Orams Marine Village News - Winter 2011 > Latest News > About Us

26 May 2011

Welcome to Our Winter Newsletter

Hi Members,

It’s been a hive of activity here at the Village. The big superyacht Athena, sitting on the marina under its huge white “shrink wrap” cover, has its own set of busy bees going in and out each day. But the rest of the team have been as active.

Superyacht Athena
Superyacht Athena covered by shrink wrap

The Boat Park operators have been working the hoists hard as the long summer encouraged you all to get out on the water more often. Fishing has been great this season too. Have you ever seen as many kahawai around in the past couple of years?

The Boat Park is nearing capacity, but there are still some spots available and things often change as boats get traded up or down, or out. If any of your mates are looking for a winter berth in the dry stack get them to give me a call. You can introduce them to the pleasures of the Captain’s Lounge and other membership advantages.

All of you that took part in the annual fishing contest know about the advantages! Read more about the great day in this newsletter. Out in the yard many of our 39 marine specialists have been kept busy with upgrades and maintenance work. The whole atmosphere at the village is upbeat and people are optimistic the chill from the global financial crisis has finally thawed. With more activity from superyacht bookings coming our way in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup, 2011 is looking like a productive year.

Cheers, Murray


Slipway and cradle upgrades helping meet steady demand through to 2012

Superyacht Athena
Superyacht Athena at Orams – photo by Clive Bennett

The multi-million investment in the major overhaul of the slipway at Orams Marine Village and in a new high-tech cradle could not have been done at a better time than last winter.

Michele Berry, general manager of Orams Marine Village, says the slipway has been extremely busy since being re-commissioned and the cradle has attracted some favourable comment from the marine sector.

Designed locally by an engineer and retired naval architect, the cradle allows for the modern trend in yacht design toward smaller keel mass. Its supporting keel blocks are placed to ensure maximum load spreading across the keel base.

Craig Park, managing director of Orams Marine Services, says his business will be keeping the slipway and cradle busy through Christmas and well into 2012 with consistent bookings.

“We have Avalon on the hard at the moment. We have removed her keel and refitted a new aluminium one,” Craig says. “She will relaunch in about three weeks. We will then haul the 300 tonne Adele.”

Craig and his team regularly look after Adele. The work they did on her last year won them a finalist’s placing in refit category of the World Superyacht Awards 2011. It is the second year in a row that Orams Marine Services has been nominated as a finalist in the refit category.

Craig says the other highly visible work at the village – taking place under the white shrink wrap on the village’s marina – is progressing with up to 80 workers on site. The superyacht Athena has been primed and is half way through painting. Finishing coats will be applied over the next couple of weeks. She has also had a major interior upgrade and teak deck repairs.

“She is due for completion mid-August and will have sea trials in the following month,” Craig says. “

Michele Berry says the Rugby World Cup has generated a lot of interest from overseas boat owners in the village and its marine specialists. Forecasts show the Conference Centre and yacht provisioning service offered from the village will be busy.


Ovlov Marine’s team revels in new technology

Peter Jacobs has a dry sense of humour, but get him talking Volvo Penta’s latest technology and there’s an edge of excitement in his voice.

Jacobs reckons Volvo’s new IPS (inboard performance system) is some of the best technology he has seen in the 30 years that he has been at the helm of Ovlov Marine.

“IPS reduces fuel consumption and overall emissions by around 30%, gives 20% higher top speed and 50% lower perceived noise level,” he says explaining the major advances.“ The new IPS800 and 900 engine pods are now available for yachts up to 100ft.”

Ovlov Marine’s Peter Jacobs and Lachlan Trembath
Ovlov Marine’s Peter Jacobs (right) and Lachlan Trembath

Ovlov’s Volvo workshop team, headed by Martin Cook, has completed new installations including the IPS technology.

“IPS technology also delivers electronic, joystick controlled, docking,” Jacobs says. “You simply move the joystick in the direction you want to move and the boat moves in that direction.”

Jacobs helped found Ovlov Marine 33 years ago. The company which budgeted to make one dollar in its first year, is one of Oram’s Marine Village’s founding tenants. In 2004 Jacobs was joined by Lachlan Trembath and they pulled in the Yamaha franchise.

“We had some Yamaha executives come and visit and they were so impressed by Oram’s Boat Dry Stack, and the number of boats in it powered by Yamaha, that we were able to secure the dealership,” Jacobs says.

Trembath is Ovlov’s Yamaha champion along with workshop manager Rhys Sutton. Get him talking about Yamaha’s new 350HP V8 big capacity motor and the Off-Shore Series big torque four strokes and he’s as animated as Jacobs. But Jacobs says Jane Moore, who has looked after the service team at Ovlov for 20 years, keeps their feet on the ground.

“We have 19 staff these days and we like being part of the village atmosphere,” he says. “Ovlov is at the heart of the marine industry. We are happy that in the Wynyard Quarter development the future for the marine related sector on Beaumont Street has been secured.”


Tips for winter

Tips for Winter

In the winter months it can sometimes be a bit harder to get out on the water. When workload and family commitments allow the time, the weather doesn’t always play ball. Your boat can end up sitting around for longer spells.

Now is a good time to do a couple of things to make sure you protect your investment and its ready for you when you do want to go. Here’s a check list for DIY, or book a valet:

Protect your asset and keep it ready for action

  • Get your battery charged regularly – some people disconnect it
  • Have your engine oil changed
  • Clean the interior including squabs and make sure it is dry
  • Give the hull a thorough clean
  • Wipe over the canopy and especially the clips to clean off salt
  • Polish stainless steel fittings
  • Clean and grease the windlass

Contestants reel in good haul to benefit Coastguard

Fishing in the Hauraki Gulf during the long tail end of this summer has been simply fantastic.

It was hardly surprising then that 57 boats entered the Orams Marine Village Fishing Competition. It turned out those early birds got the best of the day, with the seas turning a bit lumpy out the back of The Noises in the afternoon.

However, by the time the boats returned for the weigh in at 4pm there was a good assortment of snapper, kahawai and a decent sized kingfish – a nice 7.1kg fish caught by Tim Cadell.

Coastguard’s Duthie Lidgard chats to Murray Dixon at Orams
Coastguard’s Duthie Lidgard chats to Murray Dixon at Orams

The heaviest snapper (3.3kgs) was caught by Jake Goldenberg, who beat out Glen Segar from Ovlov Marine (3.1kg) and his own team mate Hamish Duke (2.9kgs). Sarah Thomas-Wynne weighed in the heaviest snapper for women fishers at 1.7kg.

Other prizes included ones to Wayne Dil for the heaviest other species, a 3.85kg kahawai, and to Chris Cadell who guessed the weight of the heaviest snapper caught on the day.

All the fish weighed were taken by Moana Fisheries and together with the entry fees meant a good sized donation of just under $2000 was able to be made to Coastguard Northern Region. A big thanks to all our sponsors who helped make the day a great event.


Simple succulent fish fillets

Ingredients

  • 4 white fish fillets
  • Tartare sauce
  • Seasoning to suit

Simple succulent fish fillets

This quarter’s recipe comes courtesy of Steve the Builder.

This is the simplest of recipes, but delicious.

Take four (or as many as you need to serve) skinned and boned fresh white fish fillets and place them in a microwave proof dish.

Liberally smear tartare sauce (ETA in a jar is good) over the top of all the fillets so it looks like they are covered in white sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to suit your taste. Cover the dish and place in the microwave on high for one minute. Remove and check how cooked the fillets are.

Depending on the amount of fish you have, return the covered dish to the microwave and cook for another 30 seconds, one or two minutes. When you first do this recipe check how cooked the fish is frequently. Obviously more fish will take longer and you will need to get used to the timings because you will want to do this recipe again!

Remove the fish when the flakes are just able to be separated. Take the dish out, remove the cover and stand for a few seconds to let the cooking finish. The fish should be very moist and tender and yummy! This quarter’s recipe comes courtesy of Steve the Builder.


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Orams Marine Village | 142 - 148 Beaumont Street | Westhaven | Auckland | NZ
Phone +64-9-308 4800 | Email info@oramsmarine.co.nz | www.orams.co.nz

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