Hargrave 100
Hargrave yacht's name had our reporter going for a few minutes.
March 2, 2009
King Baby is 100 feet long and ready to charter.
I cocked my head as I approached the brand-new, 100-foot Hargrave Raised Pilothouse motoryacht King Baby. She was docked stern-to the builder's stand at the Miami International Boat Show for her world debut. Like many boaters, I often try to divine the owner's identity by looking at a boat's nameplate. In this case, the words King Baby were in the same typeface, complete with logo, that stand for King Baby Studio-a jeweler known for skull rings, brass-knuckle pendants, and dragon belt buckles.
Luxury accommodations on the Hargraves Custom Yachts 100.
That's not exactly the style I envision when I think of the glossy woodwork and fine marble aboard Hargrave Yachts, especially those like King Baby that are signing into the builder's charter fleet with hopes of attracting as many clients as possible.
Thank goodness, I would soon learn, the King Baby nameplate is a big, fat fake-out. A Hargrave representative and the yacht's captain told me the owner is not, in fact, part of King Baby Studio. He just happens to be friends with the jeweler, who allowed use of the typeface and logo in addition to handcrafting some black leather throw pillows and keepsake boxes to accent the yacht's otherwise traditional decor.
On this deck, with hot tub and adjacent bar, it's not hard to conjure images of party time.
It turns out the jeweler and King Baby's owner also share a love of rock 'n' roll, which explains not only why Pink Floyd's The Wall was playing on the audio system during my tour, but also why the yacht's artwork comprises countless photographs of legendary musicians. I noticed museum-quality shots of Keith Richards, John Lennon, Jim Morrison, Madonna, Robert Plant, and Bruce Springsteen after just a few minutes aboard. One guest bathroom boasts a shot of Alice Cooper in a naval uniform.
Thise lower deck promises more formal evenings of dining and socializing.
"As you might have guessed, we're big on entertainment," Capt. Bryan Carter told me as we sat in the pilothouse beneath a black-and-white panoramic of Paul McCartney and friends. "We have iPod docks everywhere, a TV on the top deck, another one coming on the aft deck, even a dedicated satellite dish for high-definition channels."
Now that's the stuff I recognize as being charter-friendly and of Hargrave quality. Don't let the King Baby nameplate fool you. The owner may a have brass-knuckle pendant personality, but this yacht is as welcoming as they come.
What's in a nameplate, anyway?
