Author: Adriene Riordan

Northern Lights Visits St. Thomas Super Yacht Show December 2021

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

 

IGY Marinas and the International Yacht Brokers Association held its first Super Yacht Charter Show at the Yacht Haven Grand Marina on St. Thomas from 9-13 December. Northern Lights Inc was on hand as a sponsor and presenter at the event.  Due to the huge surge of charters booked in late 2021, none of the Caribbean Charter Yacht Shows had many boats attend this year. Only 10 Super Yachts were in attendance at the event, but 6 of the 10 present had Northern Lights generators on them.  There were a great number of brokers present, which gave the yachts great exposure and kept the crews busy.  The Organizers arranged air travel for the brokers from the Antigua ACYM Show to St. Thomas.

Nils Nelson, from Northern Lights, and Tom Gerker from Caribbean Distributor Parts & Power, visited each of the yachts during the Show.  They met the engineers from each yacht and asked about the performance of their generators and if they had any service issues. As is often the case, most engineers said that their Northern Lights generators were running great, and they wished all their equipment was a reliable as a Northern Lights.  One yacht had a pair of 45kW generators with over 35,000 hours on them and neither had been overhauled or had any significant service issues.

The Show itself was extremely well organized with presentations for Yacht Crews and Brokers, and lots of social events. 3 meals per day were provided for Brokers and Sponsors, and a party with a different theme was offered each evening. Strict Covid protocols were in place that kept the event safe but did not interfere with everyone having a good time.

The Organizers originally had 25 Super Yachts registered, but many had to drop out due to charters being booked during the Show.  Despite the low number of yachts, they were happy with the event and were looking forward to holding it annually.

 

 

 

Palm Tree Marine Services Mega Yacht Northern Lights Generator

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

PALM TREE MARINE SERVICES MEGA YACHT NORTHERN LIGHTS GENERATOR

In December of 2020, Mike Bingley and Sim Hoggarth of Palm Tree Marine in Grenada were asked by a customer if they could change the generator end on his yacht’s Northern Lights Generator.  “No problem,” they said.  Then they found out that the generator was on the 144 ft mega yacht “King Baby” moored at Port Louis marina in St. George’s harbour.  Not only was the generator end over 900lbs, but it would also require negotiating the huge alternator through a circuitous route in the immaculate interior of the yacht.  It took some clever engineering to make ramps and lifting gear to move the old alternator out of the vessel, then move the new one in.  The captain was at first concerned about having the work done in the Caribbean.  But Palm Tree Marine is an authorized Northern Lights Dealer and they soon put his mind at ease with their professionalism.  With good engineering and careful hands-on work, they removed the old alternator in 2 days.  Having set up everything already, Palm Tree was ready when the new alternator arrived and got it installed within budget and on time.

Palm Tree Marine has been in business since ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­2007 and were appointed as Northern Lights Dealers in Grenada soon thereafter.  They regularly assist Northern Lights customers with competent and cost effective repairs and repowers.  For more information, contact Sim Hoggarth in Clarkes’ Court Boatyard, St Georges, Grenada on +1-473-407-2782 or email sim@palmtreemarine.com.

Mike and Jason wrestle the alternator into position on the aft deck.

King Baby’s chief engineer looks on as Mike and Jason lift the 900lb alternator off the generator.

Mike Bingley carefully pushes the new alternator on its custom made trolley.

Northern Lights Caribbean Dealers hold virtual meeting amid the Coronavirus lockdowns

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

NORTHERN LIGHTS CARIBBEAN DEALERS HOLD VIRTUAL MEETING AMID THE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWNS

9 April 20, Road Town, Tortola

Most Caribbean Countries are on lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  With few exceptions, all Caribbean Countries are restricting anyone, other than Essential Workers, from leaving their own yard.  Although most Caribbean Northern Lights Dealers are Essential Workers in their own counties, there is very little work to require anyone from going out.  With this in mind, Robin Hales and Gavin Dooley, from Parts & Power, organized an online training meeting with all the Caribbean Dealers.  It was a good opportunity for everyone to get together and discuss the Northern Lights Product, and the Northern Lights and CaribbeanNorthernLights.com websites.  Rob hosted the event, and Gavin was our trainer.

There were 26 people in attendance on the Zoom meeting with one or more participants from

Marine Power Services, Antigua; Dominica Marine Centre, Dominica; Palm Tree Marine, Grenada; Inboard Diesel Services, Martinique; Electec, St. Maarten; Caraibes Diesel, St. Martin; Marintek, St. Lucia; LP Marine, Trinidad; Marine Maintenance, Tortola; CRC, Virgin Gorda; Import Supply, St. Thomas and Parts & Power.

“It is important, in this time of isolation, for everyone to remain engaged,” Robin Hales said.  “I thought it was also an excellent time for us all to get together to talk about the Northern Lights Product.”  It is not very often when we can get the attention of our very busy Dealers.  So, I wanted to take advantage of the fact that most people were in isolation.  Besides, I have not had an opportunity to meet with some of our Dealers, especially with planned travel being postponed at this time” he said.  “Although face to face meetings are not possible, this was the next best thing.  This was so successful that we will hold a follow up meeting next week.”

New Caribbean Northern Lights Dealer appointed in Trinidad and Tobago Parts and Power Ltd are delighted to welcome LP Marine into their Dealer Network

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

LP Marine and Industrial Supplies Ltd was established in 1987 by company founder Leslie Persad.

Mr. Persad’s interest in boating and fishing, coupled with extensive business experience, enabled him to develop the Volvo Penta brand in Trinidad and Tobago.

In the ensuing years the company forged strategic partnerships with Vetus Boating, Duramax Marine and Johnson Pumps—SPX Flow, to name a few. These long term relationships have enabled LP Marine to offer the local and regional markets with optimum performance and quality designed marine equip-ment, vessels, industrial products and supplies. LP are truly experienced in supplying marine solutions into the Petro-Chemical and Energy sectors.

Today, LP Marine is run by Ian Persad, with the head office (main retail outlet and warehousing), located at 176B Western Main Road, Pt. Cumana, Trinidad West Indies.

The company stocks over 25,000 affordably priced Marine and Industrial line items. Diverse catalogues of marine spares and accessories are readily available for sourcing and delivery of parts at a moments notice. The experienced team are on hand to assist customers with their immediate and long term requirements.

LP Marine was appointed as a Northern Lights Dealer for Trinidad & Tobago on 1st January 2020. Parts & Power Ltd look forward to working closely with LP Marine in Trinidad and Tobago.

LP Marine Telephone (868) 633-3395, Email: info@lpmarinett.com

Northern Lights and Parts & Power visit 58th annual ACYS

Posted on by Adriene Riordan

On 6, 7 & 8 December, participants from Northern Lights and Parts & Power participated in the 58th Annual Antigua Charter Yacht Show.  Northern Lights VP and General Manager, Kit Purdy, Don Schutte from the NL Florida Branch and Tom Gerker & Rob Hales from Parts & Power visited yachts at the Show to see how many participants had Northern Lights products on them.  Over 30% of the yachts had a Northern Lights, Lugger or Technicold Product on board.  The ACYS presents a unique opportunity to see a large number of Northern Lights customers in one location.  The purpose of the visit was to discover the level of customer satisfaction with the Products.

Most of the yachts with Northern Lights Equipment were happy with the Product and had nothing but positive feedback to give.  This year, the crew from NL and P&P ran into several boats that were having issues though.  One vessel had recently had their generator rewound and had a catastrophic failure on the new winding while docking in Antigua. Thanks to some fast action on the part of Kit, NL were able to get a new 90kW generator end air freighted to Antigua, where the local NL Dealer Marine Power Service installed it in time for the yacht to make their charter.

The team from NL and P&P were able to answer questions from Engineers and Captains about Operation, Maintenance, Service and where to get support wherever they are in the world.  Customers were able to give feedback on the Products and, in some cases, make recommendations on how to improve them in some way.  Such feedback is invaluable to Northern Lights and their Distribution Network for making Improvements in Products and Service.

Participants from NL and P&P have been attending the ACYS for more than 20 years.  Many questions have been answered, problems solved and ideas for Product Improvement have been taken back to the Seattle Headquarters for implementation over the years. It has been an outstanding venue for listening to the Voice of the Customer.