After years of low key whining about the general poor quality of the photos I see trying to sell very expensive boats on Yachtworld, I finally got the opportunity to try my hand at it!  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I arrived, but the boat definitely wasn’t it! She was gorgeous, with a gleaming dark blue hull, teak decks, and an interior rivaling some of the megayachts we always check out at the boat shows!  Even more impressive is that the owner built it himself!

Owner-built boats, as opposed to boats purchased from a known factory, usually have a stigma for being poorly built.  I’ve definitely seen some DIY boats hacked together with duct tape and bailing twine, however sometimes the opposite happens.  I’m not sure what the owner’s profession is, but over the course of 3 years he has created a truly impressive custom built boat starting with the bare aluminum hull of a Chatam 47.  Jason and I have done a fair amount of custom fabrication over the years and I still can’t even fathom the amount of work that went into this boat.  The attention to detail is mindblowing.

Here is a link to her sale ad on Yachtworld with all the details: SAO YACHTWORLD

The boat’s name is Sao, who was one of the Nereids in Greek mythology whose domain was safe passage and the rescue of sailors.  Excellent choice for a boat name!

I love the contrast between the darker wood planks on the floor and the lighter wood on the rest of the surfaces. The boat has so much natural light from all of the windows it makes an already large boat feel even larger.

Unfortunately, due to hurricane Eta rolling through town the weather the day of the shoot was rainy and overcast.  Not at all what you want for outdoor photos!  I took some pictures of Sao from the dock, but they really don’t do her justice!

Since they were sad to be selling the boat after putting so much work into it, they also wanted a bunch of small detail shots of the boat.

This may have been my first boat photoshoot, but it hopefully won’t be my last!