Better than Christmas!

Into the reliably inclement weather we made our way toward an enormous hangar, easily big enough to house a 747. There were three other smaller hangars but this largest one was built only a few years ago to house another mega yacht that beat us in size by a mere 60 feet.





As alluring as the aroma of a fresh-from-the-oven pizza pie, wafting out onto the streets of New York, the scent of apoxy beckoned us forth. Inside the hangar the cacophony of drilling, hammering, sawing and sanding played like an ode to the feat of engineering that towered above us.








The yacht stands an incredible five stories tall. Three stories up, on the starboard side, spanning the length of the hangar is a platform with a workshop and tool shop and saws and drills in every conceivable shape and size and a bridge reaching to the upper levels of the yacht.





Just behind our 156-foot, 350 ton toy stood a little 124-foot yacht. So cute, like a little sister…

We made our way up the steep ramp leading to the swim platform and the aft deck. The yacht is cavernous with no flooring or walls in place yet.










Workers hustled about nailing and screwing and gluing and wiring. “Be careful, those wires are live”, a workman said as I committed myself to seven years bad luck by passing beneath his ladder en route to the galley.



The walk-in refrigerator is in place, almost as big as our crew quarters. Great, now I know where I can hide out when I’m in need of some privacy!
(that's me, kickin' it in the walk-in)

A peak into my galley

Across from the walk-in stands two industrial freezers and the hood is installed above where my 5-burner induction stove and warming drawers will be.

The floor of the galley is laid with panels that mark where every piece of major equipment will be plus counters, cabinets and workspaces.

As I stood in awe envisioning how the new galley will look, in walked Mr. Precious. We followed the plans laid out in panels as Mr. Precious gave me a walk through, “...and right here we’ll have a prep area but we’re not sure yet what is going on with the lower cabinets. I’m thinking that might be a good space to turn into a baking station. There will be racks in the walk-in and freezers to put sheet pans, three more freezers/fridges downstairs that are reversible to be either freezers or fridges depending on what you need, and there will also be three chest freezers aft. You’ll have refrigerated drawers below your workstation. We’ve put in the steam oven you requested, moved the sink and added a shelf above the center island. We’ve also taken out those four heat lamps that you didn’t like above the shelf and instead we’ll put in a black light strip that will keep the food warm without throwing a ton of heat onto your prep area”. “This area here will be your pantry and if you want to pick out containers for your spices we’ll design around them so you have a nice, orderly way of storing them”.

“You also need to start thinking about your drawers and how you want them divided and organized and how you want to bin out the forward bilge area for your back stock. We’ll get some shelving samples and design them around the bins you decide on, same with the shelves for the walk-in”.




Everything seems so tangible and I could envision the galley perfectly. There will even be a lip designed into my galley windows for planter boxes so that I can have a little herb garden. Mr. Precious has left no stone unturned. Precious indeed… My mind is spinning and I have already started making lists of ‘To Do’ items, equipment lists and organizational ideas.




The walk-in refrigerator is, by far, going to be the biggest lifesaver, as enough refrigeration seems to the one thing lacking on nearly every yacht that I have worked on. There are always loads of freezer space, but never enough refrigeration and when you are in the middle of the ocean with no inhabitable land in sight, turning out 18 breakfasts, lunches and dinners a day – refrigeration is crucial. And, I don’t have to wiggle like a fish down some crazy hatch to get to it. The masses of upright freezer space is also going to be a tremendous time and back saver, as I won’t have to bend over unpacking and re-packing the freezer just to find a steak.

A few more shots:

This is the mold that is used to cast the hull of a mega-yacht! Each side rolls down flat so the workers can inlay it with fiberglass. It is then rolled back up to a standing position, filled with a resin and fused together with the other half!











And here is the upper deck of the yacht. It was built upside down in a giant framed box then flipped over for sanding, painting, etc. It will be craned on top of the yacht in a few weeks!







This is the wood shop where all of the cabinetry and woodwork is done. I know a few carpenters who'd love to get into here!









This is what she'll look like when she's all done!