Dan Betta - Intro

[danbetta]

Been reading as much as I could the last 2 weeks.

First, amazed by how much everyone here seems to support each other w/out the usual nastiness, back-biting, "I told you so", and "I know way more than you" kind of stuff that I've seen on the few other forums I participate in. So sick of how most threads devolve into ******* contests.

Secondly, can't tell you how impressed I am by the talent, skill, drive, and accomplishment I see here across the board. Young or old, rich or poor (er), the creativity, imagination, and skill demonstrated by a passionate group of people is truly awe inspiring...

 

[danbetta]

About me:

I'm a professional small yacht captain going on 20 years. I've got a USCG 1600 ton license and taught PADI scuba for long, long time. I've got over 4,000 dives in the Caribbean mostly dragging other divers around - I'd be doing that and nothing else if you could make even a half decent living out of it.

You can't! Up til 4 years ago I was getting $75/day during my "off season" when I would head backt to the BVI (British Virgin Islands) for the winters to work at a dive shop! At some point you have to think about what you're going to be when you're 70...

My wife of 5 years, Charlotte, shares my work and play. She's also a PADI instructor, stands her watch at the helm, and basically reads all the instruction manuals while I'm cursing, or finds the thing I'm looking for...while I'm cursing.

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

So are you going to be building a garage or a boat house

 

[danbetta]

We're looking to buy our first house this summer on the east end of Long Island in the Hamptons (in Hampton Bays - the poor man's Hamptons) and will be setting up a workshop/garage.

My Dad was master machinist for Pan American Airlines for over 30 years when it folded up shop. As a first generation immigrant who had to "work" for a living, he spent his whole life making sure I would never have to do the same work.

"You'll go to college. You'll get a degree. You'll make money!"

He took all those machine skills with him when he passed years ago.

Sadly, it was many years later that I discovered I loved that kind of work.

I worked in a "machine shop" for a couple of years 10 years ago for a guy who fabricated custom metal work for the architectural trade. What a blast!

This guy could make anything! Architects would come with drawings and Steve would have to figure out how to make the damn thing (a later post).

The boat business is the same - just about anyone can be a captain. The perfect combination of talents is a captain who can fix ****!

 

[danbetta]

The first project will probably be to work on the house!

 

[danbetta]

Some of the boats I either run or have worked on:

Hinckley Picnic Boat, 36'


Shelter Island Runabout, 38'

 

[danbetta]

87' Oceanfast, 10 deliveries NY-FL, 12,000 nm.


105' custom aluminum trimaran, live aboard dive boat.
4 years aboard, 2 as captain. 20 guest per week, 40+ weeks per year.

 

[danbetta]

124' Delta (made in USA!), First Mate




2x MTU, 1850 HP each


Engine detail


Just half of main helm station

 

[danbetta]

82' Jefferson, current project. Captain.


Yes, I let the women take the helm...Kim's great and has a 100 ton license.

 

[danbetta]

Custom 54' sportfish (made in USA, too!). Charlotte and I delivered this boat from West Palm, FL to southern end of Grenada last January (2012).


Last November, we picked the boat up in St. Thomas after is was shipped over from the Med waiting for arrival of the big boat...picture of the offload.


The big boat just arriving from sailing across the Atlantic. My wife, Charlotte, in the foreground. The big boat is 145' long and 55' wide, all aluminum. Build would have been USA if Direcktors in CT would have been able to finish the job. After 4 years and many millions in cost over runs, owner opted to pull the boat, have it put aboard a ship, and finished the build in England.

 

[danbetta]

92' Pershing being off loaded in West Palm, FL.


Me w/ one of the Pershing props - made to go fast! Arneson surface piercing drives will push this 92' boat at 40 kts...while sucking 150 gallons...per hour...

 

[danbetta]

Some of the projects I was involved in at the metal shop:

This was a project for Mel Brooks' broadway show, "The Producers". There was a skit that had actors pushing around carriages w/ a life size mannequin on either side of them. The mannequins were able to articulate whenever the actor would actuate one of the levers in the back.

We built about 50 of these - 15 for each of 3 shows (NY, London, a traveling show, and some spares). The first set of torsos was painfully done manually. When we got the second and thirds set, I input the drawings via AutoCad and we sent out the torsos, shoulders, and upper legs and had the plates laser cut.

That still left a huge amount of machining, turning, welding, bending, and assembling.

A great, fun project. I wish I had close ups...

 

[danbetta]

These guys loved Steve's work; they had him do a bunch of stuff:

A small bronze based table w/ fold up ends.


A pool table light.


Detail of the pool table light.


A giant formal dining table.


Detail of the dining table. Steve is such an artist. Everywhere where to pieces meet had a bronze insert. Everything was machined to less than .0005 tolerance. Everything was low temperature soldered (high temp just melted the bronze). After, all the metal was darkened and waxed.

 

[danbetta]

Interior (and exterior!) railings for a house on the beach A VERY big project. All brushed stainless. Steve a fanatic for perfection. All the stainless was welded with the welds ground down perfectly flush, the heat stains from the welding process taken out w/ electrolysis/acid, the brushed finish re-applied by hand (by yours truly).

The interior stuff was a piece of cake...the owner specced the same treatment for about 200' feet of exterior railing - around the pool and from the deck over the dunes down to the beach...we did the installation over the winter in the bitter cold w/ the wind blowing off the ocean.

 

[danbetta]

These first two photos are of a ceiling installation we did for condominium sales office in NYC. Hard to get the full effect here, but the ceiling is 3D - we used 3 different stainless steel mesh screens each set at a different height to give the ceiling depth. Turned out very cool. They ultimately used the same treatment through out the building's lobby.

The mesh screen was sourced from England. Used to sift/separate stone.




The mirror was my first project at the shop: 14 vanity top mirrors for a house in the Caribbean. Very cool at first until you find yourself making the same part over and over, drilling and tapping, drilling and tapping, filing and deburring, filing and deburring...all winter.


We did a lot of hand rails for houses. This one was pretty simple - cold rolled steel, acid washed to darken, waxed to preserve the finish.

 

[Dan_inthewind]

Very nice pics Dan. Loved the stroll thru all the ships you have had the pleasure of being around.

 

[cincinnati_kid]

Welcome to GJ. Looks like you do some really neat things. I love boating always have, I grew up on the water. The bigest boat ive ever captained was an 89 foot carver. I worked the fuel dock at marina in the Ohio river, the owner of the boat could not dock it to save his life so he asked me to multiple times haha. There are quite a few people who take boats from here (cincinnati, oh) to key west for the summer. Ive always wanted to make that journey and still hope to do it one day.