ProBoat Radio

  Multihull designer Kurt Hughes (Seattle, Washington) joins us to share lessons learned from his "Lunar Lander" project. "The mission," he says, "is to build a line of habitable space landers providing creature comforts with low impact on the land and high amazement factor."   Inside the lander, there is open space, with external modules for bath, galley, breakfast nook and storage. On top is a clear geodesic dome with queen size berth under it. The dome is suspended by carbon fiber tensors so the light can stream in down all around the berth.   Hughes will share the rest of the details of this project with us, and we'll also discuss what the building industry might have to learn from boatbuilders, and the ways in which this project has become an education for Hughes.

At IBEX 2012, Eric Sponberg will present a seminar describing a variety of failed-rudder scenarios.  Join us this week for a preview of those case studies including what went wrong, and why.

  White collar crime, including marine insurance fraud, is on the rise, and our surveyors suggest that's because of the current economic conditions as well as the apparent ambivalence on the part of many marine insurance underwriters.   Guest Dan Rutherford says, "We are seeing claims presented for mechanical failures, sinkings, theft of equipment and fires that seem to have many suspicious origins."   We'll talk about the importance of documenting your case file, what the surveyor is and is not authorized to do, how to report to the client when there are potential bad faith ramifications, etc.   We'll also touch on the costs associated with claim handling both from the company perspective and the surveyor perspective.   "Currently," says Rutherford, "many underwriters are handling claims from inside the house rather than using outside vendors to reduce LAE (Loss Adjustment Expense). I think this is a false economy. The threshold when an underwriter would make the decision to hire an outside vendor used to be as low as $500.00. Then it was $2,500.00. Now we are hearing of claims being handled by inside adjusters for tens of thousands of dollars with no outside survey being completed. Underwriters are asking insureds or yards to photograph the damage and 'self report' with an estimate: If nothing looks fishy, then they settle and close the file. This has, in my opinion, had a profound effect on perpetuating fraud."

  What is corrosion and why is it such an important issue for builders, designers and end users?  Join this two part series and learn about the phenomenon of corrosion, why it occurs, how it is treated once detected and how it impacts the bottom line.  Kevin Ritz, our guest, is an expert on the topic, with more than 20 years of experience in the industry.  Kevin is an ABYC Master Tech, CEO of Cruising Essentials, LLC in Oregon and part of the Engineering Sales team at Electro-Guard, Inc. Marine Corrosion Solutions – www.boatcorrosion.com.   In Part II, we’ll cover prevention, take a look at some case studies and explore the economic impact of corrosion to the builder and end user.

Eric Sponberg joins us to talk about his work in developing free-standing rigs. According to Eric, "Free-standing rigs are inherently safer, simpler, and more aerodynamically efficient than conventional rigs.  They are safer because stayed rigs are held up by hundreds of little parts, any one of which could fail or slip out and cause the rig to fall down.  A free-standing mast is held up by just two parts—the partners and the heel fitting—so safety of the rig increases by the ratio of many hundreds to 2!" Want to learn more? Tune in.

Marine surveyor and rigger John Koon joins us to talk about some of the issues he will be covering in his IBEX 2012 seminar on Inspecting Rigging. Based in Honolulu, Koon has probably spent as much time aloft as other surveyors have spent on deck. Tune in to hear his comments and concerns about the rigging trade as he describes his experiences working on a spectrum vessels from new high-speed multihulls to historic square-rigged tall shps.

At this year's Strictly Sail Pacific show in Oakland, CA, I met John Arndt, publisher of Latitude 38, and enjoyed listening to his pitch for Summer Sailstice. John and I will be talking about this upcoming event, as well as other ways to encourage more participation in boating, whether it's sailing, bass blasting, water skiing, or dragonboating.

Members of IAMI (International Association of Marine Investigators) recently had an unusual and rare training opportunity just outside of Newark, New Jersey. During this two-day course, attendees 10 boats were deliberately burned, reanacting common boat fire scenarios. For this week's show, we've invited Todd Schwede (Todd & Associates, Inc.) to talk about the event, and to open up a discussion about boat fires with our regular Surveyors Roundtable members.

For this week's show, Dwight Escalera joins us to discuss developments in ELCI devices with ProBoat Radio WEST host Ann Avary. Already familiar to boaters and boatbuilders in other countries, the ELCI (electrical leakage circuit interrupter) is not so well known here. Tune in to find out more about this device, how it differs from a GFCI, what it can and cannot do, and how it differs from other products to prevent electric-shock and stray-current fatalities.

This week we offer our third show on Do-It-Yourselfers in the Boatyard. Our guest is Attorney Todd Lochner, whose practice concentrates primarily upon maritime matters. He is well-versed in a wide array of maritime subjects, and counsels boat yards and marinas, brokerages, sailing schools, and other maritime businesses with an emphasis upon preventative legal advice.  We'll be asking him some of the questions that have come up during our two previous shows on this topic, and we welcome you to send in your questions as well.

Rick Ostler joins us to talk about boat tops and how he grew his company from store front to cyperspace.

ProBoat Radio Surveyors Roundtable member Pat Kearns says a marine surveyor can be a DIYer's best friend, so for this show, we'll talk about the role of the surveyor in a DIY project. What are the advantages to taking on this type of survey work? And what are the red flags? (This is the second show in a three part series, begun with Do-It-Yourselfers in the Boatyard on March 13. We'll close on April 17 with some of the legal aspects, presented by attorney Todd Lochner.)

ProBoat Radio West host Ann Avary and Barbara Jean Walsh discuss Generation Y and talk about what marine-industry employers may need to understand to work well with these potential eployeess who have grown up in a world of technology, two wars, and tough economic times.

  We have invited Rob Kaidy back to give us an update on our 2010 show on the state of naval architecture. Rob is the co-founder and president of Ocean5 Naval Architects, located in Stuart, Florida.  He says, "Ocean5 works with a skilled team of degreed engineers and naval architects, to designed world renown boats, yachts, and ships for both production boatbuilders, and discerning owners." The company provides a full suite of services, from concept through detailed detail, with an intense numerical and computational approach to design and analysis.

  Don’t boat yard managers have enough to worry about without having customers in the yard who want to work on their own boats? This week will be the beginning of a three part series on DIY on ProBoat Radio. This week, Jim Bronstien (Marine Business Advisors)and Nancy Bray Booth (Hartge Yacht Harbor) will give us their perspectives on the  good, the bad, and the really bad aspects of DIYers. And your host Barbara Jean Walsh will offer a shameless plug for the Berkeley Marine Center and its support of a renovation project conducted on site by the Dragonmax racing-canoe team.