Quite a lot to report on this week, so pull up a chair.
I. What exactly happened to our 78 Cruiser?
A good question. You may recall my report that she sold and went to the Middle East. A wonderful article has just been published about her new owner and why he bought this wonderful yacht, and how he plans to use her. You can click on it below:
EAU_Yachts Emirates Nov-Dic 2011[1]
II. Brokerage Boat Upgrades
At the Fort Lauderdale show I caught up with two owners who’s yachts are on our brokerage list. Both are in the midst of some very nice upgrades:
Summer Nights, our 2002 Vicem 51, is getting new electronics (Garmin’s, I believe).
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2002/Vicem-Classic-2151289/Charlevoix/MI/United-States
And Three Belles, our Vicem 54 Flybridge (3 Cabin) has just had a paint job:
Three Belles – V54 FB 3 Cabin
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2007/Vicem-54-2255867/Fort-Lauderdale/FL/United-States
Please call me if you have any questions about the scope of work on either of these Vicems.
III. Yachtworld Feature Boat
The above Yachtworld listings remind me to remind you to check out the Yachtworld home page. We usually occupy some fine real estate there – One of their six featured boats. This week is it Ruthie B, our 2007 Vicem Flybridge. You can see what I mean at:
IV. A Chance Encounter?
Chance, the Vicem 72 Flybridge with the varnished wooden coachroof that graces the heading of every posting of The Vicem – Newport Blog, is now on her way south.
Chance, Vicem 72 FB
She left Annapolis the other day, and will be in Fort Lauderdale next week. She is a truly exceptional 72, and I know her like the back of my hand. If you have any questions about her, or would like to see her, just let me know.
V. Dave’s Book Review
I figure if Oprah can have a book club, so can I. And anyone who spends as much time as I on the road and sea will have read a bunch of books. So every now and again I will recommend a book for my loyal readers.
This week it is “Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934 -1961, by Paul Hendrickson. As the title makes clear, it tries to gain an understanding of the man through his relationship with his boat (lots of scholars have gotten nowhere trying to gain an understanding of the man through his relationships with people!).
His boat was a Wheeler 38 (built in the country of my birth, Brooklyn) and here is Papa at the upper helm, off Havana:
The author writes: “My aim is to try to lock together the words “Hemingway” and “boat” in the same way that the locked-together and equally American words “Dimaggio” and “bat,” or “Satchmo” and “horn,” will quickly mean something in the minds of most people, at least of a certain age.”
I am of that certain age, and I think the author hit his mark. Let me know what you thing.
VI. The Truth about GPH
Day in and day out I am asked about Vicem fuel burn rates, at both cruise and maximum speeds. Of course I can rattle those off in my sleep for anything we build. But I have always been a little hazy about “real world” burn rates. It is very hard to guess how much time is spent puttering around harbors, exploring new anchorages, going out for casual dinner cruises, as opposed to those petal to the metal hours trying to beat the squalls back to your harbor. Well, know I have some baseline data I can use for any boat in our line.
I recently received a helpful email from the owner of a Vicem 51, based in Ct. He is the kind of accomplished businessman who lives and dies by the numbers, and as such he compiled rigorous data about his first season’s ownership of the boat. His V51 has 610 HP MAN’s. He writes:
Over the course of the 2011 boating season, we:
– ran for 69.3 hours;– covered 563 nautical miles;– consumed 1,135.4 gallons of fuel;– ran up a fuel bill of $5,056.61;This equates to the following averages:– 16.4 gallons/hr;– 8.2 gallons/hr/engine;– .495 nautical miles / gallon;– $4.45 / gallon fuel price.Frankly, I’m quite pleased with this number as it aligned almost perfectly to the low-end of the fuel budget.
I find these numbers quite useful and illuminating. This overall average of 16.4 GPH is almost exactly 50% of the max speed burn rate, and about 30% less than I would have guessed for a full season’s use. If you are curious, here is the MAN data for those 610’s:
http://marinemotorworks.com/2866LE405.html
Of course feel free to call me and I can extrapolate out for your potential ownership costs.
VI. Two Weeks To Go:
On Saturday, December 3rd we will be having our second annual NYC fundraiser for our 1/3 completed school in Haiti. You can see the details below. If you would like to attend, or help in any way (PLEASE!) just give me a call. Thank you with all I got, in advance.
568 kids, Bodarie, Haiti
http://www.pingg.com/rsvp/4y7xrxaekmpxbyq3c
Well, that’s it for now. Meanwhile, you know the drill – Any questions or comments, just launch a flare.
Thanks, and enjoy!
