We're very excited to announce our upcoming presentations at Trawlerfest Baltimore 2014. We look forward to seeing everyone there.

On Friday September 26, our seminar topics will be...

HOW TO CRUISE TOGETHER WITHOUT KILLING EACH OTHER
Presented by: Chuck Baier and Susan Landry
Authors and long-time liveaboards Chuck Baier and Susan Landry discuss what couples can expect when they go cruising and secrets to maintaining their relationship.

And...

ICW INSIGHTS
Presented by: Chuck Baier & Susan Landry
Authors and veteran cruisers Chuck Baier and Susan Landry provide an overview of what to expect as you head southbound on the ICW. This seminar “closes the loop,” so the speak, making an excellent companion seminar to the Hospodar’s presentation on the inland portions of the Great Loop.

http://www.passagemaker.com/events/trawler-fest-2014-baltimore/

Claiborne during a recent visit to Beach House

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we report the passing of our good friend Claiborne Young. Claiborne dies as the result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident on Saturday June 14th. The boating community has suffered a major loss. Very few boaters have not benefited from the contributions Claiborne has made over many years in the form of his excellent cruising guides covering the ICW from Virginia to Alabama and most recently from his website, Salty Southeast Cruiser's Net. His wife Karen died in October 2013 of what Claiborne called “never smoker’s lung cancer” and Claiborne seemed to recently start getting his life back on track. Just a few weeks ago he purchased a trawler and in an email to us a few days ago, wrote of how excited he was to get back on the water and explore the waters he knew so well. He was a true gentleman and someone that never had a harsh word to say about anyone or anything. He will be missed by so many. The following was taken from cruisersnet.net ...

Claiborne Sellars Young [1951-2014] passed away on Saturday evening, June 14, 2014 at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill following a serious motorcycle accident. He passed into the arms of the Lord at 7:00 p.m. surrounded by family and friends.

Born and raised in Burlington, Claiborne lived there all of his life. He was a well loved, well respected man in all aspects of his life. He was a devoted husband, well-known boating author, speaker, and web publisher. He was also a generous, kind and loyal fellow to the many people who called him Friend. Claiborne will be mourned and missed by family, friends, associates, and fellow cruisers.

Claiborne was a graduate of Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington and NC State University in Raleigh. Following the closing of the Sellars family business in the early 80s, he turned to his next loves – water and boating – eventually authoring a series of books for the cruising community from North Carolina to Florida. His first book, the “Cruising Guide to North Carolina” was published in 1983. He also worked with UNC-TV [PBS] to produce a series of travel videos on the waters and small towns of North Carolina’s coast. More recently, Claiborne went on share his love and knowledge of all things water related and published a successful website dedicated to the boating community and boating legislation. Claiborne was loved by many friends within that community, and always had a place to stay and chat while traveling on his speaking engagements. Those who knew him, found that Claiborne was never at a loss for words!

At home, Claiborne was a loving and devoted husband for 40 years, a motorcycle enthusiast, and animal lover. During the years of their marriage, he and Karen were ardent supporters of the Alamance County Humane Society and the American Humane Society, and surrounded themselves with many four-legged friends. Claiborne was also a self-taught chef who was often found in the kitchen producing the most aromatic and tasty dishes. When Claiborne put on a spread, everyone was happy, full, and sated!

Claiborne was preceded in death by his wife Karen Williams Young who passed away October 2013, and his parents Claibourne Clark Young and Dorothy Sellars Young Brawley. He is survived by family from his Sellars and Young relations, as well as his Williams in-laws.

A service of remembrance will be held at Rich and Thompson Chapel in Burlington on Wednesday, June 18, at 11:00 a.m. with Dr. Genie Martin officiating.

Visitation will be Tuesday evening June 17 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Rich & Thompson in Burlington and other times at the Young’s home [814 Colonial Drive, Burlington].

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to Hospice of Alamance/Caswell, 914 Chapel Hill Road, Burlington, NC 27215.

Condolences may be offered at www.richandthompson.com.

We don't have enough information yet to determine if our experience with the Caframo 747 fans are just an isolated case that only we have experienced, or whether this is a problem with other fans of the same model. On both our Mariner 40 ketch, Sea Trek and now our Marine Trader trawler Beach House, the Caframo 747 model fans have been our preference for many years. The fans use the least amount of power, are the quietest and move the most volume of air of any other fans we have used. The fan is mounted using the more permanent mount and hard wired into a circuit breaker. The circuit breaker did not trip. As full time cruisers, improving the air flow inside the cabin is very important. In the last year, we have had two failures that have given us serious concern. Just over a year ago, one of the fans, which is mounted in our main salon near the lower helm station, suddenly began smoking and the body of the fan became very hot. Fortunately, we were able to shut off the power immediately and no harm was done other than evacuating the smoke. A replacement fan lasted about a year when we noted the smell of electrical burning and immediately determined that it was the replacement fan. The second time there was no smoke, but perhaps that was because we quickly shut off the power. Our concern is what might have happened if the fans were running and we were off the boat, even for a short period of time. Usually all fans, etc. are turned off when we leave the boat for any period of time, but not if we step off the boat for short periods, like talking to neighbors or taking out the trash. We now worry about these fans and whether we should consider another manufacturer in light of our experience. We have contacted Caframo about the issue, but as of yet, have had no response. We would very much like to hear from anyone else that has had issues with this specific product.

Update May 20, 2014

We have finally received a reply from Caframo. They have offered to replace one of the fans but did not address the question of why they might smoke and overheat even if not seized. One of the fans did slow down a bit but the other seemed to run at normal speed. Here is the reply... 

Dear Mr. Baier,

I am sorry for the bad experience you had with the Caframo model 747 fans. Please be assured that we take these issues seriously.

With your fans we only us special Fire Retardant grade plastic for the housing so that should the motor seize there is not risk of fire. However, with older units, should a motor seize heat can get sufficient to cause some smoke and smell.

Our new fans have added thermal protection so that should the blade get jammed or the motor seize current will be cut off to the unit ensuring all components keep at low temperatures. We will gladly send you a new unit at no charge. Please confirm your postal address and I will arrange for a unit to be sent to you.

Sincerely, Mike Tettenborn

The industry mourns the passing of an Icon. Skip Allen gave us our first break by publishing many of our cruising articles in Southern Boating when we first starting cruising as a couple in the early 1990's. Skip's passing is sad news for us and for the marine industry. He will be missed by many. Fair winds Skip. http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2014/03/industry-mourns-marine-magazine-publisher/