MOVING ON UP
Picture this: a sunny day, a few fluffy clouds across pale blue, and a tropical breeze blowing down the decks of a brand-new 252ft Feadship. The new Boardwalk is docked along an alley lined with slim coconut palms, its bow jutting toward the new skyscrapers along Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard. The wide transom catches the breeze directly off the bay and long blades reveal an H130 chopper crouching like a lion ready to pounce on the top deck. The vision stops a couple out for a stroll, and they whip out their cell phones to take a shot. Boardwalk, at 1,848GT and with four decks (plus a tank deck), is an impressive sight in any surrounding.
The owner, businessman, bestselling author of Shut up and Listen and TV personality Tilman Fertitta (he is a frequent guest speaker on CNBC and was also on CNBC’s reality show Billion Dollar Buyer), is on board, sitting on a shaded settee and scanning phone messages.
This is his favorite spot on board this yacht – indeed, of any of the yachts he’s had to date, he says. Of course, with a regular increase in size, the aft deck has morphed from a simple settee with a table and perhaps a bar to a much more expansive space. New’s aft deck is far more than a transition area to the entrance of the main salon. It has the first of several bars, a large television screen, two semicircular sofas in the center and that settee, which I can’t help but notice as I slide onto it, is pleasantly supportive and protected from the sun and wind.
