ProBoat Radio

Jack Allinson and Dylan Bailey join us with a preview of their IBEX 2013 seminar on surveying metal boats with NDT. Join us to learn how these instruments work and find out differences between a spot radiometer, a thermal imager, and a radiometric infrared imager. For more information, visit the full seminar description posted on the IBEX website.

At IBEX 2013, the Landing School will offer a free presentation on "The Evolution, Design, and Build of the Flyfisher 22," a cold-molded center-console boat built at the school.   With input from the head product developer and head marketing staff at the LL Bean hunting and fishing division, as well as several flyfishing guides, The Landing School and Van Dam Custom Boats developed custom plans for this boat, which was constructed by students at the school.   During this show, host Ann Avary will talk to Barry Acker and Jamie Houtz about this project, how it fits into the school's over all curriculum, and what what else is going on at The Landing School. Tune in for details!

SNAME members have published literally millions of pages of original research defining the state of the art and best practices in naval architecture and marine engineering. These same members have also overseen the building of countless marine craft and structures of all sizes and descriptions. On this week’s show, Executive Director Erik Seither joins us to talk about SNAME’s legacy, current programs, and plans for the future. You may be surprised to find out how diverse this organization has become in its scope and activities.

Rich Difede (Gold Coast Yachts) says, "Talent is critical… so what do we do to manage its development ?" Rich joins PBRadio hosts Barbara Jean Walsh and Ann Avary in discussing talent from a variety of viewpoints: mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and professional.

  Surveyors and Multimeters, Ammeters, and Other Diagnostic Tools: Dwight Escalera joins the surveyors to preview his IBEX 2003 seminar for surveyors, boat inspectors, and marine electric technicians. When it comes to identifying and interpreting electrical faults, the most common diagnostic tools are multimeters, clamp-on ammeters, and the IDEAL SureTest circuit analyzer. We're going to talk about how to interpret the readings you’ll get from each diagnostic tool, whether for the benefit of the vessel, the owner, or the operator.    

  The American workforce is changing in every industry, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) is a major factor in that change. Currently, millions of members of the U.S. labor pool do not actually have authorization to work here.   Once CIR is passed, though, that will change, and marine-industry employers will need guidance on how to handle any number of new situations that will arise.   What will you do if the long-time foreman of your laminating crew advises you that he provided you a false social security number when he was hired, but now has a valid social security card and wants to update his records?    Louisville-based immigration attorney Lisa Galvan joins us to discuss current immigration policies, highlighting the effect of new rulings on employers.  This will be a preview of Ms. Galvan's IBEX 2013 seminar on the same topic.    

Today, the marine industry is seeing a huge variety of outboards, from tiny solar-powered trolling motors to the largest single outboards ever built. While a few owners still enjoy tinkering with older engines, most boaters are happy to trust these increasingly complex machines to factory-trained service techs. In this preview of his IBEX 2013 seminar, John Bernier (North Atlantic Marine Services), reviews a series of questions that every service tech needs to consider when it comes to working on outboards. Join us to find out how service departments can the quality of their work and customer satisfaction.    

For most people, the "impact of warranty work" means a financial burden, but it can be much more than that. On this week's show, we'll learn how Brunswick Boat Group (BBG)  takes warranty data and integrates it with additional quality information to improve the design of new models, as well as supplier sourcing. BBG's Director of Quality Craig Laboranti joins us to discuss how the company manages this complex process. Laboranti has been with BBG for more than 10 years and is responsible for product quality, product integrity, product compliance, and quality systems management. Questions for Craig?  Please send them to radio@proboat.com.  

Surveyors Roundtable member Steve Knox was the chair of the committee that wrote the new ABYC standard A-33 Emergency Engine Cut-Off Devices in 2007 and 2008. He likens it to making sausage – don’t dwell on how it came to be, just use it and enjoy it. John Adey, President of ABYC, will be our guest. We’ll discuss who belongs to these committees, and what the process is to develop and review ABYC standards.

The superyacht market is one of the most dynamic components of the marine industry with distinctive hull designs, colors and ornamentation set many yachts apart, effectively branding the companies that design and manufacturer them.   Join Ann Avary as she interviews Wes Fridell of New World Yacht Builders in Anacortes, Washington about the changing face of the industry: product diversification, trends, technologies, materials, and where the industry is heading.  New World Yacht Builders produce a diverse fleet of vessels for the luxury and commercial markets.   You can learn more about New World Yacht Builders by visiting www.northernmarine.com.

During the past couple years, as Robin G. Coles (owner of  TheNauticalLifestyle.com) has promoted her book Boating Secrets: 127 Top Tips to Help You Buy and Enjoy Your Boat at various boating events, she picked up on an all too familiar pattern, namely, how boating would be more fun if only. . . . This past year, at both the Providence RI and Strictly Sail Miami boat shows, Robin put a flip chart in her booth. Then, she started asking women, "If you could change one thing about the man in their life while boating, what would that be?" According to Robin, the flip chart got a lot of attention and  chuckles. Plus, the results are intriguing. In our discussion with Robin, she will talk about those results and what marine industry professionals can learn from this funny and informal survey about keeping people interested in boating, and keeping boating fun.

Composite boat builders looking for lighter weights are often also looking for lower costs in materials, labor, and propulsion, too, while some builders have found they must actually pay more for materials and labor.  At IBEX 2012, Scott Lewit (Structural Composites Inc.) took part in a panel discussing the spectrum of lightweight boatbuilding and reported on his company's on lightweight composites in military applications.  Lewit joins us now with the final results of research that SCI has completed for the Navy on this topic.

Seems like just yesterday that establishing proper methods for boat hauling and storage was the hot topic in boatyards and ABYC's TY-28 Guidelines grew out of those discussions. Well, how time flies. That was 15 years ago, as the latest issue of Professional BoatBuilder magazine reminds us. For this week's episode of ProBoat Radio, we'll review the practices that prompted the writing of TY-28 and talk abouat what's changed since then-- and we'll have some great "kids don't try this at home" photos on our website, too.

Naval Architect Eric Sponberg discusses the S-Number and what it means for yacht designers.

Mike Bergen and Mark Bishop join us with a preview of the IBEX 2013 seminar on this process which offers and interesting alternative to VARTM. Is this the next new boatbuilding technology? What advantages does it have over VARTM? What are the disadvantages? Join us to ask the questions. (But you may need to go to IBEX to hear the answers.)