| Christensen | 49M | "Odessa" | 2009/15/20 |

Odessa still has an iconic look 13 yrs. in with the Jett Black and custom color mixed Summertime silver metallic superstructure. AkzoNobel / Awl Grip wrote a 50 page plus paint specification for this vessel in 2007 for 4 coats of Metallic silver followed by 6 coats of high solids clear to give depth to the superstructure. The silver proved to be extremely difficult to apply without tiger striping and metallic flop occurring and took several attempts to get it right, the topsides in Jett Black didn't call for a clear coat but Christensen had such a hard time spraying it without holidays that it had two coats of high solids applied also. The project manager & Captain Robert Lowden had his hands full with overseeing this 49-meter build and two Bombardier 6500 Global Express business jets simultaneously for the owner. Robert and I were both on hand to see the first bits of fiberglass cloth cut and placed in the mold and I enjoyed this build immensely being part of his team as build engineer for hull 034 and am happy that she's still looking sharp in her original livery as she's had a few re-sprays in the last 13 yrs. and it would have been much easier and MUCH cheaper to get away from the silver metallic and Black.

The demise of Christensen was very unsettling when at the time 034 was in the mold in '07 the yard had 450 plus skilled employees and four builds in various stages of completion and delivery. Party Girl and Lady Joy had just splashed and John Staluppi and John Rosatti both had vessels in build along with a couple others. By the time Odessa splashed in '09 the workforce was down to under 100 and the writing was on the wall that Christensen's business model / investor scenario wasn't sustainable building vessels at cost or under cost for investors was going to be their undoing. This was a tragic outcome not so much for the corporate entity but because of the loss of the workforce as they had some very talented and skilled tradesmen and women there from stainless fabricators, carpentry / joiners, laminators and fitters that I've had the pleasure of working with and I make that statement after being involved with several northern European builds beginning in the early '80s and Christensen's workforce could hold their own with some of the best. Christensen built a well-engineered vessel for a semi production yard, and you got a lot of bang for your buck and a solid investment for resale on the secondhand market when it was time to get out.