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NavGraphicXLGPS The brightest idea in navigation just got brighter. The NavGraphic revolutionized navigation by automatically plotting your exact GPS position on a real NOAA chart. It's like watching your boat's progress from an air- plane overhead. You can zoom in for precise maneuvering or zoom out for an overview of your entire voyage. Expert fishermen love it because the charts are complete with depth lines so they can follow bottom features looking for fish. Beginning navigators love it because there are no numbers to translate and no calculations to make. It's the most direct navigation tool ever developed. Now that revolutionary product is even better with a brighter, higher-contrast display in a new slim-line design. The new dis- play makes it easy to read under any lighting conditions and its new price makes it even more affordable. The NavGraphic XL—it's a whole new way to look at navigation. TRIMBLE injy: THE a-UTILITY' TrimbleNavigation The Leader in GPS Technology For more information please call or write our Marine Division: RO. Box 3642, Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3642 1-800-TRIMBLE or 800-221-3001 in California FAX 408-737-6057 European Office: FAX 44-256-760-148 NWS Drops Proposal To Shutdown HF Radiofacsimile Weather Broadcasts In the midst of a self-proclaimed "severe budget crisis" within the National Weather Service (NWS), the government agency had consid- ered shutting down all HF radiofacsimile broadcasts. At press time, however, a call to Maritime Reporter from Paul Jacobs, marine weather services program manager, at NWS in Silver Springs, Md., confirmed that the NWS had indeed backed away from its threat of discontinuing the ser- vice, instead opting to "look for other ways and means to save money." Previously, Mr. Jacobs had said "I would expect that at least some por- tion (of the service) would be discon- tinued for an indefinite period." The NWS, which is part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is presently the major provider of HF radiofacsimile weather and oceano- graphic charts to the fishing and maritime community in the Atlan- tic and Pacific oceans, the Carib- bean and the Great Lakes. When news leaked out in early January 1993, even before a final decision on the matter was reached by the NWS, manufacturers such as Alden Elec- tronics of Westborough, Ma., launched a relentless drive to keep the service active. Any cutback or shutdown of service would have been "a major safety and production set- back for fisherman, and other op- erators, including workboats," rea- soned John P. Carlson, manager, advertising and sales promotion, Alden Electronics. Mr. Carlson presented Alden's case and contended that fishermen rely on the weather charts provided by the service, as well as the oceano- graphic data, such as sea tempera- ture charts, to improve their catches. He argued that the timing was espe- cially bad, as both Europe and Asia are currently expanding weather services in support of fishing. This, coupled with an NWS cutback, would reduce the U.S.'s competitive edge. According to Mr. Carlson, voice weather broadcasts had been sug- gested to replace the fax transmis- sion, but would not have been a suitable substitution. Navatek Begins Construction Of New 82-Foot Swath Ship Navatek Ships, Ltd. has started constructing a new 82-foot, 22-knot, fast SWATH that incorporates pro- prietary twin, canted-strut technol- ogy, for which the company has U.S. patents pending. Honolulu Shipyard, Inc., a sub- sidiary of Pacific Marine and one of Hawaii's largest commercial ship repair companies, was chosen to build the 149-passenger SWATH day cruise boat for client Royal Hawai- Model of new vessel being built at Honolulu Ship- yard. ian Cruises. Royal Hawaiian Cruises currently operates the 140-foot, 430- passenger SWATH "Navatek I," re- ported to be the first and only SWATH day cruise vessel currently in operation in the U.S. The $3 million construction con- tract was announced by Steven C.H. Lodi, president of Pacific Marine, parent of Navatek Ships, Ltd. In the new Navatek design, canted and angled struts are employed to overcome trim problems without resorting to using fins. All four struts are canted 35 degrees from vertical, which produces a larger damping effect in pitch, roll and heave, resulting in significantly bet- ter motion characteristics. Tank testing on the new canted and angled Navatek strut design was conducted in May 1991 at the Arctec Offshore Corp. model basin in Escondido, Calif. Construction on the all-aluminum vessel is ex- pected to be completed later this year. For additional information on the design services of Navatek Ships, Circle 19 on Reader Service Card For more information on the ca- pabilities of Honolulu Shipyard, Circle 20 on Reader Service Card Nichols Brothers Receives Order For 80-Foot Catamaran Dive Yacht The rugged Kona coast of Hawaii and its underwater caves are only accessible from a live-aboard dive boat. Nichols Bros. Boat Builders has received an order to construct an 80-foot, 60-ton catamaran for this purpose. The Kona Aggressor II will be operated by Live/Dive Hawaii Inc. The Coast Guard-inspected, alumi- num boat was designed by Interna- tional Catamarans, Ltd., of Sydney, Australia. It will offer the speed, space and stability of a twin-hull platform. The Kona Aggressor II will cruise at a speed of 20 knots, powered by two Lugger 540-hp die- sels. Two Northern Lights genera- tors will deliver all service electric- ity aboard the vessel. Nichols Bros, is among the lead- ing builders of fast ferries and small cruise ships in the U.S. For more information on the boat- building capabilities of Nichols Bros., Circle 5 on Reader Service Card 6 Circle 209 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
