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The Tysons' personal touch can also be seen in the optional handpicked granite countertops in the saloon, galley, and heads. While the granite work on this 59 was completed stateside, it can be—and usually is—performed at the builder's Taiwan-based yard. As a matter of fact, Philip said if he was going to do it again, he'd have a majority of this type of work done at the Symbol yard, which has been building boats for 25 years. He explained how he had the 59's Wesmar hydraulics installed post-delivery, which was a challenge once the mechanicals were already set up and the hull-to-deck joint buttoned up. Later, during my tour of the engine room, I noticed that while the hydraulics were well organized, system installation could have been neater had it been accomplished during the initial wire and hose runs and while the boat was open.
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With wide double boiler- and wok-capable counterspace, the galley is one of the larger food-prep areas I've seen in a vessel in this size range. Susan, an avid at-sea cook who even has an optional flip-down Samsung LCD TV with satellite hookup here to watch cooking shows, told me that she wanted a galley where two people had room to work. To that end, the aft nonstructural galley bulkhead was moved back several inches to extend the counterspace. Since the Tysons do quite a bit of entertaining during their travels, this extra prep and serve space will come in handy.
They're also big into barbecues, and have one—a Fire Magic complete with optional infrared for rotisserie cooking—mounted on the customized, full-beam-spanning flying bridge. It sits next to a two-burner gas grill, too. The fuel for the barbecue and grill is contained within composite tanks for safe transport and stowage. The weight of this gear is easily compensated for by the optional, relatively lightweight (just 350-pounds) Pipewelders foam-cored hardtop, which covers most of the flying bridge and the table just aft and to port of the upper helm. The table makes a great place for chicken and ribs.
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The owners wanted this 59's flying bridge widened an extra couple of feet. |
One thing you won't see on the flying bridge is Philip's beloved motorcycle or Susan's requested hot tub. These wish-list items fell to the axe of naval architect Jack Sarin. His wish-list item of stability won out.
To ensure that Sarin's semidisplacement hull form lived up to the ride designed into it, Symbol built the 59 with a solid-fiberglass hull bottom and closed-cell high-density linear foam coring above the waterline and added two watertight bulkheads.
The flat-calm conditions off Fort Lauderdale offered no opposition to this 85,000-pound, 59-footer, but they did help highlight the yacht's sporty side. While Philip prefers to cruise Off.Line at about 1100 rpm and 11 mph, the optional twin 800-hp Caterpillar C15 ACERT diesel inboards have the ability to take this voyager to a wide-open-throttle speed of 23 mph at 2320 rpm, which is within acceptable rpm tolerances. I found that during my wheel time, the vessel's Hynautic hydraulic power-assist steering was smooth at all speeds, and the three or so boat-length turns were without heel, helped by the optional Wesmar hydraulic stabilizers. These stabilizers remained on for the entire test and may have cost the 59 about 1 knot at the top end. According to Lucid Marine's Barin Cardenas, the 59 will run quite well sans stabilizers, and some are being ordered without them, too.
Our test boat also featured optional 25-hp Wesmar hydraulic bow and stern thrusters, which made spinning this boat and handling tough side-to conditions a breeze. The Tysons should have no problem bringing Off.Line into any port under most conditions.
And any port is where you can take your 59. With the projected 11-mph cruise for this yacht, I calculated her range will come in around 800 miles, which is plenty, even for adventure seekers like the Tysons (and Willow). Combine this with a sturdy build, speed when you need it, and accommodations for six, plus pets, and you have a true liveaboard, go-anywhere passagemaker.
The pitter-patter of paws followed me across the teak cockpit to the side-to boarding door as I finished my day onboard Off.Line. One final goodbye bark came as I took a last look at that custom cockpit table and I couldn't help but think that, in a year or so, the Tysons may need a bigger one to add all of the new islands they'd visit. After all, that's what this couple, and this vessel, seem born to do.
For more information on Symbol Yachts, including contact information, click here.
SPOTLIGHT ON: The Green Machine
Philip and Susan Tyson are “green” boaters. One way they decided to express their appreciation for the environment was to install these two solar panels on their hardtop. They measure about 5'0"x2'2" and can generate enough energy to allow the boat to run almost exclusively off her Xantrex inverter, which saves fuel and emissions that would have been generated by the two Northern Lights gensets. Heck, the Tysons don't even have to hook up to shore power if they don't want to.
And there's another benefit: Philip says he thinks the system will also extend the life of his boat's batteries by as much as 50 percent.—P.S.
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This article originally appeared in the November 2007
issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
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