A June 2007
LATITUDE ADJUSTMENT
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Captains take time off, others take the reins, making it all work Capt. Ben Baylis has handed over command of M/Y Tsalta, a 130-foot Westport to Capt. Randy Steegstra. The two captains worked together in Ft. Lauderdale to provide the owner with a seemless transition, and they found time to attend last month’s Bridge luncheon to talk Editor’s Notebook about life after (See Lucy Chabot Reed yachting. that story on
page A1.) Baylis is taking a sabbatical and relocating to Antibes to spend time with his wife and 10-month-old child. Steegstra is coming off a sabbatical that he took to spend time with his young family. Maybe they could work together in rotation on Tsalta and really have it all.
Capt. Bob Belschner takes Sea Star to Maine last summer. That job now belongs to Capt. Ben Stanley. PHOTO/LUCY REED
Speaking of life after yachting – or the reality check that maybe there is no such thing – Capt. Bob Belschner has handed over day-to-day command of M/Y Sea Star, a 73-foot Outer Reef, to Capt. Ben Stanley. With the owner more than eight years, Belschner still manages the yacht, though. Retirement, it seems, was short lived. He also works with Outer Reef to orient buyers on their new vessels. Belschner has been a skipper since offering day sails aboard Good Life in St. Thomas in the late 1970s and then with his wife, Didgie Vrana, aboard the charter yacht Ocean Carnival in the 1980s. Life after yachting? For many captains, life is yachting. First Officer David Clayman recently joined M/Y Excellence III after more than five years as first mate on M/Y Limitless. Not only has Capt. Gui Garcia taken over command of M/Y Primadonna recently, he’s brought many of his crew with him, including partner Chef Christina Jones and Chief Eng. Gunther Alvarado. Capt. Jeff Hardgrave is the new skipper of M/Y Mimi, the 30-year-old classic 125-foot Burger. The former captain retired after about a decade with the owners, leaving Hardgrave a veteran crew. Hardgrave was most recently with M/Y Exuma C, which was expected to set sail for Europe in late May with a new skipper. This Mimi, a Jack Hargrave design that for years was Burger’s largest boat, is at least the third yacht so-named by these owners. She will cruise the United States and Bahamas, letting Hardgrave stay close to his wife and young son. Capt. Fernando Vallmitjana has taken command of M/Y Betty, the 125foot Royal Denship. He spent five years on M/Y Aspiration under the command of Capt. Paul Canavan before taking over Betty earlier this year. Send news of your promotion, change of yachts or career, or personal accomplishments to Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com. Come on, let your yachting brethren know what’s up.