Brix Marine, Port Angeles, Wash., delivered the new 46'x16'x4'9" aluminum workboat Jackpot Bay to Chenega Corp., Anchorage, Alaska. Chenega Corp. is a Native village corporation headquartered in Anchorage, but the village of Chenega and its traditional Native lands are located on a remote island in the southwestern corner of Prince William Sound, about 120 miles southeast of Anchorage.
“The corporation sought to custom-build a boat specific to the corporate needs of accessing the village and our surrounding properties as well as supporting commercial customers with a variety of small workboat requirements to include crew transportation,” said Adam Turner, general manager of Chenega Regional Development Group LLC. “We were excited to partner with Brix on this project for our second vessel built by their team. Brix’s level of versatility within not only their customization process but their willingness and ability to see a vision and bring it to reality is what brought us back for another boat. The quality of their manufacturing plant, innovative process flow, and project management is what continues to give us confidence in their ability to hit the mark Chenega needs.”
A common day trip for the landing craft catamaran vessel Jackpot Bay is a 180-mile round trip by water. Among the boat’s responsibilities are crew transport, accessing property, commercial customer support and various other workboat related requirements.
Main propulsion comes from four Yamaha 450-hp outboard engines whose XTO stainless steel 16-5/8"x18", 3-bladed blades spin at 1,800 rpm. The propulsion package gives the boat a top speed of 44 knots.
Ship’s service power is the responsibility of a Northern Lights 12-kW genset. Two-station controls and the steering system are handled by Yamaha’s Helm Master packages.
The cargo deck can handle up to 10,000 lbs. of freight. It accommodates one crewmember and up to 18 passengers.
Capacities include 600 gals of fuel and 55 gals. Water. Ancillary equipment includes a hydraulic bow landing ramp and a Morgan Marine 200.3 crane.
The Garmin electronics suite contains two 16" GPS MAP touchscreen, XHD 4-kW six open array radar, 1 kW transducer, VHF, PA system, and two cameras.
“In a business day, our work team can travel from Anchorage Alaska to the Native Village of Chenega,” said Turner. “The boat was built to move employees, residents, contractors, and all the necessary gear for our numerus projects, all in a day trip. It makes Prince William Sound that much smaller and our remote journeys that much less complicated. This translates to more efficient travel. Additionally, this stable vessel travels faster so we need smaller weather windows for safe transit, giving us more operational days over the year.
Jackpot Bay is USCG certified, Subchapter T and was delivered in May 2024.
