Boat International US Edition – June 2019

boatinternational.com • 06 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY: BILLY BLACK

My wife Sharonand

I are both native

Oklahomansandwe

grew up boatingon

freshwaterlakes.Myfirstboatwas

a flat-bottomrowboatwhenIwas

seven. Thereweretwocoveswhere

my parentsallowedmetorowand

at that ageI feltI hadallthe

freedom intheworld.Oncewe

married, weboughtourfirstski

boat, thenaseriesofwatersport

boats andexpresscruiserswhen

the kids camealong.

Being onthewaterisaritualfor

us and a placetoconnectwith

family andfriends.Werenteda

house andacenterconsoleinthe

Abacos for 10 years,butsomeTulsa

friends turnedusontoyachtingin

the Exumasandwecaughtthebug.

We firstboughtan85ftPacific

Mariner andlovedit,butsoon

realized weneededmorespacein

the salon andintheaftdeck.Our

then captainwasinaweofthis107ft

Christensen;itdidn’ttakelongto

realize shewastheone.

Reflectionshasahugeamountof

interior volume,thankstothe26ft

beam, andofthefourstaterooms,

two are spaciousVIPs.Theyacht

has this wonderful classic

mahoganythroughoutandthe

overall workmanshipandinterior

design is exceptional.

This is ourseventhseasonon

MYLIFEINBOATS

FromarowboatinOklahomatoa107ft

ChristensenintheBahamas,thisowner’slife

hasbeenonelongvoyage,saysGraceTrofa

REFLECTIONS

Sharon and Chip

are enjoying their

seventh season

on saltwater with

their 107ft boat

QUALITY TIME

Chip, Sharon and

their family have

long appreciated

being together

on the water

LANDING PARTY

Sugar sand beaches

keep bringing the

McElroy family back

to the Exumas

OWNERS’ CLUB

CHIP MCELROY

saltwater with the

yacht. New Year’s Eve

in St Barths was pretty

epic but top of our list

was waking up in Hemingway

Marina in Cuba with the sight of

Havana off our bow after an

overnight cruise from Key West.

The people there are

so warm and genuine,

and it is like stepping

back decades.

Over the years we

have had great success

fishing in the Abacos

and the Exumas out

in the Sound. We are

always on the lookout

for schools of tuna –

there’s nothing quite

like the taste of fresh

sashimi! Recently in

the Turks and Caicos,

we took part in a

wahoo tournament. It

was mating season

and the coolest part of the day was

being out on the water among the

bottleneck dolphins and humpback

whales with their newborns. It was

an unforgettable experience.

We average about 45 days a year

on board. Coming from the middle

of the country, for us the Bahamas

has it all, a variety you can’t get

anywhere else in such close

cruising grounds. B

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