followed by six digits. To check the serial number, flip the latch open for the battery, remove the battery and view the 8-digit serial number on the bottom of the radio.

This condition is unique to the Mystic and will not affect any other Uniden marine products.

For more information, visit www. uniden.com or call 1-800-620-7531.

July 2006

A37

A38

July 2006

FROM THE TECH FRONT

www.the-triton.com

The Triton

Monaco Party In house AD 1/2 page B/W

The galley of the Argus V, then (above) and now (below). PHOTOS/CAPT. IAN WALSH

Completion expected in 2009 ARGUS, from page A32 bulkhead, raised pilothouse framework, the bulkhead between the owner and crew quarters, a section around the engine room watertight door, a large section of deck and bulkhead starboard side, the master stateroom portholes, and the list goes on and on.

All of this work has now been done, and John has been very careful to use the same aluminum plate as she was originally built with. Every beam and frame is of the same dimension and size as the original. The quality of the welding is excellent and is equal to that of the original.

John has achieved all of this by himself, the welder, and one or two other people. Because his yard is so busy, he has been hoist by his own petard and cannot pull crew off other jobs, which makes the progress I see all the more remarkable.

But John says that everything about owning and running a yard is always about deadlines, and so he refuses to allow this restoration to become another “project” that remains forever unfinished. He estimates about three years or so to complete it. The bottom line, though, is that it will be done correctly.

When I went aboard, it was strange to see her all stripped out, but very “deja vu all over again.” Seeing all of the little notes made by the build crew

at Burger regarding the re-plumbing and wiring, etc., was like being back in 1990. The great thing is due to the great sandblasting job there is absolutely no smell of the fire. In fact, the two guest staterooms are untouched, despite everything that happened. If the beds were made up, they could be used now.

Most of the window glass has now been replaced, with new frames where necessary supplied by the original manufacturer, as were the master stateroom portholes and the starboard boarding door. I really think that this is a perfect example of how to take what was nearly a total loss and, with thought and planning, rebuild her so she is literally as good as new and can still be regarded as a Burger.

Capt. Cowley of M/Y Astrelle agreed that John has taken on a huge job but the work so far is first class and equal to the original aluminum work. John has a long way to go, but it will make my northbound and southbound trips interesting, checking up on the progress over the next three years.

As they say on the VHF, more to follow.

Capt. Ian Walsh runs the 58-foot Hatteras yachtfish M/Y Trim-It. Contact him through editorial@the-triton.com.

To read his first story about Argus, visit www.the-triton.com, click on “archives,” click on “2005” and download December’s technology section.

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

CRUISING GROUNDS

July 2006

A39

The two sides of Montserrat

By Ellen B. Sanpere Thomas “Fumbo” Lee, our taxi tour guide, points to a spot below a high overlook: “That is where I grew up,” he says. A few utility poles poke above the ash and lava. The surface looks smooth only because it is deceptively far away.

The scale of the devastation takes a while to sink in: buildings buried, vegetation defoliated, animals confused, geology altered – forever.

What looks like poured cake batter has dried with 60-foot-deep cracks. Rains have eroded the pyroclastic flows, exposing roofs of two-story buildings.

Fields where crops once grew are rusty brown. They will not produce again for decades. Livestock, goats, pigs, cats forage for food wherever they can.

No yacht can sail past Montserrat without noticing the unusual sky over Soufrière. The Caribbean’s Emerald Isle is still recovering from a major natural disaster it suffered in 1995, only eight years after Hurricane Hugo’s direct hit.

Now ready to re-establish tourism, the island has two completely different sides to offer: one beautifully lush, one starkly dramatic. The island’s 40 square miles allow the taxi-tourist to sample both in one amazing day.

Two thirds of the human population has left this Emerald Isle. The remaining 4,500 souls look at the volcano’s steamy plume dozens of times a day and wonder, when will it erupt again? Which way will the wind blow the ash next time?

The cloud above the crater is steamy white on top and has a darker, brownish pink-gray cloud of ash below.

Surprisingly, the air has no particular scent, but it feels gritty.

“Don’t rub your eyes,” Lee says.

“Just blink to get the ash off.” The eyes return repeatedly to the plume; will the volcano blow again today?

Lee has lived his 65 years on this two-part island, never expecting to become an expert in volcanology. Since the Soufrière Hills Volcano began its eruption in July 1995, he has studied and learned what he lives with. His

ÜÜÜ°/ i ÀÌ Ûi°V iÜÊ9 À Ê ÌÞ½ÃÊ i}>ÊÞ>V ÌÊ >À > Ó£Ó°ÇnÈ°£Óää

conversation includes scientific and chemical terms: pyroclastic flow, sulfuric acid, lava dome. He says that many older residents are still shellshocked, unable to comprehend what has happened to their world. The children have had an easier adjustment: for the past 11 years, an active volcano is all they’ve known.

He gets emotional sometimes, philosophical, especially when he’s with returnees.

“It’s better to have a clean break and bury the old house, than to see your home deteriorate little by little,” he says. There is no “what if ” for property under a hundred truckloads of mud, ash, debris.

The Daytime Entry Zone is a small area within the Exclusion Zone where those with permission and a vehicle in good working order may enter during daylight only, and only if it hasn’t rained. To get there, Lee crosses the Belham River, where the bridge is now under yards of slippery mud and giant boulders. The unmarked roads are not maintained and could be washed out in a heartbeat when it rains.

Hastily abandoned houses that were

See MONTSERRAT, page A40

The Soufrière Hills Volcano began erupting in July 1995. PHOTO/ELLEN B. SANPERE

A40

July 2006

CRUISING GROUNDS

www.the-triton.com

The Triton

Personal belongings are a liability when the volcano erupts IF YOU GO If you clear in by sea, download a declaration form from www. visitmontserrat.com (click on “Yachting” page). Fee per yacht: EC$35 for 72-hour in-and-out. Yachts may move to and anchor in Road Bay with permission after clearing in at Little Bay, but crews risk hefty clean-up jobs should the ash cloud pass overhead.

Contact the Port Authority on VHF Ch. 16 for anchorage information. Not fully sheltered, Little Bay is uncomfortable in a northerly swell but isn’t too rolly with bow and stern anchors under southeast tradewinds. It’s calmer in the deeper water to the northwest. There are plans to develop a yacht marina and new town here. The daily ferry service was discontinued after a new airport opened at Gerald’s in 2005 for the 29-mile hop to prosperous Antigua.

Contact Thomas “Fumbo” Lee for tours and taxi service at (664) 491-2347 (home) or (664) 492-1649 (cell). ad.qxd 9/14/2005 4:53 PM Page 1

MONTSERRAT, from page A39 not swept away are buried up to the second floor. In the kitchen of one, tableware, newspapers and cleaning products are on museum-like display, looking as though the occupants have left for only a few minutes.

“These people had too much stuff,” Lee says. “They couldn’t carry it all away when they had to leave.”

Everything is covered in ash the texture of coarse sand: metals corroded, synthetic fabrics melted and brittle, stairways buried. The air is still, silent. No animal, insect, traffic or child sounds. Even if residents could return, there is no assurance the rebuilding effort could be completed before the next fireball or mudflow.

Seen from another DTEZ overlook, the remains of Plymouth poke through

the muddy lava flow. Lee points to some buildings he recognizes in the gritty gray and scorched rust landscape: a hotel, a government house, the rice mill, the medical school. The cruise ship dock juts into the Caribbean Sea, but Lee says only half of it is visible.

The Belham Valley is filled with mudflow. Rainfall that once drained west from Soufrière now flows eastward. Tourists stand stock-still in front of an abandoned house, awed by the view. Inside, they browse the remains of some family’s middleclass life. The tour guides reminisce, pointing at landmarks in the island’s ruined capital and only city: the governor’s mansion is the building with three dormers; over there are the rice mill and the Texas Instruments plant; remember the good times at the Coconut Hotel? Hundreds of jobs are gone. It’s too risky to rebuild.

The Montserrat Springs Hotel sports the remains of a faded pink and teal canvas awning. Once the largest hotel, the buildings are abandoned, the floors crunch under three inches of grit.

The murky 70-foot pool overlooks the former capital and Emerald Isle Beach.

A line of palm trees 200 yards inland demarcates the former shoreline.

After renegotiating the slipperyslick “bridge” over Belham River, Lee identifies historic sugar mill bases, great houses, rum shops, villas, homes and stores, all covered in ash. Metal roofs have corroded in the acid rain.

Mango trees blossom but do not bear fruit. Fields where crops once grew are a dull brownish yellow.

The lush green northern zone is a refreshing shock after the monochromatic moonscape of the

See MONTSERRAT, page A41

Guide Thomas ‘Fumbo’ Lee points to where his village was. Ten days after we left, the lava dome collapsed, as he had predicted. Nobody was hurt but there was a lot of cleaning up to do. Little Bay anchorage was dusty but OK. PHOTO/ELLEN SANPERE

The Triton

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CRUISING GROUNDS BRIEFS

July 2006

A41

What better way to follow Cricket World Cup than by cruising?

Virgin Traders has seven motoryachts available to cruise around the West Indies and follow the Cricket World Cup in March and April next year. The yachts are available as a flotilla cruise or individually and can cover all cricket venue islands except Jamaica. Each yacht will be crewed with a captain and chef, leaving three double cabins for six guests.

For more information, visit www. virgintraders.com, e-mail cruising@ virgintraders.com, or call 888-684-6486 from the United States, 00 (1) 284-4952526 elsewhere.

Segway tours a hit

San Francisco and Sausalito Electric Tour Company has added more Segways and night tours to its popular tour schedule.

Segway, the electric transport

Web site connects people and volcano MONTSERRAT, from page A40 south. One of only two hotels on the island, the Vue Pointe at Old Road Bay, is quiet at mid-day. Tropical Mansions is a small luxury hotel in the village of Sweeny’s. The Garden Gourmet, set in a former plantation warehouse, is cheap and cheerful for lunch.

The Montserrat Volcano Observatory (www.mvo.ms) is a safe distance from the crater and provides an excellent view, though it gets covered in ash on occasion. A helicopter flies observers to monitor activity every Friday, but it is not often enough for Lee. He says the volcano seems more active lately.

Driving across the northern zone to the eastern coast, Lee honks and waves at nearly everybody he passes. As in any small town – and after any disaster – everybody knows everybody who is left on the still-beautiful half of the island. He passes several schools that were converted to medical facilities, and new government buildings perched above Little Bay. On the northeast coast, Lookout is a new residential area, where Lee lives under a towering early warning siren.

Seen from Jack Boy Hill, the old airport runway is now grazing ground for some red cows. Far from visible pavement, only the top of the terminal building appears. In the background, a steamy ashfall works its way down the eastern slope. Lee notes the increased activity, “Maybe soon.”

Ellen B. Sanpere lives aboard S/V Cayenne III, a Beneteau Idylle 15.5, with her husband, Tony. She is currently based in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela.

Her last story was about Puerto La Cruz in the May issue. Contact her through editorial@the-triton.com.

mechanism that is guided by the rider’s natural motions for forward and backward maneuvering, was introduced in 2001. It easily navigates most walkable areas, including paved surfaces, dirt roads, grass, and inclines.

The Segway HT travels 15-24 miles on a 25-cent battery charge, making it an ideal replacement for short-distance sightseeing tours, Huber said.

The new night tours include spots in Fisherman’s Wharf, Maritime Pier, and the Marina District generally not accessible by vehicles. They depart Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 7 p.m., April through October, and on Friday and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. from November through March. Evening tours will be added on closed nights for groups of four or more.

For more information or to request a group tour, call +1-415-474-3130 or visit

www.sfelectrictour.com.

Belfast airport changes name

In May, Belfast’s city airport was renamed to honor legendary footballer George Best, the city’s most famous and tragic sports hero.

Until then, the airport had no other name than “Belfast city airport.” George Best Belfast city airport is the second airport serving this city in northeast Ireland. Belfast’s main airport (the international Aldergrove airport) is 20 miles from the city center.

Considered by many as the most gifted football player in the United Kingdom, Best’s fame led to a flamboyant lifestyle that resulted in alcoholism. In 2002 his liver gave up, and he received a liver transplant. He died Nov. 25, 2004.

For more information, visit www.

belfastcityairport.com or call +44 (0) 28 90 939093.

Camping renaissance in Italy

The days of cleaning duties, curfews and crowded dormitory rooms are over for travelers staying in Italian hostels.

Over the past four years the European backpacking circuit has evolved with the hostel/camping village, which include swimming pools, bars, restaurants, wellness centers, clubs and Internet facilities.

Hostel operator Plus is also introducing several innovative products to their customers, including a pass so customers can prepay their accommodation before they leave home, and a point schedule that earns free nights.

For more information, visit www. plusvillages.com.

A42

July 2006

WRITE TO BE HEARD

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The Triton

Chance photo reunites man, boat, memories

By Robert Ryder I’ve been working on the docks in Pt. Everglades for nearly 20 years and I’m reminded of my gifted youth whenever I help a customer import their yacht.

Over the years, I’ve tried to describe one of our family’s favorite yachts to my newer friends. Her crew usually pampered us, but we pitched in under sail. She had leeboards I took pleasure cranking up and down really fast whenever we tacked.

Otherwise, I could usually be found resting on the hammock hanging under the bow. She was 72 feet, not including her huge rudder, and could effortlessly drag me with her massive sails as I snorkeled over very shallow water in the Keys.

Most cruises were to the Keys and Dry Tortugas. I was in school, so I sometimes could not go with my parents. That did not stop me, however, from piling into the car with some buddies to meet her at some of her favorite party places, Ocean Reef, Faro Blanco, and the Key West Naval Station. My friends were impressed with museum-quality woodwork and carvings inside and outside the boat.

At one point, we had a deckhand who lived on her. I believe his name was John, and he was a few years older than me. I envied his lifestyle. I’d stop

by from time to time between classes and found him always working on something, if nothing else, stripping and varnishing the woodwork.

The boat was never forgotten.

Friends and family would sometimes ask about her, but I hadn’t seen or heard from her in 20 years. I periodically checked the Internet, but found nothing. At one point, I checked with Feadship of North America who also had not heard from her.

I feared the worst for the nearly 50year-old boat that I knew required a lot of maintenance until a few months ago when The Triton showed a picture of some attendees at a customs seminar that were crew members of S/Y De Vrouwe Christina. That was the same name as our boat.

I wrote to the editor, and she replied with a link to YachtForums.com, which confirmed she was the same boat and provided pictures and a story of a total restoration.

I was surprised a few days later when I received an e-mail from Christina’s captain. The Triton had forwarded my inquiry. We exchanged e-mails, and I mentioned I was curious about where she’d been during the past 20 years. A couple of days after that, I received an e-mail from Christina’s owner.

Of course, I was hoping for an invitation to see her, show her to my

wife and perhaps get a picture of our 18-month-old son on board to send to his grandmother who loved this yacht the most. The invitation eventually came, and we were greeted by Capt.

Allison Thompson and Engineer Scott Fratcher. Boarding the aft, I noticed the Christina – or DVC as they prefer – was much more comfortable with new furnishings, modern instruments and a new captain’s chair. We walked to the forward deck where I noticed the sails were now roller-reefers. The deck was cleaner, uncluttered, and had an electric crane for the tender and the owner’s toys. Scott told me even the leeboards were now electric.

A nearly forgotten memory was recalled within minutes. A group of people gathered nearby and started asking questions: When was she built?

Who built her? What is her draft? What are those things on the side? I found myself automatically answering out of a 20-year-old habit. Capt. Thompson later confirmed what I recalled: the questions come all day long. The DVC may not be the largest yacht, but she always attracts the most attention.

A few minutes later, the owner boarded and greeted us. He is from the Netherlands and takes pride that DVC is a Feadship. I’m certain my worst fears for the Christina’s demise would have been realized if not for either fact.

Another generation at the helm, albeit temporarily. PHOTO/ROBERT RYDER He gave me pictures of the renovation.

The Christina had nearly rusted away.

The flashbacks I had been enjoying ended when the owner suggested we go below. Nothing was the same except for some wooden artwork. The interior had been completely customized to the owner’s tastes, just as you’d expect in any other Feadship. I’ve been to the boat shows, and I’ve seen all the latest and greatest fiberglass boats. They’re all sleek and beautiful, but none of them under 80 feet have a better interior than the DVC. My family had a fairly well maintained 25-year-old boat, but she’s now a brand new 50-year-old. The DVC appears ready to create 50 more years of pleasant memories.

Fair winds.

The Triton

www.the-triton.com

WRITE TO BE HEARD

July 2006

A43

Swipe at S/Y security unwarranted In reference to your article “Mention piracy and yachties want their right to bear arms” [June, page A1], you show a picture of an unidentified yacht alongside the article, with the caption: “Not everyone takes ship security as seriously as others. This rope is meant to keep people away from this yacht in Antigua.”

You have told me that you did not feel the yacht was identifiable, but I would have to beg to differ; it is clearly Mirabella V. I think that your readership includes a considerable number of people who will have recognized her stern immediately.

So, I would like to assure you, and your readers, that a picture of a rope does not come close to describing Mirabella’s security systems or properly encapsulate our attitude about security. I am surprised that you would insinuate that it does.

It is disappointing to me that I have had to make this statement because your newspaper is usually so well written and researched, and is always very informative. So I am sure it was just a slip. Your subsequent apology is gratefully and sincerely accepted.

Joe Vittoria Jr. Son of Joseph and Luciana Vittoria Owners of Mirabella V

Triton classified ads work

I went to your online classified listings as a last resort after registering with several crew agencies. (I did have a couple of good team applicants from them but for various reasons couldn’t connect.)

In frustration, I went into your online classified and had a tremendous response. Probably more than everyone else combined. All very qualified and exactly what I needed.

I’ll be back if I need new crew or can refer your good service.

Owner David F. Johnston M/Y Yolo EDITOR’S NOTE: Just one year strong, The Triton’s free online classifieds service has hit 1,000 listings. Thank you to all the yacht crew, owners, agencies and businesses who use and support it.

Publisher David Reed, david@the-triton.com Editor Lucy Chabot Reed, lucy@the-triton.com

Add Gourmet Market to list of provisioners A while ago I read your great article concerning the local provisioners who are a great help to us yacht crew. It was so nice to see the names of suppliers who try their best to keep us stocked and well serviced, often in trying times and with tall orders.

I would like to also recommend Rich Ryan who is the proprietor of the Gourmet Market in Nassau, www. gourmetmarketnassau.com.

He has been building up his business for a couple of years now and is a true gem in Nassau for yacht needing to reprovision in the islands between trips.

He was even delivering to us on Christmas morning - Can you believe that? Most of his staff were off, but he was there minding the store and making sure all our orders were filled.

His produce is always fresh and best quality, he is able to find most things on your list and knows his stuff.

For many years we used to have to hunt to find produce in the only supermarket in Nassau and the quality and reliability was at the mercy of the freight ships. Most often times we would have to rely on flying the produce in from the US, to ensure it

Business Manager/Circulation Peg Soffen, peg@the-triton.com Production Manager Patty Weinert, patty@the-triton.com Graphic Designer Christine Abbott, sales@the-triton.com Abbott Designs Distribution Ross Adler, zakad68@aol.com National Distribution Solutions

would arrive on time, and this is very expensive.

Rich has a wonderful personality, most friendly and accommodating and he takes his business seriously. I think he deserves some recognition, although I did notice that the last time were in Atlantis, that most of the larger yachts were receiving their deliveries in the familiar, Gourmet Market Tubs, so maybe the word is out.

Chef/Stew Debby Page M/Y Grand Diane

Waxing poetic about going to sea

As I wake up this morning, I wake with a grin, for I know at noon, I’ll be at sea again.

The boss finally left and the charter is through, for now it’s just me, my boat and my crew.

The fuel is on board, the provisions are stowed. A 20-hour run and then we’ll be home.

We stow all the lines and run out the cut, put the autopilot on and put my feet up.

The watch bill is set and the engines are humming, the yard and the bars all know we are coming.

An engine room check: no flooding, no Contributing Editor Lawrence Hollyfield Contributors

Capt. Rusty Allen, Carol Bareuther, Mona Birch, Mark A. Cline, Capt. Jake DesVergers, Lucia Ferreira, John Freeman, Capt. David Hare, Jack Horkheimer, Chef Mary Beth Lawton Johnson, Capt. Craig Jones, Capt. Fred Lemon, Angela Mensing, Donna Mergenhagen, Ayuk Ntuiabane, Timothy O’Brien, Steve Pica, Rossmare Intl., James Schot, Ellen B. Sanpere, Peter Small, Chef Liz Teage, Capt. Peter Vazquez, Theirry Voisin, Capt. Ian Walsh, Capt. Paul “Whale” Weakley, Maya White, Chef Peter Ziegelmeier

fire. For a few hours now, I can retire.

As I wake up this morning, I awake with a rush. The rpm’s on the mains have dropped just a touch.

Out of my bunk, to the helm just in time to see a very large freighter slip silently by.

My mate’s on the ball as he is every day, now we’re back on course and making good way.

Back to the rack to catch a few Z’s. I thank the stars for light winds and following seas.

As I wake up this morning, I awake with a smile. The sea buoy’s ahead at 6.5 miles.

The crew is surely ready to return to their homes. The chef ’s on the bow with her ear to the phone.

The last leg in, on a nice quiet trip, get her fendered and tied secure in the slip.

The chores are all done and the crew slips away, headed downtown to spend all their pay.

As I watch the sun set and relax at the bar, I cherish my day off before going to the yard.

As I wake up this morning, I awake not so bright for I’m not under way. I’ve been on land all night.

Capt. Scotty Roberson Vol. 3, No. 4.

The Triton is a free, monthly newspaper owned

by Triton Publishing Group Inc. Copyright 2006 Triton Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Contact us at: Mailing address: 757 S.E. 17th St., #1119 Visit us at: 2301A S. Andrews Ave. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 525-0029; FAX (954) 525-9676 www.the-triton.com