Small Town Offers Big Boat Show
By Kathy Bohanan Enzerink
Oriental, N.C., is not on the way to anywhere. It is a small village with a working waterfront situated at the end or beginning, depending on your point of view, of Highway 55 along the Neuse River. It has the distinction of being home to the “biggest small town boat show ever,” April 12-14 at Pecan Grove Marina.
The fifth annual event is expected to attract more than 2,000 visitors from a dozen states, according to organizer Sam Myers, who chairs the Boat Show Committee hosted by the local Rotary Club. New and brokerage boats will be on display and in the water for sea trials. “Vessels range from a 12-foot skiff to a 50-foot sailboat with values upwards to $500,000,” said Myers.
This boat show has something for everyone who loves the water including a Nautical Flea Market where bargains abound. “We’re a destination show,” said Myers. “People who come to Oriental are highly motivated and are almost always guaranteed to bring a checkbook,” he said. Visit OrientalBoatShow.com for complete details.
Other shows this month include:
• The Gulfcoast Yacht and Boat Show April 4-7 in the Gulfport, Miss., Small Craft Harbor. Visit http://gulfcoastyachtandboatshow.com/.
• The return of the South Carolina In-Water Boat Show April 12-14 at Daniel Island’s Waterfront Park. Visit scinwaterboatshow.com.
• The Southeast US Boat Show April 12-14 in Jacksonville, Fla. Visit southeastusboatshow.com.
• The Suncoast Boat Show April 19-21 at Marina Jack’s in Sarasota, Fla. Visit showmanagement.com.
• The Annapolis Spring Sailboat Show April 25-28 featuring Cruiser’s University at the Annapolis, Md., City Dock. Visit usboat.com.
Southport Marina Renovates West Dock
Southport Marina in North Carolina has begun renovating the final docks in its multi-year renovation project. The West Dock slips were the only area untouched during the 2006-2008 upgrade, which added a new 220-unit dry-stack facility, new shore buildings and completely new docks and hookups in the 200-slip marina. So far, the deck boards of the West Dock have been replaced. Additional renovations are planned in coming months.
Bounty Coast Guard Probe Underway
The U.S. Coast Guard interviewed surviving crewmembers from the tall ship Bounty in February during a hearing to determine what caused the three-masted vessel to sink during Hurricane Sandy. Testimony over several days in Portsmouth, Va., revealed that Capt. Robin Walbridge offered to let any crew remain in New London, Conn., as he ordered the 110-foot ship out to sea ahead of the storm. All 15 declined. One crewmember later died and Walbridge was lost at sea after the 53-year-old wooden ship went down 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
The hearing is part of a formal investigation into the cause of the sinking. Such investigations take several months to complete. In addition to the cause, investigators will probe whether any equipment failure contributed to the casualty, if any Coast Guard licensed individuals acted improperly, whether any government agencies contributed to the incident, and whether further action by the Marine Board of Investigation is necessary. The owner of the vessel, built as a Hollywood movie prop, declined to testify at the hearing.
Trinity Building 193-Foot Superyacht
Long-time clients have hired Trinity Yachts to build a 193-foot tri-deck aluminum superyacht in the company’s New Orleans shipyard. The new yacht will have a total of six staterooms for the owner and guests as well as a spa with a full bath below decks. Although the yacht will not charter, it will be ABS classed and MCA compliant for yachts over 500 IGT.
This new yacht is significantly larger than the customers’ previous Trinity yachts while still meeting the owners’ requirements to be able to still cruise their favorite spots in the Bahamas with just eight feet of draft.
The yacht’s striking exterior styling is being executed by Geoff van Aller, Trinity’s in house naval architect, with significant input from the clients. The interior design will be created by the same designer that produced their previous yacht’s world-acclaimed interior design.
With four crew cabins below deck forward, two cabins below deck aft, and the captain’s cabin aft of the pilothouse, the crew will find this new yacht exceptionally spacious and comfortable. There are also separate crew companionways to all decks, enabling the crew to service all areas of the yacht efficiently without disruption to the owner and guests.
A diesel-powered tender capable of carrying the entire owner’s party ashore will be housed in a garage located in the stern of the yacht. The garage door will fold down and the entire area will double as a “beach club” when the tender is deployed.
Delivery is expected in 2015.
Cruising Club Honors Florida Couple
The Cruising Club of America selected Stephen and Karyn James of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to receive its 2012 Far Horizon Award for a commendable ten years and 38,000 miles of cruising. The award is given to CCA members “for a particularly meritorious cruise or series of cruises that exemplify the objectives of the Club.” Commodore Daniel P. Dyer III presented the award March 1 at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan. After 30 years as an American Airlines pilot, Stephen retired in 2003. A year earlier he and his wife, Karyn, commissioned the 54-foot aluminum yacht, Threshold, designed by Chuck Paine and built by Kanter Yachts. That year, the couple started cruising the Great Lakes and in 2003 sailed to Bermuda to compete in the double handed leg of the Bermuda One-Two Yacht Race, which brought them to Newport, R.I. After that, they sailed farther north to Nova Scotia, Canada.
In 2004, the couple sailed Threshold to Ireland by way of Bermuda and the Azores Islands to take part in the Irish Cruising Club 75th Anniversary Cruise. Since then, they have cruised extensively throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Most recently, the couple cruised in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, the Ionian Islands and the islands of Greece and Turkey in the Aegean Sea. Threshold was then stored in Didim, Turkey, for the winter.
The Cruising Club of America is dedicated to offshore cruising, voyaging and the “adventurous use of the sea” through efforts to improve seamanship, the design of seaworthy yachts, safe yachting procedures and environmental awareness. Now in its 90th year, the club has 11 stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Bermuda, with approximately 1200 members who are qualified by their experience in offshore passage making.
