sea queen yacht

It’s a Miracle! Restored old boat finally floats

Although a previous owner had replaced much of the rotted wood, the boat still needed repair from stem to stern, had no engine, and despite the tarps, was collecting rainwater in its hull.

Share story

PORT ORCHARD — The first time Bob Irving saw his Sea Queen — the model name for the 1928-vintage wooden boat he launched here Thursday — it hadn’t tasted the sea in nearly a decade, and it certainly didn’t look regal.

An ad had led him to the 30-foot cabin cruiser, which was covered in blue plastic in a backyard of a boat-repair shop on Vashon Island.

“It was essentially a derelict.” Irving recalls. “If you had put it in water, it would have gone straight to the bottom.”

Most Read Local Stories

• Missing pilot found dead among wreckage in Cascades
• Seattle goes Dutch with a new bicycle intersection
• Prominent Seattle lobbying firm exits bankruptcy, cuts CEO’s pay
• Burien poised to kill King County-funded shelter project
• At shrimp feed fundraiser, Ferguson says WA governor's race will be close VIEW

Many people would flee such a sight. But if you know Irving, you know this: He doesn’t want toys. He wants projects.

“I knew it would take some work,” said Irving. “I was thinking a year, maybe two or three.”

Would you believe 18?

Indeed. It was 1993 when a 39-year-old Bob Irving, professional cabinetmaker and father of three kids under 13, paid $1,000 for this boat and another $700 to have it hauled to his home on Fox Island.

And it was a 57-year-old Irving, vice president of a telecommunications company and grandfather of two, who stood by Thursday as the same boat, recently valued by a marine surveyor at nearly $90,000, was lowered into the water at Sinclair Inlet it will now call home.

Surrounded by his family, Irving christened the boat’s bow with Champagne then stood aside as a travel lift slowly lowered it into the water at the Port Orchard Yacht Club, where it will be kept in covered moorage.

“Dah dum, dah dum,” he said, grabbing his jacket and emulating the beating of his heart. Then he climbed in and began peeking under floorboards. A slight leak let in some water behind the engine, but no more than Irving had anticipated, and as the dry wood swelled with water, the leak would stop.

Stepping out after a few minutes of investigation, he smiled and pointed at the bottle of Champagne.

“You can drink the rest of that now.”

Across the boat’s bobbing stern, dark green newly applied lettering declared the boat’s name, Miracle. Irving’s wife, Pat, said the name they chose has two meanings for the family. The first, that their son Gage, 19, miraculously survived serious injuries after being struck by a train last year.

And the second miracle? “That Bob actually got the boat finished,” Pat said.

Gage had earlier snapped pictures Thursday as Miracle was loaded on a yacht-transport truck and removed from the shed where it sat for 16 of its 18 years. He said he’s grown up with the boat.

“It’s a year younger than me. It’s like my little sister, but it gets more attention,” Gage said.

Bob Irving, an experienced mechanic as well as a woodworker, has been repairing the boat in the 16-foot tall, 40-foot long shed he built in his yard in Gig Harbor. For years, he has been staring at the boat but hasn’t been able to step back and see its entirety.

As it was hauled from the shed, Irving watched quietly.

“Wow,” he said. Then, smiling, “Oh, I don’t like it. Put it back.”

Pat Irving helped on the project, which continually reinforced her sense of what an artist and perfectionist she had married. Just about every time she sanded a surface until it seemed smooth to her, he’d suggest it needed a bit more sanding.

“I understand now that this is a work of art, and so for him, it has to be perfect,” she said.

Take those beams arcing across the cabin ceiling. They looked beautiful when Irving made them, by bending strips of fir and Angelique mahogany on a mold he made. But they look even classier now that he has added dark-brown mahogany molding and end caps along their edges.

Another detail: the Brazilian cherry floor has tiny round wood plugs over the screw heads — he made more than 1,000 in all. He installed the diesel engine, the propane range, the mahogany cabinets, the granite countertops. He said he might have gotten the boat done much sooner if he had worked at it steadily.

Instead, other things intervened — stuff like holding down a job, raising a family, assisting parents in their declining years, putting on weddings for the couple’s two daughters, married just months apart in 2006.

At one point, Irving took a few years off the boat job to remodel the house, which also dates to 1928.

After the remodeling, Pat said she told her husband “Go work on your boat,” and added, “That’s the last time I saw him.”

Over the past few years, Bob estimated he’s worked on the boat about 40 hours a week — two or three hours each day, and all weekend.

It’s impossible to estimate the cost of the repairs, Pat Irving said, but her husband has been very budget conscious. When he ran out of mahogany, Bob used reject pieces from a cabinet shop for finishing touches.

Irving’s Sea Queen is one of only six to eight made, all on Lake Union at Vic Franck’s Boat Co., which is still in business.

Dan Franck, boatyard owner, said his grandfather built the first Sea Queen for himself and then sold others — the exact number is unknown, because company records were destroyed in a 1938 fire.

At 30 feet, a Sea Queen is a bit smaller than many might want to take out on the open sea, but Dan Franck said his grandfather took his to Alaska at least once. A brochure indicates one model was offered for $3,600 — money that in the 1920s might have bought a decent house.

The stock-market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression largely dried up the company’s sales of pleasure craft, though it continued to make commercial and fishing vessels, and later, yachts.

Over the decades, lighter, cheaper fiberglass has replaced wood as the dominant material in pleasure boats. But the charm of working on a wooden boat is something Puget Sound artisans have appreciated for generations, said Dick Wagner, founder of the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle.

“It’s the fact that they know that this boat was made by human hands,” Wagner said. “It wasn’t poured into a mold like making a cookie. The art and the craftsmanship are living with the boat.”

With the Irvings’ boat now in the water, they’ll likely take it to wooden-boat shows around Puget Sound. Bob said he plans to take it out for a spin next week, after the boat gets acclimated to the water, and slowly progress to longer trips.

But in a few years, he may put Miracle up for sale and move on to a bigger boat — and a new project.

“But not something that will take another 18 years,” he said.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or [email protected]

• Classifieds
• Remember Me Forgot Password?
•   Boats Dock Talk Discussion Sea Queen Build Thread

• Electric Flight
• Advertising
• Our Sponsors
• Review Policies
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Site History
• Mark Forums Read
• Member Search
• Upcoming Articles
• Do Not Sell My Data
• Manage Consent
• Back to Top

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

A Superyacht Gave a Lifeline to 100 Migrants Thrown Into the Sea

A $175 million vessel responded to a distress call and helped rescue survivors in one of the Mediterranean’s worst wrecks in decades, reflecting the new inequality of the seas.

By Jason Horowitz and Matina Stevis-Gridneff

Jason Horowitz reported from Souda, Greece, on the island of Crete, and Matina Stevis-Gridneff from Brussels.

The superyacht Mayan Queen IV was sailing smoothly in clear weather through the dark and calm Mediterranean in the early hours of June 14 when it received a call about a migrant ship in distress four nautical miles away.

About 20 minutes later, shortly before 3 a.m., the towering $175-million yacht, owned by the family of a Mexican silver magnate, arrived at the scene. The distressed boat had already sunk. All the four-person crew could see were the lights of a Greek Coast Guard vessel scanning the water’s inky surface. But they could hear the screams of survivors.

“Horrible,” said the Mayan Queen’s captain, Richard Kirkby, who described the sea as “pitch black” on that nearly moonless night.

In a few hours, the 305-foot Mayan Queen, more accustomed to pleasure boating to Monaco and Italy with billionaires and their friends aboard, was filled with 100 desperate, dehydrated and sea-soaked Pakistani, Syrian, Palestinian and Egyptian men, as it played an unexpected role in one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in decades. As many as 650 men, women and children drowned .

The incongruous image of the devastated survivors disembarking the Mayan Queen on a port in Kalamata last week underlined what has become the strange reality of the modern Mediterranean, where the superyachts of the superrich, equipped with swimming pools, Jacuzzis, helipads and other trappings of luxury, share the seas with the most destitute on smuggler-operated boats perilously crossing from northern Africa to Europe.

The world’s waterways have become a reflection of global inequalities in recent days. In the North Atlantic, a billionaire, his son and other businessmen set out to explore the wreck of the Titanic on a luxury tourist submersible that has gone missing, touching off an international search and rescue operation .

Days earlier, the Greek authorities repeatedly decided not to assist a roughly 80- to 100-foot fishing trawler stuffed with as many as 750 people fleeing desperate poverty and the displacement of war in Greece’s search-and-rescue area. Only when the ship sank in front of the Coast Guard did the authorities spur to action, calling on the Mayan Queen, one of the world’s 100 largest yachts.

“As soon as you are notified and in close proximity and you can do so, you are obligated,” to try and rescue, said Aphrodite Papachristodoulou, an expert in the law of the sea and human rights at the Irish Centre for Human Rights. She said it was not unusual to have luxury yachts in the area.

Why the Greek authorities needed to call on a passing yacht to come to the rescue of an overcrowded and rickety ship that they had been monitoring and communicating with in their search-and-rescue area for a full day, she said, was less obvious.

“The practice of nonassistance or delay of assistance and why the Greeks were not proceeding to the rescue is another question mark,” she said.

There was one Greek Coast Guard vessel already on the scene when the Mayan Queen arrived, and its seamen were in a raft saving scores of men from the water. The crew of the Mayan Queen lowered its life raft with three of its own crew, and followed the cries for help, pulling 15 men onboard, the captain said.

A vivid retelling of events provided under sworn testimony by Mr. Kirkby, and obtained by The New York Times, added that none of those saved were wearing life vests. Some clutched floating pieces of wood. For hours afterward, the yacht crew kept eerily quiet and beamed its brightest lights to better hear and see.

Investigators are still seeking to understand what exactly happened as the trawler sank trying to reach Italy — whether smugglers refused assistance and panic on the ship caused it to capsize, as the Coast Guard claims, or whether a failed attempt to tow the ship caused it to sink, as some survivors contend. In either case, it fell to the Mayan Queen to shoulder much of the rescue.

The gleaming yacht, sailing from Italy, transported 100 of the 104 survivors and four Greek coast guard officials — as well as about a dozen bodies — to port.

“I would like to think that we did what anyone would do,” said Mr. Kirkby, who used to pilot the superyacht Le Grand Bleu , of the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. He added on Wednesday that, because of a nondisclosure agreement and the “contentious” circumstances of the ship’s sinking, he could not say much more.

“I wouldn’t like to see the Coast Guard get a bad rap,” he said. “They did all they could.”

Mr. Kirkby spoke briefly in a cafe in the port of Souda, where the yacht was docked near a cruise ship delivering tourists to the Cretan city of Chania, an industrial Russian vessel and a parking lot filled with stationary truck containers. The vessel’s crew carried out chores, and like the captain wore T-shirts featuring a drawing of the yacht on the back and a B, for the family of the ship’s late owner, Alberto Baillères, on the breast pocket.

On Wednesday morning one crewman carried an umbrella up the gangway that the migrants unsteadily walked down last week, some of them met by stretchers and health workers with foil blankets. By the ship’s stern, with the silvered letters of “Mayan Queen” and “George Town” sparkling in the hot sun and under pumping house music, crew members worked where the migrants huddled upon reaching the Kalamata port.

According to Boat International, a yachting news site, the Mayan Queen, which flies a Cayman Islands flag, is in the top 100 for the world’s largest superyachts. It was built by the Hamburg-based shipbuilder Blohm & Voss GmbH in 2008 and designed by Tim Heywood , a favorite of the yachting set.

“Her power comes from two diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 26 guests, with 24 crew members,” the magazine wrote. “She is built with a teak deck, a steel hull, and aluminium superstructure.”

That craftsmanship stood in stark contrast to the condition of the ship that hundreds of migrants, paying thousands of dollars a head, crammed into last week in Libya, in the hopes of reaching Italy.

Witnesses said in sworn testimony obtained by The Times that passengers suffered beatings with belts and deprivation. Smugglers threw food into the water. Pakistani men were kept in the hold and hundreds of them sank with women and children into one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean. Only the lucky ones reached the Mayan Queen’s decks.

At around 6 a.m. on the morning of the wreck, as the sun came up, Mr. Kirkby received a call to transport all the 100 rescued men from the Coast Guard vessel to the nearest port.

He offered dry clothes and water to the men, some of whom, he said, “were in a bad way.” For hours the survivors, wrapped in gray blankets and mourning their losses, sailed on the superyacht. At 11:20 a.m. the Mayan Queen and its unexpected passengers arrived to port.

“We took them all,” Mr. Kirkby said.

Niki Kitsantonis contributed reporting from Athens.

Jason Horowitz is the Rome bureau chief, covering Italy, the Vatican, Greece and other parts of Southern Europe. He previously covered the 2016 presidential campaign, the Obama administration and Congress, with an emphasis on political profiles and features. More about Jason Horowitz

Matina Stevis-Gridneff is the Brussels bureau chief, leading coverage of the European Union. She joined The Times in 2019. More about Matina Stevis-Gridneff

SEA QUEEN VII

FUN FAMILY ATMOSPHERE 

Come & Catch The Big Ones

Return to Cruising & Touring

At this time, we are resuming our Millionaire’s Row™ Cruises, Everglades Safari Park Tours, Bus Transportation to Key West, Hop-On Hop-Off Big Bus Tour, and private yacht charters. Our ample vessels feature multiple decks with indoor and outdoor spaces. We will update this page as our schedule expands and restrictions lift.

COVID-19 Safety Measures

Social distancing.

• Seating will observe social distancing protocols and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. We can make accommodations for family units.
• All queue areas will be marked with social distancing parameters. Our ticket counter features plexiglass to minimize contact between employees and customers.

Employee Requirements

• All staff uniforms will adhere to CDC guidelines. This will include masks that will be disinfected/changed for every tour.

Cleaning & Sanitation

• We will be providing hand sanitizing stations throughout the vessel, at boarding on the dock, on every deck, as well as near food and beverage areas.
• All team members are trained to thoroughly clean and disinfect key surfaces and areas before, during, and after each tour. This includes but is not limited to handrails, backs of chairs, doorknobs, bars, counters, tables, bathroom sinks, toilet handles, etc. These ongoing tasks will be completed per the CDC and Miami-Dade County guidelines.
• Our bathrooms feature individual private stalls. These areas will be serviced throughout the tour and will be equipped with hand dryers and disinfectant soap.

Additional Safety Precautions

• Photo operations have been temporarily ceased.
• Our schedule will fit within the parameters of the Bayside Marketplace operating hours.
• If additional steps are desired, we are happy to provide them as requested.

THE ISLAND QUEEN YACHT IN MIAMI

Make your next special event extravagant, exciting and fun with aboard the Island Queen! Whether you’re planning a wedding, class reunion, Sweet 16, Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or corporate function, renting out the Island Queen yacht is the perfect choice to host your gathering. You just can’t beat a backdrop of the spectacular Miami skyline and the dazzling blue waters of Miami Beach and Biscayne Bay. Give your event the exclamation point it deserves—book a private charter on the Island Queen!

Rent the Island Queen for Your Next Event

The Island Queen is an economically convenient vessel for the mid-range yacht charter. Her size is suitable to groups between 15 to 140 passengers. The Island Queen’s sleek design makes her accessible for Biscayne Bay cruises, Miami River cruises, private dance cruises and alternate sightseeing cruises around Miami.

The boat is designed to depart during inclement weather. With its awning protecting the top deck from light sprinkles and direct sunlight, the vessel is perfect for the specific groups that must depart come rain or shine.

The top deck can be used for wedding ceremonies, cocktail receptions, bands or a spacious dance floor for those elegant salsa parties, while the bottom deck can seat 72 passengers at once for the main dinner.

Call us at 305.379.5119 and let one of our specialized consultants help you plan your next private yacht charter!

SPECIFICATIONS

• Available for private charters & sightseeing tours only
• Accommodates up to 140 passengers
• Seats up to 50 passengers in the main dining deck
• Brunch, lunch, dinner, cocktail, or dance cruises
• Executive gourmet chef prepared food
• Docked at Bayside Marketplace
• Modern interior
• Comfortable cruising experience
• Licensed crew & experienced staff
• Alternate docks available
• Fully insured

Watch Our Video on PRIVATE YACHT CHARTERS By Biscayne Lady Yacht Charters – Miami’s Premier Yacht Charter Company

EXPLORE OUR AWAY-DOCK PICKUP LOCATIONS

Want to have you and your guests picked up at another location? We offer a variety of local away-dock pickup options to seamlessly integrate with your event schedule.

• +971 564 20 8001 Make a call
• [email protected] Drop us a line
• Dubai harbour, Dubai Get Dirction

For the perfect vacation, you need to live a world of luxury. Access the world’s most luxurious yachts and spend your days living it up on the water. Explore a wide range of options, from party boats to fishing boats to all-inclusive resorts.

Sea Queen Luxury Yacht is one of the largest yacht charter companies in Dubai, with more than 200+ yachts and boats at their disposal. We have a dedicated team of experienced crew members and we are committed to offering you the best service in the industry.

Why Choose Us

Live your life in style.

We offer more than 200+ yachts for you to choose from, with a wide variety of styles and amenities. We can customize your trip based on what you need - whether you want to enjoy a peaceful getaway or take your friends out for a luxury yacht party, we have the perfect vessel for you.

We strive to be the best

Sea Queen Luxury Yacht offers top-notch service that is second-to-none. We have been in business since 2006 and are committed to ensuring that each and every one of our customers has an amazing experience with us - we're not happy until you're happy.

What We offer you

Sea Queen Luxury Yacht is one of the largest yacht charter companies in Asia, with more than 200+ yachts and boats at their disposal. We have a dedicated team of experienced crew members and we are committed to offering you the best service in the industry.

Celebrate your moment with a Sea Queen

We offer you the best service and the most affordable prices

• Wedding anniversary party
• Family tours
• Bachelor party
• Honeymoon trips
• Spend time with friend and Enjoy a party
• Product launch
• Corporate meetings
• Project successful party