The renowned Santana has had 14 different owners in the 66 years it has sailed the Pacific waters. Some mariners used it to just get away. That's what the vessel's most famous owner, Humphrey Bogart, had in mind when he purchased the Santana in 1945. It was mainly just Bogie sailing alone on the Santana for the 12 years he owned it. Why alone? "You can't pee over the side when you have dames on board," Bogart once explained.
Other owners of the Santana were more adventurous. After all W.L. Stewart built the 43-foot schooner as a racing boat in the mid 30's. A few Santana sailors have had even bolder ideas. Hearty souls like restaurateur Charlie Peet purchased it to sail around the world. Unfortunately, Peet and his wife Marty failed all three times they tried. So much for the third time being the charm.
Eventually, all of the nautical mileage took its toll on Santana. When current owners Paul and Chris Kaplan bought it two years ago they knew it would be a full year before it would sail again. They were a determined couple, though. They remained steadfast in their goal to restore the sharp-looking boat to its original splendor.
During the restoration process they made one major addition to the boat's design: a state of the art audio/video system.
The Ground Rules
Forty-six year old Paul Kaplan, who docks in at the San Francis Yacht Club just outside of San Francisco, is no nickel-and-dimer. He owns the lucrative sailboat company Keefe Kaplan Maritime Inc. (KKMI), which sells and services the top-of-the-line Finnish made SWAN sailboats. So, saving a few bucks on a stereo install for Santana's restoration wasn't an issue. This being the only boat he actually gets to play with he wasn't going to cut corners. When all was said and done, Kaplan estimates he spent over $15,000 on the components of his audio/video system. "There's no point in doing this unless it's going to be flawless," he says, adding, "I'm a professional, and I only deal with professionals."
Luckily for Kaplan, one of the finest sailboat stereo installers around was only a short swim away. Kaplan had already seen Leo Monney do a superb job on one of his ships in the KKMI fleet, and knew he was right for the job. The question was would Monney, the owner of five Monney Car Audio's in the Bay area, have the time and patience for such a delicate project. Kaplan wanted more than just an elaborate twenty-first century sound and video system put in; he wanted the components to be invisible when not in use. After all, he wanted to show-off Santana's nautical features, not its subwoofers. Furthermore, Kaplan didn't want anything Monney put in to be permanent, "because as time moves on, the technology will change and it will probably need to be replaced," according to Kaplan.
Monney's schedule was tight. He had just two weeks for the project so he got two of his top employees (Marcus Favisch and Juan Mendoza) to help him speed up the process. "It's not very often you get to work on a boat this beautiful," says Monney. "I wanted to do it." Mind you, he is not a sailboat install specialist, per se. After all, his stores aren't called Monney's Sailboat Audio. But living near so many shipyards he has developed quite a reputation in this highly lucrative market.
He says the major difference between installing a stereo in a car and a sailboat is that: "A car has an alternator and a generator that are always running. A sailboat doesn't. So you have to rely on good outside battery systems and AC inverters." However, the obvious benefit of installing a sailboat is that you don't have to worry about engine noise, he says. "It's like your living room."
Cabin Fever
Having the capability to watch movies on Santana was important to Kaplan. He is a big movie buff and he couldn't wait for the nostalgic feeling of watching some of the classics in a boat owned by one of the biggest movie stars of all time. "It's amazing to know that for 12 years Bogart took this boat out for 45 to 50 weekends a year," says Kaplan. "Watching Key Largo (a movie that included Bogie's wife, Lauren Bacall) is going to be incredible."
The 20-inch Sharp television Monney and his crew installed in the shelf of the cabin typifies the entire install. For one, it sounds fantastic. The Clarion DVD Player gives surround sound processing, allowing Kaplan to feel not like he's hundreds of miles from land, but like he's at the movies enjoying a film and a bag of popcorn.
The way the $5,000 flat-screen TV smoothly hides in the closet when not in use is also amazing. This shelf, designed by Kaplan, rolls into the wall much like a pocket door in a home. But even when the TV isn't hiding, it still doesn't stand out. That's because of its discreet design and the smooth-looking fin-shaped black speaker enclosures on each side of the screen. These enclosures hide the corners of the television making it look less square and allowing it to blend in better with the background. Monney built these enclosures out of wood and fiberglass and shaped them to match the curved railing of the shelf directly behind it. Kaplan obviously approved, saying, "This TV sounds so great. When I watched Twister, I felt like I was in a real tornado."
Inside the enclosures are two Memphis 46S Power Reference center channel speakers. The speakers in the cabin are run by a Memphis 4-channel amplifier 100 (front-rear stage sound) and a Memphis Studio Class 16 ST1000D (the center channel). Another Memphis amplifier runs the subwoofer.
This sub is also neatly hidden inside the cabin, well under it to be exact. An Alpine 8-inch bandpass subwoofer is hiding beneath the floor panels. Monney's crew modified this enclosure with fiberglass coating to make it waterproof. The wiring of the sub and the entire boat was upgraded to thicker 12-gauge marine grade to prevent corrosion.
Wiring Santana was the trickiest part for Monney's crew. In all, they had to put more than 300-feet of Marine grade wiring into the ship. "Everything had to be tucked away which made it difficult because it was all old and made out of wood," says Monney. To hide so much wiring, he and his team spent tons of time working underneath the floor panels.
As for the four small Bose speakers already on the ceiling of the cabin -- Monney decided to keep them. The only thing he needed to do was upgrade these speakers with new crossovers in order to handle the power of the amplifiers.
Neither Rain, Nor Wind
The Kaplans have teenage daughters who like to show off Santana to their friends. So, needless to say, the kids needed loud, clear music on the deck. But as that is an exposed area, there was a potential problem that had to be solved. The system would need to be completely waterproof, and loud enough to tune out the blustery Bay wind. To accomplish this, Monney chose a 10-inch Clarion subwoofer and two sets of Clarion Marine 6-inch tweeters that are located right behind the helm. "These are some of the best sounding waterproof speakers there are," says Monney.
The source unit for the ship's deck is an Alpine AM/FM cassette player and an Alpine CHA-1214 12-disc changer, both located in the control room on the bottom floor of the Santana. Monney chose a PEQ15 equalizer made by Planet Audio to give the Kaplans full adjustment of the outside subwoofers volume level. There is an on/off button by the helm where Kaplan can also change volume levels. Three Memphis amps are used to power the exterior sound system: a Memphis ST3004, a ST100 and their digital amp: ST500D. "I went with Memphis amps because they have been proven to be great for both sound quality and volume," explains Monney.
Winding Down
For his master bedroom, Kaplan wanted a system he could have all to himself. "As the day winds down, I want to go into my room and be able to listen to what I want," he says. According to Monney, "There was nothing fancy about this bedroom install. I just put in a set of Energy speakers above the bed." These speakers each have individual volume control and a Memphis SP100 amp powers them.
The last thing on Kaplan's wish list was to be able to listen to any of the systems in any of the three areas on the ship. For example, he wanted the ability to hear the movie coming from the cabin while sitting outside on the deck. Monney's team accomplished this by putting in a custom relay board. The board, which is located in the main cabin, directs each system's amp to the correct room.
Old Glory
Whenever Santana goes out, someone seems to recognize it. These days, however, Santana is being heard as well as seen.When Peet owned it in the 70's, he ran into a photographer who said his mother lost her virginity on Santana in 1945. Ahem, that may very well be; but it's a family boat now that boasts tremendous electronic luxuries. As Kaplan puts it: "It's amazing how technology has allowed us to put in such a great system without disturbing the character of the boat." He says that it's the best of both worlds. That is, it resonates a storied past while sailing smoothly in the future.
A $5,000 flat TV for watching movies. DVD player by Clarion. When not in use, the TV can be pushed back into its closet, rolling back into the wall.The signal is provided by an Alpine cassette player and a 12-disc CD changer. For more entertainment the Kaplans watch DVD's on a 20-inch Sharp monitor.The installer for the Santana retained the four Bose speakers on the ceiling. For the low frequency he went with 10" Clarions, while the midrange is covered by 6" speakers located behind the helm. Both are marine specific products. According to the installer one of the best waterproof speakers around.