Maryland Governor Sells State Yacht

eBay website ^ | 21 December 2003 | State of Maryland

[Vigilanteman]

This news broke on e-Bay. The Governor of Maryland has sold the state yacht for $275,100. This was $125,000 over the minimum bid, though $100,000 below the appraised price. A Republican governor in a liberal state shows he is serious about reigning in perks for elected officials while his neighbor to the north is raising taxes.

This auction was for a 112' Custom Motor Yacht- the 'Maryland Independence'. This ship, the current yacht of the Governor of Maryland, was surveyed in August of 2003 and found to be in good condition. It was built in 1944 by LaBlanc Shipbuilding in Weymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada using diagonal mahogany planking copper riveted on oak frames. Designed by Fairmille as a submarine chaser, it was later converted into a yacht. The hull has subsequently been covered with heavy fiberglass laminate. It is powered by twin Volvo Penta TMD 120A 265 Hp engines. Replacement cost of this yacht is estimated at $3,000,000!

[Vigilanteman]

Maybe G.W. Bush ought to do likewise with some of our excess national forest land.

[gorush]

Somebody got a good deal, yet, the two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

[CWOJackson]

SWEET looking...also a big hole in the water to pour money into.

[brooklin]

Fiberglassing over the hull of an old wooden boat isn't such a good idea. I'm sure that the marine surveyor did a thorough check of the wooden planking.

[CWOJackson]

You can do some of the surveying from outside but most would need to be done from inside the hull.

[FlyVet]

The state's lib pols must be having a coronary. Now, if a state was using a yacht like that as part of the state park system, charging fees for tours, making it at least break-even, that wouldn't be so bad. But, if it was some perk for a governor and his associated boot-lickers...BS.

[gorush]

"Fiberglassing over the hull of an old wooden boat isn't such a good idea."

I thought that as well. While the wood will rot quickly, you're left with a plastic hull and moldy interior. In fairness, the interior was going to be moldy anyway. (I used to live aboard)

[HardStarboard]

>>> In fairness, the interior was going to be moldy anyway. (I used to live aboard) <<<

So did I; and on an absolutely dry non-moldy sailboat in rainy Seattle.

The secret is 1) an insulated hull; 2) No drains in the below deck compartments so moisture, if any, is trapped in a given compartment and can't infect the whole boat; and 3) diesel heater vented thru the cabin top for good circulation.

Point 2 is against normal practice in boatbuilding. But the old guy that built my boat said that he was against water going to a central bildge. Quote: "If I hit something and hole the boat, I want to know where the problem is. I will know beause the first hatch that starts to float will tell me where. Water flowing to a central bildge masks the problem."

Your dead right on the question of fiberglass over wood on the hull - bad bad practice. Sooner or later you'll have a plastic bag of dry-rot!

[Gritty]

Replacement cost of this yacht is estimated at $3,000,000!

So what?

This is a 60 year old boat, and (hopefully) nobody in the Maryland government is planning to "replace" it.

[TheOtherOne]

the two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

Let me just add to that fact of life, never buy a boat with friends.

[Rudder]

Before she rots away, the new owner could take some advantage of her better features. At 107 LWL and a 18 ft. beam this boat's an express cruiser of noteworthy merit (if powered properly.) The Frood principle: that for displacement hulls (which the governor's yacht is) if power to weight ratio is held constant, then increasing water line length increases the hull speed. This needle thin boat should really truck---may be up to 30 knots. She was a sub chaser and for good reason. But, the weight of all that new glass on the hull won't help at all--probably have to switch to diesel power...I'd go with Deere Marine, about a pair of 450 HP babies.

One of my old buds, an ex-Coast Guard giving commercial clamming a try on Moriches Bay, L.I., glassed over the wooden hull of a fairly good sized (LWL about 28 ft.) square-bow skiff. After that the free board was about 4 inches. So, he sealed the top, making a top deck thereby, and glassed it, then he put a small stand up one-man wheelhouse on it with a hatch to below, and painted it all flat black--at a distance (now since the added deck weight the boat had 1/2" freeboard)-- you'd swear it was a submarine.

[southernnorthcarolina]

If you want to replicate the sensation of boat ownership, take a cold water shower fully clothed while tearing up hundred-dollar bills.

[Heatseeker]

LOL! If I had only known. :)

[staytrue]

If you want to replicate the sensation of boat ownership, take a cold water shower fully clothed while tearing up hundred-dollar bills.

Great quote. But I was wondering if you lived on a boat and at 122 ft. I think you could live on this boat. Could you avoid state income taxes and local property taxes that go with a house ?

[sticker]

The same action also replicates ownership of an English sportscar

[AdA$tra]

Your dead right on the question of fiberglass over wood on the hull - bad bad practice. Sooner or later you'll have a plastic bag of dry-rot!

Just like vinyl siding on a house!

Sounds like Maryland got a good deal by selling that beast.

[telebob]

With Volvo Pentas, she has obviously been repowered. Wonder what she sported originally. at 265 HP each she must do a dignified 6 knots or so on calm water.

Hope the guy owns a drydock...

[Captain Peter Blood]

The thing to do then is for the new owner to over insure this bucket, take it on a few cruises and then open the sea cocks and send her to the briny deep and collect.

[AdA$tra]

AAAArrgggghhh matey. You guys are making want to talk like a pirate!

[HardStarboard]

>>>at a distance (now since the added deck weight the boat had 1/2" freeboard)-- you'd swear it was a submarine. <<<

Long story made shore: I have a friend who is a marine architect specializing in the structural engineering of fibreglass hull and decks. He became involved in the building of a 97' racing sloop designed by Germain Frers. The boat was being built in Brazil and he made several trips down to work with the designer. It was raced sucessfully in several world renown races.

Fast forward 14 yrs: My Friend got a call from Portugal and the new owners insurance company. The upshot was that the new owner had bought the boat in Brazil without an out of the water survey. He then extended the overhangs 10 feet, built a two deck house on top of the deck to include a hot tub, staterooms, galley etc, etc. The boat was converted to a ketch rig.

When he got the boat back to Europe he had it pulled at a Portugese yard. As they set her down on her keel - it continued up through the hull. The hull was settling down around the keel. The structure was never designed, nor intended to be designed, to take the weight of all the additions. The guy had well over 1.5 mil in a boat that suddenly became worthless. Moral - haul for the survey!!