(NEODESHA, KANSAS – JANUARY 31, 2010) With the introduction of the first model in its new “A” line, Cobalt Boats has returned to its roots in marine design, to fundamental enhancements of the boating experience in the tradition of, say, Cobalt’s legendary “extended running surface.” As the prototypes of the A25 make the rounds of the big winter shows, Cobalt is emphasizing the depth of “genuine innovation” on the boat. “In the pressures of recurring new model years the industry has too often been content to claim ‘innovations’ that amount to little more than window-dressing,” according to Cobalt President Paxson St. Clair. “With the A series our thinking has taken us deeper into our customers’ expectations of change for the better. The features of the A25 represent specific new ideas for making boating more enjoyable.”

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Boaters would rather spend time enjoying the water than waste it cleaning out their bilge.  Allowing moisture to collect down below can result in mildew infestations, unpleasant odors and costly damage.  Arid Bilge Systems automatically removes water and keeps the area bone dry, leaving more moments for cruising.  Ed Mahon of Sandy Hook Marine Services in New Jersey, recently installed Arid Bilge Systems' Series 4 in his customer's Sabre 32 Express, with tremendous results.

            "These boats have fairly shallow bilges so water always pools," said Mahon.  That can easily lead to problems down the road.  "My customers trust me to take care of them and want to be able to just start their engine and go.  This system better allows them to do that."  Mahon installed the system, turned it on and returned the next day.  "Literally, every drop of water was gone.  I'm very impressed with the product and so is my client."

            Creating a more pleasant onboard environment, Arid Bilge Systems' Series 4 is a vacuum drying system that utilizes multiple pickups placed in the bilge compartments to remove moisture.  It features single-point discharge and pumps a maximum of 10.2 gallons of water per hour.

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To ensure customers receive the personal assistance they need, Parker Energy Systems' Fuel Polishing products are now offered through Parker's Racor Division and its distributors.  Racor is a division of Parker Hannifin Corporation and a global leader in fuel, air, oil and coolant filtration systems for internal combustion engines and fuel delivery. 

            Parker Energy Systems' state-of-the-art FPM-050 Fuel Polisher pump is ideally suited to work with Racor fuel filter/water separators.  Racor has an extensive network of mobile and marine distributors across North America and around the world.

            "Our pump product fits right in with Racor's quality offering, which is why this distribution relationship will lead to mutual success," said Scott Leahy, Parker Energy Systems' project engineer.  "Parker's customers are better served when they have more Parker distribution locations to buy products."

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Offering inshore and offshore fishing charters at affordable rates.  For more information pictures and video see www.stpete-fishing-charter.com or contact Capt. Mark @ 727-776-7719.

January 18, 2010

I learned something new the other day, and believe it or not, it came via the internet. We had decided to replace the dinette table and the cockpit table because they had seen better days. My idea was to use teak, I love the way it looks and some of the trim in the cabin is teak. Living in a small town has both advantages and disadvantages, one being that there is not too much action and the other is there is very few choices for anything you want. This is especially true when it comes to building materials. We have a small Home Depot, Home Hardware and a small Reno. They stock a good amount of the same things, but when it comes to anything out of the ordinary forget it. Noe of the 3 stock any real selection of hardwood, other than maple and oak, which they have in short supply and little choice of size. 12" x 1"x 8' most common size. So looking for teak was a job, I got lucky  with a place just north of Kingston that stocks some exotic wood, but not teak. The owner said it is too expensive and people rarely ask for it, but he does stock Iroko, a wood that looks just like teak and 1/10th the price. Teak sells for $100 per board foot....yikes. Iroko looks good to me. It is some times called African Teak, and you can get it as wide as 4', or even wider if you can wait. Apparently the tree grows fast and radius's of 5 feet are not uncommon. I bought some at 12" wide, feeling that will do me.

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Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter!    Get the latest up to the minute postings.  See photos of the lastest happenings.  Keep up to date on our events, tournaments, and boat shows.  And catch a few special deals on boats.  Just look for Gulf Coast Hatteras in your FaceBook and Twitter searches!

January 7, 2009

It's -10C today and is the first day since the new year it hasn't snowed. Not a lot, but enough to get the snow blower out a couple of times, and to discover the electric start button has water in it and won't work in the extreme cold because it freezes. So simple to fix I thought, and I took it out to get a replacement but discovered that they aren't made anymore. I could get a whole replacement switch and rear plate that would work for $20. Great....then when I took the plate off the back of the starter boing, springs and brushes everywhere. I finally found all but I can't get them back in place, I figure I'll have to take the starter off the blower and do it that way....never as easy as it looks. I just hope it doesn't snow too much between now and when I get it fixed.

As I mentioned earlier, the little lady and I have decided to make our relationship legal and plan to get married at the Ivy Lea Club this summer. After a short meeting at the club we now have to assemble a guest list that stays under 50. This can be easy or difficult depending on who puts the list together, I could do it very easy, but of course her thoughts are....if we invite A & B, then we need to invite X & Y, and if we invite the guy who looks after the shopping carts at the grocery store, what will the cashier think. Or even worse, how about the people she works with..........glad I'm not in that boat. We have a bit of time to sort it out and I just hope I don't end up in the dog house, it's awfully cold out.

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Is it the older we get the more we miss, or is it the older we get the faster things happen? It feels like only yesterday I was finishing my wrapping,  stuffing stockings, preparing for the big day and now it's history. I barely remember what gifts I gave and got. We have our grand daughter with us this week and I have no idea what we got her. She keeps reminding me each time another toy/doll/game is played with by giving me a hug and saying thanks for the present.............I just nod and say "You're welcome, remember it's from grandma too!" Then 5 minutes later she's onto some other new toy. And we only have about half the presents she got for Christmas......she'll never remember who gave her what, but that's the way it is when you're 4.

As for me, I received some excellent gifts from socks, books, oven mitts and other such items to something I had been kidding about all Christmas Eve and morning......a new dinghy !!!! I almost crapped my pj's. My wife was very nervous the few days before Christmas because I was surfing the net and she figured I would have bought one....I almost did. In fact, I'd decided that after Christmas I would order one since they all looked alike and the best bet was to buy one with a good reputation. She bought it from West Marine and it says it's made by Zodiak, so I presume it must be a safe buy. The seams are thermobonded and not glued.....what ever that means. Then I figured I'm not going to row it and I bought a 6hp Mercury to propel it.......can't wait for the spring to come, only 4+ months to go

I hope that the coming year will bring some stability in the world and to our economy. I know that's the usual phrase, but for some reason I truly feel it can't get anything but better. Except for the new treats from world terrorists putting bombs in their underwear.....how does one go about ensuring they can't get on board an aircraft without "feeling them up" The next thing will be making everybody strip and put on one of those paper robes from the hospital and wear it until the flight ends.....maybe not the stupidest idea.

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Newport, RI -- Sprague Theobald, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker, returned
to his Newport, Rhode Island home this week after completing an arduous fivemonth,
8,500mi filmmaking expedition through the Arctic in order to capture HD
footage and stories for his next documentary. While footage that leaked through
the filmmaker's blog has been deemed "stunning" and "other worldly", the biggest
treasure Theobald found in the Arctic was his renewed family ties.

Aboard his specially outfitted 57'  Nordhavn, Theobald brought with him a team of
professional divers, sailors and filmmakers. He also hired three family members -
son Sefton Theobald, stepdaughter Dominique Tanton, and stepson Chauncey
Tanton. The four family members had not had the luxury of living together for
many years and grew incredibly close amid the danger, desolation, and close
quarters of the five-month voyage across the Arctic Circle. In the end, the family
aspect added a profound dynamic to his story.

"Words can not express how proud I am of you,” said Theobald, at a final crew
meeting in Seattle, WA last week. "Every one of you did your job above and
beyond what was expected... and you kept it together and looked after one
another when we were stuck in the ice."

By "keeping it together" and "stuck in the ice" Theobald refers to a harrowing twoday
experience as the crew made their attempt through Canada's narrow and ice
clogged Northwest Passage. No sooner did they enter the 30-degree water as it
began to freeze around them. They were trapped and frozen in. They tried
everything to escape and at one point the boat was being driven towards a rocky
coast and the crew prepared to abandon ship.

“The sound was horrific,” Theobald said Oct. 26 while talking about being trapped
in the ice with a reporter from Alaska's Bar Harbor. “I thought it was the hull —
itʼs that grinding, cracking noise (like) youʼd think fiberglass would sound like if it
was breaking...It finally dawned on me. Its the ice around us thatʼs making that all
that noise,” Theobald said.

Ultimately, skillful maneuvering and a bit of luck landed them safely on the other
side of the Passage intact where they proceeded across the Bering Sea, around
Alaska and down the coast to their final port of Seattle, WA. Crew members regrouped
in Seattle for boat repairs, family matters, and to meet with film and TV
producers about the project.

Theobald's expedition included more dramatic events that pitted the crew against
foul weather, technical issues, icebergs the size of Manhattan skyscrapers,
wildlife encounters, personality conflicts, and so on... all of which are driving
interest from several TV networks. Theobald asks we keep an eye on his blog --
for developing news about the project, and for readers who want to chime-in and
vote for scenes to be included or excluded from the documentary and TV series.
###
Interviews, high-resolution photography, video clips and a teaser of Theobald's
upcoming documentary are available at NorthwestPassageFilm.com. For more
information contact Matt@NorthwestPassageFilm.com.
Matthew D. Dutra
Co-Producer
Northwest Passage Film
c/o Hole in the Wall Productions
Newport, Rhode Island 02840
Mobile: 401-935-8831
Matt@NorthwestPassageFilm.com
www.NorthwestPassageFilm.com
www.HitwProductions.com

HTML MessageBoatU.S. Questions Need for Marine Automatic Identification System

ALEXANDRIA, Va., December 10, 2009 - Airplane transponders allow air traffic controllers to "see" who is in the sky. Yesterday, in speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives Coast Guard Subcommittee, BoatU.S. testified that any potential requirement for this type of technology on boats is not practical, nor would it reduce the threat of a waterborne attack. "Contrary to what Hollywood has portrayed, the average boat in this country is 16-feet. Requiring some type of transponder on recreational boats -- many of whom don't even have a battery to power it -- would only be window dressing for a potential homeland security problem that will not be reduced, despite the outlay of billions of dollars," said BoatU.S.Vice President of Government Affairs Margaret Podlich.

Marine Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) have long been used as a collision avoidance tool for commercial ships and provides important vessel identification, position, speed and course information to fellow mariners as well as land-based vessel traffic control systems. Since 9/11, the Coast Guard has been tasked by the Dept. of Homeland Security to develop a small-boat threat assessment and strategy to reduce the possibility of small watercraft being used by terrorists.

"The challenge with AIS is that it does not provide the ability to reduce the small boat threat," said Podlich. "For starters, the AIS unit on a small boat can simply be turned off. And more importantly, how could the U.S. Coast Guard monitor the millions of new vessel traffic movements? The monitoring would be overwhelming, on-the-water force response inadequate, and it would be costly to taxpayers to build and operate the system," said Podlich. She also mentioned boaters would be forced to pick up the tab for the AIS units, which currently starts at about $600.

"Even if a would-be terrorist would go to the trouble of complying with an AIS requirement, they would merely have to pull the AIS unit's electrical plug moments before the attack," Podlich testified. She also mentioned a terrorist could simply steal a boat. "AIS does not recognize if people aboard a vessel are on a watch list." In addition, AIS can be easily "spoofed," or manipulated to make every AIS transponder in a certain area report inaccurate data.

The Better Solution: America's Waterway Watch

BoatU.S. believes the U.S. Coast Guard would have better results addressing the small boat threat if the agency's own America's Waterway Watch program(AWW) had better funding and infrastructure support. Similar to a neighborhood watch program, America's Waterway Watch treats boaters as part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

"Several government reports have concluded that working with recreational and commercial vessel operators is a key to increasing our domestic maritime security. Boaters need to know they have the ability to report to the US Coast Guard when they see something looks suspicious on the water by calling 1-877-24WATCH. We hope Congress will bolster this program since it's so critical in reducing the small boat threat," added Podlich. Additional funding for AWW was written into the Coast Guard Authorization Act (HR 3619) which passed out of the House last month and is now awaiting action by the Senate.
To review Podlich's testimony, go to www.BoatUS.com/gov. To learn more about America's Waterway Watch program, go to www.AmericasWaterwayWatch.com .