A Pacific Northwest boat designer and builder who specializes in wood-and-epoxy designs recently launched a notable vessel.
Moon River, a $1.4 million, 48-foot, custom-built power yacht settled into the water at Swantown Marina in Olympia, Wash., on Wednesday after it spent more than two years under construction.
The 32,000-pound boat project is the second largest vessel for design and builder Sam Devlin of Devlin Designing Boat Builders of Tumwater, Wash., a builder who pioneered the wood-and-epoxy boat design.
“It’s gorgeous,” said owner Ed Schulman of Seattle after seeing it in the water for the first time, according to a report by The News Tribune.
Schulman, originally from New York but a Northwest resident for 15 years, is a longtime boat owner, having owned 20 to 30 boats in his lifetime, he said.
But now that he’s 75 and his wife is in her 70s, they need a boat that is a little easier to operate, he said. The boat was designed with convenience in mind: two people can comfortably run it; It has strategically placed cameras to help with navigation; and a crane was installed to lift a dinghy and kayak on board.
Schulman said he chose Devlin because both the design and building of the boat was contained within one business. He also had a lot of input on the design, and he said Sam Devlin has a good eye for a beautiful boat.
Just before the boat was lowered into the water, Devlin stuck with tradition by repeating a little saying to himself: “Over the land, into the drink, please God, don’t sink.”
