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With
a workforce of almost 600, Marlow-Norsemen Shipyard has some of the most
talented and skilled workers in the Marine Industry. The masters are
responsible for running their departments but also for apprenticing new
talent. All drafting and engineering is done by our naval architects and
engineers. Every component of the Marlow Yachts is fabricated in house
with our own skilled workers. Many people ask why we at Marlow-Norsemen
build so much of our product in house, when the worldwide trend in
manufacturing is to sublet everything possible. There are any number of
reasons, some of them esoteric perhaps, but we continue to believe that
better products can be built if the whole team understands the purpose
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When
one enters the salon or engine room of a Marlow, the eye is drawn to many small
details that mark it as a very special yacht, non-generic in its presentation.
From the gleaming mandrel bent manifolds and custom brackets to the
precisely routed hydraulic tubing, it is simply the best that dedicated men and
women with a stake in the total product can do. No high volume production yacht
can compare. While it is true that the investment in machinery, training and
continuous improvement will affect the near term bottom line, it is also evident
to us today, that the ability to custom fabricate precisely what we need, be it
a cleat, a bow roller or water tank, is an asset we cannot do without and still
deliver the “Steinway” of yachts. From the complicated signature oval stainless
steel rails to the ebony inlaid steel cored steering wheel, the highest quality
raw materials are used to form the most beautiful yachts on the seas.
The drafting and
engineering department is staffed with people who are highly skilled and very
forward thinking. It is a large department with all of the latest equipment to
carry out the daily tasks required in such a dynamic boat building factory.
In the R & D department,
we are bending, breaking and testing all manner of materials to look for a better
way for tomorrow. We endeavor every day to build better products in every way we
can.
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Entire
teak, maple and cherry logs are purchased to be rendered into flitches, planks
and veneers, to have in each yacht continuous, matching grain and color. Buying
pre-finished panels or worse yet, wallpaper over cheap board, is cheap and fast
but yachts should be built for the ages, like fine Renaissance furniture.
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The
woodworking shop is large, well-lit and equipped with a ventilation and air
filtration system to prevent the excessive dust that is produced in fabrication.
Our master craftsmen take the raw materials and create furniture that is on a
plane with fine art.
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From the beginning... |
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A Beautiful curved
door graces the face of galley and entertainment cabinets. |
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...to
the installation, this intricately detailed inlaid table, like every
piece of furniture on a Marlow Yacht, is handcrafted and finished to
level not seen in most yachts. |
 The
magnificent stainless steel components on the Marlow Yachts are fabricated in
the factory's steel shop by our very talented employees. Most of the stainless
steel components on the these yachts are very complicated to build and the
results are absolute works of art. We have designed and perfected a NACA 18
airfoil shape for our new fiberglass and stainless rudders. They were turned
into reality with custom designed high pressure closed molds built on site and
with our machine shop developing and fabricating the milled stainless rudder.
The various grades of stainless steel are derived by alloying certain metals
with steel. Some of them are nickel, manganese and chromium. The resulting alloy
in stainless will be given a designation, generally classified by their
crystalline structure.
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The
most commonly seen alloys for marine usage are in the 300 series, otherwise
known as the Austenitic series. The 300 series of stainless alloys are
particularly useful where welding is used to join components as they realign
their structure after heating to melting point very well compared to common
alloys. Most yacht builders purchase either 304 stainless or possibly the higher
quality 316 grade if they are exceptionally quality conscious.
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316L is a food and
surgical grade of stainless alloy, elevated in all categories by the inclusion
of Molybdenum. Its resistance to corrosion is very high and at the same time it
exhibits superior strength characteristics.
The Stainless Institute reminds us that no matter what alloy it is, the name
reveals its true nature. Stain-less, which means it stains less than less noble
alloys. Under hot tropical conditions when exposed to chloride (salt) even the
very best will exhibit some surface staining that is easily removed with a
proper polish. Over time as minute particles of surface impurities are polished
away, 316L becomes as close to tarnish proof as we are able to purchase.
That is why all Marlow Yachts used strictly 316L for their exterior hardware.
It’s simply the best.
We
are helping write the new bible for fiberglass reinforced products at this
moment. Our proprietary Full Stack Infusion© is the standard for tomorrow, perfected to a fine
science and the industry in every corner would love to know how we have
accomplished this exotic way of infusing at absolute vacuum, producing a part
that has no equal and zero room for error. It removes the human error equation,
while eliminating the migration of Volatile Organic Chemicals to our precious
earth ozone.
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Norsemen
Shipyard Ltd., Inc.