Why,Dry-Docking,Matters,544x37 travel,insurance Why Dry-Docking Matters
Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chiles national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w
72 544x376 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE TH /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}I dont know about you, but Im a believer in an annual phyiscalexam. The older I get, the more concerned I am about the aches and pains thatbeset all of us, and by all of the things I cant see and cant know aboutuntil the doctor has poked, prodded and probed. Same goes for the Emeraude. Less than two weeks ago, we relaunched after three weeks out ofthe water during our annual dry-docking. I cant speak for the other boats onHalong Bay, but we believe that annual maintenance is mission critical.Everyone would agree that maintenance is key, but the maintenance Im talkingabout is major. We haul the boat out of the bay, lever her up on support wedgesand then put some 100 shipyard workers to business inside and out. Every year,Im especially interested in the vessels hull. In all my years at the helm onthe Emeraude, weve never scraped her on the bays limestone or skimmed asandbar. But I want that thing combed over anyway. As some of you know, a tourist vessel sank in Halong Bay earlierthis year. The hull is where problems happen. Im happy to report that our hullis in stunning shape. And that theres been negligible wear on the two-metresheets of metal that comprise the hull. How do we know? We x-ray the plates. Wereas thick as we need to be down under. So what else do we do in dry-dock? We inspect the propellorshaft. We clean the water inlets. Remove all the barnicles. And we paint. Paintlooks pretty, to be sure, (and who doesnt want to be pretty?), but marinepaint protects surfaces against the corrosive influences of the sea. So theresa deeper purpose than cosmetic enhancement. We do do much by way of cosmetics on the vessel. We paint andvarnish throughout the cabins. This year, weve found a new way to treat thebrass in our cabins such that they look as stunning as we all dream brassshould look on a ship at sea. Weve also upgraded each cabins safety featureswith hammers. We hope well never use them, but were glad theyre there. From a sheer comfort perspective - afterall, what is passage onthe Emeraude if not for the opportunity to find your bliss - weve brought onboard a new fleet of 40 faux wicker chaise longue. I know, I know, we all lovethe appeal of real wicker. But let me talk to you about the sanding andvarnishing that goes into the upkeep of real wicker. Year after year, we didmaintain our wicker with lots of man-hours, partly because we werent satisfiedthat the faux wicker was as aesthetically appealing. But you know what? It is. Itsjust as beautiful as the real thing, and youll never know the difference.
Why,Dry-Docking,Matters,544x37