More than two years ago we placed our order for a new boat – the innovative Dashew designed FPB64. We committed to the purchase of hull #1 of the FPB64 series around December of 2007. Actually Mike “gave” it to me for Christmas – and I think my jaw visibly dropped for the first time in my life. Now what seemed at the time like a remote concept is at last becoming concrete (actually aluminum) reality. Our new vessel is in the final stages of construction with a “splash” date scheduled for early to mid-March and a “coming out” open house on the calendar for March 26-27 in Whangarei, New Zealand.

Now that the schedule is set, our adrenalin is pumping as we are fed the tantalizing details leading up to this auspicious date. Two plus years of long distance observation and wiring funds in foreign currency while the experts dealt with thousands of details, from massive to minute, regarding aluminum plating and welding, wiring, piping, carpentry, electronics and much, much more. Now the essentials are giving way to wallpaper and headliners, upholstery and light fixtures. My email of today advised me to think about where to hang the artwork!

The steady feed of construction update blogs posted by Dashew Offshore only served to affirm what a mind-boggling exercise it has been to create this incredible vessel, literally made by hand – and described by Berthon International as a “paradigm shift for motor yachting”.

As soon as our FPB64 is officially turned over to us we plan to embark on some heavy duty cruising of New Zealand waters during the month of April, putting hours on the engine and testing out the systems, all the while enjoying the sound and feel of water under the keel once more. In anticipation of this moment our treasured “RAVEN” was sold last October and we have been dry docked in Tucson ever since. Small consolation that El Nino is giving us a record-breaking wet winter! Now our airline tickets are booked, suitcases already half packed six weeks early and we really don’t know if we can stand to wait it out!

We have christened our new yacht “AVATAR”. Nothing to do with the movie, really, although I admit we waited to see if the film was a bust or a success before committing to the name. But one of the definitions of the word “avatar” seemed most appropriate to this new yacht design, as follows:

Avatar – a concrete manifestation of any abstraction, such as an idea or concept; embodiment.
1. a new personification of a familiar idea

Introduction to the FPB Program