ALL AT SEASOUTH FLORIDA

Spun Out in Rum Cay | Superyacht tRends | Rum Review: Cane Mill

Florida lighted

Boat Parades

inside:

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SOUTH FLORIDA NEWS

MarineMax KicK’s Off Brand aMBassadOr PrOgraMWhat’s to love about boating?! The new MarineMax Brand Am-bassadors are happy to tell. The Clearwater, Florida-headquar-tered company’s latest campaign highlights the joys of being on the water via real people, real pets and real experiences. The first three brand ambassadors were chosen this fall follow-ing an Instagram-based contest where MarineMax followers voted for the most enthusiastic boaters based on their submit-ted stories. These are: Scott Knoop, a Searay 330 Sundancer from Minnesota; Scott Fogleman, a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer owner from North Carolina, and Remy, the Mini Doodle, whose pawrents own a Blackjack 224 and take the pup frequently to the Bonito Beach Dog Park in Fort Myers, Florida.

“[Boating] is one of the most relaxing, rewarding, and fun thing I can think of doing in my spare time. We enjoy long leisurely cruises, or even short trips to a nearby restaurant along the ICW. We are fortunate to be able to share our love for boating with family and friends, and it is usually the highlight of many of our guests who visit us. Boating here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is typically year-round and we enjoy it as often as possible. We share our experiences through our actions and social media which I hope inspires

others to get out and enjoy boating for themselves as well!” says Fogleman.

Anyone interested in joining the Band of Boaters can fill out an online form to receive information about when entries will be accepted next and how to participate. www.marinemax.com/bandofboaters

TarPOn rescue highlighTs haBiT lOssThere was a heartwarming re-homing for a school of over 60 tarpon this fall compliments of the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT). Concerned anglers called the Coral Gables, Florida-

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headquartered conservation organization about an isolated and rapidly draining pond on a site slated for development near Tarpon Springs. With permission of the developer and property owner, BTT Juvenile Tarpon Habitat Program Man-ager JoEllen Wilson was granted a permit by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to relocate the fish. Wilson and her team then spent a long day yet successful day of seining and cast-netting in waist-deep mud and silt to move the school of 12- to 40-inchers to a place where they could rejoin the regional tarpon population.

“As highlighted by this recent rescue event, the greatest threat to the tarpon fishery is habitat loss and degradation. In fact, this is true for many fisheries, including snook. Despite the success of this event, this approach is not effective in the long-term. Instead, anglers must push state, county, and local resource management agencies to practice habitat conserva-tion. And in locations where habitat restoration will work, this should be a top priority. It’s all about the future of the fishery,” says Wilson. www.bonefishtarpontrust.org

evinrude & navicO ParTnershiP Offers One-TOuch engine cOnTrOlLet your finger do the work when it comes to full control and functionality of your marine engine. This is now possible thanks to a new partnership between Evinrude and Navico, the parent company of Lowrance, Simrad and B&G.

“Our partnership with Navico creates a seamless, integrated experience for consumers utilizing the Lowrance and Simrad navigation and sonar products with Evinrude E-TEC G2 en-gines,” explains Nando Zucchi, vice president of marketing and international business development for Evinrude, a Stur-tevant, WI-based global manufacturer of outboard marine engines and part of the BRP Marine Group. “The integrated display enables boaters to optimize their offshore experience by combining navigation, sonar, engine information and fuel consumption in one place.”

Clear Heat Control for Windows

954.761.8463 www.vkoolyacht.com

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ALL AT SEASOUTH FLORIDA

Cover shot: Deck your yacht with bow-fuls of jolly Santa’s. Or, navigate to the waterfront for a

front row seat for seaworthy festivities.

S o u t h F lo r i da N e w S

It’s complete! The $25 million renovation IGY Marinas undertook at Maximo Marina, in St. Petersburg, Florida, is finished. Billed as the largest marina on Florida’s West coast with over 200 slips in a protected harbor, the mari-na was completely redeveloped over the last 18 months. The transformation now provides world-class amenities such as floating concrete docks, state-of-the-art fuel dock, covered slips for vessels up to 100-feet, boat lifts for vessels up to 36-feet, complimentary Wi-Fi on a giga-bit enabled fiber network around the marina basin, reno-vated support facilities, and the opening of the new Get-away Maximo Restaurant.

“Maximo Marina gives the local area of west Florida a unique opportunity to berth vessels, annually, up to 100’, in an environment limited to the elements, with massive structures that cover the vessels over the water,” says Lee Hicks, marina general manager. “Maximo Marina and

Boatyard is the newest marina facility on the west coast and offers full service through its service Yard, capable of haul-out for vessels up to 100,000-pounds.”

IGY Marinas, a globally-headquartered New York-based leading marina operator, also offers an in-house development and construction services team that has undertaken marina projects all over the world. www.igy-maximomarina.com

IGY’S MAxIMO MARINA’S RAvE-WORTHY RENOvATION

A new software update for select Navico displays allows Evin-rude E-TEC G2 engine data to be displayed directly on the chart-plotter eliminating the need for additional gauges or hardware. In addition, certain engine features can now be controlled right from the multifunction display. This new functionality gives the operator enhanced situational awareness and complete finger-tip control of the performance of the engine. www.evinrude.com

flir awarded u.s. cOasT guard ais cOnTracTWho you gonna call when you’re in trouble on the sea? The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)! Secure communication and coordi-nation between the USCG’s assets are needed to perform the service’s multifaceted missions, including keeping recreational boaters safe. In support, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, under which the USCG operates, has awarded a $9.9 million contract to FLIR Systems, Inc., to provide second gen-eration Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, as-sociated peripherals, and spare parts for nearly 1,774 boats and

282 cutters in the USCG’s active fleet over the next five years. This award extends FLIR’s partnership with the service to com-plement the USCG’s Raymarine SINS-2 navigation systems.

“FLIR is honored to have been selected to provide critical equip-ment that helps our Nation’s first responders save lives and liveli-hoods,” says Joseph B. Abeyta, LCDR, USCG (ret), director of the business development-first responders program for Wilson-ville, Oregon-founded FLIR Systems, a world-leading maker of sensor systems. “The maritime domain is very complex and re-quires the highest levels of coordination by the U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies to be ready, relevant and responsive to the safety and security of our ports and waterways. Our second gen-eration AIS technology greatly increases the security of the US Coast Guard’s fleet providing a natural progression in the next phase of ensuring interagency interoperability while defending the homeland across our country’s entire maritime transporta-tion system.” www.flir.com

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ExpERIENcES OF MARINE ScIENcE ExpERTS: SEcOND IN A FOUR-pART SERIESBy Jill Zima Borski

rob Nowicki at mote marine laboratory in the

summerland key

Last month, I introduced highly-educated Florida Keys marine science professionals. This month, we learn more about their field.

Q: whaT cOOl Marine science did yOu dO in cOllege? Dr. Hanna Koch, Ph.D.: Eckerd College’s marine science program has a hands-on curriculum and engaging professors. Most courses had field components for exploring our envi-

ronment and learning outside of textbooks/classrooms. Some labs included boat excursions to different marine habitats, e.g., tide pools and seagrass beds for collecting and identify-ing different organisms; others went to parks and wildlife pre-serves to observe local flora and fauna, as well as for ecology experiments. Others allowed us to develop our own indepen-dent research studies on campus.

Heather Page, Ph.D.: I did lots of field trips to the

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beach, estuaries and local forests to learn about ecology and marine biology. My fondest memories are working in the benthic ecology laboratory where I assisted with re-search studying human impacts on estuaries and oyster reefs and led experiments examining effects of suspended sediments and nutrient pollution on oyster feeding physi-ology. I, also, completed two short-term study abroad opportunities in the incredible Galapagos Islands and Bermuda. In Bermuda, [I] received hands-on learning on tropical marine ecology research and met my (eventual) graduate advisor.

Derke Snodgrass: [Cool stuff included] the ecology of animals and their habitat at various life stages; also, learn-ing it is not just one species or some arbitrary protection of species or species but the system-wide approach that is most successful and sustainable.

Q: did yOu dO an inTernshiP? Brooke Denkert Black, M.S.: I interned in my univer-sity’s marine science laboratory where I gained ample ex-perience which set me well above the rest when it came to finding a job. The lab and field work gave me the op-portunity to work in various disciplines: biology, chemistry, geology and physical oceanography. And yes, I was paid. A mentor taught me to never work for free; skills and time are valuable; get paid for them. Volunteer out of desire, not necessity.

Robert Nowicki, Ph.D.: I did not do a traditional intern-ship, but I did a research project my senior year on mol-lusks. After graduating, I became a paid technician at the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences, where I met many graduate students and started to form a plan to go to graduate school myself.

Page: I did internships every summer during college. Dur-ing my first internship with Newport Aquarium’s husbandry team, I learned how to care for marine animals in aquarium settings and basic water quality monitoring. The following summer (2009), I participated in an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates internship with Bodega Marine Labora-tory (UC Davis). I conducted collaborative and independent research examining ocean acidification effects on larval oys-ters, an important species on the west coast. This internship taught me skills for a successful research career including research ethics, how to create effective science posters and presentations, how to write a scientific paper, and how to conduct rigorous research. This experience also taught me about ocean acidification, a topic I still research today. In 2010, I interned at the NOAA Kodiak Fisheries Research Center as a Hollings Scholar where I studied ocean acidifica-tion effects on juvenile Tanner crab growth and survival. This allowed me to dive further into ocean acidification research and I gained additional skills in using software programs for data analysis. Both the NSF-REU and Hollings Scholarship offered pay as well as free/reduced room and board.

Snodgrass: A few. I worked on the biggest marine turtle nesting beach in the Atlantic, possibly the world, for two seasons, which included nesting surveys every morning, netting animals during the day for tagging, and marking nests and nesting females at night. I worked for a Ph.D. candidate studying movements of newly-hatched logger-head turtle hatchlings as well as their behavior in response to various light and shadow types. Finally, I worked for an ichthyology professor studying the life history of crevalle jacks to learn how fast they grew and other biological as-pects. All paid minimum wage.

Heather Page, Ph.D.

Hanna koch, Ph.D. of mote doing

underwater research

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I have written about Rum Cay in the past, but today I want to share a few misadventures I had there. They started when I decided to take the dinghy outside the reef wall on the southern side of the island to see the

HMS Conqueror. This 101-gun British ship of the line was only six years old when it was wrecked on the reef in 1861. The crew survived, but the ship was a total loss. Today the wooden hull is gone, but equipment is scattered all over a small area in about 30 feet of water and it is a great snorkel site. When I dove it the waves were a foot or two but built to five as they passed over the reef. The waves hid the reef from my view and caused me to misalign the cut in the reef on my return. It happened so fast. One moment I was in 20 feet of water doing well and the second moment the wave

SpUN OUT IN RUM cAYBy CaPt sHaNe mCClellaN

December 2018 allatsea.net sF9

BOAT SHOW:Charleston, sCjanuary 25 – 27Charleston Boat Showwww.TheCharleston BoatShow.comerica@jbmshows.com

DuCk key, Fljanuary 11 – 13Island Boat Showwww.facebook.com/ IslandBoatShow/

JaCksonville, Fljanuary 25 – 27Jacksonville Boat Showboatjax.comjmaboatshow@boatjax.com904-228-2328

naples, Fljanuary 17 – 20Naples Boat Showwww.miacc.orgdirector@miacc.org239-682-0900

port Charlotte, Fljanuary 10 – 13Charlotte County Boat Showswfmia.cominfo@swfmia.com954-570-7785

stuart, FloriDajanuary 11 – 13Stuart Boat Showwww.AllSportsProductions.netcontacts@allsports productions.net954-522-5288

FISHING TOURNAMENT:islamoraDa, FldeceMBer 14 – 16Islamorada Junior Sailfish Tournamentfishnbully@msn.com305-240-9337

january 21 – 22Capt. Al Flutie Over The Hill Rip-Off Sailfish Tournamentwww.redbone.org/tourn_ sched.html

pompano BeaCh, Fljanuary 12 – 13Sailfish Smack Downwww.extremekayakfishing tournament.org/sailfish- smackdown.html

january 16 – 20Operation Sailfishwww.bluewatermovements. com/operation_sailfish/

stuart, FloriDadeceMBer 5 – 8Stuart Sailfish Club Light Tackle Tournamentwww.stuartsailfishclub.com

deceMBer 8Annual Light Tackle Sailfish Tournament & Florida Sailfish Amateur Champion-ship at Sailfish Pointwww.stuartsailfishclub.com

West palm BeaCh, Fljanuary 9 – 12Silver Sailfish Derbywww.westpalmbeach fishingclub.org/silver- sailfish-derby.php

INDUSTRY cONFERENcE:orlanDo, FldeceMBer 9 – 12Marine Dealer Conference & Expowww.marinedealer conference.com

MUSIc FESTIvAL:tampa, Fljanuary 19 Gasparilla Pirate Festivalwww.gasparillapiratefest.com

SAILING REGATTA:Fort lauDerDale, Fljanuary 16 – 19Fort Lauderdale to Key West Racewww.keywestrace.org

miami, FldeceMBer 26 – 30Orange Bowl Regattawww.coralreefyachtclub.org

picked me up and all I could see was reef in front of me. Unfortunately, there was nothing to do as the wave brought the dinghy down on top of the reef and bounced me across it until I was back on the inside of the reef.

I checked out the damage and was happy that the top of the reef was all dead coral and the dinghy seemed to weather the trip intact and did not follow the Conqueror’s fate. Since everything seemed ok I continued exploring and went to check out a huge salt pond. As I approached the entrance I noticed the dinghy was getting sluggish and by the time I got to the creek like entrance I had zero thrust. I pulled the dinghy ashore and realized the prop had spun or broken away from the hub and was useless. It is designed to do this in order to protect the engine’s lower unit but left me stranded two miles from town and my boat. My only course of action was to walk through the waist deep salt pond all the way back, so I could get another dinghy and tow mine back. The good news is that I got to explore the salt pond even better than I wanted.

A few days later I chose to explore Flamingo Bay on the northwest part of the island. you have to maneuver through a maze of coral heads in Flamingo Bay, but with good light it is not a problem. Hartford Cave sits a couple miles from the bay and has lots of Lucayan petroglyphs. Since the new prop I ordered was a week away I used my kayak, and everything was going great paddling along the coast. That was of course until I tried to beach the kayak in a five-foot surf. I figured I would paddle hard and ride the wave in like a surfer and slide into the beach all cool like. The reality is that the wave picked up the kayak and tilted it forward until it seemed to be totally vertical. I pan-icked, jumped from the kayak, got washed in the surf, and plopped on the beach like a dead fish. I was fine but had to gather equipment that was spread along the beach. Af-ter checking out the petroglyphs I attempted to launch the kayak, which was not successful until I swam the kayak out past the surf line and then climbed in.

Hopefully my misadventures entertained you while at the same time giving you some ideas of how to do it the right way when you are in similar situations. :)

Visit www.svGuidingLight.com to read more from Captain Shane about the Bahamas, Caribbean, life aboard, world trav-eling, and more. You might also want to check out his travel video series.

EvENT cALENDAR

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SIx ‘MUST-DO’ SOUTH FLORIDA LIGHTED BOAT pARADESBy Carol m. BareutHer

Deck your yacht with bow-fuls of jolly Santa’s. Or, navigate to the waterfront for a front row seat for seaworthy festivities. There are several holiday lighted boat parades to participate or spectate

in South Florida and the Keys. Here’s a how-to sampling of six:

deceMBer 8, 6:30 P.M.st. lucie christmas and winter holiday Boat ParadeRoute: Starts at Taylor Creek near Harbortown Marina, past the South Beach Causeway, ending at the Fort Pierce City Marina

The whole community participates in making the evening special, says Michele Miller, director of operations for the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast, based in Stuart. “The boaters are very excited to show off their hard work. The community really lets them know with cheers from the shore during the parade, coming to see the boats at the end of the parade, and by attending the various functions af-terwards where winners are announced.”

Excellent viewing areas include the Causeway Park and along the River Walk. The parade is free for entrants and spectators. To enter, visit: www.miatc.com

deceMBer 14, 6:30 P.M.Boynton Beach & delray Beach holiday Boat ParadeRoute: Motor south from north of the Boynton Beach Inlet to the C-15 Canal

This free, family-friendly event is a yearly tradition for locals and visitors alike. Many bring a picnic to eat while watch-ing the parade, as well as a new unwrapped toy to donate to the Marine Toys for Tots Program that happens at the same time.

“The boats are always decked out to awe the panel of judges, who award the cash prizes,” says Tracy Smith-Coffey, marketing and business development specialist for the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agen-cy. “The watch party starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Boynton Harbor Marina. There is live music setting the stage for the parade.”

This holiday illumination show can be viewed in Boynton Beach from Boynton Harbor Marina, Intracoastal Park, Jaycee Park and in Delray Beach from Veterans Park and Knowles Park. To enter, visit catchboynton.com

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S i x ‘ M u S t- d o’ S o u t h F lo r i da l i g h t e d B oat Pa r a d e S

deceMBer 14, 7 P.M.The greater Pompano Beach & lighthouse Point holiday Boat Parade presented by joey accardi chrysler dodge jeep ramRoute: Lake Santa Barbara, Pompano Beach to The Cove, Deerfield Beach

New this year, the date is a Friday rather than Saturday, says Rhonda Bunker, event chair. “I am very excited about our 56th annual parade for many reasons. We moved to a Friday night after requests from our participating Captains, and this has in-creased participation and ignited community excitement. Sec-ondly, members of Freedom Fighter Outdoors will be our Grand Marshals. Also, Stoneman Douglas Survivor and Senior, Saman-tha Grady will perform the National Anthem, as the Coast Guard raises the U.S. flag from their boat at the parade’s start. Finally, I’ll be joined in the broadcast booth by Victoria Burgess, who recently paddle-boarded from Cuba to Key West.”

Sands Harbor Marina is a great spot to view the parade. To enter, Email: pblpholidayboatparade@gmail.com

deceMBer 15, 6:30 P.M.seminole hard rock winterfest Boat ParadeRouTE: 12-mile parade starts at New River, Fort Lauderdale to Lake Santa Barbara, Pompano Beach

Winterfest is an amazing parade that definitely lives up to its tag line: the Greatest Show on H20! It’s a perfect blend of community supporters and business partners allowing the organization to develop amazing entries, according to Kathy Keleher, marketing and parade director. “New this year is the theme, ‘Best of the 80’s’. We will have barges with bands, seabreachers and some other exciting entries.”

Enter your private boat, or charter a boat either decorated or ready-to-decorate, or buy a ticket to be on one of the boat’s parading. Categories include: private, charter, commercial, showboat, barge, classic, nonprofit, sailboat, and pre-show: paddleboards, kayaks and gondolas.

Grandstand viewing is available at the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, in Fort Lauderdale. To enter, visit: winterfest parade.com

deceMBer 15, 8 P.M.schooner wharf Bar/absolute vodka lighted Boat ParadeRoute: Through the Key West Bight

Festivities start at 6 p.m. with the Gerald Adams Elementary Steel your Heart Band and the Bahama Village entertaining with calypso Christmas carols. After that, entries that range from 12-foot kayaks to 105-foot schooners, floating tiki huts, charter boats and private vessels parade along the old town’s historic waterfront.

“Every year our island’s creative mariners put on a dazzling display of creativity and originality that is amazing. Visitors and locals alike eagerly look forward to our holiday maritime parade,” says organizer, Sheree Ruf.

The best place to watch is at Schooner Wharf where the judg-es stand is located. To enter, visit: SchoonerWharf.com

deceMBer 22, 6:30-8 PMBoca raton holiday Boat ParadeRouTE: Intracoastal Waterway, from C-15 Canal traveling south to Hillsboro Bridge

Vessels of all shapes and sizes, including kayaks and pad-dleboards, enter this more intimate parade and present to the judges and viewing areas with enthusiasm, says Monika Amar, community events coordinator for the City of Boca Ra-ton. “Each vessel has their time to shine in the lineup, and in comparison to the larger parades, our 60 to 80 entries are not overshadowed by the celebrity/popstar factor of some other cities. Their individual effort in decorating and putting on a show is noticed and awarded.”

New this year is a later date to welcome decorated boats from the Winterfest Parade.

Red Reef Park West is the official viewing area, with additional areas located at Silver Palm and Wildflower Park. To enter, visit: www.myboca.us/specialevents

@ALLATSEACaribbean@allatseacarib

Join our watery tribe!

CALLING ALL SEA GYPSIES

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The luxury superyacht market is growing in the wake of the global recession a decade ago. In fact, of sailing yachts over 100-foot, the size needed to put the word super in front of yacht, 158 out of a world-

wide fleet of 765 vessels are for sale. Motor yachts are much more plentiful, with 773 ready for purchase out of over 4000 now on the seas. These statistics are according to data from the Netherlands-based Superyacht Times iQ, as quoted in the 2018 edition of The Wealth Report by London-head-quartered consultancy, Knight Frank. This report also noted that 150 new superyachts were completed in 2017.

“Confidence has certainly returned to the superyacht market, which as a whole is still working toward fully bouncing back after surviving the global financial crisis,” says Philip Bell, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based sales broker for Northrup & Johnson. “Since the recovery, brokerage sales have consis-tently increased year upon year — a welcome statistic that’s also true with the new-build order book. As yards and design-ers become more comfortable with securing future business, they also become more comfortable with dedicating time

SUpERYAcHTS SHOWcASE LATEST TRENDSBy Carol m. BareutHer

to future design concepts and what tomorrow’s superyachts should look like.”

There are a couple of consistent directions among a pleth-ora of imaginative and diverse designs. These include ad-ditional master cabins, water toy storage and the ability to tow large tenders. A good example is the Horizon-built 2018-refit 132-foot motor yacht, Lady Leila, which is in the Northrup & Johnson fleet and for sale at $8.7 million. She features two master cabins, three separate garages to store a tender and two jet skis, private owners’ deck and a large tow behind tender.

“While these are not brand-new ideas, and there are multiple existing yachts out there with all these features, they definitely are the trends that buyers want to see,” says Bell.

Roomy deck space is another in-demand design feature. In fact, the ‘wow’ on the 2017 Hessen-built. 150-foot steel hull motor yacht, Book Ends, is the nearly 900-square-foot sun-deck with Jacuzzi.

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“This deck is absolutely sensational and vast for a yacht of her size,” says Amanda Thibaut, marketing communications executive for Ocean Independence UK Ltd., in West Sussex, UK, which is brokering the US $32.8 million yacht’s sale.

An associated must-have amenity is beach clubs, adds Tim Quinlan, one of Ocean Independence’s senior sales brokers based in the UK. “No longer are you required to share the beach space with others, Superyachts of all sizes are offering superb beach club facilities including wet bars, contained pools, mini marinas to house your toys including wake boards, jet skis, sailing dinghies, SUP, powered surf boards on carbon foils, Terraquad Amphibious Jeep and Biski Am-phibious Motorcycle.”

One of the biggest trends in both new builds and refits is ad-vanced technology in the use of glass both in the superstruc-ture of the yacht and in the hull with large windows. A good ex-ample is Excellence, a 2010-built, 150-foot Richmond tri-deck motor yacht, which has oversized panoramic windows with custom electric Roman shades. The yacht, offered for sale by Denison yacht Sales for US 15.6 million, just completed a $2 million refit earlier this year at the Lauderdale Marine Center.

Size does matter.

“Large tonnage has been very successful over the past few years. Whilst builders in the 130- to 200-foot sector have struggled a little, we have seen new builds at over 460-foot flourish,” says Ocean Independence’s Quinlan.

That said, bigger isn’t always better.

“I see a lot of experienced owners who want to buy in the 150- to 180-foot size range,” says Alex Clarke, superyacht bro-ker with Denison yachting, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “This range allows clients to have a more manageable crew and the yacht is able to access the majority of ports around the world versus being forced to anchor offshore because they are too large to tie to the dock.”

Finally, there is much interest today from superyacht owners who want to chase distance horizons, such as the polar re-gions or South Pacific, with craft that will get them there and back safely and in comfort.

“Explorer style yachts fits with the experiential travel envisaged by more and more by our clients. Larger yachts with a good range and exceptional sea-keeping qualities, together with versatile/flexible spaces feature too, to achieve longer-distance cruising plans,” says Ocean Independence’s Thibault.

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OverallCane Mill is a pleasant surprise for a $15/bottle of rum. While Clint would give it a strong 4 of 5, Terry leans more towards a 3.5. Either way, it’s worth sipping in your cockpit, with or with-out friends, any time of the year.

3.75 Of 5

cANE MILL 8-YEAR OLDruM By CliNt aND terry Boram

Since we’re temporarily between boats, we’ve had to combine our boat rum stock with our home stock. To make room, Clint touched every single bottle of rum we had and discovered, to his shock and amazement,

we had an unopened bottle of Cane Mill 8-year old. What?!? When did we get this rum and why was it unopened? Who cares now. Let the tasting begin.

Our local South Florida liquor store is Total Wine & More, a chain of more than 100 stores scattered throughout Florida and the Mid-Atlantic. As part of their Spirit Direct program, Total Wine travels the world searching for new and exciting spirits, creating relationships with producers from start-ups to multi-generational distilleries. These relationships provide customers world-class products at incredible prices. Cane Mill rum is one of 900 such Spirit Direct buys. At a price point of $15/bottle, it is worth exploring.

Unfortunately the only thing we know about Cane Mill is that it’s made in Barbados/West Indies and is aged in white oak bar-rels. Total Wine offers both a 5-year old and 8-year old. The extra three years is quite noticeable in the deep amber color of the 8-year old which provides slight lacing on the glass.

he saidThe nose is filled with oak, vanilla and molasses with a slight alcohol burn. There are also floral notes lingering behind the sweet nose. Once on the palate the rum is buttery and creamy leaning more towards toffee with a soft spice finish. From the nose, I truly expected a harsher taste. The oak notes from the nose find their way to the finish however, it doesn’t hang around long enough for me to ponder more. For a younger rum this is quite enjoyable. At first I thought this should be mixed but there is something there I keep going back to try to discover.

she saidEven before I bring this rum to my nose the alcohol burns my eyes leaving me apprehensive about the tasting. Once at the nose though, a sweetness from vanilla, brown sugar and orange peel combine to help subdue the strong alcohol pres-ence. I agree with Clint that there is a creamy texture on the palate but I lose the sweet vanilla from the nose. It is replaced with spices of cinnamon and cloves. The finish is completely uneventful. As if the rum just vanishes. This rum is very differ-ent at every stage of the tasting. Very strange for me.

siPPing ruM scale 1 – An expensive mixer 2 – A quick celebratory shot 3 – Wouldn’t be embarrassed to share with friends4 – Are my friends worthy of a sip5 – Special moments rum

aBOuT clinT and Terry: We have sampled many a dram over our 33 years of marriage and quite often we don’t fully agree. Could be the difference is male/female taste buds. or, somebody is just wrong.