Yachts
When I was a child, my parent’s owned a small fiberglass sailboat, and subscribed to Yachting magazine. At the end of every issue were pages and pages of yachts for sale. These yachts — invariably larger than my parent’s sailboat — were a window into another world. What captured my special attention was old wooden motor yachts, and the larger ones were especially alluring to my young eyes. It seemed impossible that something built in the 1920s could still be afloat in the 1960s, and I would spend many happy hours imagining myself as the proud owner of a classic beauty.
Fast forward many decades, and in the 1980s I recalled this powerful childhood impression and a wondrous thought occurred to me: I could now, as an adult, transform fantasy into reality.
So began a several year search for a classic motor yacht. Along the way I amassed a huge pile of archival material and thought: This would make a great book.
I did eventually acquire a beauty: Alondra. She was built in 1927, was wood, and 68-feet in length. I was besotted.
In addition, I also eventually published two books on classic steam and motor yachts: