January 2014

B Section

Yachts sell for end of year Dream, Encore, Karia, Shana, Trading Places make list. B4

Miami shipyard bought Old Merrill-Stevens expected to remain service yard. B5

Patents, dealers announced Investments, growth fuel business news in industry. B13

New rules, regulations hit yachts in coming year

WHALE OF A TRIP

Chef tackles challenges in waters of far north By Chef Jacquelyn Patnode Earlier this year, a friend passed a job offer on to us: a summer on a research vessel in Alaska. It was a private vessel chartered by a group of NOAA scientists studying whales. A four-month stint, traveling the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and the polar ice caps of the North Pole. For the galley, the vessel was to be totally organic with an emphasis of gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and lactose-free diets. This was totally out of my comfort zone but we could not pass up the opportunity to see and experience Alaska, so my husband, Capt. David Erickson, and I went for it. We arrived in Seattle on June 10 and

Organic, gluten-free, vegan and lactose-free diets kept Chef Jacquelyn Patnode busy during a four-month scientific voyage in Alaska. Some views PHOTOS/ERNESTO VAZQUEZ were relegated to the porthole. were brought down to the boat where we met Capt. Mark Dixon, a yachting captain who was also going to be part of our team. The boat was a 165foot retired crabbing vessel named M/V Aquila, which was used in the TV show “Deadliest Catch” as a chase boat a few years back. Definitely a commercial vessel.

We provisioned as much as we could in Seattle and set out a few days later on the inside passage of Prince William Sound. Almost immediately, one of the owners called me up to the wheelhouse to see my first glimpse of the wildlife: a family of orca whales and a few humpback whales frolicking in the water, jumping and splashing about. It seemed as if a humpback waved at me. We picked up the first set of scientists in Sitka and were off for 28 days in the Gulf of Alaska. I quickly got into a routine; up at 4 a.m.; finished at about 10:30 p.m. Three meals a See ALASKA, page B6

Keeping his word, Legacy owner rebuilds By Capt. Tom Serio In a marina near Key West, not far from where she laid for several years beaten and tattered from Hurricane Wilma in 2005, S/Y Legacy remains under the care of her owner, Peter Halmos, and her recovery remains a work in progress. It’s been eight years since that fateful day when the 158-foot Legacy, Halmos, then Capt. Ed Collins and crew were sucked out of Key West Harbor, ravaged by Wilma, and deposited a mile into the Great White Heron National Sanctuary in three feet of water. Wounds were deep: both masts snapped, windows broken, hull and superstructure gashed. Pockets had to

Save the dates for new year Check calendar to stay on top of upcoming events. B14

S/Y Legacy

PHOTO/TOM SERIO

be deeper. Halmos spent several years and unimaginable resources to get Legacy out of the sand while entrenched in legal and natural constraints. Why? “Because I made a pact with the boat,” he said recently, relaxing in the shade of the aft deck. “I told Legacy that if she saved us [during Wilma], that I would save her.” And for a man who has battled federal and local agencies as well as

insurance companies and anyone else who got in the way, he holds true to the promise he made during a storm that could have well been his last stand. The root cause of the shipwreck points to the ground tackle. The anchors required 50 percent more weight to be added to them as per the manufacturer, Perini Navi, which was done prior to 2001. But there was no instruction to upgrade the connecting swivels to handle the new loads. In 2001, while anchored off the ICW in Palm Beach, Legacy’s starboard anchor was fouled by an unmanned vessel adrift, likely compromising the starboard anchor gear.

See LEGACY, page B11

As we say goodbye to 2013 and welcome in the New Year, we look ahead to what awaits us in the world of maritime regulations. The regulatory bodies were again busy and 2014 will exhibit many of those initiatives as a number of new regulations will enter into force. Here is a summary of those Rules of the Road that will affect Jake DesVergers new and existing yachts. U.S. Caribbean Sea Emission Control Area (Jan. 1): The U.S. Caribbean Emission Control Area (ECA) begins enforcement. The area of this ECA includes waters adjacent to coasts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, up to roughly 50 nautical miles from the territorial sea baselines of the included islands. The ECA is bounded such that it does not extend into marine areas subject to the sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction of any state other than the United States. The new standard of 0.1 percent fuel sulfur (1,000 ppm) is expected to reduce airborne particulate matter and sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 85 percent from today’s levels. Load Line Convention (Jan. 1): This amendment to the International Convention on Load Lines extends the southern limit of the summer zone further south off South Africa. Currently, the traffic corridor through the summer zone off Cape Agulhas is quite narrow. With increased piracy activity to the east of the African continent, there has been a significant increase in vessels using this route. The southern limit of the load line summer zone will be moved south by See RULES, page B12