OceanYachts.info

I must admit I have had a fascination with boat names for many years. It probably stemmed from when I lived on the River Thames at Chertsey and I used to spend many a happy summer day lolling on the decks of an old Thames Barge (grandly named ‘Sunbeam’ whilst a similar barge a few berths down was nobly named ‘Atlas’) watching all manner of craft ply the river. It was particularly interesting to realise many of these craft were very old indeed and the practice of boat naming was is highly thought of today as it was back in the old days. The cross section was broad and in many ways you’d think that the names that were given to craft would have long been exhausted but this appears not to be the case. However, when you realise that every subject of interest, anywhere, to anyone, has been thoroughly searched and raided to provide names for past and present and doubtless future generations of floating craft.

Names of towns, cities, villages, counties, countries, royalty, cartoon characters, film stars, mythology, the stars, planets and heavens have all been thoroughly trawled for representation upon the bows and transoms of a thousand, yea, ten thousand craft that ply the waters of the world.

Continue Reading »

Compounding (Oxidation Removal):

Gel-coat, the exterior finish on fiberglass boats, is a porous mix of polyester resins and pigments that must be sealed from the damaging effects of ultra-violet (UV) rays, salt, dirt and weather. Neglect it, and it becomes more porous due to the oxidation of the mixture resins and what remains is a faded, dull finish.

Continue Reading »

Luxury corporation LMVH - Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest company for luxury products, has announced that it is going to get into the yacht business. The company is going to acquire Dutch luxury yacht designer and builder Royal van Lent.

Royal van Lent makes high-luxury yachts that sell for an average $44 million each. It is possible that, if the acquisition goes through, LMVH will provide some of the exclusive interior for the boats and yachts built by Royal van Lent.

The announcement by LMVH comes just a few days after Hermes has already gone into a joint-venture with yacht maker Wally, based in Monaco.

Looking at these two companies investing heavily in the yacht business, Hermes and LMVH - Louis Vuitton must believe that the market for yachts will not decline even in times of economic slowdowns. Quite the contrary: The market has always been relatively small compared to other markets and only targets a very specific group of customers. This group, however, has been growing for years as more people in countries like Russia and China have become very wealthy, and this trend is likely to continue.