The Excitor was a fast boat tourist experience in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, [1] that operated until 2011. It was used on a high-speed trip through the scenic bay out to Cape Brett, where the boat travelled through the 'Hole in the Rock', a natural sea-tunnel (wave-heights permitting). [2] The boat was operated by Tourism Holdings Ltd, [3] then by InterCity.
Passengers sitting in the open boat had to wear lifejackets,[ citation needed ] and waves swamping the boat had been reported, though it was designed to quickly drain the water through its stern.[ citation needed ]
Three vessels were used over the years to operate the Excitor experience.
Excitor I was in use by for six years on around 900 trips. [1] [2] It was involved in a serious incident in 1998, when a mechanical failure in the gearbox linkage caused the boat to become unsteerable while entering Cathedral Cave. With the starboard engine still running ahead, the bow of the vessel collided with the cave wall. Twenty-nine people aboard had to abandon the boat and were forced to "swim for their lives" to the mouth of the cave, while the boat was battered against the cave roof by 3 m high wave swells. After 20 minutes, the operator was able to reverse the boat out of the cave, radio for help, and pick up the passengers. One person sustained light injuries, and one young child suffered hypothermia. [4]
Passengers involved in the incident accused the operator of subsequently downplaying the duration and the risks during the incident, such as the danger of being dashed against rocks. [5] They were also critical of the (at that time unreleased) official incident report by the Maritime Safety Authority, which was said to have failed to address contributing factors such as the late arrival (5 pm) of the boat at the cave, the height of the swells outside the cave mouth, as well as alleged fatigue of the skipper. [4]
Around the end of 2002, the larger Excitor II was introduced. The timber-fiberglass jetboat was built by Johnson Yachts International, and used 2 x 'Seafury' jetboat drives built in Silverdale, Auckland, powered by 2 x 800 hp turbo intercooled Caterpillar engines. It reached speeds of up to 46 knots (approximately 85 km/h), and carried 46-54 tourists. It was 18 m long, 4.2 m wide and had a 1.2 m draft.
In October 2010 a faster Excitor III was introduced. The 12.5m Naiad rigid hull inflatable vessel carried up to 35 passengers at up to 50 knots, powered by 4 x 300 hp V8 engines. Built by Whangārei-based Circa Marine, and specifically designed for conditions in the Bay of Islands, the new Excitor featured straddle seats, an ultra modern low wake hull design and a retractable set of stairs built into the bow to allow her to service any beach in the Bay of Islands. [6] In January and March 2011, passengers were injured in incidents on the boat and Maritime New Zealand stopped the boat operating. [7]
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A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses an external propeller in the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat through an intake and into a pump-jet inside the boat, before expelling it through a nozzle at the stern.
A catamaran is a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is required. Catamarans typically have less hull volume, smaller displacement, and shallower draft (draught) than monohulls of comparable length. The two hulls combined also often have a smaller hydrodynamic resistance than comparable monohulls, requiring less propulsive power from either sails or motors. The catamaran's wider stance on the water can reduce both heeling and wave-induced motion, as compared with a monohull, and can give reduced wakes.
A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to a high pressure so as to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat's topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy. The inflated collar acts as a life jacket, ensuring that the vessel retains its buoyancy, even if the boat is taking on water. The RIB is an evolutionary development of the inflatable boat with a rubberized fabric bottom that is stiffened with flat boards within the collar to form the deck or floor of the boat.
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W:m Crichton & C:o Ab is a former engineering and shipbuilding company that operated in Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland in 1842–1913. The company also had another shipyard in Okhta, Saint Petersburg.
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Splinter fleet or Splinter navy was a nickname given to the United States wooden boats used in World War II. The boats served in many different roles during the war. These boats were built in small boatyards on the West coast and East coast, Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. They could be built quickly, in just 60 to 120 days. Most of the boats were built by boatyards that already had the tools and knowledge from building yachts, sailboats and motor boats. Many were built by craftsmen in family-owned small businesses. Under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program and War Shipping Administration contracts went out to over fifty boatyards across the country. The boats were built for the US Navy, the United States Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard, and US Army. Some of the wooden boats went to Allied nations on the Lend-Lease program.
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