Picture of the Week - November 28, 2012

Hurricane Sandy left this boat high and dry in Rowayton, CT

20 Questions with John Spies, Fiberglass Department Manager

1. How long have you worked at Crowley’s? 25 years.

2. How did you first start working here? A friend of mine worked at Crowley's. He spoke to me about an opening and I applied for the job.

3. Which departments have you worked in? The Yard, Administration and Fiberglass departments.

4. What is your favorite time of year at Crowley’s? Spring. Springtime is when we go crazy, but it managing the craziness keeps me busy which I like.

5. How often do you go boating? Not as much as I'd like. 

6. What kind of boat? It varies; mostly if I am out on a boat, we are out fishing. 

7. Did you grow up boating? No, I learned to enjoy boating later in life.

8. What is your favorite boating activity? Fishing.

9. How many employees work in your department? Seven.

10. Do they have job specific training? If so, how often do they go? The Fiberglass Department technicians have a wide range of training available which is provided by the manufacturers of the products that we use. Depending on what training is scheduled for the year, our guys typically go a few times per year.

11. What job specific training do you have? I've been to West System Epoxy, Awlgrip Paint, composite fabrication and management training.

12. What certifications do you have? I have 2 West System Epoxy certifications, an Awlgrip system application certification and a composite fabricators certification. In addition, all of these lead to a ABBRA (American Boat Builders and Repairers Association) certification.

13. What is your number one recommendation to boat owners? Pay attention to your boat: It will let you know when it has a problem.

14. In your area of experience, what can a boat owner do to maintain their boat?  Keep it clean, wax it, resolve leaks quickly and don't ignore warning signs of a problem like surface cracks.

15. What is the one boat owner complaint that you hear most often? My hullsides look terrible. What can be done?

16. What is your number one money saving tip for boat owners? Preventative maintenance.

17. What is the toughest part of your job? Managing the expectations of the boat owner. 

18. When are you most likely to be found in the harbor? In the summer.

19. What is your favorite winter activity? Building a snowman with my grandson.

20. What is the best way to get a hold of you to ask a question? My office number: 773-364-1302

As always, give us a call if you have any questions or send an email to lakesidestory@crowleys.com

Picture of the Week - November 14, 2012

A sure sign that winter is approaching - Crowley's North Docks coming out of the water.

Raymarine UPDATE

RayControl turning a tablet into a multifunction display

Raymarine announced that it is offering its RayControl and RayRemote apps for smartphones and tablets for free from November 13 to January 13. The apps are available from Raymarine.com. Both of these apps work with the built-in Wi-Fi networking found in the new Raymarine c-Series and e-Series multifunction displays. The RayControl app will turn your tablet into a multifunction display.

The ability to put touch screens into use on boats to control navigation and auto-pilot functions always made me a bit nervous since boats are always moving and tossing people around. One swipe of finger on a touch screen can have unintended results. Raymarine wisely has addressed this by requiring additional confirmations when using the tablet to control autopilot functions to prevent false changes.

Raymarine AIS100 Antenna Splitter

In other Raymarine news, they have developed a new VHF antenna splitter that is designed for use with AIS. In the past, the difficulty of an AIS installation was partially due to the need for a second VHF antenna to ensure that emergency VHF communications weren't interfered with by AIS communications. Raymarine's new AIS100 Active Antenna Splitter allows one VHF antenna to handle a VHF radiotelephone, a Class B AIS transceiver, and a FM radio tuner. This antenna splitter actively routes the different signals giving priority to the VHF radiotelephone transmissions. Check below for an example wiring diagram. 

For those of you that don't know, AIS stands for Automatic Identification System. It is an electronic system that exchanges vessel information including position, course and speed automatically through a VHF antenna. In my opinion, the  best thing about AIS is that ships can now can see small boats on their navigation and/or radar screens. I highly recommend AIS, particularly with the concentrated commercial traffic on southern . The new generation of antenna splitters makes the installation of AIS even more reasonable since one VHF antenna now does it all.

Possible AIS wiring diagram

Raymarine has also developed an Online Print Shop for Product Documentation. Now, as a Raymarine dealer, Crowley's can order for you a replacement handbook for your Raymarine electronics in multiple languages. Currently most of the current products are covered and in the future most legacy products will be covered.

Please contact Kathy Lindt, our Installation Department Mangager, at kat@crowleys.com for futher information regarding any of the above items. 

Crowley's Ship's Store First Annual One Day Only Sale!

Interview - Michael Argyelan, Store Manager

1. How long have you worked at Crowley’s? Two years.

2. How did you first start working here? In the rigging department during the spring and fall for 4 seasons stepping and un-stepping masts. I wanted to work at Crowley’s full time so I applied for the Store Manager position when HR approached me with the opening.

3. Which departments have you worked in? Just Rigging and the Store.

4. What is the new news in that department? We have a BIG sale coming up in December…”The First Annual One Day Only Sale!” We thought that a sale just before the holidays might be good for our customers. After the sale we are going to do a little remodeling and install a counter, etc. See the above blog post for more information or click here for the web page.

5. What is your favorite time of year at Crowley’s? Spring…that’s when there are the most customers in the store and helping customers get what they need is what we are here to do and what we love to do.

6. How often do you go boating? 4 days a week or more when possible.

7. What kind of boat? My Frers 33 Mystify and any other boat I can get my hands on, power or otherwise.

8. Did you grow up boating? No, I started boating 12 years ago with my former in-laws. So, I’m thankful to them for that! My first sail was from Detroit to Chicago. After that I wanted to learn everything I could about boats, water, wind and equally as important, rum!

9. What is your favorite boating activity? Port-to-port sailboat racing and of course a good sunset sail with friends.

10. How many employees work in the store? Five.

11. Do they have job specific training? If so, how often do they go? We don’t have job specific training for everyone, but we do cross train with the different departments to help learn the needs of the boatyard and to gain experience with the products that we sell. Also, everyone in the store has boating experience.

12. What job specific training do you have? I have a 100 ton USCG Captain’s license. I am a boat owner and in my spare time I run a sailboat charter and lesson company Go Sailing Chicago. Umm…sorry for the shameless plug. So, nothing specific to my job, but lots of DIY experience with boats.

13. What certifications do you have? Other than my Captain’s license none really unless you want to count my CPR/First Aid certificates and my degree in Print Media from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

14. What is your number one recommendation to boat owners? Know where the water comes in and out of your boat. Every thru-hull, drain, in/outlet you name it. We need the water to float on, but it needs to stay where it belongs, out of the boat. When something goes wrong and the boat starts taking on water, you need to know where to look.

15. In your area of experience, what can a boat owner do to maintain their boat? Keep it clean. A clean boat is a safe boat. Not to mention problems can’t hide behind dirt if you are cleaning the boat inside and out regularly. This is how you will find leaks and cracks and anything else before it becomes a problem.

16. What is your number one money saving tip for boat owners? Make sure your bottom is clean to save fuel.

18. What is the toughest part of your job? Having to be at work while my boat is on the water.

19. When are you most likely to be found in the harbors? When I’m not at work.

20. What is your favorite winter activity? Snow skiing.

21. What is the best way to get a hold of you to ask a question? Email: mma@crowleys.com 

Picture of the Week - November 7, 2012

The Crowley's Yacht Yard Rigging Department removed the arch on this 92 foot power yacht in preparation for heading down river to the Mississippi.