Happy New Year and Best Wishes to All for 2010 from everyone at Parts & Power.  I wanted to give a little update on what it happening here in Tortola

A OLD NEW FACE
Sanchez Christopher has rejoined our Service Team.  He joined us right out of high school as an apprentice in 1991 and worked his way up to be one the finest young marine engineers anywhere.  We were disappointed when he chose to leave 4 years ago, but are delighted to have him back with us again.
Many of you may remember Sanchez.  He has a bright, positive attitude and always finds a way to get the job done, no matter what the obstacles.  For those of you who attended Service Schools with him, you will remember him as the class cut up. 
Welcome back Sanchez.

2009 SEASON OUTLOOK
If the numbers of boats out are any indication of the upcoming Season, it should be a good one.  We are seeing a lot of boats out in Sir Francis Drake Channel and along the North Shore of Tortola.  There are significantly more Super Yachts than last year.
We are also seeing a lot of new faces, of the cruising transient boaters, in the Store these days.
The BVI Charter Yacht Society, and the Crewed Yacht Association, have been Marketing very aggressively this year.  The value that a vacation on a Crewed Yacht offers is truly amazing.  When you consider that all the lodging, food, drink, local travel, water sports and entertainment are included in the price of a charter, it is a hard deal to beat.  With people being careful about spending this year, we hope to see an increase in business there.

PASSING OF A YOUNG FRIEND
Victor Smith, our 23 year old apprentice, was tragically killed in November.  He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  He had been with us for a year and showed great promise.  He had a positive, upbeat attitude and was a hard worker.  I once asked him what he liked to do most.  He told me, “It doesn’t matter as long as I stay busy”.  He had grown to be a big part of the Parts & Power family and he will is truly missed.

KELLY SOARES
Kelly Soares, our Service Administrator, has the thankless job of trying to keep our Service Dept under control—no easy task.  Kelly is the daughter of Dean Soares, of Anegada.  Her uncle is Mark Soares and her grandfather is Vernon.  The Soares are a rather famous old Anegada family.  They own Neptune’s Treasure Restaurant and Hotel on Anegada.  They own the commercial fishing vessel “Argus III”.  The vessel is fitted out with all Northern Lights products.  They have a pair of L6108A Luggers and an old M854B Northern Lights generator which is still running strong after nearly 20 years and 20,000 hours.  If you are ever on Anegada, make a point of visiting the Neptune’s Treasure Restaurant and reading about the fascinating history of the Soares family.
We’re lucky to have Kelly.  For, even though she is only 5 feet tall, she manages to keep all those guys in line.

SERVICE DEPT
Our Service Dept has shrunk a bit as result of the economy, but we are lean and mean as they say.  Dan Durbin remains at the helm of the Service Dept.  His depth of knowledge and experience is hard to match.  He still gets out in the field to supervise and do the occasional job. Sebastian John remains as our Chief Engineer.  He has taken over more responsibility with management and is everyone in the Service Department’s “go to guy”.  Wilbert Vyphius is our generator specialist and all around Service Engineer.  Royston McAllister joined us a year ago as a Service Engineer following the departure of Royston Ault, who returned home following the untimely death of his wife in Guyana.  Kelly and Sanchez round out our Service Dept.  They remain ready to assist with any of your Northern Lights problems.

We look forward to seeing you in 2010. 

Please stop by and say hello when you are on Tortola.