Coal Harbour Marina, Vancouver BC

- The Classic "Impromptu" is back from an extensive re-fit. The only noticeable exterior change is the relocation of the Sat Domes.

- Nice lines of Westport's 164ft "Seaquest"
- Beagle V
- Swimmer

- Very nice Ed Monk Sr designed Nordlund
- Fun times on a Sportfish
- sexy tender
- Going under the Lions Gate Bridge
- For all you who are familiar with the "9 O'Clock gun", this gentleman fills it up with powder daily, and sets the fuse that is fired electronically with a REALLY LOUD BANG nightly.

Here's a couple of Beauties...

- "Lazee Gal" this could be a 52ft Monk-McQueen designed yacht build in the 1960's.
- "Malibu"

- Oriana
- Torsk
- Lady?
- Blue Heron

The Wooden Boat Festival is this weekend at Granville Island.

Just to warm everyone up...
- Olympus
- Olmaha
- Schooner

- Kaori
- Beagle V
- Maximus II
- Victoria
- Day at the Fair

- Aghassi
- Golden Eagle
- Sea Q
- Fish & Chips?
- afternoon at the Bike show

Several highlights from the Wooden Boat Festival

Special thanks to the owners for allowing us to view the interiors of these prized Yachts.

- Deerleap
- Sweet Pea

- Midnight Sun

Thanks Brian, Deerleap is a beauty, everything is "period" inside.
If you want some full screen Wallpaper, it's on my webshots website.
Page 4 has the better resolution pics (new lens).

It’s a brand new Cargo ship, I presume its heavy laden with these tasty treats heading for the tables of Asia.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=212939000

It’s too late, fishing as we know it and equipment for catching it will no doubt be obsolete and destined for storybooks and old man tales.
Say HELLO to the new Tuna

http://www.rasamalaysia.com/weird-seafood/

Brand new M/V Northern Expedition. Replacement Ferry for the sunk M/V Queen of the North, will retain the same Captain.

All 4 are in service and under budget.
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SPECIAL REPORT ON B.C.'S NEW FERRIES

FLENSBURG, Germany - The Canadian flag flies in front of the head office of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, along with a German one and another with the company's logo.

The Canadian one makes sense, given that the shipyard has about 500 people working on four B.C. Ferries vessels.

The three Super-C class ferries -- the Coastal Renaissance, the Coastal Inspiration and the Coastal Celebration -- are in various stages of completion. The fourth ferry -- the $133-million northern vessel, to be known as the Northern Expedition -- is in the design phase.

A visit to the company's shipyard offers a crash course on what it takes to build a ferry.

In the slipway in the main build hall, the Coastal Renaissance is about 75 per cent completed. Beside it, workers are welding steel into modules that will become the Coastal Inspiration. Outside, steel is being delivered for the Coastal Celebration. And inside, the Northern Experience exists in digital form, on computers.

The Coastal Renaissance, the first of the three Super-C ferries being built for a total of $334 million, will leave the slipway on April 19. Soon after, its deckhouses will arrive from a shipyard in Gdansk, Poland. Raimon Strunck, Flensburger's mechanical engineer, said the yard will use a floating crane to move these 600-tonne components into place.

Outfitting of all public places will be done in May, and then testing will take place on a few thousand components, as well as how they are used.

Each of the three Super-C ferries will be made of 92 modules, most of them with three or four subsections, and weighing up to 200 tonnes apiece.

These prefabricated modules are joined together in the slipway, starting with the engine rooms, at the centre of the vessel, and moving up and out. The heavier, more compact modules are at the bottom, with lighter ones at the top.

Modules already have the piping in place, and have been taken as close to completion as possible. It's easier, after all, to weld steel together if it's easy to get to.

As the modules come together, much as a Lego set does, the ferry starts to take shape. The vehicle decks of the Renaissance already look like vehicle decks, although with a lot of construction equipment. The upper decks will need more interior finishing before the casual observer will be able to tell what belongs where.

As soon as the Renaissance is moved outside, where the finishing work will be done, workers will get busy on the Inspiration. The first modules are in pre-assembly, and the first checks have already been done on components such as bow doors and rudders.

The first steel for the Celebration is due to be cut on April 10, and it will follow the Inspiration into the slipway.

The Northern Expedition, due to enter service in 2009, has already gone through basic testing on computers and, at a lab in Copenhagen, with a scale model.

The model is used to check for propulsion capability and maneouvrability, based on the requirements of the terminals at Port Hardy, Prince Rupert and Skidegate.

The computers at Flensburger allow designers to take three-dimensional tours through the vessels long before steel is cut, making it easier to spot and correct potential problems.

Strunck said inspections need to be done at every step of the process, because Flensburger is working on a tight schedule and cannot afford major delays. "If we wait until we have a complete ship, it is too late," he says.

The work is being monitored by four employees of B.C. Ferries.

"We make sure it is on time and on track, and that nothing untoward takes place," said Dale Phipps, senior master in the new vessel construction department. "We can't have a delay here, because in Canada, plans are being made based on it being in service by a certain time."

This is a half-billion-dollar project, with many potential problems in the details. The B.C. Ferries staff members are making changes to the plans as the work progresses, but keeping an eye on Flensburger's master schedule.

Phipps points to the chief steward's office on the Renaissance as an example. It became obvious that the office would be too small, so they moved a wall. It had to be changed on only one ferry, because the plans for the next two ferries have been adjusted to allow for the larger office.

The ferry staff members have dealt with a few hundred small detail decisions, such as the location of telephones and how they will work. They also inspect every weld on the ferries, making sure that potential problems are caught as soon as possible.

As soon as each ferry is finished, it will be taken out for five to seven days of more tests. About 150 people, including a dozen from B.C. Ferries, will be on board to check to make sure everything works as it should. "That includes everything from the door latches to the main engines," says Phipps.

Engineers will find out how the ferries respond when stopping, starting, turning, and running flat out. They will run emergency drills, and see how it copes with equipment failures.

The information gathered will be used in the training manuals that B.C. Ferries staff members are preparing for the day when the vessels arrive in B.C. waters.

Once the sea trials are finished, each ferry will be prepared for its delivery to Canada.

Flensburger is responsible for getting the ferries to Vancouver, and has hired the Dutch company Redwise Maritime Services to deliver them. Four B.C. Ferries staff members will make the trip.

After leaving Flensburg, the ferries will be taken through the Kiel Canal then along the European coast to Gibraltar. They will then go to the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic to the Panama Canal, then up the coast.

Trafford Taylor, the executive vice-president in charge of new vessel construction and industry affairs, said the delivery schedule will allow for the ferries to stay in a port for a few days if the weather does not look good.

Some crew members are being trained in Flensburg, but most of the training will be done in B.C.

Each crew member will get five to 20 days of training, varying with the job and the route.

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THE TIMELINE

Coastal Renaissance

Aug. 30, 2006 Steel cutting

Jan. 4, 2007 Keel laying

April 19, 2007 Launching

Sept. 5, 2007 Trials to be completed

Sept. 21, 2007 Departure

Oct. 25, 2007 Arrival in B.C.

November 2007 Training begins

December 2007 In service Horseshoe

Bay-Departure Bay

Coastal Inspiration

Dec. 19, 2006 Steel cutting

April 23, 2007 Keel laying

Aug. 31, 2007 Launching

Dec. 19, 2007 Trials to be completed

Jan. 18, 2008 Departure

Feb. 21, 2008 Arrival in B.C.

March 2008 Training begins

April 2008 In service Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay

Coastal Celebration

April 10, 2007 Steel cutting

Sept. 3, 2007 Keel laying

Dec. 14, 2007 Launching

April 16, 2008 Trials to be completed

May 9, 2008 Departure

June 23, 2008 Arrival in B.C.

July 2008 Training begins

July 2008 In service Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen

Northern Expedition

September 2007 Steel cutting

June 16, 2008 Keel laying

Sept. 29, 2008 Launching

Jan. 9, 2009 Trials to be completed

Jan. 31, 2009 Departure

Feb/Mar 2009 Arrival in B.C.

March 15, 2009 Training begins

May 2009 In service on

northern routes

THE SHIPYARD

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft:

Flensburg, Germany

Founded: 1872

Staff: 650-700

Owner: Oldendorff Carriers, Lubeck

Annual sales: 125 million euros

(193 million Cdn)

Steel used in a year: 23,000 tonnes

Current orders

B.C. Ferries -- Four ferries, deliveries

2007, 2008 and 2009