The Fog Warning Blog

A week in the life… for the week of your life?

A week in the life… for the week of your life?

I’m off to Europe on Monday for a truly yacht-filled week, and I thought I’d share my planned adventure with you. I expect that for my my loyal friends and clients this trip in particular will launch your nautical dreams and schemes.

First stop: Gdansk, Poland

You cannot throw a rock in Eastern Europe these days without hitting a shipyard handling the fiberglass work for quality builders from Western Europe. The operative word is quality. I’ve been doing this long enough that I can discern great fiberglass work from 30 feet away, in 3 seconds. And what I have seen coming out of Eastern Europe these days exceeds what I’ve seen from many of the even the best-regarded (and most expensive) US builders.

The Long Island Yacht 33 Runabout that will (I expect) win best of show at the coming Newport, Norwalk and Annapolis shows (see below) is a case in point. Hull and deck fabrication happens in Gdansk. When you see her with your own eyes, you’ll be able to make your own 30 feet / 3 second judgements. I look forward to hearing them.

Next Tuesday I inspect the brand new hardtop molds for hull #1 of their 29 Runabout Hardtop model.

I am really excited about this development. Zooming with Holland this week I repeated my judgement about the 29 Hardtop’s future with twin outboards:

“Ten years from now when I write the definitive history of Long Island Yachts, this HT/OB model will have proven to be their all-time best-selling model.”

But if I am wrong, it will because this soft-top nudges it out of top place. Here are the latest photos of hull #1, now on her way to Denmark:

I get asked all the time about the differences between the 33 Runabout and the 29. In a nutshell:

  • Down below, almost identical.
  • Helm area, largely the same.
  • Cockpit seating aft – clearly less seating on the 29.. This is where the minus four feet comes into play.
  • The 29R is roughly $50,000 less than the 33.
  • Jet Drives – 33 only.

On balance, they are substantially similar boats. In Holland, where dockspace is both rare and expensive, those four feet saved are a big deal. Here in the US, I expect the 33R’s additional cockpit seating to carry the day for most owners.

On Wednesday I head to another part of Gdansk, in my neverending search through Europe for undiscovered gems to bring to the US market. Indeed, this has been the whole raison d’etre of The Fog Warning for almost twenty years now. Some examples?

  • Vicem Yachts – Way back in 2004, when you count the number of Vicem’s in America on just one hand, I had a vision of what this builder could accomplish here in America. Now, having sold $75m of these fine yachts, I take great pride in helping to turn this undiscovered gem into the undisputed heavyweight champion of Turkish yachts, world-wide.

 

And while on the subject of Vicem, I’ve been asked if their latest Luxury Dayboat Model – Vicem’s 45 Open – will be at my Falls shows:

She will not. I am looking for just the right owner (meaning one who has the flexibility to grant us generous boat show display privileges) to pull the trigger on building this wonderful triple-engine yacht. She has a great story, and I urge you to seek me out at the Fall Shows to hear all about her. Personally (and what do I know?) If I were building her for myself, I would emulate Vicem’s last dive into luxury dayboats with interiors like those shown here:

  • Long Island Yachts – Four years ago at a local Dutch boat show in the tiny town of Lelystad, Holland I tripped over a downeast-styled yacht I had never heard of (despite its rather Americanized name): Long Island Yachts. Now, after a run of hard work and good luck I am thrilled to have established the strongest beachhead possible here for the coming LIY invasion.
  • J Craft Yachts – My latest discovery, and my most undiscovered gem of all: Six years ago I first saw one of these Swedish rockets in Cannes. I made it my personal mission then to bring this amazing yacht to the attention of the American yachting world. Doing so has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in this industry, and here is why:

 

Before I leave J Craft today, I’ll note that I’ve gotten some calls lately asking about its canvas options. In Sweden, shade is not too much of a priority. In St. Tropez, or this week in Sag Harbor? Duhhh…

 

And while in Gdansk next week I am so curious to get to know the young founders of Poland’s Cormorant Yachts.  What first brought us together during long COVID zoom sessions is a shared sense of a big opportunity in the rather staid trawler marketplace – True ocean going trawlers designed and built for a younger generation of trawler owners, with more contemporary looks, both outside ….

and especially on the inside. 

Of course there will be a Fog Warning YouTube video covering this part of my trip.

 

Next Stop: Holland

Thursday it’s back to Amsterdam – practically my second office these days – to attend the HISWA boat show back in Lelystad, where my infatuation with LIY first began.

Two days of team and client meetings are scheduled, but most of all I look forward to partying with my friend Fokko.

Some people (myself, Fokko, presumably you?) are born with the “adventure gene.” With Fokko, it flashes quite brightly:

As I write this post, Fokko’s Long Island Yachts 25 Sportsman is somewhere in the mid-Atlantic Ocean aboard a New York-bound freighter. Once she unloads a few weeks from now, Fokko and his lovely family will commence a four month ICW trip that will end in Miami.  Then she will freighter back to Holland.

Quite an adventure for a family of four in a 25′ open boat, no? I will say this – Long Island Yachts are designed for the North Sea, and regularly cross the English Channel. The ICW, I expect, will be a piece of cake.

If you would like to meet Fokko and his family during their trip south, just launch a flare. His boat is a beauty. And if you would like to see one closer to home, this one in New Jersey can be seen any time:

Long Island Yachts Sportman 25 is a touring yacht built in the Netherlands.
The 25 Sportsman

 

And my travels after the HISWA show, you may ask? A long story, so…

 

 

If you have had the opportunity to see Vicem’s largest offerings to date – Their 46M – you have been lucky indeed!

 

 

I watched her come together over the 28 exciting months of her build, and when I finally saw her in her completed state I thought of that great line from Citizen Kane. You know, “In Xanadu…”

Yes, 147 feet of pure fiberglass pleasure dome.

Vicem is eager begin construction of another fiberglass 46M, and the molds have recently been polished and are ready to fill. But recently there is a new twist to their superyacht story – They are contemplating a much larger yacht – in the neighborhood of 55 meters – and in steel!

Now, loyal readers of The Fog Warning know of my fascination with steel builds. My thoughts on the subject,  “Adventure is just bad planning” remains one of my most downloaded posts. Among my current builders, Hartman Yachts,

much discussed in my blog posting entitled “There is no bad weather, just bad boats!”  is topping out at with builds at 42 meters. So to learn more about bigger builds, from the HISWA show I proceed throughout Holland for tours of the Feadship, Heesen and Hakvoort shipyards.

Why Feadship? Because they are …. Feadship! If you know, you know…

Heesen? Because three big Heesen’s use my J Craft Torpedo 42’s as their luxury tenders:

And Hakvoort? Well, that is all about a grand yacht named Scout.

At the above-pictured private little boat show of quality Dutch yachts in Newport back in 2019, I had the pleasure of getting aboard Scout, and it changed the way I look at what custom builders can do. Her owners designed her interior to reflect the interior of Captain Nemo’s submarine from their favorite childhood film.  From vision to execution, I have never been more impressed with a superyacht.

My mission next week at Hakvoort is to better understand exactly how her owner’s visions came to life.  Stand by for my full report….

 

Next stop – HOME! Which means … boat shows!

I’m back on the 7th to prepare for the upcoming boat shows. I look forward to seeing you at :

 

The Newport Boat Show from September 15th through the 18th, aboard our Long Island Yachts 33 Runabout and two Vicem’s to be named later;

 

The Norwalk Boat Show from September 22nd through the 25th, where sea trials of the 33 Runabout can happen at the show!

 

The Annapolis PowerBoat Show from October 6th through the 9th (let me know if you’d like a 33 Runabout sea trial as I make my way down from Cape May before the show); and,

 

The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show from October 26th to the 30th, where you will find me at the Vicem and J Craft displays.

 

If you would like to pre-book a leisurely special private showing of my boats at these shows – before or after official show hours – just launch a flare. I’ll give you all the time you need, and more. All I ask is that you come to the dock with a jet-lag proof extra-caff coffee.

See ya!

Big Wave Dave (and Little Wave Beth)

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