Want to Tour a Megayacht?

Depending upon what part of the country you live in, you may very well have been preparing for an onslaught of Old Man Winter's wrath this weekend. Personally, I find it far too early to be experiencing the white stuff, so that's why I'm looking forward to escaping the Northeast and heading to sunny and warm Florida for the holidays.

If your first escape won't be for a while, or if you're looking for a good excuse, there's always the Miami International Boat Show and the Yacht & Brokerage Show in February. And it just so happens that we at Power & Motoryacht are holding a contest right now where one lucky reader will get a personal tour of a megayacht, from bridge deck to bilge, at the Yacht & Brokerage Show.

To read full details and enter, click here.

Ashes, Ashes, They All Fall Down

Even though the wildfires returned to Malibu this weekend, many boaters are still dealing with the first round of blazes that hit Southern California earlier this month.

From Los Angeles to San Diego, thousands of powerboats along the coast have been coated with a powdery coat of ash. If boaters don't clean their hulls quickly—and properly—they'll have an expensive problem on their hands.

If you live in the area, The Log, a local boating and fishing newspaper, offers a few simple tips to help you clean up your cruiser. White ash from wildfires contains more than just wood particles: There's plastic, fiberglass and other compounds that could damage your hull. And the longer the ash stays on your boat, the more trouble it could cause.

If you clean it yourself, don't use ammonia, heavy-duty soap, or anything that will strip your hull's gelcoat. Your best bet, according to The Log, is a wash-and-wax type soap—and plenty of elbow grease.

You should also consider vacuuming every inch of your boat's interior. Ash is often difficult to detect on carpets and cloth surfaces, but if the toxins are there, they can also cause damage belowdecks.

Next Time, Use the Head

A Japanese deckhand fell overboard last month while urinating off the side of a tanker. And here's how things got worse: He had no life-vest, it was almost midnight, and neither his shipmates nor the Japanese Coast Guard could find him.

But, after that, he couldn't have been luckier. The seas were pretty calm, and while treading water in the dark—about 12 miles off the coast—the 28-year-old found an empty two-liter bottle. Amazingly, he was able to use it to keep him afloat for about 12 hours.

The next morning he was spotted by fishing boat and rescued. Who knew a two-liter bottle could serve so well in a pinch?

Davis 70

Davis Yachts debuted its Flagship 70-footer recently. And it's quite a sizeable machine. As you can see here, her mezzanine is made for spotting fish on the teasers in the shade, saving you from the heat and glaring sun. And as fish boats go, this one is on the glam side of that equation. The proof: Take for instance, her high-gloss interior, internal stairway to the flying bridge, or the full-beam amidships master with NBA-player headroom. And she can be yours for about $4.7 million. Stay tuned as PMY will put this behemoth battlewagon to the test in an upcoming issue of Power & Motoryacht.

The Manatee Money Plan

Broward County asked the question: Who should pay the tab for our manatee protection program? And it's about to settle on the answer: Marina developers.

Here's the plan: For every new boat slip a developer wants to build, he or she must pay a $750 initial fee and an annual $20 fee. All that money will go to protecting the threatened sea cow—everything from better warning signs to increased enforcement of manatee zones.

If you live in Broward, you might want to weigh in on this before the County Commission takes up the issue in the next few months. One of the committee members recently expressed a likely, if cynical, scenario. Bernie Gartner told the Sun Sentinel that any new fees will just get passed down to the consumer: "Whoever's paying for it, it's going to come back to the boater."

Mighty Madiz

If you've followed the various editions of the Power & Motoryacht 100, no doubt you'll remember Madiz as being one of the oldest in the world. I've had the pleasure of corresponding with her owner, who himself has had the pleasure of becoming quite a celebrity in his native Greece, thanks to the painstaking, three-year refit he had the 106-year-old yacht undergo to be reclassed under Lloyd's rules. He and the yacht were recently on Greek television, and since he shared their story with his fellow countrymen, I thought I'd take it one step further and share the tale with you (don't worry, there are subtitles):

New From Turkey

This 46-footer is a fresh new import from Turkey. Wayne Helms, who used to distribute for Vicem, a well-known Turkish builder, decided to introduce this new line of cruisers under the name Soluna Yachts, and brought the first one into Lauderdale for the boat show. The 46 features all equipment (including electronics) standard at price in the mid $700-k range.