Final Ft. Lauderdale Cruise of 2011 - YF Crew Banter & Bash

Tom: And the history on this is? Carl?

Carl: Originally built by Lyman Morse as Wombat, a close sistership to Magpie, this is a New England form of 'Excellence' as the new name implies.

Chuck: An Australian marsupial and a crow? What happened to justifying the cost of a boat by naming it after your wife?

Judy: A "Gentleman's Yacht" interior that's hard to beat. But Magpie's red hull made her stand out Magnificently.

Loren: Not too shabby for a little sailboat builder downeast in Rockland. Brad Setzer's lines are elegant and reminiscent of Jack Hargrave.

Tom: M/Y Kismet looks good from any angle.

Carl: Early in the morning, on the opening day of FLIBS 2007, the YF crew was invited to tour Kismet along with another 30 of the most distinguished members of the yachting media. Groups of 5-6 people were escorted through the boat by various crew members, with the exception of the YF editorial team. We had the privilege of being taken through Kismet by Peter Lurssen and his sales/marketing staff of Michael Bremen and Sylke Auf Dem Graben. At that very point, we knew YF had made an impact in the yachting industry. Kismet is an absolutely epic Lurssen. This was our review... Kismet

Chuck: 40 hours of editorial from a one hour walk-thru. We be good!

Loren: After having spent a week, and roughly six hundred large, on a charter down-island, how could anyone return to their comparatively drab shore side existence? Oh, the horror...

Tom: M/Y Trilogy a long way from her home cruising grounds of the Great Lakes.

Carl: Is that white duct tape boarding-up portholes or is it covering up blisters?

Chuck: Is it just me, or does the pilothouse and galley deck appear to be fashioned in someone's backyard?

Judy: It's what Carl refers to as Kenilworth aerodynamics.

Loren: Carl, Carl, Carl.....that's privacy tape.

Tom: Rising from the ashes of her previous name of Phoenix, M/Y Aurora is now shining brightly.

Carl: Two Lurssen's within 100 yards of each other? Germany is invading again!

Judy: 50,000 gallons of diesel and 400 gallons of Windex.

Loren: Eight gensets and an elevator in just 200 feet of boat.

Carl: Bill Garden's Westport designs are remaining as timeless as anything Jack Hargrave ever penned.

Loren: The Window Washer's Choice.

Tom: I have yet to see a Westport that looked weathered. To this day, 10 year old Westports still look like new.

Carl: Harry Schoell was really 'stepping-up' the Infinity line with this 70' express cruiser featuring his patented Delta-Conic hull design, among many other marine innovations spanning his career.

Loren: In the '80s, a sistership to this sported a tall wishbone mast that flew a huge spinnaker. I am not making this up.

Carl: True. It was the first ever, go-fast motor-sailor.

Carl: A boat built on consumer electronics, this is IAG's foray into the superyacht sector. Talk about diversification in manufacturing! Truth is, it's a good first effort and reasonably priced, but it's a little hard on the eyes.

Judy: Conflation of Azimut & Johnson?

Loren: So maybe it's a good thing that the company is IAG as opposed to HAG?

Carl: Italian's build great dock art.

Chuck: ... and garage art.

Judy: I like the alternating black/white color scheme - another example of upside-down bottom paint.

Loren: Four or five staterooms, no room for crew, elegant interior, cramped machinery spaces, MTUs.....next!

Tom: Hey, take it easy on the Italians. Remember, my last name ends in two vowels.

Tom: "Silver Fox". Isn't that what they call guys like me with gray hair?

Carl: Gray hair beats no hair!

Chuck: I remember hair. Nature's sunscreen for scalps!

Loren: Another Northwest build... Crescent 92 maybe?

Tom: I'm thinking maybe this guy makes shoes?!?!

Carl: Are those tapered aft deck windows and side panels an afterthought, or was this an attempt by Hatteras to emulate the Euro look?

Chuck: The Loafer isn't too lazy. He put up Christmas lights.

Loren: Utilizing SWAG, likely a 20-year old Hat 65 extended to mid-70s feet whose owner--either a baker or a shoe salesman--is enjoying his time away from Polarbear Land.

Tom: Perhaps the next Power Play YF will have. C'mon Carl, step up. Then again, you'll never get rid of us.

Carl: What were the chances we'd come across a Hatteras named Power Play, while we were onboard a Powerplay? In both cases, well built boats!

Chuck: If Carl steps up to this, he's not paying us enough.

Loren: Yeah, Carl, you could really spray a buoy with this box 'o beds.

Tom: This yacht looks sleek from any angle (see next photo also).

Carl: It looks like a lot of wasted deck space to me. Matter of fact, the deck space is so scarce they had to recess the anchor into the hull.

Chuck: I like express cruisers. They go through the check-out lane faster.

Judy: Those are the considerate boats - they don't block the view from the 2nd floor.

Loren: This style was quite the trend earlier in the century. Next!

Tom: Anyone want to ventur what "SKS" stands for?

Carl: Seriously Krooked Sides? No joke, Ruffles potato chips have less ripples than some of these Italian expresses on steroids. Not a good 'reflection' on the builder.

Chuck: If life rings are prominently displayed, is this a warning?

Judy: I'd like to see one of the life rings swap places with the "K".

Loren: Judy may have contributed to this fine vessile via her shopping habit: SKS is the stock ticker for Saks Fifth Avenue.

Tom: Hey Loren, you were spouting something about this aged beauty during our cruise. What say you?

Carl: That boat has been there since the dawn of time.

Judy: Carl, I thought Dawn's time was up...

Loren: Met a guy at the FLL Show over a decade ago, a Mercedes dealer from TX, and as we yakked, it, um, dawned on me that I knew his boat from sight. A Malahide (?).

Tom: So here we are, checking out the yachts on the backside of the Hyatt/Pier 66 when to the utter shock of the crew, Carl heads our ride towards the little canal bridge that supports the 17th Street. I can feel my hair turning whiter as our captain nudges the bow of the Powerplay under the bridge, as looks of disbelief and horror are etched into everyone's faces. But to our relief, Carl deftly puts the gears in reverse realizing that we were just shy a few inches for a non-scrapping passage. He had it in control all the time, while we were looking to change our shorts.

Carl: Just doing a clearance check at high tide. There's an apartment for rent down that canal. It would be a good place to hang my hat for awhile.

Chuck: Captain Carl: feared by bridges and trolls alike.

Judy: I only got nervous when Carl asked why the bridge tender wasn't responding.

Loren: Clearance, Carl! Vector, Victor! Roger, Roger!

Tom: Surely you can't be serious

Loren: I am serious...and don't call me Shirley. Shoulda bought the t-top instead of the T-top.

Tom: This is M/Y Carpe Diem. And we certainly siezed the day and took advantage of the beautiful South Florida winter weather. Sorry to you folks shoveling and shivering the winter away.

Carl: I'm pretty sure this was an Intermarine, one of Thom Conboy's builds. The molds for these hulls became the new Palmer-Johnson 123' with Nuvolari & Leonard designed superstructures.

Chuck: You must have Google on speed dial. How do you remember this stuff?

Loren: What a difference a dozen years means for yacht design. The ill-fated Savannah-built boat makes the newer PJ look like a rocketship.

Tom: Here we find two of Trinity Yachts finest: M/Y Wheels and M/Y Wheels. And their names have nothing to do with propellers.

Carl: While Tom was taking these shots, I was on the phone with Billy Smith from Trinity. He's not one to divulge owner information, but in this case, it's public information. All these "Wheels" are owned by Rick Hendrick. If that name is familiar to you, you might be a Nascar fan! You could say this team of Trinity's was built on four wheels. Rick owns one of the nation's most successful automotive dealership groups.

Chuck: TWO Trinity's named Wheels? Thank God! I thought I had double vision.

Judy: Perfect: a two wheeler!

Loren: Not often during our cruise did we spy a backyard boat that dwarfed the mansion it was docked behind.

Tom: The newer Wheels is a 2008 model sporting 164-feet of yachting goodness.

Carl: While touring Bacarella at FLIBS 2009, Billy Smith mentioned we should see the engine room on Wheels. It has diamond plate, polished pieces everywhere. It looks like the inside of a Nascar race shop. Not ironically.

Judy: Maybe the 5 trumpet Kahlenberg plays... "gentlemen, start your engines".

Loren: Nice design elements, especially the knuckle running aft from the bow to the break in the shear.

Tom: And here's a look at the rear Wheels.

Judy: The Griff and Vanessa White? Oh, sorry, wrong Wheel of Fortune.

Loren: Wrong wheel, maybe, but right fortune.

Tom: The vintage Wheels is a 124-footer from 2002 with classic Trinity styling.

Carl: Like vintage vino, it's a timeless Trinity. Maybe I'm old school, but the classic lines of a traditional RPH motoryacht is classy.

Judy: What was the name of that classic wheels song by Phish? Nah, bet it's not their theme song.

Loren: Spoken like a Broward guy, Carl.