First Impression: New Moon II

Date toured: December 2007

I didn’t recognize the name of management company Custom Yachts International when I boarded the 112-foot Westport motoryacht New Moon II during the Angitua charter show. As it turns out, the company is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where it does work in yacht sales, construction, and more. It's not one of the big names in charter, but it does list charter yacht management as one of its services.
     New Moon II is a 2004 build that got a new owner in April 2007, Capt. Adam Cunerd told me, adding that the yacht had never been in charter before. Her first booking was scheduled for Christmas 2007. 
     So those are a couple of things you’ll want to discuss right off the bat with your reputable charter broker before you book, to make sure that everything is actually working out the way the company and the yacht had planned at the time of my tour. Those plans included heading to the unusual charter destination of the Great Lakes for summer 2008, a place it sounds like the captain knows quite well.
     Cunerd has been with New Moon II’s owner for three years, previously working onboard the owner’s 85-foot motoryacht. They cruised in the Great Lakes each summer, then in Florida and the Bahamas area each winter, and the same route seems to be the idea onboard New Moon II.
     “The owner lives in Milwaukee, so we’re based out of Wisconsin every year,” Cunerd said. “There is plenty that we can do between Chicago and the Mackinaw Bridge. The season is from May through September, and you can swim there, but you have to have a thick skin.”
     There are a good number of 112-foot Westport motoryachts available for charter (including Gale Winds, whose review was posted on CharterWave at the same time as this one). All the 112 Westports have nearly identical layouts, but New Moon II is somewhat distinct in that she has an enclosed aft deck (see photo above), presumably to keep guests warm during chilly nights off the coast of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.—Kim Kavin