I'm just back from one of my favorite annual missions. For the last few years I've been honored to be a judge at the Mystic Seaport classic boat rendezvous in Mystic, Connecticut.

This year I was assigned to be one of the judges in the 40 ft. and up power yacht category and I had the pleasure of checking out some absolutely exquisite boats. My favorite in this year's grouping, and ultimately the big prize winner for the weekend was a beauty named Dolphin from Sorel, Quebec, Canada. The boat is a magnificent example of the commuter yachts from a by-gone era.

Dolphin was built in 1929 by Consolidated Shipyard and is 65' in length. Check it out here:

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Now as you can imagine, there have been some upgrades over the years to Dolphin. The engines were of course originally gasoline fueled and they have been replaced with six cylinder diesels by Cummins. The original electrical system was 32 volt DC and that has been upgraded to 12 volt. To get a feel for the quality of the upgrades to this vessel, check out this panel set in the absolutely beautiful engine room on Dolphin:

So, even a boat built almost 90 years ago can be as up to date as a brand new one and it can be done tastefully so as to not ruin the classic appearance of the boat. All of the electrical upgrades I could see on Dolphin were done using Blue Sea gear, one of my sponsors here. Everything was descreetly hidden in the machinery space and really done with great attention to detail.

 If its good enough for Dolphin, believe me, the gear will serve you well. My congratulations to the owners and captain on Dophin. Simply beautiful!

Summer Webinar Series Announcement

 An item I have not discussed here at Ed's Boat Tips is the ABYC webinar series. These webinars, although generally targeting the marine industry professional, sometimes offer some really great information for boater's, especially tech-savvy boaters. So, you may want to follow the links below to see if you might find something of interest. The sessions typically last from one hour to about 90 minutes and are presented by some of the best presenters in the ABYC stable of speakers. I'll be doing the seminar listed as "Using a TDR to Trace On Board Electrical Faults" in July.

 So, if you are interested in learning some of the fine details about your boat or some advanced trouble-shooting techniques, check it out:

  ABYC Spring / Summer WEBINAR Schedule

--WEBINAR-- with Kevin Ritz, Fundamentals of Marine Electricity

Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM Location: Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=449 $49 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

--WEBINAR-- with Dwight Escalera, Conversion Factors from Lead Acid to AGM Batteries

Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM Location: Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=448 $49 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

--WEBINAR-- with Capt Dave Rifkin, Conducting a Corrosion Survey a Two-Part Webinar Series Part 1

Date: Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM Location: Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=450 $49 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

 --WEBINAR-- with Capt Dave Rifkin, Conducting a Corrosion Survey a Two-Part Webinar Series Part 2

Date: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM Location: Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=451 $49 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

--WEBINAR-- Joe Derie, "Introduction to Marine Accident Investigation"

Date: Thursday, July 7, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM Location: Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=465 $49 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

--WEBINAR-- Ed Sherman, Using A TDR to Trace On Board Electrical Faults

Date: July 20, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=464 $49 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

--WEBINAR-- with John Adey, "What has just Changed in the ABYC Standards"

Date: August, 24, 2011 Time: 1:00 pm Online in your home or at your office desk!

Information: http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=467 $49.00 ABYC Members $99 Non-Members (click here) Register Online!

Save the ABYC Education Calendar in your Favorite Places to find a course in your area. http://www.abycinc.org/calendar/index.cfm

Its always good to hear from our sponsors and its especially nice to hear things are looking good for them. The boat business has had more than its fair share of doom and gloom over the last few years. So, congrats go out to one of the sponsors here at www.EdsBoatTiips.com, Pacer Group.

Check out their latest press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Sarasota, FL, March, 2011 – IBBI (Independent Boat Builders Incorporated) has named Pacer Group their preferred vendor for wire, cable, and battery cable assemblies. 

This is an incredible opportunity for Pacer.  The Independent Boat Builder consortium consists of 21 boat builder members across the country.  “IBBI will bring us good potential for growth in the marine segment of our business,” Steve O’Dea, Pacer’s Sales Manager, said.  “This will open many doors for Pacer by creating new, and expanding existing, professional relationships.” 

“The agreement process was a true collaboration between our two organizations,” O’Dea said. “We will now move forward by introducing Pacer’s premier wire and cable products to IBBI’s many boat manufacturers,” he said.  

“I think that Pacer Group is a really good company to work with.  I visited their Sarasota facility and I was very pleased with what I saw,” Tom Broy, the President of IBBI, explained with enthusiasm.  “They have great control over their manufacturing facility, which is one of the reasons we decided to go with them.  IBBI appreciates the fact that Pacer Group is a manufacturer, as they have the ability to do custom work for IBBI.  Throughout this long process they have always managed to stay above their competition,” he said. “IBBI and Pacer Group have signed a three year contract, and we are looking forward to providing as much business as possible for Pacer.”

Pacer Group was established in 1979 and it has built its reputation as an industry leader one customer at a time through excellence in engineering, an experienced, knowledgeable sales force, and an unwavering commitment to customer service.

For more information please visit www.pacergroup.net, or contact Pacer Group at          (941) 378-5774 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For those of you outside the industry, IBBI is a buyers consortium that brings buying power for member boat builders, and some of the best known names in the industry are a part of the mix here. Companies like Parker, Bertram, Four Winns, Edgewater and Contender to name a few are a part of 21 member consortium. Again, congratulations to Pacer Group!

For the boat owners reading this, you can go to the IBBI website www.ibbi.com  and see their member list. If the maker of your boat is on the list, you now know where the wire and cable in your boat came from.  

Boaters with few exceptions tend to be environmentally concerned people. With that though in mind a new tool has just been introduced just in case you have your own private Deep Water Horizon experience, either at the boat or on your dock. Enter the C.I. Agent Oil Spill response kit. Seems like a good idea for both boater's and marina operators. Check out the following press release to learn more about the kit.

COMPACT BAG CONTAINS TOOLS FOR QUICK SPILL RESPONSE

In a fuel or oil spill emergency, it's critical to have all the tools at hand for quick containment and clean-up. The C.I.Agent® Spill Response Bag is a comprehensive rapid response system for hydrocarbon spills on water and land. It includes reusable components that eliminate the expense and hassle of hazardous waste disposal.

C.I.Agent is a proprietary, non-hazardous blend of USDA food-grade polymers that encapsulate and solidify hydrocarbons on contact. Listed on the EPA National Contingency Plan Product Schedule*, C.I.Agent solidifier is non-toxic and environmentally friendly. It turns fuel, oil and other hydrocarbons into an inert, rubber-like mass that recycle into asphalt, rubber and plastic, or burn as fuel. It's disposable as normal trash, especially beneficial when most other remediation products must be treated as costly and dangerous hazardous waste after use.

Small enough to be tucked out of the way onboard, stashed in a dock box or kept near a fueling station, the Spill Response Bag is customizable to fit particular applications. A standard kit contains a 12' reusable C.I.Agent Quick Deployment Boom (QDB), 10 lbs. of C.I.Agent Granules in .5 lb. dissolvable pouches, a reusable 12" x 12" Bilge Bag, a garbage bag and heavy-duty gloves.

The versatile QDB effortlessly captures sheen when dragged across the water. On land, it's excellent for protecting storm drains from fuel spills. Because it is lightweight and flexible, one person can easily deploy the QDB unassisted. It's also available in standard lengths of 25, 50 and 100', or custom sizes upon request. The durable and reusable Bilge Bag contains 8 oz. of C.I.Agent polymers inside a tough, tear-resistant pouch.

Until the loose polymers inside the QDB and Bilge Bag are completely used and solidify, these products can be deployed again and again. Users simply rinse them and hang to dry, knowing they will not drip or leach harmful hydrocarbons.

The C.I.Agent Spill Response Bag measures 17"W x 20"H x 8"D and comes in eye-catching Safety Glow Orange and Lime Glow Green. A standard kit retails for $420.

C.I.Agent Solutions offers a wide range of products for marine, industrial and environmental applications, including booms, pillows, storm drain inserts, fabric barriers and hydrocarbon flow filters. The company prides itself on creating effective solutions for its customers' unique hydrocarbon containment and clean-up needs. C.I.Agent Solutions received the 2010 WorkBoat Environmental Award for its recovery efforts in the Gulf following the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Contact C.I.Agent Solutions, 11760 Commonwealth Dr, Louisville, KY 40299. Toll free: 866-242-4368; Fax 502-267-0181.

You can go to their website: www.ciagent.com to learn more as well.

Ok, aside from a glitch we are working on as I write this, I'm feeling like a proud father. EdsBoatTips is growing! For those of you who are regulars, you'll notice some changes on the site today. First, as promised a week or so ago, we've added Pacer Wire and Cable as a sponsor to the site. They have provided some really useful links for boaters who need tools, wire and cable when doing some of their own wiring. Please check them out. They wouldn't be on the site if I didn't think they offered good gear.

You'll also notice some newly added links over in the left column. Ben Ellison's Panbo site is an award winning electronics blog and Ben is a fellow contributor to Cruising World magazine and renowned guru in the world of marine electronics. Yes, I have been added to the list of esteemed Cruising World bloggers along with Ben and old friends Herb McCormick, Alvah Simon, Elaine Lembo and Mark Pillsbury. For my power boat friends, relax! Remember I like all boats power and sail, so I will continue to post material useful to all.

Additionally, I've added the link to BoatExam.com. This will be a useful site for new folks just getting into boating or existing boaters that have children that need to get a state or provincial license to operate a boat.

Finally, thanks to Peter Lindquist for giving me the heads up this morning about the issue we're having with the right margin cutting off text. We're working on that now and hope to get it resolved overnight.