hippocampus yacht

Professional BoatBuilder Magazine

An aluminum expedition catamaran.

By Dieter Loibner , Apr 5, 2022

With 110′ LOA, a 35′ beam, and 45′ (33.5m, 10.6m, and 13.7m) of bridge clearance, the H-2 catamaran seeks to make a case for U.S. custom boatbuilding.

Hauling toys beyond the horizon is the raison d’être for a rugged go-anywhere catamaran designed and built in the U.S., a notable exception in the world of big yacht projects.

Gunboat might have left town, but there’s another big catamaran under construction in its old facility in Wanchese, North Carolina. It’s called H-2 , short for Hippocampus 2 , a stout 110-footer (33.5m) that liberally and intentionally quotes from the expedition/workboat vernacular. It’s built from aluminum and was conceived to go to the back of the beyond, where adventure beckons and Vessel Assist doesn’t operate. Aside from commodious and cushy accommodations, the boat offers grid autonomy, ocean-crossing range, and cargo capacity to match the mission of hauling a 26 ‘ (7.92m) tender, a 17 ‘ (5.8m) skiff, a two-person submarine, a four-seat ATV on the main deck, and a small helicopter on the flight deck aft.

The boat was commissioned by Brian Schmitt, 67, a real estate executive in the Florida Keys, who pilots his own plane to commute to the Bahamas, where he keeps Hippocampus , his current 57 ‘ (17.37m) cold-molded wood/epoxy catamaran. I asked him about the jump from 57 ‘ to 110 ‘ . “I never thought I’d have the ability to do that in my own boat until probably the last few years,” he replied, adding that “it would be 120 ‘ [36.58m] if I had to do it today.”

Its predecessor, Hippocampus, built in wood/epoxy, was launched in 2003. At 57′ (17.37m), it is about half as long as H-2, but with 22,500 miles under its keels, it was a useful starting point for designing the new vessel.

Wearing shorts and a shirt with the new boat’s name and logo to our meeting, Schmitt talked openly about his project, which he manages as attentively as his real estate brokerage with 130 agents. Communication is his thing, responding to e-mail questions in near real time (in ALL CAPS) and talking to contractors directly. No project manager.

A passionate diver who habitually explores remote and exotic locales, Schmitt said he was happy with the first Hippocampus , which has three staterooms and cruises at 15 knots on twin 370-hp Yanmars. “It was the vehicle that got our 17 ‘ tender wherever we needed it.” But running the little boat 60 or 70 miles a day lost its charm. “One of the things I wanted was a twin-engine tender that would have more room for dive gear. That ended up being a 26 ‘ Calcutta, so I needed a bigger mother ship.”

With accelerating climate change, the carbon footprint of ships and large yachts is under scrutiny, but hydrocarbons still win when speed, range, and payloads are priorities. While H-2 doesn’t break the mold there, Schmitt pointed to the project’s virtues as a U.S. domestic build. “You can’t complain about global warming when you’re flying around in your G500 jet that’s contributing more CO2 emissions than anybody else in the world,” he said. “You can’t complain about all the boats being built in Germany, The Netherlands, and Italy, and then go buy a boat [there].” Schmidt wanted to build locally, keeping jobs and money in the U.S. Besides, he noted, this approach simplified communications and enabled him to personally check on progress during COVID. Perhaps most importantly, he could pick a team of trusted and compatible mates to turn his dream into a boat.

The vast build hall left vacant when Gunboat left Wanchese, North Carolina.

He selected John Marples, a fellow pilot, inventor, and multihull specialist for the design and Felix Herrin to build H-2 . Both men had worked for him on Hippocampus , and their familiarity helped when meeting today’s challenges, such as damaging trade tariffs that drove up aluminum prices, and a pandemic that killed millions, wreaked havoc on global supply chains, and caused labor shortages in industrial sectors. These factors have conspired to delay H-2 ’s launching by roughly two years and counting.

Advantage Aluminum

A key decision early on was to build in aluminum, which promised a robust structure but required extra steps to deal with corrosion and noise mitigation. “Construction was reduced to something simple—a V-bottom deadrise model, stretched out,” Marples explained. “There wasn’t any benefit to round bilges on an aluminum boat. You’d have to add internal structure to support the flat panels, and it drives the cost and difficulty of construction way up. We’re talking about a speed-to-length ratio of 2 or less, which is not a big deal. His current boat would do a speed/length of about 3, so the extra length means that you’re never really pushing the boat that hard, so shape was not a huge consideration.”

Marples and Herrin go back at least three decades to their mutual acquaintance with naval architect and boatbuilder Dave Dana, who assisted Marples with the hull design for Admiral Pete , a catamaran passenger ferry still serving Puget Sound. Herrin works with different construction materials, but having built crew boats for Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) at Sea Force in Palmetto, Florida, he has spent considerable time with aluminum.

Taking a break during IBEX 2021 are builder Felix Herrin (left) and owner Brian Schmitt. H-2 is their second joint project with designer John Marples.

The structural components on H-2 are 5083-H32 alloy aluminum plate and extrusions of 6061-T6 alloy. Scantlings, materials, and weldment comply with the American Bureau of Shipping’s (ABS) 2016 design guidelines for pleasure motoryachts. Hulls and wing structures have transverse frames and bulkheads spaced on 36 “ (0.91m) centers. Those frames are supported by substantial centerline vertical keels (CVKs) welded atop twin 3 “ x 8 “ (76mm x 203mm) solid extruded-aluminum-bar keels. Intermediate subframes in the forward and aftermost hull compartments strengthen the hulls for operating in ice. Schmitt indicated he wants to traverse the Northwest Passage. For the same reason, there’s 3⁄8 “ (10mm) plate running the length of the boat above and below the waterline.

The topside and underwing plating is primarily ¼ “ (6mm), with areas of 5⁄16 “ (8mm) to strengthen slamming zones in the bow. The main deck plating is also 1/4 “ while the foredeck plate is specified at 5⁄16 “ . The bottom plating is 5⁄16 “ in the aft two-thirds of the hull and 3⁄8 “ forward. “We built all the frames and bulkheads first, then scarfed together the keel sections [and] lined those up on the bunks that we built on,” Herrin explained. “We welded the CVK on top of the keel, then started installing frames.”

Hulls and wing structure have transverse frames and bulkheads on 36″ (0.91m) centers. The hulls are supported by centerline vertical keels.

Herrin said he changed aluminum suppliers midway through the project, sourcing from Bayou Metal Supply , an ISO 9001:2015–certified distributor in Slidell, Louisiana. “We sourced the material from Greece and from domestic suppliers,” said Taylor Smith, who handles Bayou’s sales. Tariffs, he said, did not slow down business much, but the aluminum cost more. “Felix sent cut files. We had the material in inventory, we cut it, processed it on a router, and shipped it on time. Everything flowed well.”

Naval and structural engineering and detailing was contracted out to Van Gorkom Yacht Design in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. “My first responsibility was looking at structures,” Geoff Van Gorkom said. “Given that this is an aluminum yacht, we can do literally all the structures in 3D and have all the metalwork precut before it came into the yard. All the frames and longitudinals and all the primary structure were precut, which saved huge amounts of time.” Van Gorkom said he uses Rhino 3D and some of the numerous modules such as Orca 3D for hydrostatics and hydrodynamics, and 2D AutoCAD to produce construction details.

Helping save time and money, 3D-modeling allowed frames, longitudinals, and the primary structure to be cut before being sent to the building site.

Van Gorkom observed that H-2 is not a fussy high-performance vessel that needs minimum weight to achieve maximum speed. Besides ABS guidelines that address torsional loads in catamaran structures, he also consulted A.L. Dinsenbacher’s paper “A Method for Estimating Loads on Catamaran Cross-Structure” ( Marine Technology , Vol. 7, No. 4, October 1970) to estimate load conditions in beam and quartering seas. “This is going to be a very stiff boat. It’s going to be a very strong boat simply because it has to be, and that was one of the criteria that Brian put out there right from the very start of the project. The boat is sturdy and stout, a strong expedition yacht.”

Van Gorkom also engineered the setup for a folding deck crane housed under a flush hatch in the helideck on the port side to launch and retrieve the two-man submarine or the ATV. “It’s basically an enclosure that opens up, so the crane extends out,” he explained. “It comes up on a telescoping pipe to swing out and pick up something from the side of the boat.” It required support from beams on each side of the crane and cutting a slot in the helideck for the lifting bridle so the loads can move inboard or outboard. On the starboard side, the 5,500-lb (2,492-kg) Calcutta tender is an even heavier load moved by twin overhead beam cranes. The 17 ‘ Twin Vee is launched and retrieved from the foredeck with a 2,500-lb-capacity (1,153-kg) crane.

Catamarans are known to be weight-sensitive, so how will H-2 handle the weight of all the toys and high superstructure? The arch over the flybridge is 33 ‘ (10.05m) above waterline, Van Gorkom confirmed. “Add another 10 ‘ [3.05m] for the radar, mast, etc., so a comfortable bridge clearance would be around 45 ‘ [13.7m].” Marples conferred with Van Gorkom about the effect of the added weight on the center of gravity, which was deemed “almost imperceptible,” Marples remembered. A quick calculation suggests that a 5,500-lb deck load is equal to only 1.57% of a full-load displacement given as 350,000 lbs (158,550 kg).

High Power, Low Noise

Van Gorkom hired engineers at HydroComp to evaluate the design’s hydrodynamics and propulsion systems, including the influence of hull-shape parameters and demi-hull spacing on resistance. HydroComp also offered a speed-power prediction to aid with engine selection and recommended optimum shaft rpm and propeller parameters. Technical director Donald MacPherson, who prepared the report, outlined the process and findings: “Particularly interesting for this project was the use of its novel analytical distributed volume method [ADVM] for the vessel’s resistance modeling. This 2D technique (between parametric methods and CFD) uniquely allows for assessment of the influence of local sectional area curve regions (such as ‘shoulders’ or inflections) in wave-making drag. It also directly evaluates the effects of catamaran hull spacing.” HydroComp helped optimize the hulls by identifying the regions that contribute most to wave-making drag, and securing a 3% reduction in total drag at the design speed by making what MacPherson called “very minor changes to the immersed volume distribution.”

Rob Ayers works on the installation of the starboard engine’s Evolution Marine Shaft System that will be fitted with a 36″ (0.91m) five-blade propeller.

That simulation was mapped to benchmark performances of four similar catamarans, and the process was run for two design variants, followed by a propulsion simulation for partial-load conditions. The hull-spacing study concluded that the originally designed 35 ‘ (10.7m) beam remained suitable despite the boat being 20 ‘ (6.1m) longer than originally drawn. The chosen propulsion system comprises two MTU 10V 2000 M96, 1505-mhp diesels with ZF 3000 flange-mounted marine gears, providing an estimated top-speed range of 20–22 knots, cruising speeds of 12–15 knots, and 10–13 knots for long-range voyaging. Actual performance will be established during sea trials.

The recommended propeller specifications developed by HydroComp were for five-blade models with 36 “ diameters. HydroComp applied PropElements, a wake-adapted propeller-analysis tool, to determine the advisability of installing a nozzle or shroud to restrict transmission of pressure pulses to the hull and to create a more uniform inflow. This would reduce interior noise but would increase appendage drag and power demand. Schmitt said he will wait to see if cavitation or prop noise is an issue before making a final decision.

He invested heavily in noise and vibration mitigation, knowing that an aluminum boat won’t provide the natural sound-dampening of a wood/epoxy structure like that of his first Hippocampus . Consulting with Soundown of Salem, Massachusetts, Schmitt wanted to replicate what worked well on his old boat, starting with the Evolution Marine Shaft System, in which the prop shaft runs in an oil-filled tube and uses roller and needle bearings instead of standard water-lubricated bearings. “You have a lot less shaft noise, but one of the primary benefits of an integral thrust bearing is that it transmits all the thrust directly into the hull, as opposed to pushing on the gearbox or the engine and gearbox combination,” said Sam Smullin, Soundown’s marketing and quality assurance manager. “It allows for a much softer engine mounting, so you reduce the noise from the shaft itself and get a much quieter engine installation, which reduces structure-borne noise.” Because of the relative weight sensitivity of catamarans, Smullin said, “it’s particularly important to do a really good job on the driveline.” His father, Joseph Smullin, president of Soundown and J&A Enterprises Inc., an engineering firm for noise and vibration control, estimated that this could reduce driveline noise levels by 5 dBA to 10 dBA compared to a conventional system.

Clemente Perez, one of Herrin’s build crew, works on the interior. The extensive sound and thermal insulation includes foam sprayed into the cavities.

Soundown also looked at the two 38-kW Northern Lights gensets, which have double-isolation mounts to reduce structure-borne noise. The firm also recommended structural changes to ensure that the mount foundations were as stiff as possible.

Energy from propulsion or generator engines invariably transmits to the boat structure and then resonates through big, flat panels like bulkheads, decks, ceilings, and liners, causing the familiar vibrating rattle. To dampen those vibrations, Herrin said he used Roxul, a lightweight, semi-rigid stone-wool insulation for fire resistance and sound control. His crew also sprayed cavities with Dow Froth-Pak, a quick-cure polyurethane foam for thermal insulation, and installed Sylomer (a microcellular PUR-elastomer) between the structural components and the floors, walls, and panels. “We glued the Sylomer, which is kind of a spongy foam, to the structure of the boat, and then the plywood of the subfloors and walls are glued to that,” Herrin explained, adding that this created a floating interior without any fasteners.

The plywood, called QuietCore, is a composite sandwich panel comprising marine plywood skins and an acoustic damping layer that converts acoustic energy into small amounts of heat that are dissipated. Soundown claims that an 18mm (0.7 “ ) QuietCore bulkhead can reduce noise transmission by up to 10 dBA, an audible reduction 50% greater than with regular marine plywood of equal thickness.

Electricity for a Small Town

Going off grid on H-2 does not mean anyone will suffer, as long as the electrical system keeps powering the boat’s myriad house loads—hydraulic Maxwell windlasses and thrusters; a Webasto air-conditioning system; two full-size stand-up freezers, two refrigerator freezers, and two under-counter refrigerators in the galley, all by Vitfrigo; Krüshr compactors for recyclables and garbage; Headhunter sewage-treatment system; Alfa Laval fuel-polishing system; two FCI watermakers; a complete set of Garmin navigation electronics with full redundancy; and a Böning vessel control and monitoring system.

Two Northern Lights 38-kW gensets are the heart of H-2’s AC system, which also includes a 37-kW Atlas inverter to connect to shore power in foreign ports.

Much of the AC side was designed and specified by Ward’s Marine Electric in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in cooperation with OceanPlanet Energy of Woolwich, Maine, and principal Bruce Schwab, who helped design and integrate the DC components. “Today there’s a big trend in the industry to use shore-power converters as inverters and superlarge lithium-ion battery banks to provide power, at least temporary power, for major loads like air-conditioning, chiller plants, and things like that,” said Ward Eshleman, chairman of Ward’s Marine Electric. “So, rather than using only smaller inverters and synchronizing them and stacking to get additional kW, the trend for the larger vessels is to use shore-power converters as inverters. There is an inverter bus in the main switchboard.”

True to its go-anywhere mission, H-2 was fitted with an Atlas 37-kW inverter to connect to shore power in places that do not serve 60 Hz, 240V single-phase power. “We can take anything from 90V to 400V and pretty much anything from below 50 Hz to the 60 Hz and single- or three-phase,” Herrin explained.

Eight GTX24V315A-F24 lithium-ion batteries from Lithionics are split between a house bank that can run all DC loads for at least 24 hours, and an emergency bank to operate critical DC loads—display screens, radios, nav lights—for 24 hours. The boat is equipped with 10 Solara Ultra-S 160W panels paralleled in two groups of five each, connected to two Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 solar controllers to charge the house bank. Given enough sunshine, solar and battery power should be “capable of running lights and refrigeration but not air-conditioning or heating,” Schmitt said. “Since we will likely spend most of our time in the tropics, we did not believe that solar power alone could do the job we needed.”

OceanPlanet Energy specified four Victron Buck-Boost DC-DC converters, two for each engine, to help charge the house bank from the starter batteries without having to modify the engines’ stock alternators, which would have voided the warranty. “The converters activate based on the input voltage from the starting batteries,” Schwab explained. “With lower rpm, the alternators would not produce enough current to feed both converters without the starting-battery voltage dropping, turning the converters off. Then the voltage will rise, the converters turn on again, drop the voltage, turn off…over and over. Staggering the input voltage cut-in, hopefully starting the converters one at a time, will more smoothly supply power to the house bank across the engine/alternator rpm range.”

OceanPlanet Energy specified the DC system including DC/DC converters and hefty battery banks to power house loads and critical electronics.

There are two 4,500-watt 240V split-phase engineroom-ventilation fans connected to two Victron Quattro 5-kW 24V inverter-chargers configured for 240V/120V split-phase AC loads. They can accept AC inputs from two sources (shore power or generators) and automatically connect to the available source. “In the event of a grid failure or power disconnect, they take over the supply to the connected AC loads by inverting from the Lithionics house-battery bank,” Schwab said.

“It’s more complicated than that,” according to Herrin. “Typically, we’re going to be operating with the A-bus and the B-bus tied together, so we can power everything with one generator. The B-bus actually passes current through the Victron inverter-chargers on its way to the load. We have the ability to split the A-bus and the B-bus and run the A-bus on one generator and the B-bus on the other in the few instances we’re exceeding the capacity of one of the generators. If we lose both generators, then the essential loads are still going to be carried,” meaning engine vents or water pumps.

Redundancy and emergency backups also figured largely in the deliberations of John McKay, manager of the Switchgear Systems Division at Ward’s Marine Electric and point man for this project.

One of his challenges was limiting the voltage drop in the estimated 53 ‘ (16.2m) cable run between engines, which in an emergency allows the starboard engine to be started from the port battery and vice versa. “For a starter group, you can allow a 20% voltage drop,” McKay said and noted that starting the engines requires 720 amps, while the gensets needed only 200 amps. “I was keeping the 720-amp current between 7% and 11% voltage drop, getting up to some pretty good-sized copper. Some sections of the run were 240mm2 [500MCM] cable.” Knowing that the boat is capable of going to high latitudes, McKay recalled his youth and the frigid winter mornings in Massachusetts, “where you can crank a diesel all day long at a low rpm, and it’ll never start. You just need to turn it over one or two times at a higher rpm, and it’ll be running. So, I was making certain that the starter was going to crank at the highest rpm possible and not lose it all to voltage drop.”

Protecting Assets and Finishing the Job

No matter how fast or how far H-2 will travel, corrosion caused by galvanic current between dissimilar metals, by stray currents or by electric fault, is an enemy that needs to be kept in check. That’s the calling of Ted Schwartz, who runs Electro-Guard (Mount Shasta, California). He’s one of the country’s foremost experts on cathodic protection, and also served on ABYC’s E2 Cathodic Protection Project Technical Committee.

“We designed the system and supplied all the equipment and steered them through the installation,” Schwartz said. It’s a 15-amp impressed-current-cathodic-protection (ICCP) system, model 715 A-2, with three anodes and two reference cells. Regarding the boat’s Evolution shaft system with driveshafts running inside an oil-filled tube, Schwartz said: “It was a real challenge because you can’t actually make contact with the propeller shaft on the inside of the boat.” He consulted with Soundown and found a solution. “At the coupling on the inboard end of the tube, a bit of the shaft stuck out through the seal,” Swartz said. “There’s this coupling that Soundown built that fastens to the shaft, and we asked them to provide a surface on that coupling where we could put our silver slip rings on [to provide an electrical connection] to protect props and shafts.”

Every anode can deliver up to 5 amps of current using its own current controller that receives a signal from the main controller, which determines exactly how much current each anode will put out. The entire system consists of three anodes, three current controllers, the main controller, and a separate monitoring station connected to the controller by signal cable. Later, Schmitt also ordered a backup system employing aluminum sacrificial anodes.

On catamarans, the company installs a reference cell aft near the prop of each hull, and an anode on the aft section of each hull, and one anode amidships on the inboard side on one hull.

Chromate, two layers of epoxy, copious amounts of fairing compound, and various primers rendered the surface fair and ready for a yacht-quality paint job.

At the time of this writing, the vessel had been shot with chromate and two layers of epoxy before approximately 500 gal (1,893 l) of fairing compound and 325 gal (1,230 l) of various primers rendered the surface fair and ready for a yacht-quality Alexseal paint job with 35 gal (132.5 l) light ivory, 24 gal (91 gal) stark white, and 2 gal (7.6 l) cordovan gold. Parallel to the exterior, construction was on the home stretch with installation of the crew quarters and the saloon overhead. On the systems side, pressure checks were performed for hydraulics and plumbing.

Since H-2 is a much larger and more complex vessel than the original Hippocampus , with a multitude of systems that need to be managed, monitored, and maintained, I was curious how many crew Schmitt was planning to hire to help run his new boat. He said he consulted with captains and headhunters, and “the consensus is three or possibly four at most. I just completed my 100-Ton Masters and will build time on the new boat as well. We won’t charter and are not accustomed to being cooked for or served or having our beds made and all that. So mostly I’m looking for a qualified captain and engineer to maintain the systems.”

Little surprise that a hands-on operator like Schmitt does not want to cede too much of the game he loves to play. But as big, bold, and broad-shouldered as H-2 will be when she finally emerges from the old Gunboat shed in Wanchese, the proud owner is quick to remind anyone that it’s still “a vehicle to get the toys wherever.”

H-2 : The Designer’s View

H-2 ’s owner, the adventurous Brian Schmitt, has dived into deep caves to see submerged caverns, hand-fed large sharks that would normally view him as food, and spent years in his off-time exploring Caribbean archipelagos in Hippocampus, his current 19-year-old 57 ‘ (17.4m) power catamaran. Nearing retirement age, he gave the order for his “ultimate” yacht.

The foldable hydraulic deck crane to launch and retrieve a two-man electric submarine or an all-terrain vehicle required cutting a slot in the helicopter deck for the lifting bridle.

The first talk about the new design was between the owner, the builder, and me. As we discussed the mission of the boat, it became clear that it would fall into the category of expedition vessel with more guest staterooms, more range, and more room for equipment than his old boat. Brian defined the function of the vessel as a carrier for a 26 ‘ (7.92m) twin-outboard catamaran, an outboard skiff, a small car, and a small helicopter, which needed a flight deck. This vessel was to be used with family and guests while also serving as an operations base for outbound travel by air, land, or sea.

Aside from commodious accommodations, a key requirement was comfortable motion on rough seas. This was to be a catamaran, like his current boat, which offers extensive real estate afloat in a seagoing vessel. The only restriction for the new design was a beam no greater than 35 ‘ (10.6m) to fit the largest Travelift.

The trade-off for overall beam width involves room versus roll motion. A wider catamaran responds more quickly to roll in seaways but with less amplitude, whereas a narrower beam rolls more slowly with slightly more amplitude. The slower roll is preferable as long as overall roll stability is maintained. Roll in catamarans is unlike roll in single-hulled vessels. Because the vessel is supported by two buoyancy chambers (hulls) with distance between them, motion has little to do with roll inertia, but rather with response of the hulls to the seaway. Each hull responds to a passing wave independently by heaving (up/down) and rolling, which is a circular motion around the center of gravity (CG) that translates to lateral motion when standing above the CG, especially high up on the bridge. Power catamarans, unlike sailing catamarans, do not require wide hull spacing to generate righting moment (to support a sail plan), so they can have closer hull spacing, which still preserves sufficient stability, slows wave-response roll characteristics, and takes up less space in port.

One of the expected routes for this vessel is the Northwest Passage over the top of North America. Boats venturing there can expect floating ice, so we added thicker hull plating at the waterline and an ice-separation chamber on the cooling water intakes. We also designed the hull to give the propeller protection by positioning it behind a deep canoe-stern afterbody with no exposed shaft. A rudder horn, below the propeller extending aft from the hull, adds support for the rudder and protection for the prop. This configuration is useful as a hedge against the possibility of grounding. In fact, this boat can be careened on the beach between tides if necessary for repairs. The hull includes a strong, deep, vertical keel structure that allows for blocking anywhere along its length.

Speed and range became the largest determinates of the design. A maximum range of 4,000 miles at 15 knots (enough to cross the Atlantic Ocean) was proposed. Catamarans are easily driven at modest speeds due to lack of significant wave resistance by narrow hulls. A preliminary speed prediction analysis showed that we would be in the ballpark with about 1,400 hp (1,050 kW) and 5,000 gal (18,925 l) of diesel per hull. The final installed fuel capacity is 12,500 gal (47,313 l).

The general arrangement plan shows crew quarters in the hulls, three guest cabins, office, saloon, and galley on the main deck and owner’s suite on the bridge deck level.

A totally new design normally goes through a lengthy proposal and critique cycle between designer and client, especially if the client is knowledgeable and involved. The vessel’s first iteration started at 90 ‘ (27.43m) LOA, but it became evident that it needed more length to relieve a number of ills. After adding 10 ‘ (3.05m) we saw improvements, but it wasn’t until the 110 ‘ (33.5m) length proposal that we felt all the requirements had been satisfied: more slender hull shape, more open interior space, and better placement of machinery and tankage. The flight deck for the helicopter became larger, and the forward superstructure fairings gave the boat a sleeker look. And at 110 ‘ we achieved an efficient length versus waterline beam ratio that reduced wave drag and fuel consumption at the target cruise speed.

While beam remained at 35 ‘ , lightship displacement increased significantly to 230,000 lbs (104,190 kg). Accommodations now include crew quarters for four persons in the bows; three double guest cabins and a ship’s office forward; a large saloon amidships with adjacent galley, and a dive and a storage locker aft on the main deck. The upper deck is arranged with a full-width-bridge steering station forward, protected by a Portuguese bridge, and a master stateroom with en suite bathroom aft. The flight deck extends aft of the master stateroom. Access to the upper deck is by either a staircase from the foredeck, an interior staircase adjacent to the ship’s office, or by stairs from the starboard side deck.

The largest variable weight on the boat is fuel, so the tankage is located amidships to minimize its influence on trim. Engine and machinery rooms aft of the tankage take up the remaining spaces all the way to the transoms. Other amenities include a utility area aft of the crew quarters port side with storage and washing machines, and a walkway through the tank spaces and enginerooms to the boarding decks at each transom. Another late addition is the flying bridge to aid with shallow-water operation by improving the vantage point to see coral heads and other obstructions. Its protective bimini serves as a mounting platform for lights and antennae.

—John R. Marples

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110 Foot Catamaran Largest Ever Built on the Outer Banks

With the launch of a 110’ catamaran back in July, a new record has been set for Wanchese boatbuilding.

The Outer Banks and especially Wanchese and Manteo have a long rich history of boat building dating back more than 150 years. Wanchese has really become the center of the craft over the past 50 years but in WWII that skill was found at the Manteo Boat Building Company and the many wooden boats constructed for the US Navy, including 13 105’ wooden patrol boats.

But the Hippocampus 2—H-2 for short—is something else entirely. Hippocampus is the genus name for all species of seahorse.

The size certainly sets it apart. At first glance, it may not even look as big as it is. Sitting on the twin hulls of a catamaran, it looks a bit blocky and that can give the impression that the craft is not as large as it is. But it is all of 110 feet.

It’s also aluminum. The modern Wanchese boats use a lot of materials—wood for the longest time, fiberglass for at least the past 40 or 50 years, and carbon fibers are increasingly being used. But an all-aluminum hull? That’s rare.

But form follows function, and for Florida businessman Brian Schmitt who had the boat built, aluminum was the material that made the most sense for what he wanted to do with the H-2.

For Schmitt, what the H-2 represents is a chance to recapture the joy of scientific discovery. Now in his 60s, he and his wife met in grad school and spent the next 30 or 40 years building a very successful business in Marathon, Florida. And as he told a local newspaper, he saw people he cared about work until the day they died, never taking the time to do the things they really wanted to do.

Although successful in business, Schmitt’s grad school experience included studying at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The Massachusetts research center, at the base of Cape Cod, is considered one of the premier oceanographic research centers in the world. The plan that he and his wife have is directly related to that—they intend to sail the seas, doing research, although there are no plans to publish papers—just looking at the remarkable world around them.

Aiding in that will be the equipment he’ll have with him, including a small submarine, a 26’ boat, and an onboard helicopter pad.

The H-2 is remarkable for its size and workmanship, and how it came to be built in Wanchese is a story all its own.

About six years ago, Schmitt decided he wanted to replace his H-1, the smaller predecessor to the H-2. He had his supervisor for the project picked out, but no decision had been made about where to build it, other than, it was going to be built in the United States.

The supervisor’s secretary happened to vacation on the Outer Banks and chanced upon Wanchese, got back to Florida, and said, “You should check that place out.”

He checked it out and agreed.

The building they found to build the craft has some history of its own. At one time it was the home of Davis Boatworks. Buddy Davis was a legendary boatbuilder who developed what has come to be known as the Carolina Flare, a watercraft with a deep V bow and wide flaring deck.

Perhaps most remarkably, most of the boat was done by just three or four workers.

Outer Banks Boat Builders Blake LaRose, Rob Ayers, Brian Schmitt, Marshall Reynolds, Lee Zaloudek

Rob Ayers was the build foreman on the project. A welder by trade, he gathered with him some people who really knew what they were doing and proceeded to build a double-hulled 110’ watercraft.

It took almost six years to finish the project. Some of the work Ayers’ team couldn’t do. The cabinetry and interior of the boat is beautiful, and all of that work was done by Outer Banks artisans. The work was so good that when asked about it, Felix Herrin, project supervisor, commented that the workers were “artists.”

The H-2 was launched on a hot, muggy day in July. It was a slow process that included a hydraulic jack lifting the ship off the concrete of the slip and gently into the water. Two towboats waited for it in the waters of Roanoke Sound. Towed away from the shallow waters, the H-2 fired up its engines and maneuvered around the point to Wanchese Harbor where final fittings for the boat will be done.

Outer Banks Boat Build Launch Hippocampus 2

Local News | Catamaran is the largest boat ever built in…

Local News | Catamaran is the largest boat ever built in small Outer Banks village

With towlines attached, the H-2 prepares to get underway. (By Kip Tabb/freelance)

Back in World War II, the Manteo Boat Building Company crafted 13 105-foot wooden patrol boats for the war effort, but at 110 feet, this boat is bigger.

The craft is a catamaran, a double-hulled aluminum vessel that is considerably wider than most boats of its size.

Its launch is a complex dance.

There’s a cable running from a truck to the boat holding it in place as a huge hydraulic jack carefully lifts the hulls off the concrete of the ramp and slowly moves the boat to the open waters of Roanoke Sound. As it begins to float, the craft drifts dangerously close to the wooden wharf on its port side and four men run to the end of the dock and lean into the boat, moving it just enough that it will float free without damaging anything.

Two tow boats wait, attach lines and tow the catamaran, nicknamed the H-2, to the deeper waters it needs to navigate. Noel Manheim, the captain, takes over, bringing the boat around the point to Wanchese Harbor where the finish work will be done.

It’s a pretty remarkable feat of navigation — the boat doesn’t have a rudder or thrusters yet, and Manheim maneuvers the craft using the engines in the two hulls.

The interior of the boat is a tribute to the Outer Banks artisans. The rich brown of wooden cabinets and passageways create a comfortable homelike feel. The galley looks more like a kitchen in a house than onboard a ship. There’s sleeping quarters for crew and passengers.

But for all its luxury appearance, the H-2 will be a working vessel.

Brian Schmitt, a real estate broker from Marathon, Florida, has been as he describes himself, “very successful,” and it’s his funds that built the boat. At 69 years old, he reflected on the lives of people he has known, and knew it is time to take a different path.

“I’ve watched my father and other people who I know and respect work until the day they died because that became their identity,” he said. “They didn’t do everything they wanted to do during their lives. So I built this boat … to force me to do what I know I want to do, which is to explore the world. It’s been something that I have always had a real yearning to do.”

As the H-2 began to float it drifted dangerously close to the wharf at the launch site. (Photo by Kip Tabb/freelance)

In this case, though, it’s exploration with a purpose. As Schmitt explains, he’s going back to an earlier time in his life.

“My wife and I met in graduate school. I went to the Woods Hole Marine Biology lab. So my wife and I want to go back as much as we can,” he said. “We’re not going to be writing any scientific papers, but we certainly have an abiding interest in nature and seeing some of these places like the Galapagos and the Northwest Passage, Patagonia, and the Antarctic.”

The catamaran’s H-2 moniker is short for Hippocampus, and Schmitt’s science background becomes apparent as he explains the name.

“Hippocampus are the taxonomic genus of seahorses and were Poseidon’s mythical horses,” he said.

It’s his second H series boat. When the H-1, a 57-foot catamaran, was damaged by lightning in 2014, Schmitt started thinking about something bigger, a boat that would let him explore the world.

Felix Herrin, who built the H-1 in 2003 and now the H-2, describes what happened,

Form follows function, and as the function grew, so did the boat.

“It grew from 80 to 90 to 100 feet or 110 feet,” he said.

By 2017 they had a design, but didn’t know where they were going to build the boat.

“I wanted to build this boat in America versus China or Italy or the Netherlands. We wanted to use everything that we could that was made in America. That was important,” Schmitt said.

Wanchese came up because a former employee of Herrin’s was on the Outer Banks and thought the town might be a good site. Two weeks later he knew it was the right location.

The H-2 gets underway. There is still some interior work and additional fittings that are needed. The boat is docked in Wanchese as the finish work is completed. (By Kip Tabb/freelance)

“You get here and the community is wonderful. They help each other and they watch out for each other,” Herrin said.

Schmitt didn’t know about Wanchese before work began on the H-2, but he made it clear the village was the right place to build the boat.

“We were very lucky to land in Wanchese,” he said. “There’s a long standing boat building heritage here and a lot of skilled boat builders.”

It took several years from when the keel was first laid to get to launch day. And during that time, much of the work was done by a remarkably small crew.

Rob Ayers, who describes himself as a welder and fabricator by trade, was the build foreman for the project and as he points out there were very few people working on the catamaran.

“We built this boat with just three people over a three and a half year period,” he said. “The interior and the mechanical spaces and the engines, we ended up having to do most of that stuff ourselves as well because we had trouble finding vendors to help. So anyway, we ended up building, I’d say 90% was done by the guys that were on this project and working for Brian.”

Herrin said keeping the building crew small, and local, made for the best workmanship, “We were going to sub out the interior to (a shop) that specializes in interiors for yachts. And Brian was concerned that we would lose quality control if we went down that road,” he said. “So I took a deep breath and built a wood shop from scratch. Hired (local) carpenters and … they are artists. Just phenomenal work.”

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“Hippocampus” Hunter 31

10% OFF SEPT 4-17
25% OFF SEPT 18 TO END OF SEASON

“Hippocampus” – Hunter 31

Extra Day

“Hippocampus” is a well equipped cruiser with two private staterooms and an open, airy main salon. The galley has a microwave and a two-burner stove. She is also equipped with air conditioning that has a reverse-cycle heating option for those chilly nights .

“Hippocampus” is a breeze to sail with all lines led back to the cockpit. The cockpit is wide and comfortable and has a custom set of cushions for comfort. The mainsail and genoa are both roller furling and a dodger (new in 2017) and bimini provide excellent protection from the elements.

Electronics

Navigation is easy with a helm-mounted color chart plotter. Autopilot, speed, depth and VHF with remote microphone at the helm are also part of the electronics package.

SPECS & LAYOUT

Specifications.

Year, Make & Model

2007 Hunter 31

Documentation

30′ 1″

11′ 1″

4’8″

Displacement

Yanmar 3YM20 Diesel

Max Cruising Speed

Fuel Capacity

Fuel Consumption

1/2 gal/hr at cruising RPM

Mainsail Reefing

Roller Furling

Foresail Reefing

ELECTRONICS

Speed and Depth – yes

Wind Speed / Direction – yes

GPS Chart plotter – yes

Autopilot – yes

Radar – no

Bow thruster – no

TV – no

DVD – no

CD – yes

MP3 / IPod Auxiliary Jack – yes

Satellite Radio – no

Satellite Weather – no

Maximum Sleeping Capacity – 6

Converting Salon Table – no

Bedding & Linens – Optional

Air Conditioner / Heater

Yes, shore side power only

GALLEY & HEAD

12 volt Fridge or Icebox

Stove Fuel – LPG

Oven – yes

Microwave – yes

Heads / Showers – 1 heads, 2 showers including transom shower.

Head – Manual

WASTE HOLDING

Holding Tank Capacity

FRESHWATER SYSTEM

Fresh Water Capacity – 5 0 gallons

DECK & GEAR

Windlass – yes

Electric Winches – no

Bimini – yes

Dodger – yes

Dinghy – Optional, no charge

CHARTER DISCOUNTS

May – June 2

June 3 – June 16

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September 5-17

Sept 18 – End of Season

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Rates include fuel & final pump-out on all sailboats.

ADD TIME TO YOUR CHARTER

Early start.

Board by 2pm. Get Briefing.

Up to 39′ $395

40′ and up $595

SLEEP ABOARD

Board by 8pm. Sleep on Boat.

Morning Briefing.

LATE DEPART

Return by Sunset. Sleep on Boat.

Depart by 10am.

CHARTER EXTRAS

Captain (up to 4 hrs) $175

Captain (up to 8 hrs) $275

Captain (overnight) $325

Linens $25/per person

Dinghy Outboard $40/day

(No charge for dingy, but must be requested in advance)

Grill – $25 (includes propane)

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Mystic Seaport Museum

Stamford-built motor yacht Hippocampus at anchor

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HIPPOCAMPUS could live again

By Emmet Meara — September 1, 2002

There is one in every boatyard along the Maine Coast; a refugee from the past that has survived hundreds of storms and dangerous voyages, only to meet a lingering death, rotting slowly ashore.

At Ducky’s, also known as Spruce Head Boat Yard, it is the mighty HIPPOCAMPUS, with its illustrious, almost 90-year history hidden by rotting timbers and rusting fixtures. It is hard to tell that the aging dowager was once a stunning beauty and very few who pass would ever guess at the places she has been.

Ellic Carter Mottram, 19, knows. He visits the aging relic, much like one would visit a relative at a nursing home, because the “hippo” is clearly part of Mottram’s family.

The HIPPOCAMPUS, Greek for sea horse, was launched in 1913 by Consolidated Yachts in Morris Heights, New Jersey. The builder used thick white oak and cypress, a major reason the boat is still together today, Mottram said. The boat started as a double-ender yacht for the Porter family of Great Spruce Head Island, when the family was prominent in the city of Chicago. Since that time she has been a mailboat, a scallop dragger, a research vessel, a fisherman and even a submarine patrol boat.

In one of her many “deaths,” the HIPPOCAMPUS sat rotting and sinking lower and lower in Camden Harbor. She was towed to Spruce Head Boat Yard and was headed for scrapping in 1987, when Waldoboro clam digger Donny Boynton decided to rescue the boat with his stepfather, veteran boatbuilder Fern Carter. Carter is Mottram’s father.

Although only 19, Mottram has already served several summer tours on the Camden windjammer MERCANTILE and has plans to add the “hippo” to the Camden pleasure fleet. The Hippo is about the size of the schooner MISTRESS, but its wider beam would allow more room for six passengers and crew.

“I saw her dying when she was tied out on Keene Narrows off Bremen and I didn’t want it to happen. I fell in love with her and used to row out to her at midnight. I decided than it should be back in the water,” Mottram said.

The plan to add her to the windjammer fleet is not without a cargo load of problems. The HIPPOCAMPUS has been sitting for too many years to preserve the wooden planks and has a shallow bottom. Mottram plans to turn the HIPPOCAMPUS back into a double ender and add a centerboard plus a weighted lead keel to allow the hull to sail.

Not much can be saved. Parts of the inner keel and the timbers amidships are “as sound as they day they were nailed.” Everything else is “pretty ripe” from exposure to fresh water, he said. Mottram faces three more years in the U.S. Navy and then plans to enter Maine Maritime. In his spare time, if he has any, he plans to buy the boat from cousin Boynton and take her to the Carter boat yard in Waldoboro.

“We have to keep her in the family,” he said.

He thinks he can scrape up about $80,000 for the project. “After that, I will be looking for investors,” he said. Crew members of the ‘jammer fleet’ have already pledged winter labor.

“There will be no fiberglass and she will be as traditional as the day she went into the water – except for the sails,” Mottram said. He will use cypress if he can find it, yellow pine if he cannot.

The HIPPOCAMPUS has “died” twice in Spruce Head. “My goal is to get her out of Spruce Head within a year and never let her see it again,” he said.

The unofficial historian of the HIPPOCAMPUS is Peter Clifford of Hallowell, who also makes deathbed visits to the Spruce head yard. The boat is also a piece of his family’s past as well, and he approached both the Maine Marine Museum and the Apprenticeshop in Rockland in a last ditch effort to save the “Hippo” before Mottram came to the rescue.

Clifford, who penned a love letter to the boat in Down East Magazine in 1988, says the HIPPOCAMPUS is the oldest motorboat still existent which has spent the majority of its marine life on Penobscot Bay – with time out for some military service, of course.

Clifford will preach to anyone who will listen that the HIPPOCAMPUS preceded the famous HESPER and LUTHER LITTLE, which rotted off Wiscasset, the schooner BOWDOIN and the CLYDE B. HOLMES and the JOHN WANNAMAKER.

The HIPPOCAMPUS was memorialized in Summer Island by Eliot Porter, the son of the original owner, who recalled that the vessel was “a double-ender, 55 feet long with a deckhouse and awning which was the style of the period. She was powered by a Murray and Trigurtha engine, big bore and slow turning. She was the biggest motorboat on the bay at that time.”

The first skipper was Lamont “Monty” Green, who was at the helm when the wooden double-ender was drafted by the U.S. Navy for anti-submarine work. The HIPPOCAMPUS was moored off the Rockland lighthouse waiting for a submarine attack that never came.

The Navy added a ton of cement as ballast to the HIPPOCAMPUS, which was blamed for the boat’s first “death” when it sank in Boston Harbor in 1918, just after World War I. The Navy offered to pay Porter for the boat and leave it at the harbor bottom. But Porter insisted on getting his boat back, and the Navy towed the boat back to Camden, where it experienced its first rebirth.

The Porter family kept the HIPPOCAMPUS until 1932 when they sold it to Capt. Arthur Ladd, who held the mail contract for Islesboro, Belfast and Castine for more than 20 years. The double ender became a familiar sight in upper Penobscot Bay.

Clifford rode the HIPPOCAMPUS in all sorts of Penobscot Bay weather to visit relatives on Eagle Island. Gradually, the boat became part of the family, Clifford said

In the early 1950s Ladd lost the island mail contract and sold the boat to Clarence Howard. He and the legendary Capt. Erland Quinn used the boat as a scallop dragger and bait carrier. Quinn became the model for Cappy’s Restaurant in Camden.

The HIPPOCAMPUS struggled to make its owner a living and was eventually sold and used by the University of Maine as a research vessel. Eventually she was again abandoned in Camden Harbor, then finally towed to Spruce Head.

Waldoboro boatbuilder Fern Carter came to the rescue in 1987.

“She was a basket case. Some-body had fiberglassed the decks and the topsides were all rotten from the fresh water that had got in. The decks caved in when we went aboard. But the deeper I went, the sounder she looked. We filed off a few rivets. They were all copper and as good as the day they went in. There were good white oak timbers in her, too. She was built super and I knew we could save her,” Carter said.

With heroic rebuilding, the pair brought the “Hippo” back to life and even revived the 1950 Mack Diesel.

Clifford is thrilled that someone else has taken an interest in saving the HIPPOCAMPUS. “It has done little bit of everything. It has been fishing, used by the University of Maine as a research vessel, hunted submarines. It has done everything possible but pull lobster traps. I can remember playing ‘captain’ aboard her when she was moored in Camden around 1953 or 1954.

“It’s no worse now than when Boynton and Carter restored her. It doesn’t look worth saving until you really take a look at her… and her history,” Clifford said.

There is no reason the HIPPOCAMPUS cannot be restored again, according to boatbuilder Carter. “Yes sir. The timbers and keel are as sound as they day they went in. It could be restored; I just wish I was younger and could help.”

Scene from Childhood
Once a pilot boat, ROSEWAY prepares for sea again

Hippocampus

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HIPPOCAMPUS II

Year Build:	1980
Boat Type:	Sail
Hailing Port:	CHICAGO, IL

Official Number:	646105
Hull Number:	PEA58294M81B

Hull Length:	32.2 feet ( 9.8 meters )
Hull Breadth:	10.2 feet ( 3.1 meters )
Hull Depth:	7.8 feet ( 2.4 meters )
Gross Tonnage:	12
Net Tonnage:	11

builder:
Hull Material:	FRP (Fiberglass)
Hull Shape:	Sail (Distinct Keel)
Year Build:	1980

Sailing Category:	cruiser/racer
Displacement To LWL:	276
Hull Speed:	7.1 Knots ( 8.2 miles/hour, 13.1 km/hour )
LWL To Beam:	2.7
Motion Comfort:	23.5
Capsize Ratio:	1.9
Pounds per Inch Immersion:	1021

Similar boats

Hippocampus erectus

Latin name	Hippocampus erectus
Local name	Lined seahorse
Family	Syngnathidae - Hippocampus
Origin	The Mexican Golf, West Atlantic
Max length	19 cm (7.5")

Minimum volume	100 l (26 gal)
Hardiness	Average
Suitable for aquarium	Suitable for special aquariums
Reef safe	Always reef safe
Aggressiveness	Peaceful

Recommended	Small crustaceans (Krill, mysis, artemia...) Zooplankton (Cyclops, pods...)

This species is endangered.

This species often becomes malnourished in captivity, it is therefore important to enrich their food with omega-3 and vitamins.

Species of the Pipefish family should be kept in a dedicated tank, see the family description below.

Seahorses/Pipefishes will normally only accept live feed. Live Mysis or Artemia are particularly well suited.

Captivity bred Seahorses however, may have learned to eat frozen Mysis from the beginning and are therefore much easier to keep.

This species thrives best as a pair or in a small group.

This species can be bred in captivity, one can therefore consider asking your local fish store for a captive bred specimen.

While Pipefishes/Seahorses (Syngathidae) are fascinating because of their unique appearance and way of moving, they are definitely not suitable for all aquaria. Its important to arrange the aquarium so the Pipefishes/Seahorses has something to latch onto with its tail. This could be kelp, macro algae or similar, but this must not include corals or anemones as these might burn the Pipefish/Seahorse.

The water current must not be too powerful, as they are not strong swimmers. Pipefish can however, handle a slightly more powerful circulation than seahorses. One should avoid keeping seahorses together with food competitors as this will impede feeding. Aggressive species, predatory fish, crabs, lobsters and such should be avoided too, as they will damage or eat the Seahorses.

The easiest solution is to keep them in a small aquarium, down to 40 liters is perfect for a little group, as a confined space makes it easier to control feeding. The filter system must be able to handle frequent feeding with frozen food.

Seahorses and pipefish are not particularly sensitive towards the quality of the water, but do require, like most fish, that the aquarium is properly maintained.

If one wishes to keep pipefishes in a coral aquarium, the Flagtail Pipefish (the Doryhamphus and Dunckerocampus genus) is an option, although it can be challenging to feed them and the other fish and invertebrates in the aquarium must be chosen carefully.

Seahorses are on of the few fish bred for the aquarium trade, as well as being endangered in the wild. Luckily they are bred in captivity in multiple places. Captive bred specimens are often easier to feed, which is a big advantage. If the fish are not captive bred, it may be necessary to feed with live food to start with. Pipefish are not so widely bred as seahorses.

To ensure continual nourishment, add omega-3 and vitamins to their frozen food, or feed them live Artemia which themselves have received nutritious food. Pipefish/Seahorses do not have a long life expectancy, generally 2-3 years.

About references

Seahorse.org - (English) Henry C. Schultz. 2003. There's More to Pipes Than Just PVC: The Genus Doryrhamphus and Other Pipefish - Reefkeeping Magazine - (English) Scott W. Michael. 2001. Reef Fishes volume 1 - TFH Publications / Microcosm Ltd. - (English) Beth Panocha. 2004. Aquarium Fish: Seahorse Care: A Basic Guide To Starting Your First Herd - Advanced Aquarist - (English) Pete Giwojna. 2007. A Seahorse Reef Part 1: Reef Compatibility of Hippocampus spp. - Tropical Fish Hobbyist - (English) Pete Giwojna. 2007. A Seahorse Reef, Part Two: Choosing Your Seahorses - Tropical Fish Hobbyist - (English)

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Minimum volume

"Minimum volume" indicates the size of the tank needed to house this species under optimal conditions.

This is based on a medium size animal, which you want to keep for several years. It might be possible to keep smaller specimens for a limited period in a smaller tank. A larger tank might be needed for fully-grown specimens.

"Hardiness" indicates how resistant this species is to disease and how well i tolerates bad conditions in general. Some species doesn't handle transportation very well, but that doesn't mean that the species isn't hardy under the right conditions.

Suitable for aquarium

In this case, a "normal" aquarium is a reef aquarium with mixed corals or a fish only aquarium with an approximately salinity of 1.026 (sg) and a temperature close to 26°C. Species requiring more than a 4000-liter tank are considered not suitable for home aquarium.

Special aquariums may cover tanks with low salinity, sub-tropical temperature, deep sand bed, sea grass etc.

Always reef safe: No sources indicate that this species will harm corals or other invertebrates.

Often reef safe: Only a few aquarists has reported problems keeping this species with corals and other invertebrates.

Reef safe with caution: This species may be a threat to some types of invertebrates.

Reef safe with luck: Most specimens will harm corals and/or other invertebrates, but you might be lucky.

Not reef safe: This species is a threat to most corals and/or other invertebrates.

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