When it came time to replace its aging workhorse R/V Bellows, the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) planned to do what it has always done: Buy and retrofit a used boat.
Those plans changed when a state official encouraged the institute to build a new vessel that truly met its needs. FIO, a coalition of Florida colleges and universities, state agencies and nonprofit groups, followed that advice.
The result is W.T. Hogarth, a 78-foot steel monohull powered by Caterpillar engines, outfitted with a dynamic positioning system and packed with sensitive scientific equipment. Boksa Marine Design provided the vessel plans and Duckworth Steel Boats built the vessel, which is named for the institute’s former director who oversaw the boat’s development and led fundraising.
“We tried to make sure we had all the instrumentation for doing research, but at the same time the instrumentation it needed for teaching,” Bill Hogarth, who stepped down as FIO director in August 2016, said in a recent interview. “It is used quite a bit for teaching and a lot of classwork. That was the design purpose — to make sure we had what the faculty wanted, and I think we accomplished that.”
W.T. Hogarth will replace the 48-year-old Bellows, which has taken more than 6,000 students to sea and advanced countless research projects during its four decades as a research vessel. Upon its scheduled delivery in late September, the newbuild will join
W.T. Hogarth’s comfortable and well-appointed wheelhouse is outfitted with Furuno and Simrad navigation electronics. In addition to the house, the upper deck has accommodations for the captain and mate. the 115-foot Weatherbird II and a handful of smaller institute boats.
This story is from the American Ship Review 2018 edition of Professional Mariner.
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This story is from the American Ship Review 2018 edition of Professional Mariner.
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