California

Yacht Fire Triggers Oil Spill in California

Cleanup efforts are underway after a 105-foot yacht caught fire, capsized and spilled oil in Marina del Rey, Calif., the U.S. Coast Guard said.The motor yacht The Admiral reportedly went up in flames around 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, and a crew from Los Angeles County Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire. No injuries were reported.By Thursday morning, the yacht was discovered to be discharging red-dye diesel. The vessel’s fuel capacity is said to be 6,000 gallons.A Unified Command including members of the Coast Guard…

Marine Electrification Companies Vita and Evoy Merge

Electric marine technology companies Vita and Evoy announced they are merging to consolidate their positions in high-power electric marine propulsion in both commercial and recreational markets.In coming together, the companies said they plan to leverage scale to drive down prices for the end user, fast tracking development, and providing immediate access to territories across Europe and North America with active operations in the U.K., Norway, France, Italy, Monaco and California.Evoy’s high-output inboard and outboard systems are currently in operation in 19 countries…

Kevin Costner Jokes About Blocking Cannes Yachts to Finance 'Horizon' Films

Kevin Costner joked at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday that he was ready to blockade rich people on their yachts unless they gave him money to finance his planned four-part Western series "Horizon: An American Saga."The Hollywood star has already taken out a mortgage on 10 acres of his waterfront property in California to help fund the film project, which tells of the challenges faced by settlers expanding the American West in the late 1800s. Now, he needs more financial backing for the project."If we all went out together into this harbour and we stood in front of one boat.

Insights from the 50th International Congress of Maritime Museums

For many, the ocean is life. It provides transportation, work, commerce, food, recreation—tales as old as time and shared by people across the globe. These stories are lived day to day, passed down between generations, and shared with the public through various media. Maritime museums assume responsibility to share these histories while honoring the communities shaped ocean exploration and commerce. In a decade where ocean health and climatic events have become a primary focus…

Shipbuilding: Leadership Transition at Bay Ship & Yacht

Bay Ship & Yacht founders Bill Elliott and Alan Cameron step back, name Joel Welter CEO, Gerona Goethe General ManagerBill Elliott, who during a 45-year career catapulted Bay Ship & Yacht (BS&Y) from operating out of a single, mobile shipping container known as the “Shipyard in a Box” to becoming a premiere ship repair conglomerate in San Francisco Bay, announced a new generation of leadership for the company.Joel Welter, currently Chief Naval Architect, was named Chief Executive Officer and Gerona Goethe, currently Assistant General Manager was tapped tas General Manager.

Raymarine and CMOR help Anglers, Divers Discover More

The best diving and bottom-fishing spots are the ones that don’t show up on paper or digital charts and aren’t marked on commercially available fishing maps. They’re the forgotten wrecks, the isolated reefs, the ledges hidden between the contour lines — the kinds of places that take hundreds of hours on the water and countless dollars in fuel to find.CMOR Mapping’s chartplotter-compatible bathymetry clearly reveals those spots. With resolution as high as one meter (each pixel represents a single square meter of bottom) and coverage of the entire bottom…

Suntex Acquires Seahaven Superyacht Facility

Marina properties owner and operator Suntex Marina Investors on Tuesday announced it has acquired Seahaven Marina located in Dania Beach, Fla.Broward County’s premier luxury protected harbor for superyachts, Seahaven Marina’s location offers an unparalleled yachting experience by land and by sea, Suntex said. Mere minutes from Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Seahaven provides easy, drawbridge-free access to the Atlantic Ocean for vessels up to 250 feet. The marina touts the region's most discreet and secure yacht harbor…

Suntex Marinas Acquires Faro Blanco in Marathon in the Florida Keys

Marina owner and operator Suntex Marina Investors, LLC announced today its first acquisition within its new partnership with Centerbridge Capital and Resilient Capital Partners: the Faro Blanco Marina located in Marathon in the Florida Keys.Faro Blanco is a first-class marina that offers safety, privacy, entertainment, activities, parking, convenient fuel and pump out services, dockside hookups and a resort-owned restaurant facing the marina, all in a setting with magnificent sunsets and expansive views. The Marina consists of 74 slips and accommodates vessels between 35- and 140-feet.

Cruise Company Partners to Study, Protect Marine Mammals in Antarctica

Hurtigruten Expeditions strengthened its partnership with the California Ocean Alliance (COA) to better understand and protect whales and other marine mammals in Antarctica.A pilot trial was launched in late 2019 but paused due to the pandemic. But as Hurtigruten Expedition’s restarts the 2021/2022 Antarctica season, California Ocean Alliance scientists will be part of several Antarctica sailings onboard the MS Roald Amundsen, a battery hybrid powered expedition cruise ship.The team aims to collect acoustic data to study ambient noise conditions…

Volvo Penta Partners With Bravada Yachts

Luxury houseboat manufacturer Bravada Yachts selected Volvo Penta as the propulsion provider of choice for the builder’s new Atlas V Series 80 x 22 custom lake houseboat, Invictus, located on Lake Powell, Arizona.Invictus marks several important “firsts” for Volvo Penta. The luxury houseboat is the first Bravada houseboat to be powered by Volvo Penta and largest boat in the region to be powered by a Volvo Penta Aquamatic sterndrive.“Team Bravada wanted a propulsion system that would continue the Bravada legacy of changing the houseboat industry and we found it in Volvo Penta.

ABT-TRAC Under New Ownership

California based Arcturus Marine Systems, known in the marine market as ABT-TRAC has been sold by company founder and president D’Milo Hallerberg to businessman Roger Fellows after 34 years.The sale was effective July 31, 2020, terms were not disclosed.Hallerberg founded the company in 1986 and built the company to become a leader in design and manufacture of bow and stern thrusters, roll fin stabilizers, and on-board hydraulic systems for pleasure yachts. ABT-TRAC, based in Rohnert Park, CA employs 47 people.Fellows also owns Western Marine Electronics Co.…

Nordhavn 41: Ocean Crossing Boat en route to California

Pacific Asian Enterprises announces the first two hulls of the new Nordhavn 41 have shipped from the factory and are currently en route to California. The boats left Istanbul on Friday, September 25, 2020, and are due to arrive in Long Beach, CA the end of October. The N41 has set records for Nordhavn pre-orders with commitments on the first 22 hulls. Most of these buyers will have the opportunity to sea trial either Hull #1 or #2 once they are brought to PAE’S Dana Point, CA headquarters and undergo a quick commissioning.

The Benefits of Sustainable Marine Lumber

Today’s marinas are held to a higher standard of environmental stewardship than in the past. No longer are they just responsible for the environmental impacts of their day-to-day operations, but also of their infrastructure and how it affects both the oceans, waterways and their delicate marine ecosystems. For these reasons, many marinas are being far more selective as to construction materials being specified for their expansion and/or restoration projects.One material that is rising to the top for its eco-friendly and performance attributes is sustainable marine lumber.

SW/TCH Maritime Funds H2 e-Ferry

SW/TCH Maritime has announced its investment to construct and own the ‘Water Go Round’ e-ferry in collaboration with Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine (GGZEM).SW/TCH Maritime is a New York-based investment platform building the first fleet of zero-emissions maritime vessels in the US. GGZEM is a provider of turn-key hydrogen fuel cell power systems for ships.The 84-passenger e-ferry is currently under construction at the Bay Ship & Yacht shipyard in Alameda, CA using private funding from SW/TCH and a $3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District)…

Tickfaw 200 Powerboat Poker Run

Once more renowned for picking strawberries not royal flushes, Livingston Parish now hosts Louisiana’s largest poker powerboat run, Tickfaw 200, bringing performance powerboaters to the bayou state in springtime. “It’s the Baja 500 and the Iditarod of powerboating,” said Keith Cacioppo, a lifelong boater with a 30-foot cruiser who’s attended The Tickfaw 200 for 11 straight years.Cacioppo has never run the 200, but is one of hundreds of spectator boats charging the event with energy and cheers.“My boat couldn’t handle it,” said Cacioppa. “This is for the big dogs.

Four Bertrams at Lauderdale Boat Yard

What possible professional encore exists after being mayor of Fort Lauderdale, the yachting capital of the world, for 18 years? Where do you go from there?For Jim Naugle, the choice was obvious. Nicknamed “Mayor Marine” by insiders who saw the city and its boat show boom during his public service in the city’s executive office from 1991 - 2009, Naugle became a managing partner in Lauderdale Boat Yard (LBY), the former Striker aluminum yacht facility on Marine Mile in Fort Lauderdale.

Marina del Rey BoatYard Expands Operations

Bellingham Marine collaborates with The BoatYard Marina del Rey to expand service offerings for boats in Southern California. Big boats mean big money. They also mean big equipment when it comes to repairs. Large vessels often have trouble finding boatyards in Southern California that are capable of servicing them, until now.Boat owners in the region have a new option with the installation of a 100-ton travel lift pier at the The BoatYard at Marina del Rey. The new Marine Travelift has opened up The BoatYard to a much larger market.

Cachet Covers & a Boy's Fascination with Ships

Like many boys, Charles. F. “Bud” Kirby, Jr. loved ships. He had drawings, models, pictures, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks. And, as his son, Don, recently learned, he had cachet covers of submarines.Bud would send stamped envelopes to the Electric Boat Company that he had addressed to himself in Watertown, Mass. These envelopes would be stamped with a commemorative cachet and then appropriately cancelled at Groton, Connecticut, where the EB shipyard was located, or on the ship if it had been commissioned.Each ship has its own post office, and its own cancellation stamp.

Four Missing, Nine Injured after Boats Crash Head-on

Divers searched the Colorado River in Arizona on Sunday for four people missing after two boats slammed head-on into each other, flinging all aboard into the water, sinking both vessels and injuring nine people, police said on Sunday.The collision happened on Saturday night near Arizona's border with California when a boat with 10 people and a craft carrying six people collided. Several people were rescued by nearby boaters, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office said.Divers were set to search up until sundown on Sunday for the four missing…