Once the vessel was secured to its pier, company spokesman Peter Frederiksen stepped over the side and onto the dock. Frederiksen writes for the company's seasonal publication, Valhalla, and in its latest edition he wrote an article about the 82 titled "Raising a flagship."
"Without hesitation, we can say this boat will be nothing less than spectacular," he wrote, going on to describe the master suite, four staterooms, private showers and 50-inch plasma TV. "These accommodations will exceed what is typically available in a megayacht, which makes the 82 Convertible so endearing."
While it seems like everyone is battening down the hatches to ride out the current economic storm, Viking is casting off its largest yacht in the company's 44-year history. The 82, a generic name describing its length in feet and usability for fishing and cruising, is actually one of four new models premiering in 2009.
That's not to say that the company - one of the largest employers in the area with nearly 1,200 people - isn't affected by the market turmoil. Since January, Viking has laid off and furloughed about 240 people, and Frederiksen readily admits that a few of the boat shows so far this year have been lackluster, reflecting an estimated industry-wide 30 percent decline in sales.
Viking has weathered storms before, though. The touchstone disaster for it was in the early '90s, when a federal tax on high-end boats like Viking's temporarily crippled business, and as their clients closed their wallets, the company work force dwindled.
"This wasn't affecting the people who bought the boats," he said, "but the people who built the boats."
Since then, owners Bob and Bill Healey retooled their processes for efficiency, and now nearly all the parts that make up a Viking - except for some mechanical and electronic parts like the 82's MTU V16 engines and Bose surround sound system - are made and assembled at its Bass River factory.
Viking Yachts is a division of Viking Associates, which now has holdings in other industries, such as electronics, real estate and energy, so it can withstand a slump in one sector.
No matter how efficient and diversified they are, though, when people are buying fewer boats, it inevitably means they don't need as many people building them.
"By trimming our work forces, we're just going back to efficiency. It's what we have to do in this business climate," Frederiksen said. "It's just a difficult market, and boats are always discretionary income."
Inside the 82, Frederiksen sat at the bar and slipped blue plastic booties over his sneakers so he wouldn't dirty the brand new carpeting. On the floor was Bill Gibbons, a 33-year employee and now a senior engineer, who was opening a brand new power converter as if it was already Christmas.
"This is just a magnificent boat," he said, seemingly surprised even though he was integral in its production. "It really is."
There is already an interested buyer in Atlantic City for this particular 82, which costs about $5.5 million, but before he can buy it, the company will use it as a demo model. On Saturday morning it left for a four-day trip to Florida, where it will be shown to a few of the 13 clients who already have paid deposits on their own 82s, as well as premiere in February at the 2009 Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show.
Viking doesn't make boats that have less than seven figures on their price tags, and Frederiksen said a typical Viking customer is buying his or her fifth or sixth boat. For these clients, the question whether to buy a new yacht isn't decided by their own income, but if they can find someone a little less wealthy who will buy their used boat.
"In order to move up, you have to find someone to buy your (45-footer) if you want the (50-footer)," he said. "It's not that they can't afford it, they just might not be interested in being a two-boat owner when they can only use one."
"Boats are expensive toys, and it costs a lot more, proportionally, to the guy who's buying the 45 than the 50."
After washing the boat and wiping its windows, Dave Wilson, who heads the design department with his father, Bruce, walked through the electric sliding door into the cabin. Wilson is another longtime Viking employee, who started working in the factory crafting furniture for the yachts and worked his way up.
"They call it the School of Hard Knocks," he said, explaining how he learned boat design. "The University of New Gretna."
By midafternoon, Wilson and the rest of the crew were mostly finished prepping the boat for its voyage south. It was an ironic image, as the multimillion-dollar yacht sat in the shadow of casinos reeling from the recession, resting before it would be previewed by some of the world's wealthiest boating enthusiasts.
But it seems even with a dire economic forecast, there's still always someone waiting to cast off.
"It's like fishing," Frederiksen said about the yacht business. "You know the fish are out there."
E-mail Lee Procida:
From Press staff reportsTwo charter-boat operators, one from New York and one from Avalon, have been charged with taking patrons to fish for striped bass in waters where it is prohibited and filing false reports about the catch.
The charges were brought by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration but followed a joint investigation by NOAA Fisheries along with New Jersey and New York fisheries' enforcement agents.
Jerome E. Hurd, of Avalon, was charged with fishing, harvesting, possessing and retaining striped bass illegally from federal waters as well as submitting false statements about the catch to federal and state officers. Hurd faces civil fines of as much as $25,000.
NOAA also filed similar charges against Montauk, N.Y., charter-boat operator Steven N. Fosberg and Viking Starship Inc., which owns the vessel Fosberg captained. Fosberg faces a $30,000 fine and could lose his permit to fish for 30 days.
There has been a ban on catching striped bass in federal waters since 1990, but there is a fishery for them in state waters that extend from the coast to 3 miles out. The federal government controls the zone from 3 to 200 miles offshore.
In recent years there has been a growing illegal recreational fishery to catch them. There is no commercial fishery for striped bass in New Jersey.
NOAA Fisheries has responded by working with the East Coast states to conduct undercover operations. In both of these cases, federal and state agents worked undercover by posing as patrons on the charter vessels. They were on Hurd's vessel in December and on Fosberg's in November.
"Unscrupulous charter and party boat captains quietly promote their willingness to take patrons into federal waters, primarily when striped bass are scarce in state waters. This creates an unfair business environment that penalizes law-abiding charter and party boat captains who refuse to break the rules," said NOAA Fisheries Special Agent Jeffrey Ray.
The agency has conducted a public education campaign about the striped bass rules and several years ago announced that undercover operations would be taking place. It even set up a hot line to report violations. That still did not stop illegal fishing for stripers in federal waters and dozens of cases have ensued.
E-mail Richard Degener:
RDegener@pressofac.com
Boaters are abandoning their vessels at marinas and storage yards because they cannot afford the docking and storage fees during an economic meltdown.
The problem in southern New Jersey is not as bad as in other parts of the country. But the few instances of abandonment are a hassle to marinas that have to go through legal hurdles to acquire and dispose of the craft.
"Most of the time, the fees are more than the boat is worth," said Fred Brueggemann, owner of Key Harbor Marina in Ocean Township, Ocean County.
This week, he began the lengthy process of seizing three boats after the owners stopped paying for storage. He published a notice of abandoned vessels. Then he will file liens against the boats. Once he gets legal title, he has to pay to remove hazardous materials and dump the rest in a landfill.
"I'd rather not have the title - just have them pay the fee and take their boat away," he said.
Boats have long been a barometer of consumer confidence, disposable income and the overall state of the economy. Now, marina and harbor officials across the country are reporting an increase over the past year in the number of deserted pleasure boats and working vessels.
Unlike cars, wooden and Fiberglas boats have virtually no scrap value. So rather than pay the high cost of hauling them to the dump, people abandon the boats or sell them for as little as $1 to anyone who will take them. The boats often break up and go under, or pass into the underground economy of scuttlers, who, for a fee, remove traceable identification numbers, strip out salvageable items and sink the vessels.
U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Ann Wickham, of Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia, Pa., said her agency would remove any abandoned boats that pose a hazard to navigation. The agency also investigates sinking boats that pose an environmental hazard from leaking oil or fuel.
But they have not seen a spike in abandoned boats in the region, she said.
Likewise, State Marine Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones said they have not encountered any unusual cases of abandoned boats this year. But he said the classified ads and Internet auctions are full of boat bargains.
"It's a little worse this year," said Tom Merlino, of Bayway Marina in Middle Township.
His marina sits on Bidwell's Creek off Route 47.
"Boats with no value - they just dump them. They feel it's not worth the price of storage," he said.
Each abandoned boat costs him about $500 to tow to the Cape May County landfill and pay the tipping fees.
"We screen people more carefully now," he said. "We look at the value of the boat they're bringing in. Instead of a deposit, we're getting payment in full."
Barbara Brown is seeing more cases of abandoned boats at her Thompson Marine in Egg Harbor Township.
"It's becoming more common. There is not much we can do besides gaining title. It's a long process," she said. "Boats are not a necessity. Boat storage will be the last payment on the list, the way things are going."
The handful of unclaimed boats at her storage yard represents a small fraction of the 180 boats they keep. But each orphaned boat takes the spot of a paying customer's, she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
E-mail Michael Miller:
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Delaware Bay and you may get pulled over
By MICHAEL MILLER Staff Writer, 609-463-6712
Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008
The National Marine Fisheries Service will impose a 10-knot speed limit on vessels 65 feet and longer starting Dec. 9 to keep them from striking endangered Atlantic right whales. The rules do not apply to most of the New Jersey coastline, but cover 83 percent of the whales' migration route. They also exempt the U.S. Coast Guard and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, which travels at about 12 knots across the bay. The 10-knot speed limit (the equivalent of about 12 mph) targets the many tankers and container ships that travel up the Delaware Bay to ports in Camden and Philadelphia. But it also applies to larger charter and commercial fishing boats that use the bay. The speed limit was established at a geographic point just off Cape May Point stretching in a 20-nautical-mile radius around the mouth of the bay. "It seems to me everyone goes for overkill - from nothing to overregulation," said Capt. Jim Cicchitti, of the Starlight Fleet. He runs deep-sea fishing and whale-watching charters out of Wildwood Crest and Cape May. His smaller boats will be exempt from the rules. But his 100-foot Atlantic Star can make 20 knots. Returning to port aboard her will take at least an hour longer during his winter offshore excursions, he said. "The guys finish fishing at 2 p.m. and still have a 60-mile trip back. That means less time fishing and more time to get home," he said. "That's brutal. That cuts into your customers' fishing time. It affects the performance of the boat - everything," Cape May County charter boat captain Paul Barrus said. Fortunately for him, his 90-foot North Star Express based in Ocean City is outside the speed zone. Barrus said charter boats already have it tough between the price of fuel and fishing rules that limit the daily catch. "That would be another nail in the coffin for us," he said. "The regulations are already crippling us. We're constantly asking customers to pay more and giving them less." The speed limit will be enforced from November to April, the time when right whales make their migratory journey past New Jersey. Cape May's Cicchitti said the time frame is the only saving grace. Fewer charters are booked in the winter. But he is skeptical the rules will have their intended effect. "I've been doing this 35 years. I'm on the ocean 200 days a year," he said. "There was just one time I was ever close to running over a whale and it was 3 miles off Cape May. I've never even heard of anyone doing that." The agency is still determining the fines it will mete out to scofflaws. The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Marine Fisheries Service will enforce the speed limit using technology that can track and measure a vessel's speed, spokeswoman Connie Barclay said. The agency is also placing speed limits along the entire coastline of South Carolina, sections of Florida and the entrances to the Chesapeake Bay and major ports in Providence, R.I., New York, Norfolk, Va., and Wilmington, N.C. "The restrictions will add about 53 minutes per vessel arriving in an affected area," Barclay said. "This represents less than 1 percent of the trade value of the $300 billion East Coast shipping industry." In the Delaware Bay, tankers, container ships and freight barges will face a delay between 90 minutes to two hours. This will have a financial impact of about $13 million on the shipping industry at places such as the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. The move is designed to protect the Atlantic right whale, which is critically endangered. Between 300 and 400 right whales are believed to inhabit Atlantic waters. The biggest threats to these whales are boat strikes and fishing-net entanglements, Barclay said. "Our biologists estimate that one to two whales (along the eastern seaboard) are killed every year by ship strikes," she said. "We know that mother-calf pairs are very vulnerable. They feed up near the surface. They're very large and slow-moving." Robert Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, said boats pose a danger to many marine animals, including sea turtles and the occasional manatee that ventures into New Jersey waters. His center responds to whale strandings across the state, some of which were caused by apparent boat strikes. If whales are so intelligent, why don't they get out of the way? "You have to realize they live in the ocean 24-7. They're constantly bombarded by the sound of these boats. You can imagine a whale constantly hearing boat traffic can become immune to it," he said. Schoelkopf said the federal action shows how dire the right whale's future is in the Atlantic Ocean. The speed limit will be re-examined in five years. "It's worth a try. Once the 300 are gone, that's it," he said. LATEST NEWS: Coast Guard crew rescues 1 near Cape May as 31-foot boat takes on water
Published: Friday, November 07, 2008
The Coast Guard received a call at 9:47 a.m. from the crewmember aboard Rampage reporting he was taking on water after striking a submerged wreck. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Mako, home ported in Cape May, arrived on scene and launched a rescue boat crew. The rescue boat crew removed the crewmember from Rampage and transferred him to members of the Delaware State Police who will transport him to Bowers Beach, Del.
Tog Fishing - The Basics by Capt. Marc E. Resciniti
This fall the posession limit increases to six fish a day on November 16 (it is a one fish limit at the time this is being written - see the Marine Digest for current regulations) and they are on the reefs in good numbers. The following basic techniques will help you land more fish this season. Boat Placement Over a Reef Proper boat placement and anchoring is the key to a successful day out tog fishing. Your boat has to be positioned directly over a piece of structure and remain steady. To accomplish this, first locate a piece of structure using DGPS or LORAN C coordinates. Once in the vicinity, circle your boat around the waypoint and watch the depth sounder until you see the structure on the screen. Mark the area with a buoy - it will give you a reference point while you anchor the boat. After the site is located, kick the boat in neutral and determine your drift. Run up current of the drift and lay two anchors off your bow making a 45 degree angle between them. Finally, let out enough scope to drift back to your reference buoy. This anchoring technique will keep your boat much steadier over the structure than using a single anchor. Tackle and Rigging The ideal equipment for tog fishing is a conventional rod and reel. The rod must have a good backbone and be capable of handling a minimum of an 8 ounce sinker. The reel should be spooled with at least 30-pound line and have a low gear ratio to provide enough torque to haul the powerful tog out of its home. Old time pinhookers (commercial rod and reel tog fishermen) would use a 1:1 ratio reel, but that is not necessary. A good tog rig consists of leader line, two sharp and strong hooks, and a heavy lead sinker. The leader line should consist of at least a 50-pound fluorocarbon and be about 3 to 4 feet long.
An easy way to snell hooks is to use a 2-foot piece of fluorocarbon and tie a 2/0 to 4/0 hook to one end with a domhof knot. Then do the same to the other end of the fluorocarbon. This leaves you with two hooks, one on either end. Hold the hooks in your hand and double up the line and tie a double overhand loop at the opposite end of the hooks. Take the double overhand loop and run it through the dropper knot on the leader. The snelled hooks should extend about 6-8 inches from the main leader line. This leaves you with a rig that has two hooks lying on the bottom. Bait The most common bait of choice under most conditions is the green crab; however, sometimes other species of crab works better. For instance hermits, calicos, or fiddler crabs may entice more bites during the warmer months, but Jonahs and rock crabs may be better during the winter. Surf clams and conch can be used, but they generally attract small fish.
Feeling the Bite Tog are one of the most difficult fish to hook. The repetitive tapping when a tog hits causes a lot of people to set the hook too early and miss fish. The key is patience. When tog are lightly tapping they don't have a good hold of the bait. Be patient, wait until the fish gives a pull, not a tap. Every day brings a different bite. Sometimes the bite is on and you can't miss and other times you can barely fill a tug. If the bite is light or non-existent just move to the other side of the boat or let some scope out to adjust your position on the piece of structure. That can make all the difference in the world. Once you feel a good pull, set the hook and crank the reel. Tog have to be hauled out of structure with gusto, otherwise, the fish will hang your rig in structure. Enjoying Your Catch One of my favorite ways to prepare this tasty fish is to make chowder. Use any New England clam chowder recipe and substitute cubed tog fillets for clams. Remember, don't overcook the tog as it may become tough and chewy. Here is the recipe that I prefer most: Tog Chowder Recipe Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of butter Preparation In a deep pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and bay leaf and cook 2-3 minutes. Whisk in flour and Old Bay and cook 2 more minutes. Whisk in clam juice and broth and combine; cook until broth begins to thicken. Stir in milk slowly. Add potatoes raise heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook 12-15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add bacon and tog. Cook 2-3 minutes or until tog begins to flake. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chives. Enjoy! | ||||
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Tautog fishing is at its best in the fall. Commonly called "tog", tautog is one of the most challenging species to pursue while fishing over New Jersey's Artificial Reefs.
The two hooks are inserted into either a piece of crab or a whole crab. Run the hooks through the knuckles of the crab to prevent the bait from falling off. On days when the bite is good, a whole crab will entice the larger fish to hit.
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2008 Fall Oyster Harvest Season - Mullica River (Fitney Bit) The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, with the approval of the Atlantic Coast Section of the New Jersey Shellfisheries Council, will open the oyster bed known as Fitney Bit, located at the mouth of the Mullica River (see chart below), to a limited one-week oyster harvest season. The season will commence on Monday, November 10, 2008 and end on Saturday, November 16, 2008 (to sunset). The harvest is open to all commercial and recreational shellfish license holders. daily harvest times are sunrise Recreational shellfish license holders will be limited to 150 oysters or clams in aggregate per day. As per the Atlantic Coast Harvest Season regulations (NJAC 7:25-19.5), shellfish harvest will be limited to hand tongs only. In addition, all other oyster beds listed under the Atlantic Coast Harvest Season regulations (NJAC 7:25-19.5) will remain closed to harvest. (See chart of harvest area boundaries below.) The Fitney Bit Oyster Intermediate Transplant Project was initiated in the fall of 2001 when approximately 2,000 bushels of seed oysters were transplanted from natural oyster seed beds in the Mullica River to a four-acre parcel on Fitney Bit, located at the mouth of the Mullica River. A subsequent 2,000-bushel intermediate transplant was completed in the fall of 2006 on a new adjacent four-acre parcel. The goals of these efforts were to restore extant historic oyster beds in the Mullica River and to provide the public with an opportunity to harvest oysters along the Atlantic Coast of New Jersey. The decision to open Fitney Bit for a limited fall harvest season was based on a review of the Bureau of Shellfisheries ongoing monitoring of bed conditions (% oyster), mortality and growth of the transplanted oysters. For more information regarding the Fitney Bit oyster harvest season, please contact the Nacote Creek Shellfish Office at 609-748-2040. For more information on the Mullica River Oyster Restoration Project, see the January, 2007, "feature article" by biologists Gustavo Calvo and Jeff Normant. Location Chart of Fitney Bit Oyster Area (pdf, 154kb) | ||
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NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has had five hundred reef balls constructed at Southern State Correctional Facility at Delmont which are ready for deployment during early November at the Great Egg and Little Egg Reefs. The Great Egg Reef is located eight nautical miles southeast of Absecon Inlet and the Little Egg Reef is located five nautical miles east of Little Egg Inlet.
Each reef site will receive 250 reef balls. The reef balls will soon be homes for more than 150 species of fish and other marine life as part of the Division's Artificial Reef Program.
Reef balls are a designed reef habitat that is well suited for drift fishing areas within reef sites. The interior of the reef ball habitat is hollow and a current vortex is created inside due to concave holes on the exterior. The exterior holes also allow marine life such as crabs, shrimp and fish to enter the interior as refuge from predators.
The deployment date is subject to weather and sea conditions. For further information on this deployment contact Hugh Carberry at 609-748-2022.
For information on past and planned deployments see the Artificial Reef Deployments page at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/artreefdeployment.htm on the division's website.
Middle Twp. police says man stuck in mud refuses help, gives his name as Capt. Ahab
By BRIAN IANIERI Staff Writer, 609-463-6713
Published: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - A local man was stuck in the marsh mud with his canoe off Jenkins Sound on Sunday but was intoxicated and refused help for several hours before being coaxed into a boat by firefighters, township police said.
Police received a report shortly before noon of a man stuck in the mud with the tide going out off Benny's Landing.
Authorities said the man refused assistance, although rescuers worried for his safety and the possibility of heat stroke as temperatures rose to more than 90 degrees.
Police Capt. Scott Webster said the man also refused to give police his name at first, telling authorities he was "Captain Ahab."
Stuck in the mud, he took turns both inside and outside the boat over a space of more than two hours.
When the man was outside of the boat, he was up to his waist in mud.
Cape May Court House Assistant Fire Chief Paul Hand said Bill Rich, a firefighter for Cape May Court House and Green Creek, used his own boat to reach the stranded man.
"I figured he's already mad at the cops - maybe they can talk to him and relate to him," Hand said. "It just took a long process."
After the firefighters took him ashore, police charged Michael McCullough, 51, of Cape May Court House, with disorderly conduct.
"They actually did a good job talking him into coming in. A few times he was over his waist in mud," Hand said. "You get spots up there, you can get into it over your head."
E-mail Brian Ianieri:
BIanieri@pressofac.com
Fisherman gets out of boat, gets stuck in mud
The Associated Press
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008
MAURICE RIVER TOWNSHIP, N.J. Firefighters rescued a fisherman who got stuck up to his neck in mud for about two hours in Cumberland County.
An official says Wayne Cox was in his boat along Thompsons Beach in Maurice River Township when the tide went out.
He got out of his boat and tried to walk to the shoreline. That's when he sunk in the mud.
It took firefighters about 45 minutes to get Cox out.
New Jersey Outdoors for Women - October 4 - 9:00am - 4:00pm
Island Beach State Park, Seaside Park, NJ
Surf Fishing Clinic - (No surf fishing experience needed.) Open to women only at least 18 years old. All equipment and bait will be provided. Participants will learn the basics of surf fishing, including information on rods, reels, weights, line, tackle, knots, bait, fish identification, casting, reading the surf, and caring for your catch. The afternoon will be spent on the beach using techniques learned to fish the surf. The workshop will take place rain or shine, warm or cold. Participants should be prepared with appropriate clothing, as well as other convenience items such as sun screen, sunglasses, hat, and foul weather gear.
Space is limited. A registration form is available at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/njoutdoors.htm . Print and complete the registration form and mail it with a check for $15.00 made out to the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife. This fee will be refunded to you at the class but is nonrefundable for those not attending.
Participants can also register at the Clinic for the Governor's Surf Fishing Tournament held the following day, October 5. The cost for the tournament is $10 for adults. Equipment to fish in the Tournament will be supplied to those who participate in the workshop, but participants will be responsible for their own bait.
For additional information or questions please contact Karen Leskie at 609-748-4347 or karen.leskie@dep.state.nj.us.
DEP reopens oyster beds in Delaware Bay
By DANIEL WALSH Staff Writer, 856-649-2074
Published: Saturday, August 30, 2008
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP - State officials reopened the Delaware Bay oyster beds to harvest Friday after determining the bay waters and shellfish were clear of bacteria linked to oysters harvested here.
Department of Environmental Protection biologists tested water and shellfish over the last week and found no sign of the vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria that sickened two people in a Maryland restaurant earlier this summer.
On Aug. 19, state officials closed the coastal shellfish beds from the Maurice River Cove south of Port Norris northwest to Artificial Island in Salem County. The move was a precautionary measure taken as standard procedure because the oysters linked to the sicknesses derived from the Delaware Bay.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a naturally occurring bacterium that thrives in warm temperatures and is typically linked to raw shellfish consumed during summer months. Cooking the oysters kills the bacteria. Consuming raw infected oysters can lead to illness, particularly in people with compromised immune systems, such as the elderly.
The bacteria belong to the same family as vibrio vulnificus, but they are two distinctly different species. Vibrio vulnificus is found more often in waters farther south and is often fatal, whereas vibrio parahaemolyticus is not considered nearly as dangerous, despite the sickness it can cause.
Since a similar incident five years ago, Delaware Bay oystermen have voluntarily shut down their harvests at times when temperatures are highest to combat vibrio parahaemolyticus. This year, they have voluntarily restricted harvests to before noon, required all catches to be refrigerated by 3 p.m. and suspended harvests for two weeks in June, when waters are typically hottest.
E-mail Daniel Walsh:
DWalsh@pressofac.com