It's been an amazing year of learning new things and finding new boating friends.  I have always marveled at how easy boaters are with one another and how very generous they are with their time.  With the advent of the internet, the ability to meet new people with similar interests is absolutely amazing.  At this point, I think, we have as many boating friends from foreign ports as we do in US ports.

Just to give you an idea of how this works... early this year, we were contacted by a Quasar owner from Portugal who had visited our website.  Jose was hoping to meet other Quasar owners with an eye toward sharing experiences and some day meeting one another.  In the spring Jose introduced us to Rolf, who was from Sweden and interested in purchasing a Quasar,  but knew nothing about the boat and was having a hard time finding any information.  After several months of back and forth communications and getting to know one another, Rolf finally was able to actually see a Quasar that was for sale in the EU.  Unfortunately, from his description, of the boat, it was a complete mess and he wasn't interested.  Actually I think when his wife saw the boat there was an indication that a divorce was on the table if he even thought of buying it.

Since there are so many boats for sale in South Florida, as we do with all of our internet acquaintances, we offered to take a look at any boats that are in our area that Rolf might have an interest in pursuing.  During the course of our communications I happened to mention that Theresa Marie, a sister ship to SeaWolf was on the market and that we had heard that the current owner had done an excellent job of updating her since he purchased her.  To make a long story short, Rolf asked and we went up to see Theresa Marie; gave Rolf a favorable report on what we had seen and he and Theresa Marie's owner came to an agreement.

As it turns out, our little jaunt up to Fort Pierce to see Theresa Marie was a great adventure... as we knew it would be.  The owners of Theresa Marie, Jeff and Catherine, are definite keepers and we've since spent a fascinating day with them aboard SeaWolf.  While up in Fort Pierce, Jeff brought us to a fantastic boating liquidation place and we thought we died and went to heaven.  If you're looking for anything to do with boats, you have to visit The Marine Connection Liquidators (www.themarineconnection.net). The place is fabulous and if they don't have it, I don't think it exists!

And finally, Rolf, his wife and their two daughters are coming to South Florida in October to inspect, survey and sea trial Theresa Marie.  While here, they'll come to Miami to visit with us for a couple of days. They expect to take Theresa Marie back to Sweden next year.  With luck and a little planning we hope to be able to take SeaWolf and travel part of the way with them.  Bermuda sounds good!  After Bermuda they will be meeting up with Jose and his family and doing some cruising in the EU.

Life is good.

I've been so caught up with the Interlux fiasco that I've let a lot of things slide for the past month or so. 

SeaWolf is ready to do some shake down cruises and we're going to start next month by going out weekends.  Since we're so tall (63 feet), we can't get under the Julia Tuttle bridge and head out the Government Cut in Miami (its about 3 miles away).  Supposedly, the contractor who built the bridge claimed dislexia and built the bridge 56 feet high, instead of 65 feet high, as all bridges on the ICW (InterCoastal Waterway) were supposed to be built.  As a result, we have to head north to Fort Lauderdale (23 miles) and go through about 8 bascuse bridges before we can get out for a test run, but it's worth it.  It's an enjoyable sail with several open bays and lots of high end mansions to ooggle.  We plan to head out on Thursday nights, run up to Hollywood, anchor out (about 3/4 of the way to the Lauderdale inlet) and then pop out into the ocean early Friday morning.  We'll spend Friday and Saturday morning running and testing the new rigging and sails and then head back to Miami on Saturday afternoon.  We'll anchor out in Hollywood again and then get to the Palm Bay Club (http://www.palmbaymiami.com/) by mid afternoon, Sunday.  Do take a look at the Palm Bay Club site if you get to Miami.  It's a great Marina with excellent amenities and is very reasonable.  Nice people, too, and that's the most important aspect of any marina.

Bill's ability to handle SeaWolf in tight situations is absolutely fantastic!  You can surely believe me when I tell you that SeaWolf is like trying to  handle an elephant.  While waiting for several of the bridges to open, we had to wait up to a half hour.  Bill was able to keep Sea Wolf virtually stationery against a running tide and 15-20 knots of wind, by just manipulating the two engines.  Amazing!   I'm not nearly so competent as Bill, but he's very patient and willing to make me as competent as he is.  He'd better because I got the highest marks on the Coast Guard test and THAT makes me the Captain... but NEVER when we're in deep doo doo.  Then HE'S the Captain, for sure.

Well, that's it for now, but I'll be sure to let you know what happens on our first shake down as I'm sure things will go wrong and wel (spelled B-I-L-L) will have a number of fire drills to handle.  I just hope that none of them are actually fires!

Interlux Trilux 33 Bottom Paint - The Continuing Saga - Read the Original Post for details

Update 4/8/09
This is the end of the Interlux Bottom Paint saga.  Thanks to the help of Interlux Corporate, I was hooked up with the Southern Regional Rep, who re-evaluated the situation and agreed that it was paint failure.  In all of the years we've been using Interlux products this is the one and only time we had a problem.  Sometimes products just don't work the way they were intended and for whatever the reason... heat, cold, age, whatever, they sometimes just fail.  End of story.  Interlux Corporate definitely stepped up to the plate to evaluate and resolve the problem and I'm satisfied with the outcome.  They worked with me, the painter and the yard to resolve the issues and all has been taken care of with each of us handling some of the costs.  My dealings with the Southern Regional Rep restored my faith in Interlux, their products and their commitment to customer service and satisfaction.

Update 3/16/09
Received a call from the Interlux Regional Rep this morning.  My dealings with the local rep were, to say the least, unpleasant.  The Interlux Regional Rep was far more accommodating in that he did not stonewall the situation.  He readily admitted that any bottom paint that grew barnacles within weeks of being painted had failed miserably, whereas the local rep tried to blame the failure on everything and everyone other than the paint. 

Interlux has agreed to pay for the haulout and provide the paint.  Nautic is going to apply the paint.  We are going to transport the boat up to Lauderdale Marine to be hauled out.  Although we will be responsible for transportation costs associated with the repaint, we are no longer going to be hit with the lion's share of the costs as the local rep had wanted.

The lesson to be learned here is that it is worth the effort to document everything and continue to go up the "food chain" in a pleasant and respectful manner in order to obtain a satisfactory resolution to a problem.

Update - 3/2/09
Received a call from the Interlux Regional Rep.  He agrees that the paint failed miserably and has asked for the receipts associated wtih hauling the boat.  Sounds like Interlux may finally accept the responsibility for their paint failure and pay for the cost of hauling and repainting the bottom.  We'll see.  Will keep you posted

Update - 2/25/09
Received a response within an hour from the Secretary to the Board of Managers at Interlux Corporate.  She said she'd get back to me.  Given the attitude of and our experience with the local rep, I was quite surprised.  Maybe he's not indicative of the Interlux Corporate mentality.  Will keep you posted.


Update - 2/25/09
Received notice that my email to the Interlux Exec was undeliverable.  Went on line again, pulled up the Interlux Corporate site, went to Contacts/Corporate, opened a message window, copied the email communication thread I'd had with the local rep, pasted it into the comment box, and put in the subject "Please forward to Leif Darmer."  Now I wait

Received a call from JC McDowell, that he, his wife, Hillary, and their daughter, Emma, were in No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne.  They're on their way to Key West and wanted to stop by and say hello.  Went over to pick them up and they joined us for an afternoon of swimming and eating!  JC and Hillary are typical cruisers.... loving their travels and enjoying every minute they spend with their little girl.  Emma is 17 months old and absolutley adorable.  You can already see that she's going to be a typical boat kid... friendly, happy and inquisitive.  She's amazingly bright for such a young child and communicates verbally and in sign language... that's right... Hillary and JC are teaching her sign language!  Our daughter, Shannon, learned to sign so she could communicate with the parents of one of her karate students.  Just as JC and Hillary are teaching Emma to sign, Shannon taught our grandson, Connor, sign language when he was a baby.  It's a great way for kids to be able to communicate before they can speak.

It's was a little too cold for ocean swimming so I dragged them back to our marina where we had a heated pool and a hot tub.  As you can see from the pictures, everyone had a great time.  After a good long afternoon in the pool, they got to take a nice long hot shower... which is a real treat for cruisers!  Then it was time for Hill and I to do some grocery shopping so they could stock up on supplies.  While we were gone, Bill and JC watched as Emma plopped over and went fast asleep on the saloon floor.  Finally we had burgers and hot dogs and then it was time to head on back to No Name Harbor to drop them off so they could continue their journey south.  We surely do hope they stop in Miami on the way back north in a couple of months as they're part of our cruising family now.

When we cruised we met many wonderful dirt dwellers who extended a hand to us by taking us shopping and inviting us into their homes for meals and wonderful loooongggg hooootttt showers (a real treat for cruisers).  It's a pleasure for us to do the same for others who are cruising now and hopefully we're paying it forward for when we head on out again in the not too distant future.

Update - 2/24/08
Went on-line to Interlux Corporate and found the 'man in charge' of the paint division.  Using the email address format of the other Interlux employees, I forwarded him the email thread with the So Florida Rep.

Update - 2/23/09
The Interlux rep is still trying to blame everyone else for the paint failure of his Interlux Trilux product.

1.   He says the contractor knew they shouldn't use it on fiberglass.  What?!  Interlux Trilux specs say it's appropriate for fiberglass and the contractor has used it often because it performs so well on fiberglass.

2.   The Interlux rep says the only reason it was used was because we wanted grey.  He's been repeatedly told that the gray color when the contractor said, "oh, by the way, you can have another color with Trilux. Do you have a preference?" The Interlux Trilux specs say it comes in colors and is suitable for fiberglass (yeeessss, back to that agine).

3.   The Interlux rep says that the contrctor didn't put the appropriate number of coats on the boat.  The contractor says he followd the instructions to the letter.  Our conversation was that he did, but we certainly didn't read the instructions as we weren't applying the paint.

The ONE issue that the Interlux rep keeps avoiding (what a surprise) is that the boat was loaded with barnacles within WEEKS of the paint being applied. When he first inspected the boat in November, he admitted that the amount of barnacling was excessive and there was obviously a problem  (ya THINK?!).  NOW he's looking to blame everyone else for their failed product.

Our experience and opinion is that Trilux is bad paint and Interlux doesn't care about it's customers.

Update - 2/19/09
Heard from local rep, who thought he should give me a lesson on how and why Trilux was developed, what it was made of and that it's for aluminum boats, not fiberglass boats.  I really hate it when men talk down to me.  I told him that I didn't care why Trilux was made or what it was made of.  The tech specs said it was suitable for fiberglass and wooden boats; the boat was cleaned, primed and painted according to Interlux specs and the bottom was loaded with barnacles within a month of being painted and launched.  So far as I'm concerned, that's paint failure, plain and simple.  He offered for Interlux to supply new paint, the contractor to paint the boat and for us to pay for the haul out.  That breaks down to roughly... $600 to Interlux, 1,500 for the Contractor and close to 3,000 for us.  He somehow seems to think this is a fair and equitable solution to the problem of HIS paint failing.  Noooottt gonna happen. Sent him an email telling him this was not acceptable.  As far as I'm concerned, Interlux should be paying for everything.  We'll see what happens next.  Will keep you posted

Update - 2/19/09
Corporate rep, Joe Szoke, said they don't get involved and it's the rep's decision.  Go Figure! 

Update - 2/18/09:
I finally heard from the Rep.  He has only offered to provide new paint.  Let's see now... that's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of hauling and repainting.  I think I'll wait to hear from Interlux Corporate.

Original Blog:
Normally, I wouldn't do this as I like to report positively on good things, not negatively on bad things.  However, I'm tired of the runaround we've been getting from the Interlux Florida Rep and after his behavior at the Miami Boat Show, here I am.

In September, we had Nautic and Company (great company) from Ft. Lauderdale work on our boat.  Our boat was hauled, powerwashed, sanded, washed again and then Nautic put the recommended primer and 2+ coats of Trilux 33 bottom paint on SeaWolf.  Having been there and watched the application, Nautic's work was done professionally and properly.  Within a month, we were covered with barnacles.  We called Nautic and they contacted the Interlux Rep.  After a couple of weeks, Nautic called and apologized that they had been unable to reach the rep and gave me his phone number, thinking that as I was the customer, I would probably have better luck.  I contacted the rep and scheduled an appointment.  He didn't show, but called a couple of days later to reschedule.  When he inspected the boat he told us that Trilux was not appropriate for fiberglass boats and should never have been used.  He suggested we move the boat out of a heavy tide slip and have the bottom scrubbed.  We did as he suggested and have had less growth, but our diver tells us it is still excessive.  I checked the Interlux paperwork, which clearly stated that Trilux 33 was specifically formulated for aluminum boats but was appropriate for fiberglass and wooden boats, also.

Since his November inspection, both Nautic and I had tried to contact the rep (for almost 3 months), with no luck.  Bill and I made a point of visiting the Interlux booth at the Miami Boat Show.  We spoke with the rep at that time.  He was inappropriately aggressive in his denials of having received any emails or phone messages from either Nautic or me.  From both of us???  Yeah, right!  He also kept hanging his hat on the erroneous hook that the Trilux is not for fiberglass boats.  If not, why do the Interlux specs say that it is?  Finally, he agreed to provide replacement paint.  He said he'd contact Nautic and talk to them.  I emailed the rep several days ago and haven't heard from him yet.  Nautic, much to their credit, agreed to apply the paint at a reduced rate, even though it does not appear that they did anything incorrectly.  I doubt the yard will haul us for free.

Since I haven't heard from the rep yet, I've sent an email to Interlux corporate asking if they will cover the cost of the new haulout and repaint since it is their product that obviously failed.

I'll keep you posted as to what transpires.

Like Bill, I grew up in the northeast, in northern New Jersey right near NY City.  I spent many fun times at the Jersey shore and the local lakes, but cruising?  Just not on the radar screen.

Bill and I had known one another for almost 13 years before we started dating.  We had worked together in the late 60's and early 70's and, along with other co-workers, we remained friends and we all got together about once a year.  We were both married to other people.  All of a sudden, we were both divorced.  Next thing you knew we were hanging out together and the rest is history.  Along with the kids (most days), he's the best thing that ever happened to me.

For me, the defining point was in 1980 when we went to the now defunct Club Med on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.  We're early risers and were sitting on the deck outside the dining hall, overlooking the harbour.  There was an absolutely gorgeous Tahiti Ketch anchored out right in front of us.  As we watched (and drooled) a man came up on deck (buck naked), yawned, stretched, scratched and went below to get a cup of coffee.  I was dumbstruck and could only think of all of the sail-off-into-the-sunset movies I'd seen as a kid.  Ironically, Bill was thinking the same thing, but he turned to me and said, "I've always wanted to do that."  What a shock!  We'd known one another for more than a decade and I didn't know that about him.  Nor, I might add, did he know it about me.

That very day we started making our plans.  We didn't know if it was possible, but we were going to give it our best shot.  We did... and it worked... and five years later we were on our way.  That was the When.

The Why is just as simple... just because!  Bill wanted to cruise and so did I, so why not?!

If you've just read Bill's February Blog, keep on reading, if not, you need to read his version of this disaster first, so hop on over to Bill's Blog and catch up.

The whole scene was hysterical.  We set off first thing after breakfast and headed for the sail boats.  The "Plan," or so I thought, was to get a lesson or two and then sedately venture out on our own... near shore in light winds.  Next thing I knew Captain Bill was telling the sailing instructor he had experience.  I know that the sailing instructor knew that we had absolutely NO practical experience by the look on my face, but he still, much to my surprise, gave Bill the boat.  Go figure!  I, in my infinite stupidity, actually got in the boat instead of running for the hills.  To this day, I can't believe I got in the boat!

So off we went, and I must admit, the Captain did quite well launching us and taking us out to the buoy.  Then the fun began.  The Captain says, "coming about."  I knew enough to duck, but I wasn't ready for the dunking I got.  My immediate response, after I stopped laughing, was, "okay, bright boy, now what do we do?"  I could not believe my ears when he confidently assured me that he knew how to right the boat because he had, 'read it in chapter 6.'  Next thing I knew, he was standing on the centerboard and climbing on the boat.  The boat took off like a rocket once he was aboard... without me!  I was NOT a happy camper.

Fortunately, Captain Bill likes me and he managed to come about (sans the dunking part) before he hit Africa and come back for me.  Then the foolish man asked if I wanted to do it all again.  Not bloody likely!  Basically, I told him to come back after his 1,000 mile checkup and I'd think about it.

He did and it all worked out just dandy as we're both still alive and have a lot of miles under the hulls.