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Stop
me if you’ve heard this one before: An owner buys a large yacht
intending to take the island-hopping cruise he’s dreamed about,
then head to the Med for a summer of St. Tropez splendor, but he ends
up only spending just a handful of days onboard. The owner feels guilty
(whether over abandoning his plans or about wasting his money, or both),
the crew itches to actually do something, and the yacht’s inactivity
gives new meaning to “home port.”
So excuse
my giddiness when I discover an owner who does more than the customary
shakedown cruise—and invites a crowd along for the long-term ride.
Such is the case with the gentleman who put his 155-foot Liquidity, with her 16V 2000 Series engines and 4,000-NM range—plus
her six PWCs—to the test right after delivery from Christensen last
summer. He headed straight to Alaska, spending the season there with 20
or so people onboard the entire time, then made his way to the East Coast.
About the only time the yacht sat still over the past few months was the
last week in October, when she was on display at the Fort Lauderdale International
Boat Show.
Of course,
none of this is surprising when an owner like this one contracts a yard
he’s familiar with to build him a yacht. And while he definitely
knew Christensen—he’d purchased the 126-foot Cacique
on the brokerage market a few years prior and still owns her—he
didn’t contract the yard to build Liquidity. On the contrary, the 155-footer was begun on spec and was about 70 percent
complete when the owner came into the picture. Even so, together with
some changes he requested to personalize the yacht, the profile and layout
were so in tune with his desires that Liquidity redefines “homeless”
to mean something positive.
Obviously
the first introduction to any yacht comes with the profile. Christensen
has typically erred on the side of caution in years past, avoiding even
the semblance of aggressiveness or trendiness. While Liquidity takes a few steps into modish territory, she doesn’t
abandon conservative good looks that will remain appealing in years to
come. Her elongated lines are well balanced, and even the small hardtop—rarely
seen on megayachts—doesn’t detract from her overall appearance.
Next page >
Liquidity continued > Page 1, 2,
3, 4, 5
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