Triton Today Palm Beach 2015 Thursday

o o o Test Your Mates Test your crew with this quiz. n What should be considered for safe anchorage? n What percentage of ocean water is dissolved salt?

ANSWERS on page 7.

Thursday • March 26, 2015

Sun & Moon Sunset: 7:34 pm; Sunrise (Friday): 7:17 am Moonrise: 12:19 pm; 35% illuminated Low tides: 9:07 pm; 9:42 am (Friday) High tides: 2:39 pm; 3:53 pm (Friday)

Weather Today: Partly cloudy, thunderstorms, 40% chance of rain, high 85; winds SSE 10-20 mph Tonight: T-storms, clear; 50% rain; low 72 Fri. AM: Partly cloudy, 80% chance of rain

Things to See / Do Today, 1-4 p.m.

Ward’s Marine Electric is keeping the energy flowing during the show, but this year it’s the cool, calm, collected kind of energy. Stop by their booth to recharge cell phones, get neck and shoulder massages, refuel with granola bars and water, and enjoy music, dancers and cocktails.

Today, 5-7 p.m.

Network with the U.S. Superyacht Association for a taste of the Chesapeake with the gang from Cape Charles Yacht Center.

Today, 7-11 p.m.

Palm Harbor Marina’s 3rd annual captain and crew party, on the north cocktail barge at the bottom of Ramp 1. Featuring Emily Brooke and her band, recently on “American Idol”.

Tomorrow, 4-7 p.m.

National Marine Suppliers’ barbecue and party on the docks by its booth, before everyone heads off to the Boatyard Bash at Rybovich.

MAKE IT SHINE: Crew spent yesterday prepping yachts for display in the 30th annual Palm Beach International Boat Show, including final chamois work on M/Y Step One, a 180-foot Amels.

PHOTO/LUCY REED

Open Cuba will rise yachting’s tide

By Lucy Chabot Reed Despite the reality that private yachts and non-American crew can and do travel to Cuba, the recent change in travel restrictions for Americans may be the biggest boost yachting has seen since the tech bubble.

In a session titled “Cuba: The Last Frontier” at the Superyacht Summit yesterday, a panel of yachting industry people indicated that once Americans are free to visit, the impact on yachting will be enormous.

“You ask about nautical tourism, but without the United States, there is no nautical tourism,” said Antonio Zamora, a foreign investment attorney in Miami.

“Maybe there are two boats from Spain, one boat from France. And that’s it. I see 30-40,000 boats going to Cuba [from the U.S.] each year.”

“We spoke to the commercial director of Gaviota Marina Varadero, and he said ‘We’re waiting for you’,” said Marilyn DeMartini, who recently traveled to the island nation and wrote See CUBA, page 3

For more, visit www.the-triton.com

Th u r s d ay • M a rc h 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 | 3

Charter fleet ready to discover Cuba CUBA, from page 1 about it for Invictus magazine. “The 1,000 slips they are building were empty, except for a handful of Canadian and European boats.”

The biggest impact will be on the charter market, said Bob Saxon, president of International Yacht Collection in Ft. Lauderdale. While private yachts visit Cuba, the charter fleet has resisted because of the legal restrictions on Americans.

“There are 350 yachts over 100 feet spending the season in the Caribbean,” Saxon said. “You look in [St. Maarten’s Simpson Bay] and it’s wall-to-wall white boats doing nothing. It used to be that 8-9 weeks was the average … now the average is 3-4 weeks.

“There’s two reasons for that,” he said. “First, the fleet has expanded exponentially and there has been no corresponding marketing effort to help promote it. And second, charter customers seek new destinations.”

St. Maarten and other Caribbean islands have a high “misery factor,” he said. And while Tahiti has worked hard to become a charter destination, it’s distance precludes it from being a viable destination for much of the fleet.

“With Cuba, you have the proximity to the U.S.” as well as the newness of the cruising grounds, he said. “When restrictions are dropped, you will see a marked shift in the charter market.”

Puzzle Answer

Answer to today’s crossword puzzle.

About 78 percent of people who buy or build a yacht have chartered at least once, he said, so an easing of restrictions that boosts the charter market will have a ripple effect throughout yachting.

“I see fully loaded boats coming out of Florida on their way to Cuba,” he said. “The ultimate effect will be slow coming, but as facilities grow, it will come. That means jobs, and it’s great for the charter market.”

The island is not yet ready to handle large yachts. Its existing marinas can handle yachts up to about 150 feet, but electrical and sewage systems are not what larger yachts are used to.

“You don’t need infrastructure,” said Michael Reardon, a yacht management consultant in Ft. Lauderdale and session attendee. “There are lots of places to anchor out. ... It’s not for the faint of heart, but for the adventurous, the island is huge and it [cruising there on a yacht] can be done.”

To visit Cuba by boat, Zamora said, the boat must have less than 10 percent American components, be registered outside the U.S., and have a purpose for the visit. Boats built in the U.S. or with more than 10 percent American components must obtain a license to visit Cuba by filling out a SNAP-R with the Bureau of Industry and Security with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

And they need a specific reason.

“The problem is not in Cuba, it’s returning to the U.S.,” said Leonard Moecklin, who provides security for yachts and has applied three times in the past six years for permission to run a passenger ferry to Havana.

A law has been proposed in the U.S. to eliminate tourism as a restriction, but it has not yet been voted on.

“It will pass,” Zamora said. “If not this year, then next, but it will pass.

I think it’s awful that Americans are restricted from traveling someplace. It’s offensive to Americans. It doesn’t make any sense.”

The two-day Superyacht Summit, now in its second year, was produced by the U.S. Superyacht Association.

Lucy Chabot Reed is editor of Triton Today. Comments: lucy@the-triton.com.

4 | Thursday • M a rc h 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

DOING THE CREW THING: Prep

I

t felt more like summer yesterday as crew worked to get their boats ship-shape for today’s opening day of the 30th annual Palm Beach International Boat Show. Spring weather is expected to return toward the weekend.

PHOTOS/LUCY REED

Th u r s d ay • M a rc h 2 6 , 2015 | 5

6 | Th u r s d ay • M a rc h 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

Lights, camera, action for crew CVs

By Dorie Cox Yacht crew will have the opportunity to tell prospective employers of their virtues virtually during the CrewVid Video Resume Extravaganza.

Jason Kettlestrings, owner and founder of CrewVid.com, plans to create short videos for crew with film sessions scheduled during the show tomorrow and Saturday.

Kettlestrings will coach participants to optimize their speeches before they face the camera and then edit the content into a mini-commercial for crew to use via a Web link on the site.

“I’m kicking this off because I love boats and want to help others enjoy this industry,” Kettlestrings said. “It’s fun.”

He’s been working on the water, most recently running YachtVid.com, his video production company filming yachts for sale and charter.

“I eventually hope to make money with this. But at the start, these will be published for free on our YouTube channel.”

In the meantime, there are a variety of expanded options for fees starting at about $50. Crew can bring photos and video to integrate into their personalized presentation.

“We’ll cut photos in and fade them out as they talk,” Kettlestrings said.

“Plus we can cut in extra video so they can show themselves at work. You can see them at the helm while they describe their license.”

Registration is required to participate. The first two events are scheduled for Friday and Saturday from 1-4 p.m. at Pioneer Linens at 210 Clematis St., West Palm Beach, Fla. (33401).

The next opportunity for crew will be on Tuesday, March 31, in Ft. Lauderdale.

The morning session will be at The Triton office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the evening session will run from 5-9 p.m. at International Crew Training.

For more details and to register, visit www.crewvid.com.

Dorie Cox is associate editor of Triton Today. Comments: dorie@the-triton.com.

Find these drifters on the boardwalk

Join us for the 7th annual Spin-A-Thon and help us raise money for children and families in our communities!

APRIL 25TH 2015 Esplanade Park 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. SPinning EvEnT 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. AfTEr PArTy

www.marineindustrycares.org

They’re back.

Those artsy buoys decorated by some of Miami’s top artists have made their way to Palm Beach this week.

It’s the International SeaKeepers Society’s effort to bring awareness to its Drifter program. They are actually environmental monitoring devices that float along local and global currents transmitted data to NOAA to help identify patterns of marine debris accumulation and assist in hurricane prediction models.

Take a selfie with one of the drifters and be entered into a drawing for a dinner at Morton’s, The Steakhouse in Palm Beach and a basic SeaKeepers membership. E-mail photos to media@ seakeepers.org by Sunday at midnight.

The winner will be picked at random from all those entered and will be notified on Tuesday.

It’s not really a scavenger hunt, since we know where they are. Find a drifter

at Horizon Yachts (ramp 1), Denison Yacht Sales (ramp 2), Westport Yachts (ramp 4), Allied Marine (ramp 5), Ocean Alexander (ramp 6), Bradford Marine (ramp 7), Northrop & Johnson (ramp 8), All Ocean Yachts (ramp D), Burgess (ramp D), IYC (ramp D), Merle Wood & Associates (ramp D), and Worth Avenue Yachts (ramp D).

Th u r s d ay • M a rc h 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 | 7

When you have a break, enjoy a crossword

Crossword puzzle answers on page 3

Test Your Mates

About Us

Answers page 1: n Anchoring requires: - Sufficient depth at low tide - Good holding ground - Shelter from wind and waves - Room to swing around the anchor n Although salinity varies in different oceans and locations, on average seawater is about 3.5% dissolved salts.

Triton Today Palm Beach is published

by Triton Publishing Group.

Publisher: David Reed Editorial: Lucy Chabot Reed, Dorie Cox Advertising: Mike Price Production: Patty Weinert Vol. 5, No. 1.

Copyright 2015, all rights reserved.