Boating is very much a personal journey. So, when you come to build a new one, and you’ve got quite a few nautical miles under your own keel, you know what you want, and expect.
Epitomising our opening stanza is the new owner of one of the first Maritimo M75 Flybridge Motor Yachts, that was recently launched by the lauded builder. He and his family have used their existing Maritimo extensively, up and down the east coast of Australia. The vessel is loved so much, that his brother is going to be the new custodian, now that they are moving up to Maritimo’s Flagship.
“Back in about 2006 when I turned 40, I really wanted to buy a big boat, and ended up with a 47-footer that I kept for 10 years. In 2016 I found a near-new Maritimo M58/62 that I bought off Justin Thorpe at Maritimo Gold Coast. I tweaked it up a bit, made it mine if you like, and my family has loved every second on board. My brother is going to take that boat on now. He thought it might be too big, but he loves his fishing, and it is such a good, all-round boat.”
Like many a good boatie he started with smaller craft, even building his own 6.5m boat back in the early 90s, moulds and all. He also pondered going into the boatbuilding business at one stage, as it turns out. Back to today, and the previous and new Maritimo are berthed not too far from home, which allows his family to ‘use it like an apartment’, as he puts it.
“We use the galley just like the kitchen at home, and cook all types of meals in it. We love spending weekends away, and also do week-long adventures, too. I love doing the blue water cruising. We go up to Far North Queensland and to the Whitsundays. There is nothing like it. We have also just finished a 10-day stint aboard on the Gold Coast.”
“We use every bit on it. This is what I love about the Maritimos – a great blue water boat, and you can go anywhere with them. I’m definitely the Skipper! I love being in control. Love to know everything about my vessel. So yes, I’m pretty hands on, a little bit mechanically minded, I know something of the electrics, and probably a bit about everything.”
“Our M75 has been designed as an owner/operator boat, and we ticked a lot of boxes to make it easy for just the one of us to actually manoeuvre and berth the boat on our own. The mtu package from helm to screws, including the Side-Power thrusters is certainly a big part of this.”
“Normally there’s four of us when we go away. My wife and I and our two younger children. I also have three older children, and two of them are married, and also have had our first grandchildren, all of whom come away with us at various times. The M75 not only offers more room, it is so flexible as well. Having the two living spaces means everyone can get away and enjoy some space.”
Part of that flexibility is the adaptable Utility Cabin, immediately behind the engine room. In this instance, it’s configured to become a workshop, with cabinetry made especially for it to house tools, and on the other side all the fishing tackle (of which there is plenty) is properly secured away. There is also an upright freezer to underscore the cruising use by the family, which is set to expand even further with the new, larger vessel. Perhaps that will even include a circumnavigation of Australia, and a trip to Fiji and beyond.
“Another thing we love is the really big Adventure Deck. If you’ve got kids and grandchildren jumping off the boat and splashing around, they’re over there, whilst you can be just three steps away up on the main cockpit deck, and not getting covered in water. We are going to carry the main tender on the foredeck, and also some water toys on the swim platform, and to help keep the kids entertained, we have carefully integrated an articulated platform that can be raised for diving, and lowered right into the water to become steps all the way up to head height. It certainly completes the superyacht feel of the M75, and adds even more WOW factor, too.”
“The Adventure Deck is one of the things that really got me. You can put a couple of deck chairs there, and we have a put a large fixed cantilevered umbrella there to deliver shade. Just brilliant.”
“I did keep a ‘weather eye’ on other vessels in the size category, but the M75 always kept coming up with the answers. The connection with the water, utilisation of space, openness and lack of steps/levels and the modern feel of Maritimo’s Flagship was definitely a key part of it all. Setting it up so we didn’t need crew to help was also a big part of it, such as you do with 80-footers and upwards. I do however employ someone to keep my boats ship shape, which is why the previous M58/62 looks as good today as it did when it was built.”
“It was wonderful to work with Maritimo, and they were very accommodating. I am certainly still loving my Maritimo journey that began back in 2016. I enjoyed being involved in the early design and development of the M75. It seemed like forever in the plug mould stage, but in the end, I was so glad to see our boat advance along the production line.”
“Our Maritimo experience is certainly wrapped up in this new boat. We will go further afield as there is heaps of fuel on board, and the modern aesthetic is wonderful. We love what Maritimo has done with all of the spaces on board, from galley to bridge, Stateroom to Adventure Deck. It all takes comfort to another level again, and delivers the confidence to take on blue water adventures like nothing else.”
“Maritimos are designed to be used, not parked in the marina, and we have the room to take family and friends on great seafaring travels. You are connected with everyone when you are driving on the bridge deck, or cooking on the main deck level. That bar area outside on the bridge deck is as much of a delight as the cruising lounge adjacent to the helm. It’s all brilliant.”
