U.S. Coast Guard Rescues 2 of 6 Missing Boaters

MIAMI, FL, September 25, 2007 (USCG)- The Coast Guard has rescued two of the six missing boaters Monday after they departed Miami en route Bimini, Bahamas Saturday afternoon on a 47-foot sport fisher.

The names of the rescued are Guillermo Zarabozo and Kirby Archer.

Missing are Jake Branam, captain of the vessel Joe Cool and his crew, Kelly Branam, Scott Campbell and Sammy Cary.

Family members reported the vessel overdue at approximately 5:45 p.m. Sunday after the vessel failed to return to Miami Beach Marina at its scheduled time.

The Joe Cool was found by crewmembers of the cutter Pea Island late Sunday evening 160 miles south of Bimini. Boarding team members from the Pea Island discovered the abandoned vessel in disarray with the life-raft missing.

Zarabozo and Archer were found by an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter approximately 12 miles north of that location and taken to the cutter Confidence.

According to the Global Positioning System on board the vessel, the Joe Cool made several erratic movements and began heading south about halfway into their voyage.

The Coast Guard immediately began searching with a HC-130 aircraft from Elizabeth City, N.C., the Cutter Confidence, the Cutter Pea Island and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Miami deployed to the Confidence.

The Cutter Pea Island is a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Cutter Confidence is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Port Canaveral, Fla.

E-20 Gas Amendment Offered To Energy Bill

Boat/US Magazine

SAG HARBOR, NY, September 22, 2007 (The Boating Channel)

Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) are sponsoring an amendment to the energy bill that can help Boaters avoid damaging their marine engines and fuel tanks with gasoline blended in high concentrations of ethanol.

According to the story, "Shadegg learned firsthand of the destructive power of ethanol in marine fuels when he pumped E-10 gas into the fiberglass gas tank of his 1973, 28-foot Bertram, Inevitable. The tank degraded rapidly, resulting in thousands of dollars of damage to the boat and its engines."

The amendment adds roadblocks to the permit process for states to require gas blended with ethanol concentrations higher than 10%.

U.S. Luxury Yacht Builder Moves Production To China

SAG HARBOR, NY, September 22, 2007 (The Boating Channel)



THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KALAMA, Wash. -- North Star Yachts has laid off 60 workers in this Columbia River town north of Portland, Ore. The company is moving production to China for lower labor costs according to The Associated Press in a story reported two days ago.

About seven employees will remain at the headquarters and parts warehouse of NorthStar Yachts, chief operating officer Jerry Clark told The Columbian newspaper earlier this month.

"We tried to make it work here, but economics forced us to look at different options," said Jerry Clark, chief operating officer of NorthStar.

The company makes luxury boats from about 80 feet to 125 feet long with price tags of $6 million to $13 million, producing one to two a year. Competing yachts made in other countries are available for about $2 million less, Clark said.

North Stars 112' Raised Pilothouse Motoryacht

"A lot of the expense is labor," he said. "With cheaper labor, hopefully our sales will increase."

To maintain quality control, Northstar is establishing and managing its own operation in Zhuhai, a maritime business zone in China, he added.

"We originally went over there thinking we were going to subcontract with an existing company," Clark said.

The layoffs mark the end of three generations of yacht building in Cowlitz County. The founders of Northstar began by buying the assets of Tollycraft, which was founded in Kelso in 1936 and closed in 1998.

"This is really, really tough for me," Clark said. "I have been working with people here for 15 or 20 years, and they were like a family to me.

"Unfortunately, it's a game of survival. And this is also exciting. A few American yacht builders are already here, but in many ways we're pioneers."