shark byte yacht owner

• Boat Reviews

Bayliss 73 – Boat Review

• By Scott Shane
• Updated: November 12, 2011

After fishing offshore for 40 years, Peter Cherasia knew he was ready to build a custom boat of his own, but he didn’t know who should build it — until one memorable day in the Bahamas, that is.

“We were in the Pocket at Chub Cay, and it was blowing 28 knots,” Cherasia says. “Bayliss hull No. 10, Man-e-War, passed us up at 30-plus knots, and the captain was drinking a cup of coffee!”

Two years later, Cherasia took delivery of the 73-foot Shark Byte — Bayliss Boatworks’ newest and largest launch to date. The mission of the owner and builder was to take the dry, smooth ride and detailed craftsmanship of a Bayliss-built boat, and add innovative ideas on how to deliver comfort, long-range capability and state-of-the-art technology. The goal being to create, in the words of her captain, Rich Barrett: “the best fishing boat ever.”

Shark Byte primarily fishes for marlin and tuna. She summers in New Jersey, fishes Florida and the Bahamas through March, and then heads to the Caribbean. She’s capable of running on her own bottom (cruise speed during daylight hours and 10 knots at night) to Bermuda. On a recent trip this summer, Barrett and crew released 31 whites in two days. They feel that their mission has been accomplished.

It’s hard not to be mesmerized by her size. Shark Byte was moored bow out, so my initial impression was of her 20-foot-wide, high-gloss, single-piece teak transom, similarly finished aft bulkhead and Release fighting chair. Those pieces stood in beautiful contrast with the bright-white cold-molded hull and flying bridge, with her low-profile sides and the sheen of the subtly designed tuna tower that complements her lines without overwhelming them.

It’s a dead heat, in my opinion, in terms of whether the performance, technology or well-thought-out, minute details steal the show. It’s difficult, though, not to begin with the ride and handling, which I experienced firsthand just after Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc on the area.

The 2,600 hp MTUs came to life, sans smoke. The hydraulic bow thruster, controlled by buttons mounted within the single-lever controls, easily slid the expansive bow between the piles. As Shark Byte idled down New Jersey’s Navesink River and into Ambrose Channel, we managed to dodge several telephone poles. The 73-foot Shark Byte achieved a quick hole shot and a level and quiet ride. We conversed easily, at volumes slightly above library levels, while cruising at 35 knots and turning 1,950 rpm under an 82 percent load. Wide-open throttle was just shy of 45 knots.

When it was time to simulate fighting a fish, Barrett put the screws to the mechanics and spun her 360 degrees, completing the circle in earnest. There wasn’t one clatter, chatter or knock. The underwater gear offered minimal vibration. The GPS read an amazing 8.2 knots when backing down. That’s the fastest I’ve ever gone in reverse. A leftover swell deposited a hot-tub-size volume of water into the teak-soled cockpit, but it evacuated as quickly as it entered, via the excellent drainage setup.

“Our hull design combination has more deadrise, 13½ degrees, aft than a typical Carolina build with a sharper entry. The convex sections forward help us achieve more speed and a softer ride,” Bayliss says.

Under way, the lower chine pushed the water several feet from the hull sides. At trolling speeds, the cockpit remained quiet and the trolling lanes clear.

Flying Bridge Every square inch of Shark Byte has a purpose, and the design thereof examined and evaluated to the nth degree. The flying bridge is a perfect example.

The center console layout provides room for guests and crew to navigate the entire area. A unique rod storage setup with air-actuated pocket doors holds eight 30- and eight 50-pound outfits on quick-connect mounts. The life raft, a washdown station, and a refrigerated compartment and bait freezer are all stowed forward of the helm. The EPIRB stows out of view in an armrest.

Within the helm, you’ll find a series of wire bundles, neatly secured in and around the electronic modules. Above, and behind clear glass screens supported by polished gas shocks, Bayliss installed four 19-inch monitors to display all the data from the Simrad NSE, Furuno radars and sonars, satellite receivers and cameras.

A control station outfitted with twin VHFs, a Simrad NSE and engine controls sits way on top of the Palm Beach-constructed tower. It’s a comfortable perch, where the multiple occupants can easily wedge in on a rough day.

Cockpit The business area of Shark Byte looks more like a boardroom than a boat. Wherever your eyes fall, they will not find a single seam in the joinery. The side compartments, such as the ones for the shore power hookups, and doors operate pneumatically. Actuating buttons (where feasible) are hidden from view and away from dripping water.

Every seat, nook and cranny that would accept a door, drawer or hinge has the capability to stow something — an electric grill even pulls out of the bulkhead on the starboard side. (The three-tiered bait compartment has a huge capacity for dredge baits.) Bayliss positions the air-conditioning vents on the bulkhead below the salon window, dumping the cool air directly on the shoulders of the crew seated on the mezzanine.

An extensive ice-making and refrigeration system cools, slushes and freezes where needed. More than 200 feet of copper tubing was used. With the unique transom door, both gate and door function as a single entity; you can land fish easily, without scuffing the brightwork.

Machinery and Construction Bayliss doesn’t take any shortcuts. “As a builder, we tend to overbuild. To me it’s a good thing; it prevents structural problems now, and 10 or 15 years down the road, the boat will accept higher-horsepower engines with no problem.” the builder says.

The hull sides are 2 inches thick, with two layers of Okoume plywood, an inch of core cell and 6 mm of Okoume, and then bi-axial fiberglass is hand-laid on both sides. The bottom has three layers of Okoume with five layers of glass on the keel and two on the bottom.

Even the areas hidden from view, such as the centerline tunnel that houses the bilge pump drainage system and bow thruster, are finished in a yachtlike manner. The stand-up engine room is simple and precise. It houses the MTU engines, the DeAngelo exhaust and a set of 30 kW Northern Lights generators contained in custom-design sound shields.

The battery bank sits outboard of the starboard engine, where it is easily accessed. The side-scan sonar mounts amidships, aft in the compartment. The addition of an Eskimo ice maker and a hydraulic tank finish off the space.

The 3½-inch shafts, hooked to a set of ZF gears, use a spline, not a key way system, and are matched to a set of five-blade Veem propellers that get her up to speed.

An air-conditioned pump room houses MTU control units, two 5-ton AC chiller systems, an FCI 1,800-gallons-per-day watermaker, a fuel polisher, a compressor and tank, and two huge raw water pumps. Every pump and system comes with a built-in backup that the captain can easily switch to. Precise engineering was needed, so all are easily accessible for service and replacement.

Interior, Detail and Finish The detail and craftsmanship of the interior of this four-stateroom, three-head boat exceeds expectations. The salon table sports Bayliss’ custom-made fluted corners, made on a jig and then sent to Release Marine for final completion. All the teak cabinetry and curved trim are fabricated in a similar fashion.

All monitors on the boat are capable of projecting any of the electronics displays or video. They all rise on command or revert to a secure hidden cabinet. Air-actuated pocket doors are used throughout, and each berth offers storage underneath accessed by the same system.

Both the VIP cabin and the captain’s quarters feature truly unique air-actuated, retractable Pullman-style bunks. All cabins are painstakingly accented with teak trim, bountiful lockers, hidden compartments for additional storage, and neat tracts for cell phone and gadget recharging.

The galley and salon continue in the same thread of functionality. There’s abundant seating throughout, and the dinette has its own screen, so the owner and captain can multitask as needed. The galley is spacious, with truly ingenious ways to store cutlery, dishes and utensils. You’ll find functioning drawers where other builders would place a faux front; one splits the drain under the sink — remarkable.

The last piece of wizardry found on Shark Byte involves the lighting and the walk-in AV closet housing the Savant — the control system for the high-tech Vantage lighting system and the onboard video — and the ship’s main electrical panel. With the Savant system, an iPad or iPhone can remotely control almost everything “switchable” in the ship’s systems.

“When you can look back and say there’s not a single thing that we would change, I feel Shark Byte is perfectly designed for the way we fish,” Barrett says. To me, that says it all.

Specifications

LENGTH: 73′ BEAM: 20′ DRAFT: 5’3″ FUEL: 2,850 gallons WATER: 450 gallons POWER: 2,600 hp MTU M-94 diesels

Bayliss Boatworks / Wanchese, North Carolina / www.baylissboatworks.com

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About BAYLISS BOATWORKS

• Our Facility

WE BELIEVE IN HONORING OUR CUSTOMERS BY BUILDING THEM THE MOST EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT, AND WELL-BUILT SPORTFISHING YACHTS IN EXISTENCE.

There is no textbook on how to build a great fishing yacht. There’s only one school: a lifetime on the water, and that’s where John Bayliss got his education.

Since 2002, Bayliss and his team have been applying experience to reality to create bulletproof sportfishing yachts in our Wanchese, NC facility. Long before the first piece of jig frame is ever laid in the hull shop, we begin the design process. Each yacht is a physical manifestation of the unique needs and preferences expressed by our customers, so we start the project with a series of questions and topics that help us get to know more about the customer and how the customer wants to use their yacht. What will your yacht be used most for? Will you be entertaining as much as fishing? How far will you travel? Where do you fish? What type of fishing do you prefer? Will your family use the yacht? What is most important to you in a layout? These and other questions are what guide us in shaping each custom sportfishing yacht.

Once a layout is established and basic specifications are finalized, we move on to the construction phase, where your yacht begins as a jig.

The yacht jig will remain in the hull shop, while it surpasses benchmarks like the “Whiskey Plank,” hull rollover, and engine install – just to name a few. About a third of the way through the process, the boat is moved to the main shop where the remainder of the construction milestones are reached – cabin installation, flybridge and mezzanine build-out, interior cabinetry construction, paint, sea trial, and finally, delivery. Your personalized projected construction timeline will change depending on the size and complexity of your vessel. No matter the build, the custom nature of these projects means that we place a high value on communicating effectively with our yacht owners.

The people at Bayliss are truly amazing and were able to implement all of the features we desired.

-Owner, Shark Byte

The build process was actually one of my favorite parts about the boat.

- Owner, Wave Paver

We really appreciate the attention to detail provided by the Bayliss team.

- Owners, Lor-A-Di

Blank Check (Bayliss 75′)

• -Captain, Blank Check  (Bayliss 75’)

I can’t imagine building a boat with another team.

-Owner, GameChanger

Interested in building a custom Bayliss yacht?

We guarantee it to be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Get in touch with us! We will meet you anywhere to show you one of our existing yachts on the water, or you can head straight to Wanchese, NC to better understand our custom yacht building process and practice. Our Brokerage services may be able to put you in touch with a Bayliss Boatworks yacht that is immediately available, without the wait.

In the News Fall Fishing for Tarheel and Mama Seata

More than maintenance, bayliss boatyard expansion.

SharkBite Wiki

Please read the Rules BEFORE contributing to this wiki!

Sport Yacht

• View history

Overview [ ]

This boat can be purchased from the boat builder menu for 9000 teeth, and can be outfitted with seats, turrets, skins and decorations however the owner pleases. It has a top speed of 130 mph, which is fast enough to outrun any shark which isn't boosting. Players can place items on either of its two decks, as well as on the large spoiler and bow area. Up to 40 items can be placed on it at once. It has room for one large turret, one medium turret and two small turrets, meaning it has very high potential fire power.

Strategy [ ]

This boat, when equipped with turrets, is extremely effective against any shark in the game. Placing all your turrets on the spoiler is a great strategy whether you like to hunt the shark or not, as it keeps them away from the water, and allows them to fire from almost any angle. This makes it very difficult for the shark to attack you from the back, as they would likely be decimated by your turrets before they can reach your engines. It is definitely ideal to keep your stern facing the shark in this turret configuration, as while it does provide a direct line to your engine, it allows you to run from the shark and deliver heavy firepower which even an Orca would quickly succumb to.

When you are shooting at a pursuing shark, or even just searching for it in the water, it is easy to run into an island or another boat, which can be a fatal mistake. Make sure to check where you're heading every few seconds even while being pursued.

Make sure to keep a good distance from the shark, especially if it isn't a Great White. If they boost from close range then it is easy for them to catch you. If you don't know where the shark is you can sit by a detection buoy, so that if it attempts to sneak up on you you'll likely see it coming.

Pros and Cons [ ]

• Relatively cheap price
• Customisable
• Good handling
• Spoiler provides great turret position
• Good customisation can cost a lot
• Medium turret not available for a lot of users (off-sale)
• Hard to right if capsized
• The Sport Yacht may be based off the Deluxe Yacht from SharkBite 1. It is much smaller and has a different design, however.
• This is one of six customisable boats currently in game.
• Many users prefer this over the Frigate Warship for grinding, as it has greater agility and the spoiler provides an exceptional turret position.
• A piece of the railing is not properly attached, and you can often see it fall off at the beginning of the round.
• 1 SharkBite 2
• 2 Hydro Tank
• 3 Golden Ducky

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U.S. Eyes $156 Million Yacht in Dubai Linked to a Russian Oligarch

The U.S. Justice Department is taking steps to seize the Madame Gu, a 324-foot luxury yacht, but it will be diplomatically thorny.

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By Kate Kelly ,  Michael Forsythe and Julian E. Barnes

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — On a clear morning in late October, the jewel-blue hull of the Madame Gu, one of the world’s most luxurious superyachts, gleamed, its aluminum rails shimmering in the sun. Workers on the pier said they had recently seen people painting, cleaning and generally keeping the ship with its helipad and six guest staterooms in pristine condition.

In past years, such a scene would not have been noteworthy. Many superyachts come and go from Dubai’s Mina Rashid Marina, best known as the home of the Queen Elizabeth 2, the trans-Atlantic ocean liner-turned-hotel that dominates the waterfront here.

But Russia’s war in Ukraine has turned an otherwise routine tableau into a diplomatic battleground between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, an important American ally that has established itself as a safe haven for Russian money and assets out of the reach of U.S. sanctions.

The $156 million Madame Gu epitomizes the problem. In June, the United States designated the vessel, which is linked to Andrei Skoch, a Russian steel magnate and lawmaker under sanctions, as blocked property. That means the yacht cannot use American companies for its upkeep, employ U.S. citizens or even use the dollar. The Justice Department is now taking steps to seize the Madame Gu, according to people with knowledge of the plan.

But the United States can’t seize property in a sovereign nation without permission from its government. The Emirates, which has taken a friendlier position toward Moscow, is balking at cooperating with the United States to pursue oligarchs, American officials said. The Kremlin is also using oligarch-controlled companies in the Emirates to acquire war supplies that the West is trying to keep out of Russia’s reach, according to a Western official involved in the sanctions effort against Russia.

Emirati officials did not comment specifically on the Madame Gu but said in a statement that they took their role “protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously.”

A closer examination of Russian assets in the Emirates shows that even before the war in Ukraine, Dubai had become a playground for Russians with links to President Vladimir V. Putin. At least 38 businessmen or officials with ties to the Russian president own homes in Dubai that are collectively valued at more than $314 million, according to the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. Five of those owners are under U.S. sanctions.

Since the Russian invasion, Dubai has established itself as a safe haven for Russian yachts and aircraft unable to sail or fly elsewhere. After Russian jets were barred from the European Union in late February, the Emirates became the destination for 14 percent of all private flights leaving Russia, up from 3 percent before the invasion.

“It’s frustrating when you see huge assets that are sitting out there and it appears that the country is not cooperating,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, referring to the Emirates. “It would be nice if there were more common cause against Putin while he’s busy shelling hospitals and schools.”

Mr. Whitehouse is sponsoring legislation that would use proceeds of the sales of seized Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine. Senior officials at the Treasury and State Departments have also complained publicly about the situation.

U.S. officials view the presence of superyachts in places like Dubai and Bodrum, Turkey , as a symptom of wider Russian circumvention of sanctions and continued access to financial markets. Yachts have also come to symbolize the decadence of Russia’s oligarchs, especially at a time when Russian soldiers are scrounging for body armor and sleeping bags on the front lines.

Pursuing the Madame Gu

Built by the Dutch firm Feadship and put into service in 2013, the Madame Gu has a large helicopter pad on its forecastle with a hangar underneath that can double as a squash court when the chopper isn’t on board. The vessel has berthing for 36 crew members, according to one trade magazine.

Mr. Skoch, a member of Russia’s Parliament who is linked to assets worth billions of dollars, according to U.S. court filings, has had sanctions imposed on him twice by the United States, first in 2018 and then after Russia’s invasion this year. The Treasury Department has cited his “longstanding ties to Russian organized criminal groups.”

Mr. Skoch could not be reached and did not respond to messages left at his office at Parliament.

In an interview in October about the government’s broader efforts to go after the assets of oligarchs, Andrew Adams, a federal prosecutor leading the Department of Justice’s KleptoCapture task force, declined to discuss the Madame Gu. But the United States, he said, is warning companies they must not do business with individuals and assets under sanctions. The government, he said, will pursue oligarch-owned assets whose sale could be used to aid Ukraine.

“Where we know there is an asset that can potentially provide significant remuneration for Ukraine, that obviously is an attractive case to pursue,” he said.

U.S. officials are likely to use the case they made for impounding a $90 million Airbus business jet linked to Mr. Skoch in August as a blueprint for seizing the Madame Gu, said people familiar with the plan.

That means investigators will aim to show that the owner of the vessel, or the companies that have been providing services to it, have intersected with the U.S. financial system.

“If there are U.S. dollars or a U.S. nexus associated with supporting this vessel, massive enforcement actions could take place,” said Adam M. Smith, a former official overseeing sanctions at the Treasury Department. Companies that provide support to entities under sanctions could potentially face their own sanctions, said Mr. Smith, who is now a lawyer at Gibson Dunn in Washington.

This year the United States has carried out two high-profile seizures of yachts tied to Russians under sanctions, working with cooperative governments. The $300 million Amadea was taken in Fiji in May and sailed to San Diego under an American flag. In April, the United States worked with Spanish police to seize the $90 million Tango.

A Problematic Partner

Diplomatically, the Emirates has been reluctant to take a clear anti-Russian position when it comes to the war in Ukraine. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, recently met with Mr. Putin in St. Petersburg, and the Emirati foreign minister recently hosted his Russian counterpart. Yet Sheikh Mohammed has also talked with Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, more than once and recently gave the country $100 million in humanitarian aid.

The United States has publicly expressed dismay over the mixed messages.

During a visit to Dubai in June, Wally Adeyemo, the U.S. deputy treasury secretary, warned of the need for vigilance and proactive steps in combating Russian evasion. That same month Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s under secretary for Near East Affairs, said at a congressional hearing that regarding the Emirates, she was “not happy at all with the record at this point” on sanctions enforcement. Mr. Adeyemo reiterated his concerns in a meeting with Emirati officials in October in Washington.

A senior State Department official said in a statement to The New York Times that the agency continues “to reinforce the importance of conducting enhanced due diligence to prevent sanctions evasion and investigating allegations of such activity” to the Emirates.

The Treasury Department declined to comment on the Madame Gu or the relationship with the Emirates.

Last month, the Treasury Department announced it had placed sanctions on an Emirates-based company, Constellation Advisors Ltd., that the American government said was operating on behalf of a nephew of another Russian oligarch, Suleiman Kerimov. Mr. Kerimov, according to American court documents, was the owner of the Amadea superyacht .

American officials are also worried the Russian government is using the Emirates to acquire military supplies for its war in Ukraine. On Nov. 15, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Emirates-based transportation firms that had worked with another Iranian firm under sanctions, which in turn had helped transport drones and personnel from Iran to Russia.

Moored in Dubai

Based on a recent visit to Dubai’s Mina Rashid Marina , where the Madame Gu is moored, it is clear that international companies are playing a critical role in its care.

The Emirates-based company DP World, through its subsidiary P&O Marinas , oversees the pier where the Madame Gu is moored. Employees from another DP World subsidiary , World Security, staff the small guard box at the entrance. That makes DP World, which is owned by Dubai’s royal family, potentially vulnerable to American sanctions.

DP World “fully complies with all applicable local and national laws and intends to continue doing the same regarding the Madame Gu and other vessels utilizing our services,” said Adal Mirza, a spokesman for the company. He added that DP World had not yet heard from the United States or other countries that had placed Mr. Skoch under sanctions, including Britain and the European Union.

A generator set that dock workers said in late October was powering the Madame Gu — two container-like structures near its stern — bore the distinctive orange logo of Aggreko , a British company. The generator set was connected to the superyacht by thick cords; one of the containers was emitting grayish exhaust.

At the Mina Rashid Marina, soon after Aggreko was contacted by The Times, workers removed the generator. “Having identified that the generator was being used to power a vessel that is allegedly connected to a sanctioned person, we immediately terminated this rental and have since recovered the generator,” the company said in a statement.

Mr. Mirza, the DP World spokesman, said the Aggreko generator had been replaced with one from a local supplier.

P&O Marinas arranged for the diesel generator to provide power for the Madame Gu because that part of the pier, a holding area, has no shore-supplied electric power, said a port official in Dubai, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the press.

“At the end of the day, if the U.A.E. hasn’t imposed sanctions, it’s not really their job to enforce other countries’ laws within their borders,” said Nabeel Yousef, a Washington-based partner at the law firm Freshfields, where he runs the sanctions practice. Nevertheless, “companies should not take comfort in the fact that their country has not imposed sanctions,” he added, “because even the smallest connection to the U.S. can lead to U.S. penalties.”

There has also been a notable absence onboard the Madame Gu in recent weeks: a flag. Unlike other ships moored nearby, including the Quantum Blue, a superyacht linked to the billionaire Sergei Galitsky, the Madame Gu appears to be stateless, apparently having been deflagged by the Cayman Islands.

Cayman Islands officials didn’t respond to an emailed inquiry about the ship’s status.

If DP World were to face fallout from U.S. sanctions enforcers, it wouldn’t be the first time the company has been the focus of attention in Washington. In 2006, DP World was seeking to manage some terminal operations at six American ports but dropped out of the deal after a bipartisan uproar in Congress.

Anton Troianovski contributed reporting from Turin, Italy, and Oleg Matsnev from Berlin.

Kate Kelly covers money, influence, and policy as a correspondent in the Washington bureau of the Times. Before that, she spent twenty years covering Wall Street deals, key players and their intersection with politics. She is the author of three books, including "The Education of Brett Kavanaugh." More about Kate Kelly

Michael Forsythe is a reporter on the investigations team. He was previously a correspondent in Hong Kong, covering the intersection of money and politics in China. He has also worked at Bloomberg News and is a United States Navy veteran. More about Michael Forsythe

Julian E. Barnes is a national security reporter based in Washington, covering the intelligence agencies. Before joining The Times in 2018, he wrote about security matters for The Wall Street Journal. More about Julian E. Barnes

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

News and Analysis

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two top Russian military officers , accusing them of war crimes in Ukraine for targeting civilians and destroying crucial energy infrastructure.

The capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka  was the Russians’ most significant gain in nine months . Among the reasons for their success were dwindling Ukrainian ammunition , declining Western aid and poor Ukrainian defenses .

The Ukraine war has been fought largely on the ground in the past two years. But as the Russian military presses on with attacks in the east, its air force has taken on a greater role .

Holding a Sliver of Hope: A Russian mother knows her son, a conscript, died 14 months ago in a battle in eastern Ukraine. But she is still waiting for him.

A Long Fight: On the second anniversary  of Russia’s invasion, many weary but determined Ukrainians  are taking a longer view of the war , pinpointing the Maidan uprising of 2014 as the start of a 10-year conflict with their adversary.

Sending a Message: Two years since the start of the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin of Russia has fully embraced the image of an unpredictable strongman  ready to escalate his conflict with the West.

How We Verify Our Reporting

Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .

Warning signs posted along Waikiki beach after shark bites surfer’s board

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Warning signs are posted along Kaimana beach after a shark bit a surfer’s board off Waikiki Monday afternoon.

Officials say an ‘aggressive 8-foot tiger shark’ has been observed at Old Man’s surf break off Kaimana Beach.

Surfline video shows the apparent attack around 5 p.m.

No injuries were reported, but photos show a man’s board was left imprinted with bite marks.

Less than an hour later Honolulu EMS sent a ‘Shark Warning’ through the city and county emergency notification system.

Signs have been posted, according to authorities.

Officials say always check with a lifeguard for the latest ocean conditions.

This story will be updated.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

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Welcome to Shark Byte Sport Fishing!

Shark Byte 2013: We arrived in Casa de Campo, DR on Feb 28th, the Blue Marlin fishing has been very good and should be getting even better as the season rolls forward (and as each full moon occurs). For now, we are going to split our time between Casa and Cap Cana till the end of April and then head to the Virgin and Leeward Islands (St. Barth's, St. Maarten, etc) before returning back to the DR for the Billfish Blast May/June and then off to Bermuda for the month of July. I'll post some new pictures over the next week or so.

Top 5 Shark Infested Spots in the U.S.

Table of Contents

Precious few people ever want to find themselves swimming with sharks. The good news is there’s not much reason to worry about; according to the International Shark Attack File , the number of annual shark bites in the United States has remained pretty steady since at least 2012— the vast majority resulting in injuries, but no deaths.

Sharks fascinate and frighten us. Whether you are trying to avoid them or come close to one, our post on our top 5 shark spots in the United States will help you fulfill your bucket list or clear your anxiety.

Browse through boats ready for booking here

According to the International Shark Attack File, swimmers in Florida have seen between 16 and 36 shark bites yearly, going back to 2012. None of those bites have been fatal, but the sheer quantity of encounters is larger than in any other state.

While shark bites have been recorded along nearly all parts of the Florida coastline, the greatest number of incidents have taken place in Volusia County, which has earned the unfortunate nickname “Shark Bite Capital of the World.” Volusia County is home to popular tourist spots such as Daytona Beach , which averages more than 9 million visitors annually.

Just to Volusia County’s south is the county with the next-highest total of shark bites: Brevard County. It’s where you’ll find Melbourne, Cape Canaveral, and Merritt Island , all places with lots of activity along the waterfront.

After those two counties, all other locations in Florida have recorded far fewer shark-bite incidents, with more than a dozen counties having incidents in the single digits going back a decade.

Also worth noting is that the vast majority of Florida shark-bite incidents occurred when people were doing certain activities. The top activity was “surface recreation,” such as boogie boarding or surfing; the second most common was people swimming or wading. Divers experienced precious few incidents.

The data from Florida also shows that comparatively few shark-bite incidents happen in Florida during the months of December, January, and February—when water temperatures tend to be in the 70s, a good 15 degrees cooler than during the summer months.

Hawaii , with a total of 76 shark-bite incidents since 2012, has the second most incidents in the United States (which equates to only about 30% as many shark-bite incidents as Florida). According to the International Shark Attack File, most of Hawaii’s incidents have happened around Maui, which has the second-largest population in the Hawaiian islands. Maui is also an island that draws a lot of beginner surfers at spots such as Ho’okipa Beach, the Lahaina Reefs, and Honolua Bay.

The second-highest number of shark attacks reported in Hawaii were around Oahu, which is home to more than two-thirds of Hawaiians and the state capital of Honolulu . Its north shore draws many of the best surfers in the world.

3. South Carolina

After Florida and Hawaii, South Carolina has the most recorded shark-bite incidents in the United States. There have been 45 incidents recorded since 2012, with 10 in 2017 alone. For all other years with available data, South Carolina has seen less than ten shark-bite incidents each year along its whole coast.

Shark-bite incidents can happen anywhere along South Carolina’s coastline. Horry County, far to the north, and Charleston County, in the state’s middle, are nearly identical in their number of recorded bites. Both are popular tourist destinations, with Horry County being home to Myrtle Beach and Charleston County housing the port city of Charleston and the popular tourist destination Kiawah Island.

4. California

After South Carolina, California ranks number four among U.S. states with the most shark-bite incidents. There have only been 29 of them recorded since 2012, but three of those 29 have been fatal, which is about 10 percent. That ratio adds to the scare factor in news stories about the incidents.

San Diego County, far to California’s south, has seen the most activity and has reported shark encounters and bites in the news for generations. The incidents have involved surfers, swimmers, kayakers, and others.

Up in the state’s north, Humboldt County has the second-highest number of recorded shark bites. That county is home to Eureka, the largest coastal city between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

5. North Carolina

The fifth-highest number of shark-bite incidents in the United States is in North Carolina . Notably, the county in North Carolina with the highest number of incidents is Brunswick—which is considered part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area, along with South Carolina’s Horry County, one of the most active locations for incidents in that state.

The good news for North Carolinians is that none of its recorded shark-bite incidents since 2012 have been fatal.

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Kim Kavin has been on boats in more than 50 countries and islands, including in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Pacific, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. She grew up learning to steer a ski boat and Hobie Holder at her grandfather’s lake house in New Jersey, and went on to spend time aboard everything from America’s Cup racing sailboats to submarines. 

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A shark is born: Introducing Nobiskrug's 77 metre Black Shark

Boat International talks to the dream team behind the upcoming 77-metre superyacht Project 793, by Nobiskrug, aka Black Shark.

"In Monaco, this yacht is going to dominate", says superstar designer Andrew Winch with conviction during the keel-laying ceremony of 77-metre Project 793 , aka Black Shark.

It has taken 18 months of hard work across a range of disciplines, but the boat's large steel keel section is sitting in the middle of the shipbuilding hall at German Naval Yards in Kiel. From the stylish lines of the project's logo and the excited buzz around the hall, it is already clear that this yacht has been very carefully named. With her razor-thin shark-fin mast and gill-like superstructure detail, she will certainly turn heads. But for all that, this is a project for a very experienced owner and is as much about what goes inside the yacht.

“Black Shark is a concept superyacht,” says Evgeniy Kochman, founder of broker  Imperial . “Our client was driven by the idea of giving birth to a vessel that would have the same style and energy as a shark. Powerful, aggressive and elegant were his keywords.”

The in-house design team at  Nobiskrug , the renowned north German yard that built  Sailing Yacht A , rose to the challenge. First contact with the owner was at the Monaco Yacht Show in September 2017; two months later a contract was signed. Imperial brought in  Winch Design  for the exterior and proposed  Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design  for the interior – a first for Kochman. “Sinot’s vision and ideas are really inspiring. We wanted Sander J Sinot and his team to be the creative fresh wind of the interior,” he explains. “This yacht will be special. She will have an absolutely stunning interior – unique.” A year of intensive design and specification work followed to eliminate any grey areas in the brief. This total clarity is something on which Imperial prides itself.

With eight cabins, a touch-and-go helipad, a spa pool on the foredeck and an open-air disco/cinema, the key features were locked down by autumn 2018. Steel-cutting could get under way, such that by early February, 80 tonnes of this work had been shaped and welded together into Black Shark’s keel segment. By the time the yacht is finished, there will be another 2,000 tonnes of steel hull and alloy superstructure to join it.

This work will be completed in Kiel before the bare hull is launched in early 2020. It will then be tugged up the Kiel Canal to Rendsburg, where Nobiskrug’s master craftspeople will await her. Here the detailed fit-out will take place before her final launch in 2021. It is an ambitious timetable, but one that Nobiskrug is confident it can keep. “These are challenges that Nobiskrug likes,” says MD Holger Kahl with a characteristic grin.

Designers: Winch and Sinot

Andrew Winch’s exterior design team came to the project with a brief to turn Nobiskrug’s vision into something truly special. And as he puts it with a smile: “This is not a whale shark; this is a fast, fast design.” They went through various iterations, but the shark fin mast and large GRP gill features were quickly agreed. “With the name it was obvious,” Winch says. “We started with a straight hull, then lowered it aft to make it more aggressive. The reverse bow means she has maximum waterline length, and that’s important for a boat like this.” The shark’s fin will be strikingly lit at night, and the owner is considering a matt black hull.

Inside, Sinot has subtly worked with the shark theme, and the colour black, to great effect. “We took the texture of shark skin, enlarged it and made abstract patterns,” says Zlatko Imamovic, senior designer and project manager at Sinot. “You don’t necessarily recognise what it is.” In the same way, they studied the ripples created by a shark’s fin as it breaks the water’s surface and carved them into black granite flooring on the bridge deck. There is generous use of backlit white quartz, the natural triangular structure of which echoes the form of a shark’s tooth. “We are using cutting-edge yet proven production and 3D modelling techniques to create something unique,” Imamovic adds. Other subtleties include the use of dark ceilings below the waterline, switching to dark floors above it. Woods used include lacewood, dark Macassar and wenge with bronze rubbed into the open grain. Modern furniture reflects the theme, with more Macassar and bronze trimming.

Broker: Imperial

Black Shark will be the second Nobiskrug superyacht built for an Imperial client. The Monaco-based brokerage house, which has acted for dozens of new-build yachts up to 86 metres LOA, is very clear that this yacht is special. “She will have the ‘wow’ factor, for sure,” says founder Evgeniy Kochman. “It’s the same if you were a diver: if you see a shark, you are just paralysed. You will have the same feeling.” Despite the wealth of superstar design talent involved, the client has remained at the heart of the process, according to Kochman. “The general shape of the yacht was already in the mind of our client. He had his idea, we helped him to get the closest possible to his dream.” The broker says it is all about the details of a contract, which took 18 months to hammer out. “Specifications can have lots of grey areas,” he explains. “That’s something we’ve learned to eliminate: everything is defined beforehand. I know this project will win a design prize.”

Keel-laying ceremony

It is a tradition as old as shipbuilding itself: the keel-laying ceremony marks the official start of a vessel’s life and is said to bring her good luck. “It is a very important point of time for an owner, too,” says Nobiskrug MD Holger Kahl, “because they physically see their yacht for the first time.” For Black Shark, it provides an opportunity to thank the owner and pay tribute to the project designers, as well as to wish the boat good luck. “Black Shark is an impressive name, with great intimations of strength and respect,” Kahl adds.

After the speeches, a freshly-minted euro coin is placed in a wooden block supporting the keel section, which is raised by the yard’s iconic crane. Under the owner’s eyes, and those of Holger Kahl, designers Andrew Winch and Sander J Sinot, Nobiskrug’s youngest female apprentice, Fiona Diekert, hammers home the first nail. Then it is the owner’s turn, and so on, before the keel section is delicately lowered back on to its bearers. Black Shark’s owner also chose to put some items of personal value into a time capsule, which he then welded into the keel himself. “It is a mark of the owner’s exceptional involvement in this project,” says Kahl.

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New owner for Nobiskrug’s 77m Black Shark

• March 5, 2022

The German superyacht builder has announced a new owner for the 77m Black Shark, marking the third order since the shipyard’s acquisition last summer.

Nobiskrug has announced that a new owner has signed for the 77m Black Shark , so construction will continue ahead of a scheduled delivery in summer 2023. Imperial is acting as the broker and owner’s representative of the five-deck superyacht, which will be completed in Nobiskrug’s 160m air-conditioned dry dock.

Philipp Maracke, Managing Director of Nobiskrug, said: “In intensive negotiations we prevailed against strong competitors and proved that we are the best partner for our customer. The fact that we were able to renew the contract for the construction of this outstanding ship makes me very proud on behalf of the employees of the shipyard.”

The contract marks the third order since the Rendsburg shipyard’s acquisition last year by the Tennor Group, with investor Lars Windhorst significantly involved in the negotiations for Black Shark .

The yacht’s dynamic, imposing exterior is by UK-based Winch Design, while Dutch studio Sinot Yacht Architecture & Design created the interior. Features include a matt-black hull, silver metallic superstructure, a distinctive reverse bow and a mast reminiscent of a shark’s fin.

Black Shark is being built in compliance with Red Ensign Group Yacht Code Part A and IMO Tier 3 regulations, which set strict emission limits.

http://www.nobiskrug.com

http://www.imperial-yachts.com

Yacht Style Issue 64 out now Yacht Style’s second edition of 2022 has a Leader interview with Sunseeker CEO Andrea Frabetti, Reviews of Ferretti Yachts, Azimut, Galeon, Heliotrope and Fountaine Pajot models in Asia, plus features on the Dubai International Boat Show, Indonesia’s Yacht Sourcing and Bali 4.8 owner Eric Noyel.

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