And Here I Was Worried About Falling Parking Structures*

... while Southwest Airlines was skipping its safety checks.

The airline has agreed to a $7,500,000.00 fine for neglecting proper safety inspections - about a quarter less than the FAA had originally assessed in penalties.

The airline was fined for flying 46 airplanes on 59,791 flights without performing mandatory inspections for fuselage cracks. The planes, mostly Boeing 737s, carried an estimated 145,000 passengers.

Federal investigations revealed that FAA's cozy regulatory climate with airlines led to the suppression of whistle-blower complaints against Southwest. Once uncovered, the complaints led to stepped-up inspection efforts of all carriers' maintenance records and hundreds of planes being grounded in early 2008.

The settlement agreement also requires Southwest to pay an additional $7.5 million if it does not accomplish 13 safety-related steps, including:

_Increasing by eight the number of on-site technical representatives the airline has at companies that perform major maintenance on its airplanes.

_Allowing FAA inspectors improved access to information used for tracking maintenance and engineering activities.

The full story is here.

And for those of you that dismiss the fine and settlement as excessive caution, there's this, and this, and this, and this.

* see my earlier post "Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go to the Airport"

A Matter of Perspective

MB in his article on the Boat Show noticed this little bit of snobbery:

At the Sea Isle Marina in Bayshore, all of the boats were new and all you had to do to go aboard was take off your shoes. Over on Miami Beach, the boats were all "brokeraged," which is a fancy way of saying "used," and you had to go through the process of making an appointment to go aboard. That meant giving your name and address to the lady at the front desk. This was to accomplish two things; keep the riff-raff off the yachts (for the record, I was Riff and Boatboy was Raff), and to get us on their mailing list so they can send us glossy catalogues of boats that are being sold off by the folks who lost their ass to Bernie Madoff.

Boat shopping is as much about how the marque treats you as how they actually build and support their product. For the (however remotely) prospective buyer, the brokerage's approach has as much to do with the impression as the boat inspected.

MB and I got treated to two vastly different experiences on virtually adjacent docks.

At the Azimut exhibit, the front desk was friendly and, despite technical difficulties, found us appointments to board our choice of yachts and a friendly broker to walk us through. Sodas, beer and espresso were on the house, and we were encouraged to take our time and explore as much as we wanted. We cut the visit short more from concerns about timing than anything else - I would have loved to see their larger craft but we had dinner plans - but the three models we boarded were a joy to see, and our broker, rather than follow our immediate thought of smallest-to-largest progression (which would have been a useful sales tactic) managed to arrange our viewing so that we were the only ones on each vessel at a time. I was impressed not only by the yachts themselves (Azimut is one of the most respected marques), but by the genuine concern for us and our viewing experience.

In contrast, the Lazzara exhibit was a madhouse, and the staff were less than helpful. It started poorly: I don't expect on asking for an appointment to board, to be asked in turn whether I already have an appointment. Traffic control was almost non-existent, and it took five of the staff to pin down a single broker to escort us aboard. Misspelling my name (and hence my email address for future contacts) didn't help matters either: perhaps I should have left well enough alone, as after that experience I'm unlikely to consider Lazzara in the future.

There are also also practical limitations to boatbuilding, which some firms attend to and some don't. Again, the difference between the two was striking. Azimut made much of advanced stabilising equipment, stain-resistant upholstery, stainless steel backsplashes for the galley stove (attractive accent and safety feature all in one), and many other features intended to improve cruising and preserve the investment. The Lazzara we reviewed was entirely the product of the buyer's wishes. She was straight out of a remake of Mujeres al Bord de un Ataque de Nervios set in Buenos Aires or Santiago instead of Madrid: glass surfaces and white furnishings sure to suffer from contact with salt water (from wet boaters), residential appliances ill-suited to the motion of any vessel, and a host of other items that were either inappropriate for life at sea or a guarantee of maintenance and support issues later on. Azimut seems to ensure that buyers will have guidance on what's best for a marine environment while fitting out a new buyer's vessel: Lazzara seems too happy to get the cheque to say no to anything a buyer wants.

Final score: Azimut 10, Lazzara 0.

A Day To Remember

I spent yesterday at the Miami Boat Show, looking over a wide selection of fairly substantial boats (with, of course, equally substantial price tags). Some were old friends, some old friends in new frocks, and a few were surprises (some pleasant, some less so).

What follows is the very biased opinion of a former liveaboard looking over the market for a future floating home. This is only about the boats I looked at carefully, not a full show review.

My favorites:

1) The Island Pilot DSe. This gem of a long-range cruiser was everything I hoped and more. Changes to the technology coupled with some new features made for an amazingly open, comfortable cruiser. Plus, the idea of cruising for weeks on end, or hanging off a mooring buoy instead of a slip (saving money and staying off the grid) is very appealing. The designer was there with her for the show: it was a treat to meet him and learn about his latest creation.

2a) The Soluna 46. It seems Turkish yachtbuilding is coming along better than I thought. This solid cruiser is surprisingly economical, and her deck plans compare favorably with comparable (and comparable larger) models from Vicem.

2b) The Vicem 52. This design continues to evolve, and the changes are all good. Here I admit to a most un-PC thing: I am a real sucker for a mahogany boat, and the Vicem is just that: solid mahogany. The woodworking on the joinery alone makes these boats stand out: and there's a lot more to recommend them. The only detriment is her thirst: a sad but measurable side effect of building a (heavy) wooden boat.

3) The Krogen Express 52. Like the Vicem above, this design continues to evolve, making subtle but substantial changes (mostly to the construction). A fast trawler concept with an express yacht look, this remains among the more fuel-efficient of its kind, while retaining habitability.


Spectacular misses:

1) The Queenship Passagemaker 60. Seen in a vacuum, this is a substantial yacht. Compared to her peers (as inevitable at such an event), the combination of bland styling, lack of thoughtful features such as those found on the Krogen, Krogen Express, Fleming and others parked nearby, and less than ideal use of interior space all make this cruiser the plain-Jane cousin of even her mainstream competition and hardly more comfortable than boats ten feet shorter. I do hope they priced her accordingly.

2) The Great Harbor N47. This boat makes for a great barefoot charter boat, but if you're looking for a finished product she's not it. She looked like a floating holiday cabin, the joinery was nowhere near what I would expect, an in fact the only points she had going for her (against her competition) were her fuel economy and her "Made in USA" labeling. I'm all for domestic product when The US takes the time to do it right: this wasn't one of those times.

Some other finds, and a little drool material.

1) The Vicem 92. If I were a multimillionaire, with the cash to throw away, I'd have snagged this lady where she lay. She's beautiful inside and out, she's comfortable (even for the crew), and she's got the legs to go where I want and get home fast if she needs to.

2) The Azimut 43S. One of the smallest yachts we saw, this smallest (exhibited) Azimut was a dream. She's neatly laid out, comfortable for four, with some very smart features - including a full sunroof for the entire salon.

3) the Fleming 55. Unlike the Queenship, this is a true passagemaker. She's well-made, filled with thoughtful features like flashlight brackets and potholders for the range, and every inch a lady.

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The show was well laid out, and transport between the sites was smooth and efficient. Three marinas and the convention center at Miami Beach were packed with boats of all sizes and all manner of equipment and tackle. Safety equipment, custom fittings and LED lighting appeared to be the stars. Of course the sharks were present: the paths leading to the exhibits were lined with marine finance kiosks.

MB and I spent a lot of time with the boats we really liked and/or with favorite characters from the business. I was remembered fondly (if vaguely) by the folks who introduced me to Krogen Express and Vicem some years ago, and welcomed by the Island Pilot designer, with whom I'd corresponded on the DSe for a while as the design evolved. Everyone I met agreed the market, while poor, was still there (apparently those with a LOT of cash are still buying things), and that the show was quieter than previous years (hardly a surprise). We left exhausted but exhilarated. I can't wait for next year.

Many thanks to MB for the pictures: genius boy here managed to pack everything but the camera. You can see his write-up for the event here.