Our travels on CHEWINK this past year were limited to Fiji and New Zealand. This was a departure to our normal mode of sailing as we essentially “day hopped” for the whole season until we dropped down to New Zealand on a six day passage.

By staying in one area for a long time we reasoned that we would get to know and understand the local culture better as well as getting a bit more laid back about moving from place to place (we were tired from the constant traveling last year). Well, it was a good “spin”, but did not work for us. By staying in harbors for long periods of time, our well-oiled cruising abilities became rusty and we found our cultures so divergent we would not learn much more after two weeks than we would in a year. I also found that we love to explore new places and not “go native.” However, Fiji has the nicest people and friendliest people anywhere. And, the hiking and diving were great. We also had a lot of good experiences with some fellow cruisers.  All in all, it was a good year.

Our trip to New Zealand was hard on the wind the entire way with an eight-hour break in the middle as we crossed under the high-pressure system. Two good friends, Eric Urbahn (owner of FINBACK) and Chuck Steward (wearing cowboy boots) joined us for the trip down – what a team! Good sailors, good sense of humor, great discussions as they overpowered a lonely Northeastern liberal. Of course with all that help Heidi was able to feed us too much as well as insisting on taking a watch or two.

CHEWINK is presently in Auckland for several months as Heidi and I returned home middle of December and are due back in New Zealand mid-March. The plan of the hour is to drive down to the south island and to do some hiking and then we will race to Fiji with the Royal New Zealand Yacht squadron only staying a few days before jumping off for Vanuatu.

The midwinter weather in the South Pacific (July & August) is often unpredictable as the winter high pressures travel east in the higher latitudes causing high winds and sometimes lousy weather. For some relief we plan to come home to attend the launching of the new 83 footer as well as enjoy some of the Maine summer. Late September, October, and November, may be the best cruising months in the south Pacific. For more on our voyages, click Cabot's Log.

While I was trying to disappear into the depths of Fiji, JB and Stuart were running a good show back on the home front. It was a big year for us with JB and the crew launching five new boats and Stuart overseeing some good re-fits as well as the usual service and storage.

The yard is over one hundred people now, changing the way we do things internally, but the core group of the yard has not changed at all thereby keeping the same feel and flavor that we have always had. We also have the added benefit of a new group of very experienced craftsmen joining us, some of them coming with over 20 years of marine experience in their respective fields. As a result, the product we are now turning out has never been better, but as usual we are enjoying the loyalty of an outstanding group of customers. Of the seventy boats stored in our service yard, we have twenty-three Lyman Morse built boats and the new 83’ launching in July is another returning customer having his second boat built with us.

TOMAHAWK Click for details	CATHIE ANN Click for details

This was another unusual project for us as this Northern Bay 36’ hull was delivered to us only partially completed. A failed project from another yard, we had to take a few steps backward in trying to bring it up to our standards. With a lot of patience from the Paulsen’s, she turned out to be a beauty. Click for more details.

Ken Sawyer purchased the Seguin 46’ “CHERUB” in the fall of 2002. We brought her to the yard and gave her, not only the reconfigured bottom, but also new teak overlay cabin sides, Corian countertops, new navigation station and electronics, new overhead and exterior bright work. We stripped the toe rails and cabin top varnished items, and then applied a new Polymer product for added protection to the wood. We added 18” to the boom, and all the sail inventory was replaced. The new Carbon sails built by Maine Sail Partners are terrific. With substantially more sail area now, and the redesigned bottom she is stiffer, and faster than we thought possible. The helm is light and the newly installed hull ports make watching the water go by all the more fun. Ken is working with us to develop the new SEGUIN 58’ series of boats. We will be building the mockup for HULL # 1 this spring. She will have a very traditional look based on BOLERO, the S&S classic. Click Custom Project Custom Projects SEGUIN 58 Series for more.

We have another exciting new project that we have been developing with Geoff Dickes. This new 65’ Tournament Sportfish design is intended for an owner looking for a strong fast boat. Built with the latest technology and a comfortable plush interior. We are in the early design stages, but feel this boat will be an eye catcher. Click Custom Projects SPORTFISH 65 for complete details.

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George Twombly and John McKelvey. We are going to miss these two men, as they were always a delight to work with. Both were of the “old school” in dealing with us – always pleasant, polite, and appreciative of everything we tried to do. We are certainly going to miss them, but we are pleased that both Mit and Nancy are keeping their boats and we look forward to working with them. NIGHTHAWK is being stored here with us and Nancy is sailing WHIZZBANG to Florida from St. Thomas.

MAINE LADY is in Spain; WHIZZBANG just sailed across to St Thomas from the Canaries; MAGPIE is in Florida. CATHERINE MINOT visited us in Thomaston last summer after a long absence.

We have been considering various projects to increase our capabilities. Last year we purchased a piece of land below our red storage building. We are hoping to develop this new land by adding a 110 ton travelift and eventually another large boat building shop. We have long felt we have to be able to service the boats we build and as they become larger in the custom market, we have to upgrade our capabilities. We will still utilize our 60 ton Brownell trailer, but the new lift will reduce maintenance on the trailer as we won’t have to submerge it. We are pushing forward on both the permitting and design process and if all goes well, will begin in the winter/spring 2004 timeframe, so we are up and running in the fall.

Batteries are always a major topic of conversation in our business. We are now recommending the quality Gel type of batteries. Why? Many more deep discharges and holding the voltages longer when compared to the Matt or lead acid type of batteries are the quick answers, but the major reason Gel batteries have come into their own is the very good charging systems available to us today. Gels are highly sensitive to the correct voltages, amperages, and temperature, at different stages of charging.With smart regulators and sophisticated chargers we can now monitor the batteries well enough to hopefully ensure a very long life.

We are also getting away from the inverter/charger combos and using dedicated chargers and inverters. It takes more room but the units are better when designed for one purpose. The charging systems mean more equipment and expense, but if done right the batteries should give us many more years than the lead acid type technology

Another facet for the smaller boats to think about is the addition of a solar panel or two if the boat does not regularly tie up to shore power. All batteries need complete charging cycles which generators often have a hard time accomplishing. The last few amps into the system will take hours with a generator and a solar panel will easily do the trick.

The consumption of power has greatly increased over the years giving added burdens to the DC systems designed just a few years ago. As an example, CHEWINK has doubled our power consumption since the first circumnavigation - why? Computers, printers, and multiple navigation tools, - in other words, more “stuff”.

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