http://www.boatinternational.com | February 2016This month
Douglas Barrowman
Owner of Turquoise (55.4m)I never leave home without...
My book of choice right now
is The Jackdaw, book four of
the DI Sean Corrigan series.
It’s a great read.
I’m an avid watch collector, so
have quite a few to choose from. The
one I wear on board tends to be my
Richard Mille RM 021. For the
evening I like my Jaeger-LeCoultre
Sphérotourbillon. My most famous
timepiece is the George Daniels Space
Traveller Watch.
The onboard soundtrack is
dominated by Calvin Harris
at the moment. I like to keep
up with current music.
Everyone says this but my technology
is basically an iPhone and
iPad, although I also carry
a BlackBerry (old habits
die hard).
My suitcase is always
full of gadgets and Loro
Piana clothes. There are a few pairs of
Vilebrequin shorts in there as well.
For sunglasses, I have about 10 pairs
of Louis Vuitton shades. The exact
model was discontinued a few years
back, so I stocked up.
The thing I’m guaranteed to forget to
take with me is a phone charger and
international adapter, followed closely
by my PADI diving card.
The first thing that happens on board?
I’m greeted with a passion fruit martini
(the house drink on Tu r q u o i s e). Within
15 minutes, I’m usually in a T-shirt,
swimming shorts and a baseball cap.
The water toys that get most use are my
SeaBobs. The other absolute must-haves
are good friends and family, at all times.
’
Sir Michael Hill
YACHT: VvS1
LENGTH: 34.2m
YEAR: 2007
LOCATION:Auckland- The yacht’s going into the yard.
Anything changing?
It’s nine years old but the boat has been
kept in terrific nick. It’s really just
a survey requirement. We’re going to
open up the engines, prop shafts and all
the unseen things. Hopefully we won’t
find anything untoward! - Have you changed her over the years?
The boat is basically as we designed it.
She’s such a distinct style that we’ve had
lots of offers to buy her. We’re building her
a chase boat - a 13 metre, called Rough
Diamond. She’ll be able to cruise at
30 knots through two-metre swells.
We’re going after big game fish like marlin
Where have you cruised VvS1?
ots of places now. We put it on a ship and
ook it up to Europe, so we’ve done most
of the Med. We fell in love with Turkey -
the people have such a lovely attitude.
Now she’s back home. The whole time we
were in the Med, the only fish we caught
was a reasonable mahi mahi off Turkey
and a couple of yellowfin tuna. That was it!
You’d catch that in a day in New Zealand- Where’s your favourite destination?
The top coast of New Zealand. It’s so
serene and simple, and if you get the
weather right it’s like nowhere else - Do you have a good selection of Kiwi
wines on board?
We’ve got some very nice wines from all
over the world, but my favourite
is New Zealand chardonnay
and our pinot noirs. On the
aft deck with a glass of
wine – nothing better
uritem- W
Lo
to
of
Owner of Escapade
LENGTH: 37.5m
YEAR: 2014
LOCATION: Tahiti- What’s the best thing you’ve seen?
Vanuatu had the most incredible things
to offer, like Pentecost Island, where land
diving was invented – now internationally
known as bungee jumping. Our crew went
up the fairly high and unstable tower but none
jumped! Malekula, where supposedly the last
cannibalism took place not so long ago, around
1970, is incredible. The remote Banks and Torres
islands have a population of just 300, all living
without electricity or doctors. The snake dance
on the beautiful and so friendly islet of Ra and
the huge and delicious coconut crabs are all
incredible memories from the Banks and Torres - Any wildlife encounters?
Swimming within a metre of 40 ton humpback
h les in Tonga was certainly a most amazing
d breathtaking experience
Any scares or dramas?
No, just lots of fun, including a surprise
birthday party for my wife with some
friends and about 20
Polynesian musicians
and dancers on board- Where next?
After re-embarking
mid-April 2016, we will
eastern Polynesian archipelagos
of Tuamotus, Marquesas, Austral and Gambier.
Then we will head towards South America via
Pitcairn. We plan to disembark in Easter Island,
fly to Santiago in Chile, from where we will
drive right down to Punta Arenas in Patagonia
(probably more than 2,000km!). Then we will
re-embark to explore the Strait of Magellan
prior to rounding Cape Horn. We’ll be in Buenos
Aires for Christmas and Punta del Este in
Uruguay for New Year - Do you feel a million miles from everything?
We did when we were in Tokelau and the
northern part of the Cook Islands. All of these
are absolutely lost islands with very small
populations. Suwarrow atoll in the Cook Islands
has just one park ranger and his wife living
alone there for eight months during the season.
They are very nice people with whom we had
a barbecue on the beach
whale
andothe