PARTY AT THE SOGGY DOLLAR – JOST VAN DYKE
The Best Bar in the Caribbean Contest has been decided thanks to you – our loyal readers! Come help us celebrate during the day on July 22 nd, 2006. Hey! It’s sponsored by Mount Gay Rum! What more could you want?
TIPS FOR THOSE TWO HAPPIEST DAYS OF A BOAT OWNER’S LIFE
Even seasoned boat owners can use a few pointers when it’s time to sell or trade up and buy a new boat. Here’s a free seller’s checklist to help evaluate your boat’s condition, information on the pros and cons of using a broker, and how to write a sales agreement. You’ll also find buyer information on warranties, federal documentation, osmotic blisters, marine insurance, boat loans, and much more in BoatU.S. Consumer Affairs’ free 34-page guide, “Buying and Selling a Boat,” available online at www.BoatUS.com/guide.
VIRGIN ISLANDERS COMPETE AT BERMUDA RACE WEEK
Thomas Kozyn of St. Thomas, with Jean Sylvester of St. Croix as crew, finished second after competing in the Snipe Class in Hamilton Sound at the Bermuda International Invitational Race Week held April 30 to May 5. The pair finished behind Jerry Thompson and Patricia Duffy from Cuba, New York. Inaugurated in 1952 by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, this year’s race week with six classes attracted 64 teams from Bermuda, the US, the UK, Canada, and the Caribbean.
ST. MAARTEN CHARTER YACHT EXHIBITION SET FOR DECEMBER
The third annual St. Maarten Charter Yacht Exhibition (SCYE 2006) will take place at Port de Plaisance from Saturday December 2nd to Tuesday December 5th 2006. Registration is now open and yachts booking before July 31 are offered a 10% discount. Hosted by the nonprofit St. Maarten Marine Trades Association, the event brings together charter yachts, agents, and companies providing services to the industry.
“A Taste of St. Maarten” kicks off the party scene with the island’s most acclaimed restaurants, award winning chefs, and wine merchants presenting their specialties.
JAWS: A NEW IGFA WORLD RECORD
The catch-and-release of a 385-pound lemon shark on fly by Dr. Martin Arostegui of Coral Gables, Florida was officially approved on May 16, 2006 as a world record by the International Game Fishing Association. This heaviest documented fish ever caught on fly tippet beat out a nearly 40-year old record.
Guided by Captain Ralph Delph and fishing near the Marquesas Keys west of Key West, Florida, Arostegui used the scent line of a filleted barracuda to entice sharks onto the flats. Employing a fly rod with 12 lb. tippet and a bright orange seven-inch feathered fly streamer, he battled the 90” fish, which attacked the hull of the 29’ foot boat, for over an hour. “When it opened its huge mouth, I said to myself this shark could eat half of me in one bite,” said the former emergency room doctor. For more details, see www.igfa.org.
FIRST ENTRY FOR CLASSIC YACHT REGATTA
Organizers received the first official entry in May for the St. Maarten-St. Martin Classic Yacht Regatta 2007. Philip Walwyn and his team at Pleasant Boats Company in St. Kitts have almost finished building “Kate,” a 12 metre yacht, using 1908 plans and employing mahogany, Oregon pine, Sitka spruce, and teak woods. She will have an overall length, with bowsprit and boom, of 78 feet and will be engineless and without modern systems (except for hand held GPS, VHF & Iridium). The January 18-21, 2007 regatta is organized by the St. Maarten- St. Martin Classic Yacht Regatta Foundation and West Indies Events. www.ClassicRegatta.com
ST. LUCIA TEAM NETWORKS WITH MEGAYACHT PROS
The Marine Industries Association of St. Lucia (MIASL) and the St. Lucia Air & Seaports Authority (SLASPA) participated in the Westrec Sunrise Harbor Marina 6 th Annual Captains & Crew Appreciation Party in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on April 8. The networking event was attended by over 900 industry professionals representing hundreds of megayachts.
BRIEF NOTES
The Grenada Board of Tourism offers a new timesaving tool—customs forms on their website. Click on “boating” and “clearance procedures,” then fill in the forms and print out 5 copies to take to cus toms when entering and leaving Grenada. www.grenadagrenadines.com.
Wholesaler Deep Blue Yacht Supply, Inc. just opened a new online storefront offering discounts on Outboard Propellers, Zinc Anodes, Bearings, and other yachting essentials. www.deepblueyachtsupply.com .
Parts and Power Ltd, the largest supplier of diesel engines, parts and accessories in the Eastern Caribbean, has recruited Don Banham, a Canadian Professional Mechanical Engineer with substantial technical sales experience, to be sales manager at their facility in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
