Boat International US Edition – June 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY:

GETTY

IMAGES;

ADOBE

STOCK

OWNERS’ CLUB

Despite their love of sailing, when the

Danas started to think about building

another boat, they decided it would

have to be a motor yacht. “We thought

about building a new boat that we could

getoldon,”saysCharlie,whowasbornin1947.“Maybe

we’dstartoutlikewearenowwithnocrew,butwe’d

growintoitforwhenIamonthebreathingmachine,”

hesays.“Thismaybethelastboatweeverbuild.”Their

sonEli,nowgeneralmanagerofNewportShipyard,

cameupwithalengthof 90 to100ft,agoodsizeto

operateontheirownortoaccommodateuptothree

crew.Fromthere,theycreatedthedesign.“Welooked

atacoupleofboats,butwehaditsofirmlyinourminds

whatwewanted,whichiswhatyouseehere,anditjust

wasn’toutthere.”Soprettysoon,theyknewthey’d

buildagain.

Theyworkedonthedesign,twoandahalfhoursat

atime,fivepeopleonacall,whileseatedintheir

kitcheninNassau.“Ireallythinkapersonbuildinga

boathasthedesignsrollingaroundintheirheadfora

longtime,”hesays.

Contraband,whichdoesnothavealustrousyacht

finishbutamorepracticalshippaintappliedwitha

roller,isnoaverageboat.“We’rekeelcooledtoosowe

arelikeacommercialboat,andourstackreallyworks.”

Thedecision“tokeepdownthegizmos,”alsomeantno

icemaker,nodishwasher,nounderwaterlights.

“TheboatventilatesverywellandweareaDCboat.

Wehave 26 225-ampgelcells.Theyarejustgigantic,”

Charliesays.Theycanrunalimitedamountofheat,

airconditioning(householdunits),electricalcooktop

andthegyrostabilizer.“Mostboatsareverydock-

dependent;whentheyunplugfromadock,theyrun

fromagenerator.Thisboatisquitedifferent.”

And that matters

greatly to him,

because,hesays,boats

are about freedom.

Partofthatfreedomis

toknowtheboatso

well,youdon’thaveto

rely onanyone. So

naturally,hewasvery

involvedinthebuild.Yetwhenitcametimetotakethe

wheelforthefirsttime,heknew“nottotrusttheboat”

untilContrabandprovedherself.

“Trustingaboatislikefallinginlove,”hesays,and

theDanas’latestloveaffairstartedseveralhundred

milesintotheirmaidentrip,inNorthCarolina,andit

continuesastheycruiseintheBahamasandclock

manymoremiles.B

CHEFORCHAUFFEUR?

Achef,absolutely

SPEEDORSTYLE

Style

FAVORITEBEACH?

I’dsaytheExumas.They’re

absolutelybeautiful

withgin-clearwater

FIRSTTHING

YOUPACK?

Mypassport.

Idon’tpack

much.Iamnot

intoclothes

QUICKFIRE

CHARLIEDANA

HOWMANYWATCHES?

None

FIRSTBOATINGMEMORY?

Probablybeingon

Contrabandin 1953

IDEAOFLUXURY?

Ithinkthelastgreatluxury

intheworldisanchoring

FAVORITECAR?

Myfavoritecarisascooter!

Iliveonscooters.Ihave

onehere,Ihaveonein

CharlestonandIhaveone

inNewport

NEXT GENERATION

Sailor son Nick

(right) and grandkids

Wilkes (left) and Eli,

Daisy, Isabella and

Rose (below)

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