Las Olas facelift Industry wants city marina to be central yachting point. A6
‘By the mark’
Yachts arrive More than 20 at the America’s Cup race in Newport. A4 Vol.9, No. 5
Telling depth the old fashioned way. Do you know how? B1
www.the-triton.com
August 2012
Dredging up business for South Florida yards By Dorie Cox Dredging has begun to deepen the canal to shipyards on the south side of Port Everglades in South Florida. The increase in depth, from about 10 feet to 17 feet, will allow larger vessels to navigate the Dania Cutoff Canal en route to shipyards such as Derecktor, of Florida, Dania Cut Super Yacht Repair, Playboy Marine Center and Broward Shipyard, as well as Harbour Towne Marina. These facilities, as well as local industry groups, expect increased yacht traffic from larger vessels and
an increase in the marine economy after completion of the project in March. “We’re delighted,” said John Mann, chairman of the U.S. Superyacht Association. “This gives yachts, captains and crew more options. “Dredging, and more depth, gives yachts different places to go,” he said. “And increased options make yachts more likely to come to the U.S.” James Brewer, business development of Derecktor of Florida, agreed. “This will give motoryachts tide-free access when it is completed,” Brewer said. “Right now, you can get about 12 feet at the top of the tide with local
knowledge. That, and probably a tug.” Philippe Brandligt of Broward Shipyard said his yard looks forward to the completion of the project. “It will be very good for business and for the bigger boats,” Brandligt said. “And good for new and refit business.” He said the entire canal will also benefit from ongoing expansion of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and surrounding infrastructure. “After the dredging and the airport are complete, we will be upgrading our facility,” Brandligt said. “We want to accommodate more vessels up to 230 See DREDGE, page A10
Derecktor to install 820-ton mobile lift By Dorie Cox Derecktor of Florida began construction of a new 820 metric ton (900 short ton) mobile boat hoist in July. The new lift will accommodate vessels nearly 200 feet in length at the yard in Dania Beach, Fla., near Port Everglades. “We have had a 500-ton marine elevator since 1967,” said James Brewer, business development at Derecktor. “It’s no longer adequate for today’s larger yachts.” Previously able to accommodate three megayachts with a rail system, the new hoist will permit up to eight megayachts to be in the yard at a time, Brewer said. “We have pulled 100 tons of steel from the previous rail system to make space for the new hoist,” Brewer said. “Yachts will be lifted by straps and we can drive them to where they need to be. Fabricated by Cimolai Technology in Italy, the lift will be the largest mobile unit of its type in Florida and the second largest in the United States. Colonna’s Dredging the Dania Cut-off Canal, running across the bottom of the photo, will enable larger yachts Shipyard in Virginia has a 1,000-metric-ton Marine FILE PHOTO 2006 access to several South Florida shipyards. Dredging should be done by March. See LIFT, page A10
Professionalism starts with character, state of mind The conversation started as a joke. “We used to drink all the time, but no one ever got hurt, we never hit anything and the boss was always happy,” said a yacht crew member at a recent Triton event. “Crew today are not professional.” We didn’t even want to From the Bridge touch the topic of Lucy Chabot Reed yacht crew being amateurs in the drinking department, but that latter comment struck me. Crew today are
not professional? With all the rules, regulations, conditions and courses they must endure for even entry-level work? Really? So we rounded up a few captains and asked: Is yachting more professional than, say, 20 years ago? “Well, how do you define professional?” asked one captain at The Triton’s monthly captains luncheon. So we took off on that tangent for a while. “Professionalism starts with your character and state of mind,” a captain said. “You have to want it.” “You can define professionalism
by looking at what professionalism isn’t,” another captain said. “Flip flops, showing up late, attitude.” “Not taking your sunglasses off when you are introduced to someone,” said a third. “You give a firm handshake and look them in the eye. That’s professional, old school stuff.” 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 A15.
See BRIDGE, page A14
TRITON SURVEY
Have you ever had an emergency at sea? No – 2.9%
Sort of – 15.7%
Yes – 81.4%
– Story, C1