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“Trust me.”
While prior encounters
sometimes make us think twice about having faith in those words, in the
recent experience of Capt. Greg Clark and the American couple he works
for, trust is exactly what they placed in Christensen Shipyards—and
equally important, the yard believed in them.
Having owned a 92-foot
Hatteras for several years, the owners wanted to step up to a larger yacht.
They, along with Clark, attended several boat shows and visited many yards,
discussing both fully custom and spec projects, before meeting with Christensen.
During their visit they saw a 150-foot spec yacht that was about half
complete. While the size difference between their Hatteras and the 150-footer
was larger than the owners had in mind, as Clark relates it, he and the
couple felt confident the transition would be smooth. Why? Well, some
of the factors behind their decision are the same ones other spec buyers
often cite, such as a shorter wait time and a basic layout in keeping
with their desires (in this case, a main-deck master suite and good-size
crew accommodations). But during our conversation, Clark kept emphasizing
how “refreshingly good” the experience was working with this
Washington yard. While at other yards “I’ve experienced a lack
of willingness to consider new ideas,” he explained, with the Christensen
team “the agreements far outnumbered disagreements.”
One of the things the
owners and the yard saw eye-to-eye on was the importance of having the
yacht built to the MCA Code governing the safety of large yachts. Interestingly,
for the past few years Christensen has been building all of its yachts,
spec ones included, with the automatically deploying fire doors and watertight
bulkheads that MCA requires. On a related note, while many yards offering
spec yachts in the 150-foot range say they follow the guidelines set by
the various classification societies, not all go through the process of
having the hull, superstructure, and machinery inspected—but Christensen
does. In fact, it builds all of its double-Airex-cored yachts to full
American Bureau of Shipping certificate standards.
Another thing Christensen
agreed to was taking an unusual approach for the interior decor. While
the raised-panel cherry paneling and inlaid marble soles don’t raise
eyebrows among the megayacht set, the “accommodations” separating
the relaxing ambiance of the saloon from the formality of the dining area
certainly do. There sits a live coral reef inside a custom 200-gallon
aquarium that is in turn housed in custom-crafted cherry cabinetry rising
from the sole to the overhead. According to David Morgavi of Deep Sea
Gallery, which designed the aquarium and selected the various fish and
coral inside it, Mystic is only the second or third yacht worldwide
to feature a true living coral reef—he says that the handful of other
yachts featuring aquariums have either faux or dead coral. Because the
sea creatures require a constant flow of fresh salt water and a steady
warm temperature of about 76ºF, the yard’s craftsmen worked
closely with Morgavi to ensure some of the systems such as the watermakers
and air conditioning could cater to their special needs. (For more information
on the setup, see “Mystic-al Fish” in “Megayachts,”
page 58.)
Next page >
Part
2: Something else that
appealed to the owners was Mystic’s exterior styling. > Page 1, 2,
3, 4, 5
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