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August 2013 Join Crew Unlimited and Viking SurfSUP for networking. See C2-3.
C4 Time is up for yachts Rules will come into effect for drills, stowage and more. B1
Check the daily ice chart Yacht’s travel from Boston to Vancouver, via top of world B1
Not meatloaf again Tips to spur on change for owner and crew menus.
C1
Casual or formal recipes Chicken and cheese or truffles, leeks and aged gruyere. C6-7
Landmarks of the port demolished
Captains sign on by choice, whim or offer
Inspired by actual news events, with authentic quotes and a fictional hero. With apologies to all those yacht captains who see themselves in Capt. Old Timer.
Having a career in yachting never used to be something you planned. Ask anyone who got into yachting as it evolved in the 1980s and 1990s and you’ll likely get a story that sounds something like this: Hated the desk job, took a vacation to the Caribbean, found someone who From the Bridge would actually pay Lucy Chabot Reed me to work on a yacht, jumped at the chance, never looked back. Or perhaps like this: Grew up on boats, met a captain who told me about yachting, took that first job for no pay, never looked back. But now, in the days of amped up professional credentials, hyperimportant resumes and the perfect appearance, it’s common for new yacht crew to plan their progression, understand the possibilities and work toward a goal. Books have been written to educate the masses on just how to get into yachting.
By Dorie Cox Twenty seven years in yachting and this Bahamian charter topped them all, thought Capt. OId Timer. Weathered and frequently stowed away wet, Capt. Timer did not bring a sparkle to a girl’s eye the way the captains on other fancy white megayachts did. On a good day, folks called him unrefined, ornery and, well, a bit musty smelling. Although no one confessed to hiring the green replacement crew, booking the seasick family that didn’t speak English or ordering up the foul weather, the captain was sure someone was to blame. Nevertheless, the yacht had fought through the Atlantic Gulf Stream and was on the downhill side of the voyage home to Ft. Lauderdale. Capt. Timer stared at his manual compass, steering from the heading on
The Florida Power & Light smokestacks were demolished on July 16 to make way for a more efficient power plant in Ft. Lauderdale. For more PHOTO/CAPT. TOM SERIO photos and video, visit www.the-triton.com. worn paper NOAA chart No. 11470. He knew the red-and-white smokestacks of Port Everglades were just ahead. The thought of those candy cane-colored towers eased his mood. When the skyline appeared, he strained to make out the towers, but they were not there. “How’d I get off course?” he growled, rechecking his compass. “Is that Palm Beach?” It wouldn’t be such a stretch to think so. Those towers in Port
TRITON SURVEY: Cameras
Do you have cameras on the yacht?
Everglades have been a landmark on Ft. Lauderdale’s horizon for decades. But just as the fictional Capt. Timer lost his bearings without them, spectators who gathered atop the 17th Street bridge just after dawn on July 16 to watch them fall wondered if they, too, might lose their way. Florida Power and Light demolished the smokestacks and the boilers beside them to make way for a more energy efficient facility in the footprint. The See STACKS, page A9
Crew reluctantly watch ‘Below Deck’ By Lucy Chabot Reed
Yes – 91%
No – 9%
– Story, C1
See BRIDGE, page A12
Yachties have been quiet about the new reality TV show about our industry, “Below Deck”. They don’t want to think about it, but they do. They don’t want to watch it, but they do. And they especially don’t want to recognize what goes on in the show, but they do admit that much of it is, at least, plausible. “All that stuff really happens on board, to some extent, but I don’t like it,” said Capt. Randy Steegstra. “The less the public knows about what I do, the better.”
Personalities clash onboard on the show, romances flourish, crew drink too much, and the toys get played with. But in real life, those things rarely all happen in the first week. Take the first episode, for example. A few minutes into the show, the two stews are talking about penises, the cabins are a mess, and the deckhand takes forever to wash a window. “It’s already bothering me,” said Bosun Ian Ross, who was watching the premiere with friends in Ft. Lauderdale. “We have cabin inspections twice a week. It’s always super tidy. “I’d fire those guys,” he said.
Chief Stew Alene Keenan takes on crew training issues in this month’s Stew Cues on page A8. “He’s taking five minutes to wash a window. I can’t believe any of this is real. … It makes me mad. I want to see it but I don’t want to want to see it.” “I’d like to show my mom the work
See REALITY, page A10