“Let’s get lost!”
And with that declaration, tongue firmly planted in cheek, Francis Vermeer of Feadship’s marketing department and I proceeded to climb up and down all sorts of ladders and makeshift stairs connecting the under-construction decks of yard #798 at Royal Van Lent today. And yes, we did get lost.
The yacht, measuring just shy of 67 meters (about 220 feet), certainly isn’t the largest one either of us had been on, but because the yacht is so voluminous, Vermeer and Feadship America’s François van Well had joked just an hour earlier that we’d need the G.A. (general arrangement, sometimes called the accommodations plan) firmly in hand to find our way around.
As we climbed, turned corners, and peered through passages, we truly did lose track of what deck we were on and even whether we were fore or aft. At one point we each wondered out loud whether we were on the bridge deck, and it wasn’t until we walked what we thought was forward that we realized we were. (Well, entering a room that clearly is shaping up to be the wheelhouse helped greatly.)
Even though construction will continue for several more months, and even though I can’t share any pictures of her just yet, the yacht is shaping up to be a stunner. There’s an elevator that rises up to the sundeck, a handy pantry in the lobby outside the guest staterooms, and an expandable round table in the dining room that can accommodate parties from 12 to 20. There’s also a gas-fed fireplace on the bridge deck. While the owners are first-time Feadship customers, they clearly learned a lot from previous experience.
I just hope they don’t get lost when they take delivery. But if they do, at least it’ll be a happy accident.
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