Grand Banks 72 Aleutian SC in full stride
Photo by Kristina Strobel

August 2010 Contents

Destinations

Puerto Rico

Discover a new cruisers’ haven.
By Carol  Bareuther

Intracoastal

waterway

Stop to explore these four gems. By John Kettlewell

Features in this issue

Q & A

Marlow Yachts Chairman  David Marlow on his 76LR and the latest trends in long-range cruiser design

Setting the pace

Twelve trawlers and explorer yachts to spark your imagination –
pick any ocean and dream.
By Southern Boating’s Editors

People

John Luhrs builds a classic.
By Louisa Beckett

Annapolis Shows

New boats in a historic setting
By Christopher Knauss

New Boats Reviewed

Grand Banks 72

A new look for the biggest Aleutian
By Louisa Beckett

Pursuit DC 265

A great little boat covers it all.
By Bill Ando

Change is in the wind.

Trawler Fest travels to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

After docking for years in Solomons, Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic version of Trawler Fest – a combination boat show, educational experience and cruisers’ rendezvous, moves to the Baltimore Inner Harbor Marine Center on September 24-26. One of America’s major seaports since the 1700s, the Inner Harbor is one of the Chesapeake Bay’s top destinations, offering history, nautical culture and many attractions, including the National Aquarium. The Marine Center is a modern marina offering all the favorite amenities, along with affordable dockage. Rates are $2.50 per foot per day, and power is $18 (1/30 amp, 2/30 amp or 1/50 amp).
Trawler Fest seminars will be held at the Hyatt Regency, just a short walk from the marina. This year’s topics include: “Marine Insurance and Surveys,” “How to Set Up a Mobile Office” and “Gunkholing Chesapeake Bay,” among others.
For more information and to register, visit trawlerfest.com.
Stormy day on the Bay
Experienced Bay boaters know afternoon thunderstorms are a common concern on the Chesapeake during the summer. Unfortunately, not everyone boating on the Bay is experienced, and even pros can get into trouble. That was never as clear as on July 25, when the Coast Guard responded to 37 distress calls resulting in more than 77 people being assisted or rescued by eight response crews from six different stations. At 3:05 p.m., National Weather Service Radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms capable of producing winds in excess of 70 mph. A marine broadcast notified mariners to seek shelter immediately. At approximately 3:25 p.m., Sector Baltimore personnel received the first call.
“Storms can turn a normal day out on the boat to a battle of life and death; in one case we literally had victims clinging to a buoy for life,” said Chief Petty Officer Keith Moore, a Sector Baltimore operations specialist.

Pentagon Sailing Club raft-up

Active-duty, retired, and reserve U.S. military personnel and civilian employees of the Department of Defense interested in sailing might want to check out the Pentagon Sailing Club. It’s a volunteer association dedicated to safe recreational sailing on the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, the Chesapeake Bay, and wherever the winds take its members. The club operates out of Capitol Cove Marina on Bolling Air Force Base and maintains a fleet of club-owned sailboats. It also offers sailing instruction, recreational sailing and club charters.
This year’s activities include a Labor Day raft-up, September 4-6, on the Corsica River, a beautiful tributary off the Chesapeake I like to frequent. Raft-up entertainment will include ghost stories, food and drink. From there, sailors will head up the Bay to the Sailing Emporium in Rock Hall and enjoy a Sunday dinner at Waterman’s Crab House.
Find out more at pentagonsailing.org.

New opportunities

to leave the beaten path

The Moorings adds Grenada base

Caribbean sailing just got spicier. The Moorings will open its latest base at Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in St. George’s, Grenada, on October 1. The company’s Grenada-based fleet will consist of 31-foot to 51-foot custom-built sailing catamarans and monohulls.

Grenada’s Port Louis Marina is easily accessible via flights from the U.S. to Maurice Bishop International Airport, just five miles away.

Charterers can take their pick of bareboat or crewed charter vacations from this southernmost island in the Windwards, which makes a great jumping-off point for the Grenadines to the north. Grenada itself offers spectacular anchorages and sandy beaches, as well as tours of spice plantations, rum distilleries, waterfalls and national parks. The Moorings also will offer one-way charters to Grenada from its St. Lucia or Canouan bases, allowing yachtsmen to explore the Tobago Cays, Mayreau, Mustique, Bequia, St. Vincent and St. Lucia along the way.
moorings.com.

U.S. Virgin Islands emergency

mass alert system now online

VI-Alert, the U.S. Virgin Islands’ mass alert and notification system, launched in July. This system is a one-stop, web-based portal through which a variety of agencies, including the National Weather Service and U.S. Geological Survey, provide emergency information – such as updates on the approach of a hurricane.
When you register with VI-Alert, you can select when and how you’d like to receive the various types of alerts. Possibilities include cell and landline phones, text message, e-mail, fax, postings to the web and even text-to-speech and audio recordings to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
“The next phase of the VI-Alert program will include an iPhone app and a VHF general alert over channel 16,” says Erik Ackerson, executive director of the Virgin Islands Charter Yacht League.
vitema.gov.

Island Global Yachting ventures into Colombia

A new marina located on Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast will provide a haven for adventurous sportfishermen as well as a waypoint for boats en route to and from the Panama Canal. Marina Santa Marta, now part of Island Global Yachting’s worldwide network of luxury marinas, is located approximately 400 miles east of Panama, 300 miles west of Aruba, and Trinidad & Tobago are 860 miles to the east.
Built in a sheltered bay, the self-contained Marina Santa Marta offers 24-hour security and cameras, a helicopter landing pad, and on-site port authority, immigration and customs services. Its 256 slips will accommodate vessels from 25- to 132-feet with a maximum draft of 11 feet and a maximum beam of 29 feet. Amenities include state-of-the-art floating docks, fuel and pump-out, electricity, water and WiFi.
marinasantamarta.com.co.

Bimini gets an outpost;

special fall rates

Back in the [Big] Game

The Bimini Big Game Club in Alice Town, now a newly refurbished Guy Harvey Outpost Resort and Marina, held a grand re-opening celebration in July. According to Mark Ellert, president of Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts, the plan is to preserve the ambiance of the historic Big Game Club while evolving the former fishing lodge into an adventure destination with an emphasis on the island’s unique marine ecosystem, natural beauty and cultural character.  The new Guy Harvey Outpost takes its cue from the legendary Jamaican artist, explorer and conservationist who gave it its name.

The resort received a $3.5 million renovation to its 51 rooms and 75-slip marina, which accommodates boats up to 120 feet. A new restaurant, the Bimini Big Game Bar and Grill, was opened on the property. Work to be completed includes a fuel dock, fitness center and spa, expanded conference space and a Guy Harvey theater. For more, visit biggameclubbimini.com.

Walkers Cay redux?

Bahamas cruisers are buzzing over the recent announcement of a potential, long-awaited re-development of Walkers Cay in the Abacos. Offshore developer Victoria House IBC has been approved by the Bahamas government to purchase the 69-acre island this fall and return it to a fishing and diving destination, with hotels, spa, condominiums, wet- and dry-storage slips, yacht club, 2,800-foot runway, and Customs and Immigration.

Autumn rates are falling

Many resorts and marinas throughout the Bahamas are offering special fall rates and off-season discounts. In the Abacos, these include Conch Inn and Harbour View in Marsh Harbour, Man-o-War, Sea Spray in Hope Town, Spanish Cay, and Treasure Cay. The Abaco Beach Resort at Boat Harbour is offering group rates; a 10-boat minimum with a two-night stay will get you a special room and dockage rate.  In Bimini, discounts will be available from Bimini Bay Resort; in Nassau, Nassau Yacht Haven (which also has an upgraded electrical power system); on Eleuthera, Davis Harbour; in the Exumas, Emerald Bay; on Rum Cay, Sumner Point; on Grand Bahama, Port Lucaya.
Valentine’s Resort & Marina in Harbour Island announced two unique promotions. The resort now is welcoming private pilots with discounts. In addition, starting this fall, it will be offering special packages with the Orvis Company, the result of the property’s being selected to become an official Orvis-endorsed resort.
In other marina news, Bimini Bay Resort is slated to open its Captain & Crew Lounge. The former Club Soleil, now Hope Town Marina in the Abacos, has reopened its lodgings and is soon to complete rebuilding the marina.

Mariners take note

The Nassau Harbour entrance channel has been dredged to widen it for cruise ships, and the entrance is fully open once again to boating traffic.
R&B Boatyard in Spanish Wells now has a new 36-foot towboat for “just in case” scenarios, covering the central and southern Bahamas. Also, Overseas Salvage, located in Sampson Cay in the Exumas, is available for help when things go wrong at sea.
Fuel prices in the Bahamas in August were generally down from the previous month; however they are expected to rise in September. You can get a monthly update at explorercharts.com.

A Harvest-Fresh Feast

from Land and Sea!

Golden Gazpacho

Spice-Rubbed Mahi-Mahi

Black Bean, Corn and Avocado Salsa

Caramelized Peach Upside Down Cake

Savor the last lingering days of summer

with this refreshing menu.

Golden

Gazpacho

1 mango, peeled, sliced off the
pit and cubed
5 yellow tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 red, orange or yellow peppers, diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup mango nectar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. hot sauce

In blender or processor, purée tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onion, nectar, olive oil, vinegar and hot sauce until smooth. Strain through sieve. Season with salt and pepper. Toss in diced mango and cucumber. Chill one hour.

Spice-Rubbed Mahi-Mahi

1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. hot sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 lbs. mahi
In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Pour over fish filets and refrigerate 1 hour. Heat grill to medium high heat. Grill fish about 4 minutes per side. Serve with Black Bean, Corn and Avocado Salsa.

Black Bean, Corn

and Avocado Salsa

3 Tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
2 cup fresh or frozen, thawed
and drained corn kernels
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup canned black beans,
drained and rinsed
3 scallions, sliced on diagonal
into ½-inch pieces
1 tsp. hot sauce
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, pitted, diced
1 Tbsp. lime juice, or to taste

In non-stick skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Add corn and sauté 2 – 3 minutes. Reduce heat, add cumin, chili powder, red pepper and sauté 4 minutes. Add black beans, scallions, hot sauce and cilantro and stir until heated through. Cool. Add avocado, lime and remaining oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Caramelized Peach

Upside Down Cake

3 ripe peaches,
peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
3 Tbsp. fresh-squeezed orange juice
2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier liqueur
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
½ cup oil

In non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add butter, brown sugar, orange juice and liqueur and bring to simmer, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Add peaches and stir to coat with caramel. Pour peaches in the bottom of a well-greased 13 x 9 inch cake pan. Prepare cake mix according to directions. Pour batter over peaches and bake according to directions. Cool. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Some batteries are suited

to a life at sea.

All these new toys are great until the batteries go dead. Thankfully we’re in an age when the technology is keeping up with the demand for improved portable power.
These days you have a greater choice than ever before between the old-tech style wet-lead acid batteries and high-tech and even higher-tech battery power.

The old-style lead-acid wet

batteries are yesterday’s news.

They leak acid, corrode terminals, they off-gas and are generally messy. Gel-cell batteries are still around but they seem to have been overtaken by absorbed glass mat (AGM) technology. Both are no-maintenance types. The AGMs seem to be the best combination of being hearty—they can take many cycles, have a low static discharge rate, they are forgiving as they can be charged without fear of overcharging, something the gel-cell is not going to forgive.
Greg Gandy of Kadey-Krogen says they have used AGMs exclusively, “for about three years now.” Before that they used the wet lead- acid batteries. Symbol Yachts uses AGMs and occasionally they put the gel-cells on board. “Anything but the wet cells,” says a spokesman.
An AGM is typically double the price of a wet battery. “People who buy an AGM usually forget about the price difference pretty fast because of the benefits,” says Christine Johnson, a technical advisor  for Fullriver Battery (fullriver.com). Johnson cautions against comparing battery to battery; all AGMS are not the same. She cited the case where a Fullriver AGM was tested to 600 cycles at 100-percent depletion, while a similar battery from a competitor was tested to 200 cycles. Not a bad product, just different.
Lithium seems to be the buzz word of the moment when it comes to batteries. So if money is no object but weight and room  are major considerations, you may want to look at Valence’s (Valence.com) lithium iron magnesium phosphate energy storage systems (ESS). Ethereal, the 190-foot “green” ketch launched in 2009 is operating fully on Valence ESS. However, one 138-amp-hour battery costs $2,530. Consider though that its life span is undetermined, having survived testing to about 2,750 cycles from no less than 80 percent power depletion. Above all else, remember, there’s no longer any need to keep distilled water on board for topping off the battery cells.

Chartbook on Steroids Navionics HD iPad

apps bring new life to charts

The core of the Navionics application

is the chart screen.

With the recent release of its HD (high definition) Apple iPad™ applications, Navionics has raised the bar for marine navigation programs suitable for use while under way, as well as for trip planning. Priced from $20 to $30, these six apps (U.S. East, U.S. West, Mediterranean, Great Lakes, U.S. Central and Caribbean and Central America) provide a full chart library at every useful scale, along with tools for distance measurement, route planning, GPS tracking and social media integration. While a battery-operated electronic device (even one with 12-hour life) is never a complete substitute for having proper and up-to-date paper charts on board, the iPad is a welcome addition to the nav station and to the wheelhouse, alike.
This screen, which on the iPad is 7.75-inches tall, is bright enough to read in direct sunlight and may be dimmed for night operation (although not quite enough to preserve all night adaptation, a feature that Navionics should address in a future revision of its software.)
As the chart scale is changed (by “pinching” or “reverse pinching” the screen with two fingers), the appropriate chart is automatically displayed by the program, which insures that the chart screen is never cluttered. Units may be changed in the preference screen to display English, Nautical or SI (metric). Tapping on one of the pink icons displays information about the point of interest indicated.
As shown, another option allows an overlay of all land areas of the chart with aerial images drawn from either Google or Bing online services. This option, however, requires a data connection (WiFi or Cellular, if one has the 3G version of the iPad.) This overlay image is not saved by the Navionics app, so once the connection is lost, so is the image. Navionics may want to address this in a future version so that local images for one’s home cruising range or for an anticipated voyage may be pre-stored on the iPad.
Searching for points of interest is quite easy and fast. Touch “Search” at the bottom of the screen, and start typing a few letters.  Results fill in immediately, and may be added to a “favorites” list for later use.
Finally, the Navionics apps allow point-by-point tracks to be entered, calculating distances and bearings for each leg of a trip. These tracks may be saved for later use.
Several “nice but not essential” features also are built into the apps. Each has the ability to play music in the background while navigating, provided that the music is in the iPad’s iTunes library.  Searches may be entered as Lat/Long coordinates using a rolling cylinder display which, while cute, tends to be very difficult to use on a moving boat. An interactive distance and bearing display is very handy, particularly when navigating using visual cues such as onshore features like water towers, buildings and bridges.  Finally, route editing, while easy, allows only the last-entered waypoint to be removed (cut), and does not allow waypoint insertion.
We like Navionics’ first version of this charting application, but we find ourselves wishing for a more full-featured program with a course-director screen that displays heading, speed over the ground, drift, and angle to make good, as is present in so many other GPS-enabled programs. In addition, without a live data connection (which, even with cellular 3G service, may only suffice out to three to five miles offshore), many of the application’s features become inoperable. Some way to preload information would certainly help in this regard.  Being able to actually display the near-shore satellite images is also helpful in many cases, so being able to momentarily switch off the chart in favor of the image would be welcome.
Finally, we would really like to see tides and currents integrated into the apps, along with an update function that displays relevant Notices to Mariners when the particular chart to which they apply is displayed.  With these additions, we believe the Navionics HD apps would be a welcome part of any tech-savvy boat owner’s gear.

Our weekend wizard tells you how to

repair your cutlass bearing in five steps.

A task rightly feared by many owners, replacing a worn cutlass bearing is actually a straightforward, though daunting, process. Here are a few tips to help you understand what the project entails, and determine whether or or not your skills are up to the task.
Cutlass bearings typically are made of brass with an interior rubber lining containing grooves running the length of the bearing. These grooves allow water to enter the cutlass bearing, keeping everything cool and lubricated while the shaft rotates within. Problems occur when the bearing (and grooves) wear down, reducing the flow of cooling water, damaging the shaft and causing looseness or play in the bearing.  Hopefully, it isn’t so bad that it can’t wait until the next scheduled haul-out.

Once the boat is on the hard, to determine if your cutlass bearing needs replacing, inspect it for signs of wear or rubber deterioration.  Next, grab the prop and give it a good, firm shake. Slight shaft movement within the bearing (1/16″ or so) is borderline, but if you can produce visible shaft wiggle (or worse, an audible “thunk”), the bearing is due for replacement.
Once you’ve determined the cutlass bearing needs replacing, for the purpose of this article we’ll assume that the shaft will be removed to facilitate the job. (Some yards may offer an alternative, such as pressing the bearing out while leaving the shaft in place. You may want to consider that.) Keep in mind that, even at its best, this is not an easy job. Once you’ve removed the shaft you’ll want to send it off to be trued; reinstalling it requires alignment.
While cutlass bearing replacement varies between boats, here are some general steps and procedures that should help with any bearing replacement project.

1.  Remove the cutlass bearing set screws. Some boats may not have them, however chances are yours does.

2.  Make a longitudal cut inside the bearing, one that almost, but doesn’t quite go through the bearing casing, leaving a thin layer that can be split prior to removal without damaging the inside of the strut. The cut may be made using a reciprocating saw, but a hacksaw provides better control with less chance of cutting completely through to the strut.
If the strut has set screws, placing the cut just above or below them will allow you to insert hex bolts into the holes to assist with breaking the bearing free. If your boat doesn’t use set screws, cut placement isn’t critical.
Apply even pressure while sawing to make sure the cut is level. Accidentally making one cut into the strut is not catastrophic, but multiple cuts, or a single deep cut, could weaken it.

3.  Split the end of the bearing using a cold chisel and dead blow hammer (without damaging the strut).
Once the cut has started to split, inset hex bolts into the set screw holes and tighten evenly, which will finish splitting the bearing and compress it inward, easing removal. For installations without set screws, bend the initial cut inward slightly with the chisel, then continue to split the bearing by driving a wood or fiberglass wedge between bearing and strut. Never use screwdrivers or other metal tools for this, as they could cause damage to the inner surface of the strut.
Once the bearing has been collapsed, grasp the bend with a pair of pliers and pull while twisting in the direction of the bend.

4.  Clean the inside of the strut with a green ScotchBrite pad and soapy water.

5.  Press the bearing into place. DIY’ers can make a simple press using a length of ½” or ¾” threaded rod (at least four to six inches longer than the length of the bearing and strut combined) three nuts and four thick, heavy-duty washers at least ¼” or larger in diameter than the strut. Place a nut and two washers at one end; feed the other end of the rod through the new bearing and strut, then add the remaining two washers and nuts. Use thick washers, otherwise they may “cup” during use, possibly causing the bearing to flare.
Hand-tighten the single nut to snug up the new bearing against the strut, which will make it easier to properly align it prior to compression (it has to be perfectly straight, as damage could occur if you try to press it in while crooked). Coating the bearing and inside of the strut with bar soap (which unlike grease will wash away once in the water, leaving no residue) will help press the fitting into place.  Freezing the bearing overnight (causing it to contract) and/or warming the strut with a heat gun (causing it to expand) can also ease installation.

The fall fishing forecast

looks brighter.

NOAA reopens 5,000 square miles

of fishing grounds

Not long after BP finally stemmed the flow of oil into the Gulf from the Deepwater Horizon well with a sealing cap, area anglers got some more good news. On August 10, NOAA, working with the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), reopened 5,144 square miles of northern Gulf waters to commercial and recreational finfish fishing. The government agency’s move came after U.S. Coast Guard flights over the area showed no oil for 30 days. Grouper, snapper, tuna and mahi caught and analyzed by NOAA in the formerly restricted waters also came up clean.
July’s Tropical Storm Bonnie helped by scattering surface oil, pushing some ashore and sending some into currents carrying it away from land. My friend, Ed Overton, a professor of Environmental Science at LSU, has gotten a little TV time explaining briefly his opinion that nature is processing the escaped oil – which is a natural product, after all. It is still likely to be many years before all the effects of the oil and the chemical dispersants used to treat it will be fully understood, but things are looking much better than we might have expected at this point.

Keeping NOAA on its toes

As we reported in August Scuttlebutt, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who defended Gulf fishermen repeatedly during the oil spill crisis, introduced Bill S.3594, The Fishery Conservation Transition Act – to help ensure NOAA Fisheries data is the best it can be, and is acted upon fairly. In greater detail, the five key areas this legislation would address are 1.) filling gaps in the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) regarding multispecies fisheries; 2.) allowing reasonable time to transition to a new management framework to deal more rationally with stocks undergoing overfishing; 3.) sharpening economic assistance programs for those adversely affected by closures; 4.) requiring consideration of alternate management measures, and 5.) directing a study of questions surrounding multispecies complexes and how to manage them for maximum yield.

Port Aransas busy in September

On the weekend of September 11-12, Port Aransas will be the home base for the IFA Redfish Tour Tournament. Saturday is a catch-and-release tourney for professional lure fishermen, while Sunday will see a competition for kayak anglers. This is one of a series of tournaments with Cabela’s as the major sponsor and produced in a made-for-TV format by the Inshore Fishing Association. Interested parties can check out redfishtour.com for details.
Cruisers stopping in the Corpus Christi – Port Aransas area this month who bring their bikes may be interested in joining the Conquer-the-Coast bike ride on September 24-25. An annual event benefiting the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Tarpon Foundation, this one features a 25-mile “cruise” or a 65-mile “ride” for hard-core bikers which crosses the Harbour Bridge at sunrise, travels through  scenic fishing villages, goes across the ICW via ferry, and down Mustang and Padre Islands before climbing the causeway back to Corpus. Fall is almost here on the Gulf Coast, usually a pleasant time of year to be on the water, sitting in the cockpit, or planning a cruise of any duration along the coast. Crowds are thinning out, temperatures are moderating, and fish are biting. Enjoy.

A new marina makes the island’s largest resort

community more accessible to boats of all sizes.

When Puerto Rico’s biggest regatta of the year changed venues from Culebra in the Spanish Virgins offshore to the new Palmas del Mar Yacht Club & Marina (palmasdelmaryachtclub.com) in Humacao on the southeast corner of the island, this not only meant we had to travel farther from our home base in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., it also meant pulling out the nautical maps to plot the route. Good thing we did. There’s a reef extending out about 150 feet off Puerto Rico’s southeastern coast. You won’t see the treacherous coral heads popping up and breaking the surface if it’s cloudy, but you sure can if the sun comes out – and that might be too late unless you know to look for them. Luckily we did and pulled in to Palmas del Mar after about six hours of cruising at 15 to 18 knots.

The twilight hours just before sunset cast an inviting glow over the new 162-slip megayacht marina, which was nearly half-filled with sailing yachts and mother ships whose crews came to compete in the Puerto Rico Heineken International Regatta. The waters off Palmas are good for sailing, but that’s not the only water-sports activity that’s popular here. Puerto Rico’s east coast also has plenty to offer deep-sea anglers and divers, as well as beaches that draw the sun-bathing crowd. The marina is also a good jumping-off place for cruising to the islands of Vieques, just 15 miles away, and Culebra, which is 25 miles from Palmas.
We learned over cocktails ashore that this area was once a huge sugar cane plantation. In the 1970s, a smaller marina was built here, along a series of manmade canals that became what is now Puerto Rico’s largest resort community. A golf course and beach villas were constructed at the same time.
In 1980s and 1990s, condo development continued under the lead of a company headquartered in Spain, which imprinted an upscale European look on the properties. Many of the new waterfront villas were paired with a marina slip and eventually there was no room left for transient vessels. Come 2000, the developers also saw demand increasing for slip space that could accommodate larger yachts. Luckily, an area for marina expansion, previously an anchorage, had been designated in the Palmas master plan years before. Therefore, permits were in place and only the design was required. Construction began in 2006. The new Palmas del Mar Marina, where we berthed, officially opened two years ago. In addition to providing a well-equipped base for major events like the Heineken Regatta, it is an inviting new destination for cruising yachtsmen.
The marina can accommodate yachts in a range of sizes up to 150 feet. It is fronted by a 12-foot stone breakwall that separates the inner bay from the Caribbean Sea. The outside channel is 20 feet deep, the inside channel that leads into the marina basin is 14 feet, and there’s at least 8- to 10-foot depth under every slip. Each berth is equipped with in-slip fueling, in-slip pump-out, electricity (120/240 single phase and 208 three phase), water and WiFi. There’s also a public fuel dock.
We found a well-staffed marina office at the head of the dock. The Yacht Club is steps away, located on a point where you can see Vieques to the east. The clubhouse is newer than the marina; its second-story interior, which will be used as a conference facility, was still being finished when we visited last spring.
Downstairs, the Skipper Shop opened in March. “We’re a full-service chandlery,” said owner, David Kendrick, who grew up on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. John. “I own another store in Fajardo, so if we don’t have it, I can get it and bring it down to Palmas with me.”  Outside, Pusser’s, the favorite grog and grub chain headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, has opened a temporary bar and take-out operation. This is where we enjoyed nightly hamburgers along with a local version of key lime pie that was tart, smooth and creamy. Later this year, the restaurant will move indoors and expand with seating and signature boutique items like Pusser’s special single-malt rum.
On the southern shore, opposite the new marina, is Palmas del Mar Yacht Works. The yard, like the original marina, founded in the 1970s to service the small boats based at the now-closed Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. Today, it’s a full-service shipyard and repair facility with a 100-ton Travelift. Painting, carpentry, fiberglass repairs, yacht detailing, bow and stern thruster and stabilizer installation are just a few of the services offered here. The Yacht Works sits behind docks where sportfishing and dive charters depart. There is also a fine French restaurant, a bistro and tapas bar, just a few of the 18 eateries located in the resort.
Since Palmas del Mar is a self-contained community, it’s easy to navigate, be it on foot or in a rented golf cart. Marina guests can pay a monthly, rather than annual, fee and receive access to the beach, tennis and golf clubs. This is no small privilege. For example, there are 20 clay, grass and hard-surfaced tennis courts in the tennis club. The golf club now boasts two championship 18-hole golf courses. The beach club has a water park. There is also the Four Points by Sheraton Casino & Resort on the property for those who’d like to try their luck.
Throughout the year, the Palmas del Mar Yacht Club & Marina hosts many nautical events. In addition to the Puerto Rico Heineken International Regatta in March, this includes the Palmas del Mar International Fishing Tournament in April and the Puerto Rico Vela Cup in May. All good reasons, we reckoned, to come back.
Palmas del Mar Yacht Club & Marina is just a 45-minute drive from San Juan and its international airport. Old San Juan makes a great day trip from the marina. We spent an afternoon exploring the fortresses that guard the harbor and enjoyed a steak and beer dinner at the Old Harbor Brewery Steak and Lobster House, the only microbrewery on the island. If you prefer rum, there’s the Bacardi Distillery across the bay. We decided to save that excursion for another day.