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  • Billinfla
    Matey
    • Sep 2019
    • 2837

    #16
    Originally posted by finsleft258
    I'm Blake in Daytona. My whole career has revolved around the marine industry. I graduated from college and started a repair shop with a money partner. The partner and I split 6-months later and I buckled down to make it work. I had a reputation locally for my attention to detail and got head hunted several years later by a company looking for someone with technical marine experience.

    I worked for them for a few years (fantastic job, too much travel for me) specifying custom sea strainers. We did standard 316L, exotic alloys, and cupernickle products with flow rates up to 3000 gallons per minute for single pipe systems. If I had a large yacht, they would be my only choice.

    I went back on my own for private product consultation before my current job for a large non-profit, research and development company. I'm a research scientist and the site lead for a marine and atmospheric weathering facility within the larger corporation. We test an extremely wide range of products, coatings, antifoulings, alloys, and systems.

    My specialties are in marine antifouling coatings, stainless steel, duplex, and super duplex alloys, 5000 series aluminum, cupronickel and bronze alloys, and chrome-free primer systems.

    I am a good wrench though I really don't enjoy it past the diagnostics. I still have my shop but just work on my projects and flip boats (and drink beer) for the most part.

    I have a cool Whitewater project that I'm extremely behind on but I'll post a thread about it when finished.
    In the 1950's ago there was a atmospheric testing facility down near the lighthouse.

    Anti-fouling..ever see barnacles on a coconut? why not?

    Comment

    • Mako runner
      Mr. Matey to you
      • Dec 2015
      • 3978

      #17
      Charlie here. Was born in 1954 do the math. Had a boat of some sort most of my life and spent time on family and friends boats. My earliest memory is being on a boat. Was born in NJ lived in Texas most of the 80s and about half of the 90s then back to Jersey. Worked in the construction business one way or another most of my working life with a very short time as a snack food vendor. Been retired since 2011 really wanted to work a few more years but because of circumstances it made more sense to retire. Now I spend my time playing with or working on my boats or maintaining and improving my lake house from spring through fall. In the winter I'm in the basement of my main house just staying out of the cold passing the time. I have a workshop set up in the basement to work on old outboard motors that I have a pretty big collection of. But a lot of time is just spent online or watching TV. And of course debating, discussing topics here on BOB... Charlie
      Greetings from Lake Hopatcong NJ / Milltown NJ

      Comment

      • Ol Mucky
        F/O
        • Apr 2015
        • 3686

        #18
        My name is Bo
        I like long walks on the beach, meaningful conversation, a keen intellect and big boobs.
        Born in MI, left as a boy in 1970 (dad had cancer couldn’t take the winters; he passed in 76)
        Hollywood, Lauderhill, Inverrary, Pompano Beach, Deerfield beach, N. Ft Myers and now Tampa(1989) have been my homes.
        My granparents fished. My grandma was a finatic. Would NOT throw a fish back (poor farmer depression era thing) They taught me on a lake in MI. I spent most of my youth on the beach/intracoastal.
        Had a paying job since I was 12. Painter, short order cook, picked okra on a farm, stockboy, warehouse, plumbers assistant, car detailer, carpenters helper, built Shamrock boats <—this gig pushed me to college and get a degree. Through college I worked as an Xray transporter, phlebotomist, EMT in and ER, Mental Health Tech in an ER, substitute teacher and the rest of my life the last 23 years I have been a Network Engineer for the same IT company.

        I have two, under 18 in HS. Daughter is my carbon copy, yet way prettier. Son is a pistol and is 100% his mothers side (but i still like him).
        Always fished and hunted. The boy, as you all know by now, is my primary partner in these activities.
        If I make 62 I can retire (57 soon) maybe 60. The boy is a sophomore in HS and I need to get him at least to college working this gig.
        I hate tampa now. The new people moving here are entitled, rude and arrogant. Our area is swamped with traffic. Can’t wait to sell.
        Ideally when I retire I get a small shack on a pond in Central MI to winter, and somehow figure out how to spend the summer months in the Lower Keys.

        Comment

        • finsleft258
          Swabby
          • May 2016
          • 399

          #19
          Originally posted by Billinfla

          In the 1950's ago there was a atmospheric testing facility down near the lighthouse.

          Anti-fouling..ever see barnacles on a coconut? why not?
          Same site. We've been here in some way, shape, or form since the early '40s. We have owned it since '55. We used to own a swath from the ICW through to the beach including the area which is now the lighthouse park. We donated the land that is now the park to the lighthouse in '99-'00. We have roughly 3 acres on the ICW with 350' of waterway frontage for marine exposures and another roughly 3 acre plot on the beach for the atmospheric exposures.

          As to the coconut thing, it has to do with what the cyprid (barnacle larvae) likes to attach. The coconut deal is from two different causes: it moves too much and the surface is changing rapidly as it ripens/decomposes. They (cyprids) do not like surfaces that change frequently. In peak fouling season (basically right now) if you fixed a coconut in the water so it was stable, you would have barnacles forming in 5 days provided another hatch of something else doesn't outcompete the cyprids for real estate.

          I attended a conference a few years ago for marine corrosion and antifouling. One of the major discussion sessions revolved around functionalized coatings (surfaces that can change their physical properties or have physical properties that are not ideal to macrofouling (hard) organisms). A lot of these were based on shark skin, crab shells, etc. They all had limited success. The assumptions were similar to the coconut--if I don't see fouling, it must be something in the surface that prevents it. In reality, crabs can and do get barnacles; then they molt. Sharks can and do get barnacles; but they rub against sand and surfaces or have symbiotic relationships with other organisms. There are velocity and acceleration factors that come into play as well for how often a surface moves.
          Barefoot Boats
          [email protected]
          (386)256-6977

          Comment


          • Billinfla
            Billinfla commented
            Editing a comment
            Foul release. Basically a non-stick coating philosophy. Only applicable for hulls in constant motion..container ships, cruise ships. Once an attachable substrate develops the foul release process is negated.

            I did my undergraduate theses on beach erosion during the stabilization of Ponce inlet.

          • TomS
            TomS commented
            Editing a comment
            Have you ever tested ultrasonic antifouling products such as Sonihull? https://sonihull.com/ultrasonic-antifouling/ Supposedly the military uses them. Some guy with Axopar charter boats said they're the best thing ever.
        • Billinfla
          Matey
          • Sep 2019
          • 2837

          #20
          Originally posted by Billinfla

          In the 1950's ago there was a atmospheric testing facility down near the lighthouse.

          Anti-fouling..ever see barnacles on a coconut? why not?
          Battelle?

          Comment

          • Coastboater
            Matey
            • Aug 2020
            • 2334

            #21
            I’m Chris😀
            My interest in boats was formed due to my Dad being an executive in the plastics industry in the 60’s as polyesters were becoming popular for building boats. He worked for Owens Corning and WR Grace and supplied most of the major boat builders, primarily in Florida. We lived in Plantation and Coral Gables.
            In the early 70’s Dad took a job as VP of Seacrest Marine in Washington NC. They produced the Gamefishers for Sears using a Whaler-like process except with ABS outer and inner skins and polyurethane sandwich construction. Sears pulled the contract, as they were known to do, and ultimately Seacrest went under. Dad bought all the tools and formed his own company and began producing small fiberglass boats under our family name, using a few of the former Seacrest employees. The gas crunches crunched the business and Dad made the second mistake in business- knowing when to get out. He exhausted his personal resources and ended up in bankruptcy. He was starting over in his early 50’s.
            From there, I went to work for Hatteras in New Bern, NC, producing 53’ and up yachts. When AMF bought Hatteras, their management was purely focused on cost cutting and I left to work at MCAS Cherry Point for the Navy doing depot level repair on F4’s, CH46’s, Harriers, C130’s and the OV10 Bronco.
            My first job there was working on pilot canopies, quite often replacing the canopy itself and installing detonator cord that blew the canopy off when the pilot ejected. I got selected for an apprentice program and went through a four year program for computer/electronics and was ultimately assigned to a maintenance team for the two huge machine shops there.
            My wife pursued a job opening at Disney, got it, and they relocated us to Orlando. I was Mr. Mom for our two boys, played golf every day until she shamed me in to getting a job as a CNC machine tool service engineer. After a few years repairing machines all over Florida, that business put me in sales, and with an in-depth knowledge of machines, I did well. After a few years in sales, combined with my wife’s parents that lived near Charlotte declining health I took another machine tool sales position near Columbia SC and we bought a home on Lake Murray. This was 1994 and I had a dock! I had a Monterey, two Whalers, Scout, Grady White and a Formula during our 10 years there. We built a second home at Edisto Beach which we absolutely loved and we knew we wanted to settle in SC’s low country.
            In 2004 I took an executive management position for another machine tool company in Phoenix, AZ. It was a mess and quite challenging as when I took over it lost $600k that year. The second year we finally turned profitable. Our largest customer ended up being Ruger as their pistols were made in Prescott, AZ. We sold them over 1000 CNC machines and if you have a Ruger pistol, it was made by our machines. In the mean time we built a new Tech Center in Tempe and I my responsibility went from 2 states and ~18 employees to 8 states and ~30 employees.
            I was traveling 3 weeks a month and since we sourced our products from Asia and Europe, I did a lot of international travel, too. Japan a lot, China, Taiwan, Switzerland, Spain, Germany.
            In October of 2014 I had a “mild” heart attack on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix. It was a secondary artery and cause was determined to be stress. Poor sleep habits, mainly.
            The health event helped me refocus priority and I retired in early 2015. Moved to our little paradise on the Ashley River and since I’ve had 8 boats! most of them flips as a hobby.
            As of February, I’m a granddad and been married 43 years last June. My wife says I’m almost trained😀 We’re members at a small church nearby, conservative, and very blessed.
            This thread is a great example of why I’m here. Thanks for having me!

            TLDR: I’m Chris😀

            Comment

            • the other tom
              Swabby
              • Dec 2014
              • 448

              #22
              Tom Lihan. Born 1960 in Fort Lauderdale about 1 mile from my current home. Both parents were schoolteachers, dad taught woodshop, mom was an artist. For some reason I decided to attend the US Merchant Marine Academy (well, they did have a really good sailing team) which is one of the five Federal service academies. Graduated with an unlimited license and Naval Reserve.

              Two grown daughters, no grandkids. older one did in fact win her Olympic Trials and raced in London 2012. She went to Yale, the other one went to the US Naval Academy (see a pattern?). Very grateful for wonderful friends and tight classmates from my academy experience.

              Friend took my fishing one day back in '96, our kids were best friends and I had a 284 Intrepid. after a good dolphin day I was hooked on this fishing deal. First "big boat" was an old Bertram 46 that was a total project. Father's woodshop experiences had taught a lot about building stuff along with glasswork and I stumbled along figuring it out after that. Semi-retired seems to be the word of the day, so I'll borrow that. I had been getting requests from northern friends to deal with managing their boat projects, repairs, maintenance, yard work, etc so I guess you'd say I am in the yacht management business.

              Did I mention that this is a really nice place! (BOB)
              Last edited by the other tom; 08-03-2022, 09:04 PM.

              Comment

              • finsleft258
                Swabby
                • May 2016
                • 399

                #23
                Originally posted by Billinfla

                Battelle?
                Si. Few people know about us. Fewer know of the company's breadth and scope of work. To Daytona locals we are simply known as, "the paint dock."

                We are doing a lot of work with foul release coatings. The lower the release threshold, the more easily damaged the coating becomes. Some of them are self-healing. Almost all of them are very difficult to repair and apply over existing foul release coatings.

                Geoff Swain at FIT. We have worked with him a time or twelve.
                Barefoot Boats
                [email protected]
                (386)256-6977

                Comment

                • Parker Yacht
                  Senior Swabby

                  • Nov 2014
                  • 20578

                  #24
                  My Gosh, what a wonderful thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                  One shitload of talent on this site.
                  Engine Sales and Service
                  Ph +1 954.463.1515
                  Fx +1
                  954.463.4904
                  Toll Free: 800.622.6747

                  [email protected]
                  www.parkeryacht.com

                  Comment


                  • Bstnsportsfan
                    Bstnsportsfan commented
                    Editing a comment
                    I know!! The more I read the more I get depressed with my current career path. I’ll post my boring intro tonight.

                  • bluewaterposer
                    bluewaterposer commented
                    Editing a comment
                    You do that! How about you, smitty45 and myself meeting up one day at southern Pig and cattle, we are the closest that I can tell.

                  • Jughed
                    Jughed commented
                    Editing a comment
                    @BSTN...

                    Same here - most days I can't stand my career path. I was on the path to be a capt - most likely on a Tug... My future BIL was the capt of the head boat I worked on, then got into the Tug business - so I had an in. But life hit him with a shovel, "life" was the bottom of a bottle...

                    So I followed my father's path into engineering.

                    Taking the other path would have led to a completely different life - my kids and wife would not be... so I have to be grateful for life as it is now.
                • bluewaterposer
                  Senior Poser
                  • Feb 2016
                  • 6698

                  #25
                  About my handle, I saw a Poser bumper sticker 15 years ago, a good friend of mine bought a 2550 Bluewater with twin 150 Suzukis.

                  Anyway, I became a regular at Bluewater and then it clicked, BluewaterPoser!

                  I met Mike C during his employment there, and later became his mentor during his truck driving career.

                  I felt like a rockstar knowing him, but never told him, he was just a rookie in training.

                  I read multiple of his postings on TOS, interesting!

                  More later.

                  BWP

                  Comment


                  • bluewaterposer
                    bluewaterposer commented
                    Editing a comment
                    The boat was, is a 2008, he still has it, looks to be 2-3 years old the way he maintains it!
                • Coastboater
                  Matey
                  • Aug 2020
                  • 2334

                  #26
                  Seems like some folks from south Florida. Did anyone attend Ponce deLeon junior high school? Late 60’s/early 70’s.
                  Thats where I learned Spanish - the cuss words 😀

                  Comment

                  • SeaCat22
                    Senior Swabby
                    • Dec 2019
                    • 1437

                    #27
                    Originally posted by Coastboater
                    Seems like some folks from south Florida. Did anyone attend Ponce deLeon junior high school? Late 60’s/early 70’s.
                    Thats where I learned Spanish - the cuss words 😀
                    Close. Kinloch and Shenandoah Jr high. Born ‘n raised by the Flagler Dog track.

                    Comment

                    • Billinfla
                      Matey
                      • Sep 2019
                      • 2837

                      #28
                      Batista lived in Daytona when I was a kid there. I was too young for politics, but his place on the river was fairly close to us. I remember his entorouge driving around town.

                      My take..some really great Cubans left early. Seems everything went to hell when Castro opened the prisons.

                      Comment

                      • finsleft258
                        Swabby
                        • May 2016
                        • 399

                        #29
                        Originally posted by Billinfla
                        Batista lived in Daytona when I was a kid there. I was too young for politics, but his place on the river was fairly close to us. I remember his entorouge driving around town.

                        My take..some really great Cubans left early. Seems everything went to hell when Castro opened the prisons.
                        They are renovating that house now. My college buds rented the house right behind it for a few years. It was close to getting condemned. I love that house but I don't think I'll be able to afford it even if the market crashes. There is an old Striker out in front of it that has been there for years. I've never seen it go under, but I've never seen it move either.
                        Barefoot Boats
                        [email protected]
                        (386)256-6977

                        Comment

                        • bluewaterposer
                          Senior Poser
                          • Feb 2016
                          • 6698

                          #30
                          Originally posted by Billinfla
                          Batista lived in Daytona when I was a kid there. I was too young for politics, but his place on the river was fairly close to us. I remember his entorouge driving around town.

                          My take..some really great Cubans left early. Seems everything went to hell when Castro opened the prisons.
                          Interesting take!

                          Castro released the prisoner's from Marileto, spelling, they were a very small percentage!

                          Scoop I have from a family that came over- This guy I used to work with family came over when granted some special permission.

                          His Uncle and some family were invited on a small boat, by the time family arrives to the boat 7 sudden became 27, he was in his Mom's belly and upon arrival in Hialeah, he was born the next day!

                          Anyhow, this was in 1980!

                          True story, I was fascinated in the telling of it!
                          So, not all of the Marieletos we're bad people!

                          Yes, I know a multiple of Cuban Rednecks, they exist, trust me!

                          BWP

                          Comment


                          • SeaCat22
                            SeaCat22 commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I think I are one...an American Gladesman made with Cuban parts.
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