Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i Soundings

Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, inspired fear in the hearts of early 18th century mariners who dreaded the pirate crew’s plundering, but the vessel’s remains have become the linchpin of a hugely successful “heritage tourism” industry in coastal North Carolina. Recent lawsuits allege the state has reneged on agreements to share profits from the shipwreck with the salvors who discovered the infamous ship. “It appears from where we are that they want it all now,” says John Masters, whose Florida-based company Intersal discovered Queen Anne’s Revenge in 1996 a mile-and-a-quarter off Fort Macon, which guards the inlet at Beaufort, North Carolina. Masters says Intersal relinquished all rights to the wreck — the physical remains — and any artifacts from it to the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources so the…

The drive to Boothbay Harbor, Maine — 10 miles down a peninsula and past the rocky islets wonderfully named The Cuckolds — terminates in a narrow network of lanes paralleling the undulating shore. The flavor is distinctively maritime. A salty tang in the air and vintage homes presiding over a sea vista evoke families awaiting the return of ancient mariners. At the heart of the shoreline is Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, one of the village’s oldest boatbuilding yards still in operation, well-known for restorations of several notable boats, such as Alera, hull No. 1 of the New York 30, designed more than a century ago by Nathanael Herreshoff, and for the construction of Discovery, a replica of one of the three ships that brought English colonists to Virginia and an exhibit…

Two small boats carrying 10 visitors pulled away from the village dock in Freeport, New York, and headed down Long Creek toward the open water. They soon approached a ramshackle wooden house on pilings with a “No Wake Please” sign mounted on the end of its long plank dock. Two American flags flew from staffs flanking the house, identified by a sign over its door as “Wally World.” Wally World is a Long Island South Shore bay house, one of the vanishing icons of the region’s maritime heritage. Used for hunting, fishing or just getting away, the shacks have fallen victim to government regulation over concern about pollution, erosion from wakes and the force of nor’easters and other storms, such as Sandy in 2012. This unique world is usually only…

SCHOONER FOR SALE The schooner Virginia looks like an old classic, but she is a 122-foot replica of a 1917 Virginia pilot schooner of the same name. The keel was laid in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2002, and she was launched in 2005 as the state’s flagship and a platform for maritime education. The ship’s owners, the Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation, report that revenue from current operations and other sources has proved inadequate to support her, so the Virginia is for sale. The asking price for the schooner, which is Coast Guard-certified as a sailing school vessel and capable of carrying 16 overnight, is $1.5 million. The listing broker is Harry Morgan, (203) 687-4535. hmorgan@sparkmanstephens.com A RARE LIGHT Drum Point Lighthouse is a screwpile, cottage-type light and one of only three…

Two features in the January issue evoked happy memories of my youth spent on Buzzards Bay in the ’70s. For several years I taught sailing at the Wild Harbor Yacht Club in Falmouth (alongside then world-class sailor and future world-class author and historian Nathaniel Philbrick). While a very active Beetle Cat club, it was the fleet of Herreshoff 12-1/2s that captured my heart. Steve Knauth’s review of those classics brought back how perfectly those little yachts sailed through the southwesterly chop. I loved match racing with one club member who owned two and liked to tune up before the Saturday races. The excerpt on the birth of the Whaler 13 from Stan Grayson’s book on C. Raymond Hunt brought back happy days of buzzing around Red Brook Harbor and the…

The Barnstable County (Massachusetts) Sheriff’s Office has received a $445,965 Homeland Security grant to buy and equip a Safe 31 radiation detection boat to patrol the waters around Cape Cod, and to train personnel to operate the vessel and its detection gear. The Coast Guard, which coordinates Homeland Security’s maritime strategy, is concerned about terrorists in small craft undertaking attacks around Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, says Barnstable County Sheriff James M. Cummings. This could include terrorists targeting the region’s ferries, including the service between the Cape and the two islands; boarding a ferry in port and undertaking an attack while it is underway; assaulting one of the growing number of cargo vessels using the Cape Cod Canal or a cruise ship visiting the region in the summer and…

Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin met on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1970s. Gannon (far left), an engineer by training, was building houses from salvaged timber. Benjamin, after kicking around the Caribbean and Med with his family on his boat, was working at Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard. Their paths overlapped, and a friendship sprang up, but it wasn’t until 1980 that the two decided to open a yard together. By this time, they’d noted the number of wooden boats in the harbor that needed help. Over a series of days working together to repair the structural frames on Gannon’s 36-foot Casey cutter Urchin, they must have realized what a good team they made. They had complementary skills and shared passions for working with wood and sailing. The rest, as they say, is…

No matter the shape, style or size, most new boats seem to be beyond the means of the masses these days. Take center consoles: They’re up to 40-plus feet and equipped with three and four outboards. Average price for a 40-footer: $600,000 to $800,000. Of course, big boats have their advantages. You can cruise in comfort for longer distances, and a well-designed and built boat may be safer and more capable of battling rougher seas than a smaller craft. But it all comes with a cost. I went looking for boats that will allow you to enjoy time on the water without taking out a second mortgage (OK, perhaps a small one). I wound up with 13 boats in four categories: center consoles, express (including walkarounds and pocket cruisers), pilothouse…

“It is interesting to see schooners in early winter set in ice along the coast of Maine,” says Annapolis, Maryland, artist Leonard Mizerek. “They seem to be locked in a prison of ice till the first melting comes in early spring. When painting this piece, I wanted to tell the story of Mother Nature’s hold on these wooden vessels as they sit.” Mizerek, who grew up in Pennsylvania’s Brandywine Valley — home to the Wyeth family of artists — uses the patch of water amid the ice as a visual element to lead the viewer into the details of the scene. “As an artist, the main attraction of this scene is the strong design of the breaks in the ice,” he says. “I contrasted the darkened sky with the lighter…

“Every day I thank God for letting me live here with this gorgeous view,” Lonnie Petrinko says of the home she and her 67-year-old husband, Vic, own in Ponce Inlet, Florida. Built in 1989 by the original owner, the Petrinkos’ three-bedroom, three-bath, 3,170-square-foot home is angled along the east bank of the Halifax River (the Intracoastal Waterway) for interest and to provide maximum water views from all rooms. Central pillars of Old Chicago bricks, two brick and stone fireplaces, exposed beams, vaulted ceilings and hardwood floors create a rustic but elegant flavor. “We’ve enjoyed living here for 10 years, and we’ll stay in this beautiful area,” says Petrinko, who is 63. With their motel business keeping them increasingly busy, they want a smaller home. Their 150-by-175-foot lot with a three-story…

Scout has added the 231 XS to its bay boat fleet, a 23-foot shallow-draft fishing boat that joins the 251 XS and 177 Winyah. The 231 XS has the high level of fit and finish that we expect from Scout, along with clever seating and stowage options. For instance, the transom seat hides under the aft casting platform, and a center deck hatch opens to morph into a padded two-person seat. The seat bottom is an access hatch to the bilge. Beneath the bow casting platform are three stowage compartments. There’s room for three batteries in the center of these, with enough space remaining for life jackets, fenders, lines and such. The lockable side compartments provide rod stowage. An optional curved leaning post, which wraps around the skipper and companion…

Capt. Todd Prestidge, the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, welcomes on average 100 new recruits each week, 40 weeks a year. The men and women who sign on for the eight-week basictraining program are impressionable, and it’s Prestidge’s job to make a positive impression. “Eighty-percent of our workforce is enlisted, and they all start here,” he says. “This year we will bring in 3,750 recruits. Next year it will be closer to 4,000.” (By comparison, about 150,000 recruits enter the Army each year, about 40,000 join the Navy and 30,000 the Marines.) This first stop is where the Coast Guard’s core values and basic message are impressed on every member, Prestidge says. “We tell them they are now living for something bigger…

In April 1974, naval architect James S. Krogen signed off on a design for a 42-foot “trawler yacht” in his office on Rice Street in Miami. Krogen, an avid sailor and commercial vessel designer, developed the design with Florida yacht broker Art Kadey — a cruising powerboat based on the hard-working shrimp boat, known for its rugged seakeeping capabilities. There’s no mistaking the heritage of the Krogen 42, which was launched in 1976, the first model offered by Kadey-Krogen Yachts. She has a big, husky profile that’s not unlike her commercial counterpart, with plenty of topsides and sturdy bulwarks. The raised pilothouse has the shrimper’s distinctive three-panel windshield and triple side windows. The aluminum mast could be used for a steadying sail or, with a boom, for moving a dinghy.…

Nestled among sea grapes and coconut palms in the corner of a stunning Jost Van Dyke beach, Foxy’s Tamarind Bar still waits invitingly for thirsty sailors. A British Virgin Islands beacon for nearly 50 years, it’s 100 percent laid-back despite celebrity sightings, media hype and a world-renowned reputation. Chalk that up to Foxy Callwood, a one-off West Indian philosopher. To learn more about Foxy’s recent induction into the Charter Yacht Brokers Hall of Fame, visit soundingsonline.com/FoxyCYBA For visitors, Foxy is the living fantasy of Caribbean island life, a barefoot guy with a thousand-watt smile whose full-time job is having fun. The party has never really stopped, though it cranks to new heights every New Year’s Eve. And the only way in is by boat. “He is an amazing man,” says…

Cable steering should be thoroughly inspected, lubricated and adjusted at least once a year. Look for signs of abnormal wear from misalignment and broken strands of wire, and inspect all lubrication points. Start by slacking the cables at the quadrant or radial drive to relieve tension. This will enable the removal of the axle pins in the sheave assembly for manual greasing. Carefully inspect the sheaves for sharp edges from misalignment and run an oiled rag the length of the cables to clean, lubricate and check for broken strands. (Do not use bare hands!) After lubrication, reassemble the sheaves using new cotter pins. Remove the compass and binnacle to provide access to the shaft, bearings and chain portion of the assembly. Removing the wheel may provide easier access to the…

Lowrance TotalScan TotalScan is an all-in-one transducer with CHIRP sonar, Structure-Scan HD and DownScan imaging, offering anglers greater fishtarget separation, less interference and sharper images. TotalScan reduces the number of transducers on the boat and simplifies installation, which minimizes cost, according to Lowrance. $299.99. Lowrance, Tulsa, Oklahoma, (800) 628-4487. lowrance.com GOST Nav-Tracker The Nav-Tracker 3.0 SM is GOST’s new vessel-monitoring and surveillance system. It features a hard-wired interface for security and monitoring sensors that trigger a siren and/or strobe while also sending email or text alerts. It is water-resistant, has a battery backup and can be controlled remotely from the GOST Nav-Tracker website. $2,999.99. Global Ocean Security Technologies, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, (954) 565-9898. gostglobal.com Kru Elite 195 The Kru Elite 195 is a new PFD from Ocean Safety that has…