First Impression: Wanderlust

Date toured: October 2007

What I like about the 118-foot motoryacht Wanderlust is that she knows who she is, and she’s not suggesting that she’s anything more or less.
     That’s a rarity in today’s worldwide charter market, where every yacht is promoted as being “top-notch luxury!” and “more elegant than any other boat on the planet!” Wanderlust doesn’t pretend to be either of those things, which is appropriate, since she is quite frankly an altogether different kind of charter yacht.
     She started life in 1985 as For Your Eyes Only, then had the names Dynamo and I Don’t Recall before becoming Wanderlust when she got her most recent owner, in May 2006. Her history was quite checkered, having sunk in 20 feet of water in 1986 due to an owner’s driving error and then been rebuilt for $3.7 million—after which she promptly fell into less-than-ideal condition as she developed a reputation as nothing more than a booze boat.
     Her current owner, thus, was able to snatch her for a price that left plenty of cash for sprucing her up. He spent a season onboard in the Bahamas to get to know the yacht, and then had her gutted in October 2006 at Bradford Marine in Fort Lauderdale, right down to (and including) the wiring and electronics. The refit was completed in May 2007, after which the owner and his family took Wanderlust to the Turks & Caicos Islands, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. They finished their family cruise in September 2007 and decided to put the boat into charter just a few weeks before I got onboard to meet the owner and crew in October.
     The crew were all, thus, brand-new—including the first mate, who is the owner’s son—but I liked the owner’s attitude as he explained the kind of operation he wanted to have onboard.
     “I don’t want the crew in epaulets,” he said. “I want people to have fun. We’re not a $30-million boat, so we have to go the extra mile.”
     In the case of Wanderlust, that means adding in tons of great fishing gear, all based on the owner’s previous experience of running charter fishing vessels. Included in the weekly base rate is the use of a 34-foot Yellowfin sportfishing boat, plus some 26 rods and reels that are stowed in a hidden, sliding main saloon cabinet. (See photo above.) “My wife didn’t want them dripping through the saloon,” the owner quipped.
     That saloon, which used to be almost entirely consumed by an oversized bar, is now more of a child-friendly gathering area with plus seating all around. “I don’t even drink,” the owner explained. “We have a small bar now. You can have a drink, but we’re a family boat. My wife is deeply religious, and so the one thing we ask is for nothing illicit. We just got contacted by people who wanted to shoot a beer commercial onboard, and that made us uncomfortable.”
     Worth noting is that Wanderlust is a jet boat, which means she does not have propellers hanging down as low as they do on most “regular” motoryachts. She can get into shallower areas than most other boats in her size range, something that will be of particular value to anyone who chooses to charter in the Bahamas.
     From my view of the guest cabins, I think Wanderlust is ideal for two couples with children. That’s because the master aft and the VIP cabin forward are nearly the same size, each with a queen bed, while the other cabins have twin beds (and one of them has limited head room). One of the twin cabins also has a permanent bunk bed, which the owner installed so his daughter could bring two friends along without taking up two separate cabins.
     The yacht’s weekly base rate for as many as nine guests as $35,000, or about $4,800 per person with typical 25-percent expenses factored in. Wanderlust is part of the fleet at The Shipyard Group, and she can be booked through any reputable charter broker.—Kim Kavin