B16 November 2008 IN THE YARD: Shrink-wrapping
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The Triton
Shrink-wrapping expands windows for yardwork By Silvana Soleri
M/Y Bellflower spent nine months inside shrink-wrap at Lauderdale Marine Center while she was being turned into M/Y Banyan. PHOTO/LUCY REED
The challenges faced by megayacht captains during shipyard repairs run the gamut from environmental issues to health concerns to budgetary constraints. Some captains are reducing, even eliminating, many of these problems with the use of shrink wrap. Shrink-wrapping yachts is a technique said to have been introduced in the 1970s by Pinmar, a company in Mallorca. The concept, long since used for transporting yachts, has wound up
in Ft. Lauderdale this year. M/Y Banyan (formerly M/Y Bellflower) has been in shrink-wrap at Lauderdale Marine Center since February undergoing a major refit to extend it from 88 feet to 102 feet. So far, the shrink-wrap surpassed expectations when it sustained 50 mileper-hour wind gusts during two recent tropical storms. “Weather doesn’t slow me down anymore,” Capt. Andrew Grego said. “We only lost four hours of work.” The shrink-wrap allows painting, welding and fiberglass work to proceed uninterrupted, rain or shine, day or night. Without it, any work that creates over-spray such as painting must be performed after hours to safeguard vehicles and equipment in the shipyard. The wrap can be applied to an entire vessel, as with Banyan, or only to the parts under repair. This makes the cost competitive with traditional tenting, as plastic sheaths are still necessary with tents to protect neighboring yachts from over spray. Southern Cross Boatworks was the first company to specialize in shrinkwrapping yachts in Ft. Lauderdale. (This fall, KB Yachts added shrinkwrapping to its list of services, specializing in protective covering for yachts on transport ships.) Southern Cross’ technique involves applying the shrink-wrap to a network of scaffolding about four feet from the yacht’s exterior. The scaffolding conforms to safety codes and allows for wind variations, said Pablo Muñoz, the company’s founder and president. In some circumstances a boat can even be shrink-wrapped while afloat. The scaffolding, in such cases, would be built around the boat atop a system of floats, providing the body of water hosting the boat has little movement. Muñoz adapted the shrink-wrap technique for his boat painting business as a way to cut the downtime caused by bad weather. “I didn’t want to send guys home in the middle of the day because of rain,” he said. The shrink-wrapping worked so well, others in the shipyard took notice and requested it for their boats. The demand for the service increased to a point the sideline soon developed into a specialty. Over the years, scientific advancements have improved the effectiveness and versatility of the plastic medium used for the wrap. “You can work with it in many ways – mend it, tape it, add windows,” Muñoz said. Seven millimeters is the standard thickness used for industrial shrinkwrap today, replacing the old two- or
See SHRINK-WRAP, page B17