Abandoned Ships

Among all the damage it's caused, Tropical Storm Fay also took a toll on several long-forgotten boats.

Numerous reports have surfaced of abandoned boats breaking loose from their moorings and either floating away or sinking on the spot. These wrecks can pose an obvious threat to marine safety, as a TCPalm.com reporter put it: “With a storm surge and 50 knots of wind, a poorly moored sloop can quickly be converted into a waterborne bulldozer. In a few hours it can sweep through a waterway wiping out docks, seawalls, other vessels and in rare cases, bridges.”

But now the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service says it will “exhaust every attempt” to locate derelict boat owners and prosecute them to the fulllest extent. If you see an abandoned cruiser, you can report it anonymously at 888-404-3922.

Octopi

We’ve all seen and heard a great deal about Paul Allen’s yacht Octopus over the years. But the other day I stumbled across this video of her on YouTube, and shockingly, it was one I hadn’t seen before. The video shows her passing through the Panama Canal. Note the ship that accompanies her in the lock for a size reference. Will she still be #2 on PMY’s America’s 100 Largest Yachts coming out this November? You’ll have to wait and see…



Here is are two other interesting videos of the 8,000-nm range vessel.

Solar-Powered Hybrid

Island Pilot has announced its newest model, the DSe Hybrid 12m, will debut in October at this year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

The plans have been on the books for years, and we wrote an article on her back in 2006, but now it appears that the electric-motor powered vessel finally exists. The solar array catches the majority of her power, but a diesel genset can give her additional electricity if the clouds have been out too long. You can't walk on the solar panels, but they do double as a bimini to protect your body from the sun's radiation.

Even the dingy’s outboard is electric, recharging from the solar panels of the DSe Hybrid. For more on the vessel, check the boat’s Web site here.

A Mother's Love

We have all read stories about animals acting as surrogate mothers to other animals. Case in point, this past spring a mixed-breed farm dog pinch-hit for a missing mom to newborn tiger triplets in China. And it wasn’t her first foray into surrogacy. But now the search for a mother figure has reached a new level. In Sydney, Australia a baby humpback whale has mistaken a yacht for its mommy...even going as far as trying to suckle from the yacht! Rescuers are on the case, towing the yacht out to sea in the hopes that the humpback calf will follow and eventually find its real mommy. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Big Blue

A pending North Carolina Atlantic Blue Marlin record was caught by angler Trey Irvine onboard the Mimi last week. Capt. Paul Spencer ( Spencer Yachts) was the helm.

The massive 1,228.50-pound Atlantic Blue Marlin was weighed in at Pirate's Cove Marina during its annual billfish tournament.

When certified, this catch will eclipse the 1,142 pounder caught by Jack Herrington in 1974. The world record Atlantic Blue Marlin weighing 1,402.20-pounder was caught in Brazil in 1992.