It’s been a while since I last updated my blog due to the holidays (including a trip to New Orleans; if you haven’t been, I’d highly suggest it) and some projects that are taking shape here in the New Year. In my previous blog I wrote about my trip down to Teak Decking Systems to check out Kemmuna’s new deck as well as the deck that was taking shape for an F&C 44. Both decks are now fit to each boat and the projects are starting to draw to a close.

While on a trip to Chase Leavitt in Portland recently, it dawned on me that we have a great network of companies close by that we work with to provide our customers with the best solutions and the best products for the money. We handle nearly everything in house when it comes to repairs and refits; however we rely on a close network of local businesses to help us with some specialty items. As my dad told me a long time ago, it’s not always about what you know, but who you know.
Teaming up with the other local businesses has allowed us to offer Kemmuna a real one stop shopping experience when it comes to a yacht refit.  One challenge we overcame by working together with our network is the different standards and requirements for European boats like Kemmuna.  Fulfilling requirements, such as her obligations to MCA compliance, were a breeze with our combined experience.  Here is a list of a few of our key partners and how they have played a role in our success:

• Teak Decking Services of Maine- Appleton Maine- Larry Murray who has been with Teak Decking Systems from the beginning and is our local expert and representative to the Sarasota Company.  Teak Decking Services is a professional operation whose craftspeople are not only skilled but highly efficient. It is a pleasure to work with them on both large and small projects.
• Blue Maple Systems, Warren Maine, Nik DeMaria provides us with amazing computer networking skills. Nik has a full understanding of how to best network marine electronics and onboard computer networks.  Nik has worked with us on yachts such as Kemmuna, Tenacious, Coconut, Melinka and many other projects.
• Motion Industries, Union Maine, Motion assists us with all of our hydraulic motor needs and is a key supply chain partner for us.
• Maine Compass Service, Portland Maine. Charlie Cook is famous throughout New England for swinging compasses and coming up with deviation cards. He is one of the very few people left that are trained in the art of Compass Swinging; this is a great article:   www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/The-Man-Behind-Maine-Compass-Services... Unfortunately he found out that Kemmuna’s (which was integrated into the Autopilot) compass was in fact broken and needed service.  After the compass was fixed Charlie was able to swing it.
• Team Watty, Marina Market and First Mate Services, located here at Wayfarer.   John “Watty” Watkins who has provided Kemmuna with expert day work support,  home cooked lunches and morning break treats as well as an inexhaustible supply of moral boosting good cheer.
• Last but not least, the entire town of Camden. The Kemmuna crew has rented a house in town and has become part of our community, doing business with the local shops and eateries. They have purchased a car from Norm’s Subaru in Wiscasset, insured it with the Allen Agency, and opened up a bank account with one of our local Maine banks. They have taken various long weekend trips to surrounding areas to include Saddleback Mountain (picture two Australians on snowboards), and Moosehead Lake.  The amount of business one major refit brings to the local and state economy is astounding.

We’re very lucky to be surrounded by all of these above companies and many others who help us provide the support we need to successfully complete a large refit like Kemmuna’s. It doesn’t only take a great boatyard and good people to make a refit happen, but an entire community.

Ben

In early November I had the opportunity to fly down to Sarasota Florida and visit Teak Decking Systems (TDS). This winter they are building two decks for us, one for an 80’ Jongert named Kemmuna, the other for an F&C 44 named Freya. Beyond these two projects we have done a lot of business in the past with TDS, our Teak Deck Resume is quite vast, most recently we installed a deck on the 95’ Holland Jachtbow built sloop but we’ve also installed decks on smaller boat such as a Hinckley T-29.  Before my visit to TDS my only knowledge of the company was that we sent them deck templates and 8-12 weeks later a teak deck showed up, so the trip to the factory was a great learning experience.

When the deck was nearly ready for shipment, TDS extended an invitation to the Kemmuna crew and me to visit the new deck. I flew down to Sarasota with Brad and Ketra, the crew of Kemmuna to visit their new deck. It was great to see the new deck all laid out and have the opportunity to make any modifications prior to delivery.

If you haven’t been involved in replacing a teak deck in your lifetime, it is quite an interesting process. For Kemmuna, the process began in August of this year when Teak Decking Systems of Maine visited the boat and made templates using door skin glued into the various shapes that made up the deck. The templates were then shipped to TDS where the magic happens. The good folks at TDS then begin to map out the deck and create the backing, which is essentially a high density plastic. From this point, one person handpicks teak for color and grain match to be laid for the new deck.   The teak is then glued on using their specially formulated glue. Once the teak is glued to the backing, the seams are laid and various other bits and pieces are created (hand rails, toe rails, various trim for hatches). Of course it’s much more complicated than that, but that’s the simple version. One thing I thought was very cool is that the same crew that starts the deck -finishes the deck, not only giving continuity to the entire process, but creating a great deal of pride in the product. It was apparent to me in talking with these folks that they truly took pride in their work and each deck was important to them. They truly want to please their customer.

Besides Kemmuna’s new deck, TDS had many other custom decks on the shop floor that were under construction, everything from large custom motor yachts to smaller production builds such as Sea Ray and Chris-Craft. They also have a division that deals exclusively with Cruise Ships, they are always busy!

The tour of the factory was incredible, TDS prides themselves in keeping what they do as efficient and as “green” as possible, they do not waste a single piece of teak during the process, everything is well thought out to minimize waste. The teak they use comes from a forest in Burma that was actually planted by the British and put aside to build war ships!

A few weeks after we departed Sarasota, the deck arrived here via truck in Camden to be installed. Larry Murray of Teak Decking Services of Maine (TDS’s local distributor) was here with his team of guys to help us unload the deck and then begin the installation process. The deck is still in the process of being installed and everyone is pleased with the progress. If you want to learn more about a new teak deck, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Just follow this link to our contact form and select Ben in the drop down window.  http://www.wayfarermarine.com/contact

From all of us at Wayfarer Marine, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Benc

A dirty hull is a real drag.  Whether you are racing around the marks on your sailboat or steaming across the bay, having a clean, smooth wetted surface is faster and more efficient, not to mention more fun.   With the price of fuel the way it is these days, anything we can do to be more efficient makes sense.   Having a clean hull makes a real difference in both time and money.

There are two things that tend to foul boat hulls:  biological growth and bottom paint buildup.    Fortunately, Wayfarer has solutions for both problems.

A hull in good shape that is being dragged down by living stuff can be quickly hauled and pressure washed .   I know in the past that many of us have simply scrubbed our hulls in the water.   There are a couple of problems with this approach. On the practical level, the water in Maine is COLD, and professional divers are not always nearby, or available.  The second concern is that scrubbing a hull in the water releases bits of bottom paint that is not friendly to the sea creatures that spend their lives in the water.  The best method in today’s world to clean a dirty hull is to haul it out and have it pressure washed.  The other bonus of hauling boats to clean the bottom is being able to check the running gear, props, shafts, rudders and zincs for signs of wear to head off problems before they occur.  Finding a problem early can be the difference between spending a few hundred or thousands of dollars to remedy a situation.  Please call us if you are interested in a quick haul.

If your boat has years of bottom paint buildup, it may become rough and uneven as subsequent coats cover areas where flakes have fallen off.   The effect can be ugly, slow and inefficient.   The best solution to this situation is Soda Blasting.   Soda Blasting is a technique much like sand blasting, but instead of using some coarse material like sand, baking soda is used.   Yeah, that’s right, the stuff in your blueberry muffins.  The benefit of baking soda is that it is tough enough to strip the paint, but not so abrasive as to damage the gel-coat under the paint.  Soda blasting leaves a surface ready to paint, without much prep work.  Before soda blasting came along, chemical strippers were the accepted form of removing bottom paint.   Besides making a real mess and being environmentally harmful, the bottom was left in a state that required lots of sanding and prep work before a new bottom anti-fouling system could be applied.

Recently we did a major electronics refit on a Hinckley 42. Over the years, the boat had updated the electronics, however this year the owner decided to take things up to the next level. With the advice and guidance of our Electronics shop foreman John Gass, a new system was designed.

The biggest part of the refit was the upgrade of the two 6.5” Northstar chart plotters located at the helm. We also installed two 12” Northstar 8000i multifunction units at the nav station. Not only are these units much larger but they are much easier to use allowing for safer operations while at sea. The Northstar units feature high-definition radar as part of the multifunction capability, replacing the original stand-alone radar system. Also replaced were the autopilot, 2 VHF radios and the audio system which was upgraded from an antiquated tape deck and CD changer to a CD head unit with an iPod jack and satellite radio. All of this work required the efforts of just about every department here at Wayfarer. Our Fiberglass shop filled the holes left from the old gear. Our Carpentry shop aided in the rebuilding of the nav-station down below, and our Fabrication shop built a new housing for the helm display (seen in the before and after photos above).

So what is one to do with all of these used electronics? Everything that came out of the boat was in perfect working order and far from obsolete; most boat owners would have loved to have the gear we removed. I made a phone call to Tim Leach, the Waterfront director at Maine Maritime Academy, where I spent 4 years of my life and received my degree in Marina Management. Captain Leach said that the Academy was very interested in receiving these electronics. I contacted the owner’s representative who quickly agreed with the idea. Wednesday I took a drive to Castine to drop off everything including the life raft which came off the boat as well. The gear is destined to go onto the new 70’ training boat the Academy is acquiring in the near future and will be used for a years to come to train the newest students in the finer points of navigation and boat handling. It was great fun to be able to arrange this on behalf of the boat’s owner. For more information about donating any of your old gear (from electronics gear to boats) please contact me and I’ll put you in touch with the proper people.

Regards, Ben

In the very recent past Wayfarer marine has lost two great friends and I was lucky to spend time with the both of them. For this blog I’m stepping away from boats a bit and touching down on the human aspect that has been Wayfarer Marine in my 7 years here.
 
Dr. Harvey Picker was a past owner of Wayfarer Marine as well as a great customer, I have worked closely with his former Captain- Earl Brown in making sure Mr. Picker’s fleet was well looked after. On a few occasions I have spent time on Mr. Picker's boats doing deliveries up and down the east coast. I remember the first time I had dinner with Mr. Picker- it was something I’ll never forget. He, Earl and I had dinner at Dimillo’s in Portland and after asking for a table far away from other guests we sat down to a dinner that really made me realize how special of a person Mr. Picker really was, I had always admired his accomplishments (Google Harvey Picker- you won’t be bored). The man was a true gentleman, a “man’s man.” He listened intently to every word I had to say, he was ever polite with everyone he came into contact with and was just very entertaining and witty. He made me feel like I was his honored guest at dinner, not just somebody who was helping him take his boat south. I am truly grateful for having spent the time I did with Mr. Picker, as are all of us who knew him. He was a good friend to all and especially to Wayfarer Marine.
 
The other person who I wanted to write about was Albert “Chief” Smith- a long time employee of Wayfarer Marine. Chief was employed here for over 20 years as our security guard. He was also chief of police for the town of Camden for many years. When I ran the dock here at Wayfarer I typically worked most nights until 8 and after Chief got done with his first security round he would always come by the Dock House. He would stand his watch- telling great stories of “how things used to be” and of course, he would offer to buy me dinner or a coffee as long as I was willing to go get it! I spent many evenings with Chief shooting the breeze and I can still hear him say as he often did “ya know Benjamin we’re pretty damn lucky to live here.”  When Wayfarer first bought the launch we currently use to ferry people back and forth from the moorings, a box was put out with suggestions as to what to name it- the decision was unanimous- “CHIEF.”  He was always very proud of it- and rightly so. Customers all over the world came to know Chief over his 20 years here and he was famous in his own right, always willing to give a helping hand and committed to keeping this place safe at night. We’ll miss Chief.