The Ocean Rose: Designing a Dream
While marine electrical servicing and maintenance play a big part in HMB Marine Electrical's day-to-day operations, electrical design plays a crucial role for boat owners building their dream vessels from scratch. In fact, this element is key for successful custom boat projects.
And in the case of Auckland couple, Roseann & Stephen Gedye, Simon and his team helped turn their dream of 'The Ocean Rose' into nautical reality.
"We had a very clear picture of what we wanted, and we engaged Simon right from the very outset of the project, to make sure the electrical set-up matched our requirements. And on top of that, we wanted to put The Ocean Rose into survey, which meant complying with a whole extra level of safety, operational and documentation standards," says Roseann.
HMB Marine Electrical was able to hit their mark at every step.
"There was a host of cable trays weaving their way through the boat, with every wire carefully labelled by Simon and the team. It was very impressive how they organised everything. And each aspect of the electrical design was carefully considered, from custom designing the winch set-up, to controlling operations from the cockpit."
The bespoke design elements included a first-class sound system for music fan Roseann. The ability to present PowerPoint presentations was also important – so the vessel could be used for work-related purposes. With these demands, designing and installing the right amount of battery capacity was a critical component too.
"The Ocean Rose was a really good example of designing marine electrics with the end user in mind. The same thinking applies to custom builds as much as any other boat," says Simon.
"Two identical boats can be used in quite different ways. For example, a boat owner that goes away for days or weeks at a time will need more battery storage, and extra generation like solar panels. While an owner who prefers short day trips, needs less batteries and can recharge with shore power. Understanding the usage profile is where good design starts.”
The Ocean Rose is still based at Half Moon Bay Marina. And it is still serviced by Simon and the team.
"The HMB Marine Electrical team have been amazing to deal with. Their technical knowledge is first-class and they are always professional. And they know The Ocean Rose inside and out!"
Fiji: Building island connections.
This month I had the chance to travel to Fiji with the NZ Marine Super Yacht Group - as the name suggests – it's a group of Kiwi marine suppliers who service various parts of the superyacht industry.
Fiji is a growing market and we kicked off with a networking evening at Sails Restaurant in Port Denarau - meeting local yacht agents, service suppliers, and visiting boat owners and crew. Fiji is also a stop-off point for boaties heading to New Zealand, many of these yachts will tap into Kiwi marine service experts while they're here - getting maintenance and other work completed.
We also had the chance to visit Kaika Boats, a local boat builder. Although small in scale compared to Kiwi outfits – the workmanship was an excellent standard and we got a sneak peek at landing craft and boats being designed for the 'Survivor' TV series film crew. Last but not least, I spotted 'Crazy Horse', a green yacht we'd worked on back in Auckland. It was nice to see our workmanship a long way from home.
Otherwise… I miss that warm tropical sun already!