All work and no play ... Check out the photo gallery and find out what’s going on. Vol. 3, No. 11
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Meet the host Network at Shirttail Charlie’s.
A10 Running crew This month’s survey looks at staffing levels.
A22-23
A16-17 February 2007
Lesson Learned: Katrina teaches tie-down techniques By Lucy Chabot Reed First Mate Rob Havey has stared into the white vapor of the most damaging hurricane in U.S. history and isn’t afraid to be on a megayacht in a storm’s path again. Just don’t ask him to stay aboard for the aftermath; the 10 days he spent in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina were the scariest of his life. “If I hadn’t had a shotgun, I would be dead now,” he said, sitting safely in Ft. Lauderdale in January. “The hurricane was not as bad as after the storm.” Havey survived the storm, as did his charge, the 116-foot M/Y Leda, Trinity’s hull No. 1 and the personal yacht of one of the three Trinity owners. On that fateful day in August 2005, the captain was nearing the end of a two-week leave in North Carolina and the yacht had just hired a new stewardess, whom Havey encouraged to stay in her hotel
for the storm. Hurricane Katrina is classified as the costliest storm in American history, costing more than $80 billion in damage and claiming at least 1,836 lives (more than 700 people are still missing). Like many people, Havey prepared as best he could, but few were ready for what was to come. The day before the storm, when Katrina’s intensity finally sank in, it was too late to move the yacht or bring in reinforcements. Capt. Craig Cannon planned to come back from vacation but he would have been prevented from entering the city by then, Havey said. “On Friday, everyone was still in denial,” he said. “By Saturday, no one could get in – and there was no way for me to get out. I just put as many lines out as I could.”
See LESSON, page A24
The road to the Trinity yard in New Orleans the day after Katrina was impassable. (The wall at left is the levee wall.) “I will never step foot in New Orleans again,” Havey said.“I smell it and see it every day. If I have to drive to Colorado, I’m taking the long way around.” PHOTO/ROB HAVEY
New CBP program makes it possible to clear in by phone By Lucy Chabot Reed U.S. Customs and Border Protection has created a program that may let U.S. boaters, once cleared and given a number, clear through customs and immigration by phone. “It allows the individual not to come in for a face-to-face inspection with immigration,” said Agent Gustavo Gama, who is in charge of the Local Boater Option program at Port Everglades. “Once they’ve been identified over the phone, they are told whether to present themselves or not.” The Local Boater Option (LBO) program can be used by any U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. They must register for the program and are given a Boater Registration (BR) number. Registration requires proof of citizenship (a passport) and registration information about their vessel. One megayacht brought its entire crew in for numbers in late January, Gama said. “U.S. citizens shouldn’t be treated as regular visitors when they come in,” Gama said, in explaining why the agency adopted the program. The idea actually came from suggestions from the boating public eager to ease some of the clearing-in requirements. While having a BR number may grant
easier entry, it does not guarantee it. Mariners may still be required to present themselves, Gama said. Capt. John Wampler, who is a contract captain and operates various vessels between Florida and the Bahamas, said he did not have to provide specific boat information in obtaining his BR number. Gama confirmed that there are no restrictions to the program based on type, size or number of vessels under a master’s command, only that the mariner be a U.S. citizen or legal resident and pass the background check. Started in October, the program has signed nearly 2,000 boaters in Port Everglades and the Port of Miami, reducing traffic in the immigration offices, Gama said. Obtaining a BR number takes about 1520 minutes, according to two captains who have recently obtained one. There is no fee. Appointments are recommended and can be made in Port Everglades by calling +1-954761-2000 or 2004. A number obtained in Port Everglades is valid in any port of entry in Florida, Gama said. Other jurisdictions may require separate clearance numbers. Here’s the document CBP gives participants in the program:
See LBO, page A13
Bridge: Safe manning is ultimately captain’s duty Several yacht crew have died in the past six months from accidents while under way. S/Y Essence collided with a tanker in Long Island Sound in September and sank, ending the life of Chef Gina Bortolotti. A 44-foot power catamaran ran into bad weather and sank on delivery off the coast of Oregon in December, taking all three of its crew with her. A woman on the training ship Picton Castle was swept off deck by a wave in December and never recovered. The deaths raise the question of whether yachts are safely manned for the journeys From the Bridge they are asked to complete. Whether that’s Lucy Chabot Reed back-to-back charters in the blustery Caribbean or deliveries across the Gulf Stream, we asked a group of captains assembled for The Triton’s monthly roundtable discussion if they thought megayachts practiced safe manning. 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 A18. The conversation began by pointing out that there are many aspects to safe manning, including number of crew, hours of rest, licensing and experience. “If you are going to talk about safe manning, you have to talk about qualifications, licensing and real qualifications” one captain said. “That’s the biggest issue facing our industry.” And even more critical to the practical application of any rules about such things is enforcement, several captains agreed. “Until it’s enforced, it’s a subject we all dance around.” The Bridge topic is often left purposefully vague in an See THE BRIDGE, page A18