The decision to combine both the IMTEC and the Boating New Zealand magazine's On-Water Boat Show into one event has proved to be a success for all participants. While there is still a need to validate the trade day invitation list for future shows, exhibitors report that the quality of the visitors on the trade days was very good. Not only were they interested in the products and services being offered, the exhibitors also had time to discuss the pros and cons of their products with potential clients. In the No. 2 pavilion there was an excellent representation from the big-engine manufacturers, who collectively reported positively on the show's organisation and venue.

The show also gave Professional Skipper magazine the opportunity to discuss the health of the maritime industry in general in a convivial atmosphere. Movement has now slowed in the white boat industry, with only a few traditional boatbuilders in this sector reporting future orders. The pleasure boat market appears to be alive and well. But it was the commercial market that we were more interested in. At the show two new Jeanneau Yachts were sold into the bareboat charter market. In talking with industry representatives from all walks of life, and in moving around our ports, we note that both the charter and crayfishing fleets are being continually upgraded.

At the other end of the scale, we see the deep-water fleet continuing to grow, particularly in the offshore pelagic fisheries. But we also note a common denominator when looking around the fishing wharves is the ageing trawler fleet, which is looking very tired. Most of the vessels are approaching 30 years of age, and yet the fishing companies appear not to have a vessel replacement programme in place for this important fishery. Some say that the Kiwi dollar is too high. It's cheaper to buy second-hand offshore. Yes, it's easy to blame the strength of our dollar as an excuse not to build locally, and yet it's the very strength of this dollar that allows you to purchase the necessary components offshore for purpose-built and designed vessels in New Zealand at an affordable price. It is an interesting argument, one of which I can feel a story developing in the future.

By now most companies should be well on the way to implementing their vessel hazard management plan. This in itself has caused some confusion between safe ship management companies, Occupational Safety and Health and the Accident Compensation Corporation. Unfortunately, the Minister of Labour, Margaret Wilson, and the government, failed to listen to the maritime industry's representations and submissions to the Health and Safety Bill. Instead, they chose to tar us with the same non-compliant brush they wanted to use to address the problems associated with rail. The maritime industry, in reality, has an excellent safety record, and the MSA has worked extremely hard to promote a good safety culture among seafarers. Let there be no doubt that the MSA is still responsible for administering and managing occupational health and safety for the maritime industry in its contract of service to the Crown. And fortunately, the maritime safety inspectors who have been approved as health and safety inspectors are fully aware of the problems associated with trying to implement land-based OSH systems onto a ship or vessel. In many cases, it is not practicable to clone a system designed for a factory ashore to a sea-going vessel. It's all about managing our hazards, and common sense must prevail. On the flipside, operators who are struggling to implement hazard management systems or who are hoping that it will go away should seek professional advice, and discuss their problems with their safe ship management company and local maritime safety inspector or friendly consultant. For those who do nothing, the penalties under the Health and Safety Act are somewhat draconian and have been increased five-fold.

Professional Skipper continues to grow as the diversity of our readership expands. In this issue we feature several recent new vessels to enter service on our coast. Over the other side of the Tasman, we keep an eye on the latest developments within Australia. This year marks the 50th anniversary for Hamilton Jet, a pioneer of waterjet propulsion units. From the deep south, one of our leading tourist operators, Real Journeys, formerly Fiordland Travel, also celebrate their 50 years. These are significant achievements which are attributable to the sterling efforts and loyalty of their founders, their management and staff. As the presses start rolling, two new passenger vessels have entered the Hauraki Gulf. Subritzky's new Sea Cat has arrived on her delivery voyage from the builder's yard in Brisbane. Tsunami, a fast tourist sailing catamaran built for Fullers Northland, has just been launched, and is scheduled to depart after her sea trials for Hamilton Island and the Whitsundays as part of the company's Great Barrier Reef operations. Look out for more on these vessels in our next issue.

In the meantime, enjoy this latest issue of Professional Skipper. We value your readership and ask that you support our advertisers, because it's only with their support that we can bring you this fine publication for the industry.

Keith Ingram, Editor
 

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One of the most exciting things about our marine industry is the diversity of our seafarers and the extended maritime family. Traditionally professional mariners have come from all walks of life. Some are born to go to sea, some have little choice and end up at sea, while others choose to pursue a life at sea.

With the recent launching of a new 13m Nic de Waal Design fishing catamaran we were fortunate to get to know its owner and skipper, Dean Hatchard of Castlepoint on the Wairarapa coast. Hatchard proved to be an interesting character. He comes from a fishing family, with his Dad, Alan, doing the hard yards from the late 1960s to the 1980s fishing for rock lobster from Castlepoint. After growing up in a fishing family Dean had a desire to want to follow his Dad and go to sea, as he had developed a love of boats from an early age. However, Alan had other ideas, and said to his son, 'Before you can go to sea it would be a good idea to have a trade you can always fall back on.' Boatbuilding was a first consideration, but they were unable to find a yard that was taking on apprentices. So a young Dean Hatchard served his time as a fitter and turner with Williams Cables in Wellington, where he became a competent, qualified tradesman.

Tragedy was to strike the family when Alan unfortunately died at sea in 1988 at the age of 43, passing on the responsibility of operating the family's fishing business to Dean and his mother, Pam. Fate dealt another cruel hand in 1990, when Dean Hatchard was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he injured his back and became a paraplegic from the lower chest down. After taking an enforced year off to recover, he wasn't going to let this injury and setback hold him back. So the decision was made to get on with life. Fitting and turning was still a viable option, but his love of the sea and fishing was preferred, so he decided to stick with what he knew best and return to fishing for rock lobster. Hatchard bought his first boat, a second-hand, 28ft Hamilton Jet, in 1991. He fished from the boat for 11 years before deciding to build a purpose-built vessel for the job. 'Local weather conditions off Castlepoint can scream at times,' he says. 'we can get caught out in 80 knots where the sea is white. Our coastal area is recognised for its unpredictability. The fishing boats frequently sail in 10 knots on departure and we can experience a 60-knot passing front an hour later. Our nor'westerlies are a constant source of annoyance,' he said. 'But it's the icy-cold southerly fronts that can make it tough at times.' 'we needed to get a larger boat with more shelter, one that was stable and could handle the prevailing conditions so that we were able to continue fishing when the price was right for rock lobster, rather than let the weather dictate when we could fish. In which case, on many occasions we would miss out on the peak market prices.'

Since making the decision to return to fishing in 1991, life has just got better, he says. He married Nadia in 1995, and they now have three children and find that living and working at Castlepoint is a great place with an excellent community spirit. In September 2001 he caught up with de Waal in Auckland to discuss his design needs for a new vessel. To achieve a stable platform the decision was made to build a catamaran. But this vessel would not have the traditional foil that is incorporated into many of de Waal's designs. This foil between the two hulls is traditionally used to give additional lift to the vessel when underway, thus reducing drag and improving speed and fuel economy. To incorporate a foil on a crayfishing cat was just not practicable, particularly when working with ropes and floats around rocky or weed-laden coastal waters. To compensate for the lost foil, a bit more volume was developed into the hulls. Ventura would be fitted with Hamilton Jet propulsion units because of the shallow draft and excellent manoeuvrability they give. The fact that they are low-maintenance was another consideration. 'we wanted a large working deck area capable of carrying 80 plus pots.'

But there was to be a compromise as he also wanted a large wheelhouse for crew and passenger comfort, as it was intended that Ventura would hold a dual survey for fishing and passenger use. As he held a commercial launchmaster's certificate, Ventura would be surveyed for inshore fishing limits for 12 miles and when in passenger use would be licensed to carry up to 16 passengers. Hatchard was already impressed with the workmanship and reputation of the boatbuilders from Profab Engineering in Palmerston North. So after discussions, a contract was signed in 2002 to build the new vessel. Profab Engineering did not receive the cut hull profiles until April 2003, and after five months build-time Ventura emerged from the shed ready for delivery and subsequent sea trials. 'My experience with the owners and boatbuilders at Profab has been excellent. They listened to me and designed what I wanted incorporated in the boat,' he said.

The cabin structure was designed and built to Dean's ideas of how he would work the vessel. Hatchard decided to power the vessel with Cummins C series 6CTA8.3-M marine diesels rated at 321kW (430hp) at 2600rpm. These engines are coupled to Hamilton Jet 292 units, which on sea trials gave the Ventura a top speed of 30 knots and an impressive service speed of 24 knots cruising in working mode. 'Roger Keddie from Cummins in Palmerston North became very enthusiastic with the project, and was most helpful throughout the installation and commissioning stages.' To assist in protecting the capital investment both in looks and maintenance all exposed alloy on the hulls and superstructure was treated with Nyalic protective coatings. The alloy was acid-washed, neutralised and about four litres of Nyalic applied. Moving throughout the vessel which was not complete at the time of our sea trial, provision is made for future accommodation for'ard for four, with two berths in each hull, plus a further two berths up in the saloon. A dinette is to port with the helm station positioned to starboard, with a Weaver hatch above to enable the skipper to talk with passengers on the upper deck.

The helm station has been designed with Hatchard in mind and positioned on the starboard side. This position affords the skipper good all-round visibility, with all the electronics, gauges and instrument panels lying close to hand. Once Hatchard is on board, he takes position at the helm seat and his wheelchair is stowed away. From here he can navigate and conduct his fishing operations, where he and his crew of two often haul and reset up to 180 pots per day. The electronics on board are the latest JRC black box products supplied by Advance Trident. They are of matching design and consist of a 10.4in high-brightness TFT colour LCD, a dedicated keyboard and a signal processor unit. This allows extra flexibility in a flush-mounted installation on a console or bulkhead and ease of panel layout. Installation is said to be much simpler than an all-in-one package. Fish detection is courtesy of a JRC JFC-130 colour echosounder with 1.5kW dual-frequency (50/200kHz) transmitter. The transducer is a narrow-beam high-performance unit for excellent bottom discrimination required for crayfishing. The chartplotter is a JRC NWZ-700 with JLR-4330 12-channel GPS sensors. The JLZ-700 has a single button mark input and single bottom mark delete which is important when dropping cray pots quickly and in small areas. It can take depth or temperature information and change track colour at pre-set changes in depth or temperature to display changes easily in colour. All the units are watertight and have anti-vibration technology. The matching JRC JMA-5104 radar has a 4kW, 48-mile range enclosed radome and LCD display. The radar has an optional mini-ARPA to display the course and speed of other vessels on the screen. Communication is via a Sitex VHF and Celwave antenna. As the vessel is only working locally an SSB radio was not required.

Moving out on to the work deck the traditional crayfish derrick and pot-hauling splitter drum are positioned to starboard under the sheltered deck. There are three live cray tanks, one on the deck and one in each hull. Access to the head and shower is off the aft deck to port. The cabin roof has been clad in aluminium deck tread, with full height handrails and an access ladder off the work deck. This area may also be used as a passenger observation area when on charter work, and is ideal for watching marine mammals or when passengers feel like blowing the cobwebs out of their hair when underway. As most of her anticipated work is done during day trips, the additional speed and comfort will allow Ventura to venture further afield. She also has the advantage of being able to stay away on extended trips or when weather forces the vessel to seek shelter.

The crayfishing season starts on April 1, and Dean tries to have his pots out of the water by October before international prices drop. There is a quiet period from mid to late-April to late May and again in August due to seasonal breeding periods. Hatchard and his two crew set 180 pots, so the working days are long and often last from dawn to dusk. Once the boat is out of the water in October there is time to catch up on maintenance before starting the summer charter work. Castlepoint has become a popular charterfishing destination and now has four commercial operators working from the beach. Because of the location, fishing vessels are launched and retrieved utilising large purpose-built trailers and big four-wheel-drive tractors. In normal conditions the vessels are launched into the sheltered lagoon, but if the southerly makes it too hard to get out the narrow entrance, the boats are launched from Castlepoint Beach. Ventura's trailer had to be purpose-built for the job. Being a fitter and turner by trade, Dean designed and built the trailer. He elected to use a tandem trailer on Fiat Ellis loader tyres rather than the gooseneck front pivot-style trailer because tandem trailers are easier to reverse. Dean built 80 percent of the trailer outside his workshop but needed some assistance from colleagues doing the high bits, including the trailer guide poles and woodwork. The trailer has a retractable drawbar to enable a tighter turning circle when manoeuvring on the beach. On many occasions Nadia drives the tractor to launch and retrieve Ventura. This new rig was going to need a substantial tractor to launch and retrieve her, so Dean turned to a family friend, diesel mechanic Craig Oldfield, who sourced and converted a Ford County 4x4 for beach launching use. Because the tractor would be required to get wet when launching or retrieving in the rough, it needed to be protected against sand and water intrusion. This included converting the clutch to a wet clutch and fitting stainless sleeves over all the exposed shafts and seals, plus waterproofing all electrical systems and rustproofing key moving parts.

To assist him in getting aboard Ventura, which sits several metres above the sand when on the beach, a small derrick and boom has been fitted on the inside of the starboard side of the transom. Attached to this is a 12-volt cable winch to lift Dean and his chair on and off the vessel. Ventura is the latest in a number of new vessels to enter service from this small coastal fishing community. She adds a new dimension to the Hatchard fishing operation with the addition of charter work.

SPECIFICATIONS
Type catamaran
Length overall 13m
Hull length 11.96m
Beam 4.5m
Draft 650mm
Deadweight (light ship) 9 tonnes
Fuel 1200 litres
Water 100 litres
Engines 2 x Cummins 6CTA 8.3 litres
Power 430hp each @2600rpm
Propulsion Hamilton 292 waterjets
Maximum speed 30 knots
Service speed 24 knots
Electronics supplied by Advance Trident Ltd
Designer Nic de Waal
Builder Profab Engineering
 

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The ever-increasing profile of New Zealand companies in Australia has received a well-timed boost with Naiad Design and Seafury Propulsion combining to deliver an exciting 41-knot adrenalin machine.

Built for Raging Thunder Reef Rafting of Cairns, Thunderbolt 1 will carry holidaymakers travelling from the Fitzroy Island resort out to the Great Barrier Reef in just under an hour. The 14.6m Thunderbolt 1 is built to the specifications of the highly popular Naiad Design out of Picton, New Zealand, and although this is not the first tourist rigid inflatable that Naiad has designed, Thunderbolt 1 has a new propulsion package which may be unique.

Thunderbolt 1 is powered by a pair of Scania DI1242M diesel engines each putting out 575hp at 2100rpm. Twin Disc Quickshift MGX5114A 1.48:1 transmissions fit a pair of Seafury SF30 surface drives. Fuel capacity stands at 1000 litres. One Steel Aluminium supplied her aluminium hull and superstructure in kitset form through their Cairns One Steel Metalland branch. Profab Engineering carried out the fabrication under the supervision of the Big Boat Shed. Naiad took care in the design process to ensure the right balance was obtained between the Seafury propulsion package and the shape and balance of the hull. They had to customise the hull shape for the Seafury surface drive/RIB concept to reduce the potential problem of too much bow lift when punching into a head sea with so much engine and surface drive weight aft. After riding on this vessel myself, Naiad seems to have achieved this. A hinged stern ladder and a folding bow ladder allow swimmers to enter the boat from either end of the vessel. The forward-sloping deck gives the passengers a clear view for'ard of the craft and increases the excitement levels.

To maximise comfort and balance, 1200 litres of ballast was successfully integrated into the design, and has created a smoother ride in difficult sea conditions. During a recent trip for the launch and sea trials of Thunderbolt 1 we were able to see first-hand the successful delivery of this new concept in RIBs. The trials were conducted in testing conditions that saw a 30-knot wind chop the water of the inner Great Barrier Reef up to 1m to 2m. A full load of 43 passengers and three crew were on board during the trials, and despite the difficult conditions, the vessel handled extremely well, and the passengers were as comfortable as could be expected

Tecnoseat has installed 43 of their high-back Membrane Extra series of outdoor seats in Thunderbolt 1. Each seat has mesh material that has been specially made for marine applications and is resistant to damaging ultra-violet light. The lumbar supports that are a standard feature in the design greatly reduced the jarring and impact vibrations that were experienced during trials. We sought out the opinion of Richard, one of the passengers on the boat, during the trials. At around 1.96m and built like a typical Queensland Rugby Union lock, Richard found the seats to be comfortable and was glad to have the handles on the back of the seat to hold on to as we got completely airborne at 41 knots. The coating systems required a high performance product that would be tough, durable and abrasion-resistant to withstand the wear and tear of a high-speed tourist vessel.

The quality of the finish is as good as it gets. The topside of the vessel must have superior weathering and UV performance able to withstand severe tropical environments. Ameron supplied their Amercoat CC24 epoxy primer as the intermediate coats, and finished the vessel in their Lusterthane 988 polyester urethane. The antifouling prime coat is Ameron CC24 epoxy primer finished off with CC89 high-build epoxy gloss. Due to the no-shoes policy of the Naiad vessel, TBS non-slip polyurethane material has been applied to the deck. This French-made product is UV and micro-organism resistant. It has remarkable grip, even when wet, and is surprisingly comfortable to walk on with bare feet. The material also provides insulation from possible vibration and noise.

Hydrive manual hydraulic steering systems have been fitted, and they work in excellent combination with the Seafury surface drives. The vessel was able to turn tight corners at both high and low speed without too much effort on the driver's behalf. I positioned myself in seats directly about the engineroom and was pleasantly surprised at the low level of vibration that occurred when taking off and at top speed. 'The Raging Thunder Reef Rafting concept was conceived almost three years ago,' Denis Cole, one of the owners of the company, said during the sea trial. 'The idea was to provide a high-speed connection from our island resort of Fitzroy Island to the outer Barrier Reef. 'Raging Thunder is an adventure tour operator company specialising in white-water rafting, hot air ballooning and sea kayaking. To fit the theme, the reef connection had to have real excitement and value.' Cole said the company took the reef-rafting concept to Ralph Seed at The Big Boat Shed in Cairns. 'We knew we had to have a RIB, but the design and propulsion systems were an evolution of time and plenty of research.' Global terrorism events initially held the project back, but provided an opportunity work up a better business model and ultimately an excellent boat design, Cole said. 'Seed worked many hours and there were many telephone calls to refine the design and source the best configuration of hull, engines and propulsion systems for our needs. By the time we pushed the button to start construction, Thunderbolt 1 had all the potential to be something special.'

He said the team at The Big Boat Shed and Profab Engineering did an excellent job in constructing Thunderbolt 1. 'The fit-out from bow to stern is quality. The boat is built to work in a remote location with limited access to services.' Cole said Thunderbolt 1 had performed to expectations from the moment she hit the water. For an open boat she was very dry, even in heavy seas at speed, and very little spray passed the outer tubes. 'The rooster tail from the Seafury surface drives adds flavour to the thrill of the ride,' he said. 'If first impressions are any indication, demand will see Thunderbolt 2 not far behind.'

For more information contact The Big Boat Shed, phone +61 7 4035 4333, fax + 61 7 4035 3338. Email info@bigboatshed.com.au  or see www.bigboatshed.com.au
 

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Trawler caught with illegal catch

The Ministry of Fisheries said on March 15 that it might be several weeks before it decided whether to lay charges against the operators of a trawler caught with restricted fish and banned coral on board. MFish had seized the Seamount Explorer, operated by Antons Trawling Company, the previous week. It was found with 20 tonnes of restricted orange roughy on board and also prohibited black coral. MFish says it is still investigating a number of allegations, including whether the vessel was operating without the crew recording their position.

Charter skippers should know better

A number of Hauraki Gulf charterboat skippers have been accused of encouraging illegal fishing on their boats. Charterboat clients were stopped in a Ministry of Fisheries roadblock on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula north of Auckland on March 6 and 7. Several who were caught with excess snapper said they had been told they could catch more than their individual daily legal limit of nine snapper, as long as other people on board had caught less. The fishers received $250 infringement notices. 'This idea of 'boat limit' is totally illegal,' says Matt Cowan, MFish's district compliance manager, non-commercial. 'And I would be very, very surprised if these charter operators did not know that.' Cowan says it was each fisher's responsibility to know the rules and keep to them, even though the person they had paid to take them fishing had given them bad advice. Those caught had named several Gulf Harbour charterboats and MFish staff planned to contact the owners of these boats.

Paua poached

On January 24 two members of the public at Okiwi Bay in Nelson saw nine people taking large quantities of undersized paua. The well-meaning pair intervened and advised the poachers on the size and bag limits for paua, and even provided a measuring gauge. The nine poachers, all from Nelson, ignored their advice and continued stealing paua, shucking and cooking a large quantity on the beach. The appalled pair alerted the local honorary Kaikoura fishery officer, who responded quickly and found 61 paua, 36 of which were undersized. A large number of shucked paua had been thrown into the sea. Geoff Clark, the district compliance manager for the Ministry of Fisheries, said on February 5 that a decision had yet to be made on how many of the poachers would face the court.
See www.portfocus.co.nz

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