THE UNEXPECTED HISTORY OF AN AMAZING SCHOONER FOR SALE!

[Music] as seductive as hedy lamarr as stylish as the great gatsby and as eye-catching as a rolls-royce phantom one jonquil coupee weatherbird is one of the most iconic design statements gifted us from the 1930s it would be impossible to properly tell you about weatherbird though without first recounting some of her incredible history now for those of you who just want me to get on with it and show you the yacht we're going to put a time stamp on this rather elegant art deco style television set so that you can fast forward to that part you really will be missing out on something though as you'll see now [Music] the story starts in the 1920s with gerald and sarah murphy gerald was born into a very wealthy family his father was a prominent businessman who wanted him to inherit the business however gerald failed the entrance exam to yale three times before finally getting in on the fourth attempt interestingly he actually met cole porter while he was in there sarah too was born into a very wealthy family but unusually she didn't feel comfortable in the setting of the american super wealth of the time they were kindred spirits they married and they moved to the south of france where they found work with a ballet gerald fell in love with the life of artists and he started to mix with local artists in no time at all they had a social circle that included coco chanel ernest hemingway louis armstrong and pablo picasso actually rumor has its the ernest hemingway had quite a crush on sarah murphy and maybe picasso even had a romance with her he painted her portrait on seven different occasions she was a real beauty of the time gerald himself became an accomplished artist and the two lived a social life that quite literally changed the world they are accredited with being the first people to sunbathe on the beach a trend i have to say that's definitely caught on and in 1923 they had a famous party called the mad beach party their lives were so extraordinary that f scott fitzgerald's book tender is the night is modeled after them oh he was a friend of theirs as well by the way it was somebody far less well known though who influenced the murphy's decision to build a yacht during their time with the russian ballet troupe in france they met a set designer called vladimir olof now he was actually a russian aristocrat with a passion for and the knowledge of yachts that the murphys clearly found infectious culminating in their commissioning of weatherbird a glorious 31 meter long gaf rigged schooner that has hosted some of the world's greatest characters from an era that is quite rightly known as the bell epoch [Music] and as a final gem i can tell you that weatherbird was named after a record by louis armstrong and that record is embedded in the keel of the yacht now here are a few technical details the most important thing to say is that the yacht has benefited from a 17-month refit initially the refit was concerned with the structure to make sure the structure is still sound and robust which it is there's a lot of less visible things that were done on the refit that we'll be looking at at the end of this video but here are a few of the more visible details such as this panel here encompassing all of the controls for the yachts but made with the same wood that's sympathetic to the general styling of the vessel [Music] let's take a look around though we have this beautiful seating area here which can also be under the shade thanks to the boom here from the mast obviously that table extends out so you can easily sit with a group of eight friends enjoying beers and cocktails under the sun in the mediterranean moving down the side deck this is a rather neat feature and it's often not found on far more modern yachts of this size it has a proper side boarding ladder those of you who watch this youtube channel who spend time on yachts will know how convenient and how comfortable that is one of the most awkward moments with any yacht is getting on and off from the tender with the sideboarding lead like that this morning we were able to get off and come back on again very very easily just look at this though this is where weather bird comes into her own all of this gorgeous varnished wood the cozy seating area the sunbathing area at the bow you can just imagine the joy and the pleasure that comes from spending time on a yacht like this you can keep your big 50 60 meters steel and aluminium fiberglass shots nothing has the charm nothing has the absolute charisma of a yacht like this and when you know how old it is and you know of the people who've been on board the yacht it just adds something to the style and the charm of the vessel as you can see here we have plenty of space for sunbathing with four really nicely sized sun pads uh laid out here and one of the things i've really appreciated and that you'll see more as we look around the interior of the yacht is how the current owner has done everything he can to keep all of the new features in keeping with the style of the 1930s there's a lot of art deco features such as for example this little plant pot holder here which is obviously also for your drinks to be able to put them on the side on that subject though let's take a quick look around the interior [Music] clearly most of the deck house is still original it has a wonderful charm to it but there are a few features that are worth pointing out this art deco style fireplace for example which was done by a local craftsman in greece the light fittings which are also art deco i was talking to the owner who was on board earlier on the yacht and he was telling me that back in the 30s glass wasn't used so much for light fittings but there was a material called opelina so he actually sourced the material to have proper opelina light fittings and he was saying how the lights diffused from them gives a real feeling of being back in the in the 30s obviously this is not an original feature though this that i thought was a a table actually it's a piano i can hardly think of a better setting if you enjoy playing the piano and you enjoy music to be able to sit and enjoy the atmosphere that you're in in this beautifully atmospheric setting with your friends your friends who will likely be staying in one of the cabins let me show you what they're like actually it's here below deck and in the cabins that you really feel the historic value of the yacht it's entirely likely that this is the desk at which coco chanel sat and put on her lipstick or ernest hemingway sat and reflected and started to write notes for another one of his books a beautiful double birth cabin with real attention paid to the details so the owner has retained some of that historic styling of the yacht the bathroom here is completely new and it really shows it looks absolutely beautiful in there whilst for the time being this cabin still retains some of its historic charm [Music] the port we have two single bunks now they use this bathroom here which is also shared by a second cabin with two single bunks before we get to this starboard double cabin some of the things i want to point out to you as well in in this shot is the attention paid to retaining original features such as this lamp now that night may not have been an original feature on this yacht but certainly it's an original 1920s 1930s feature all of the brass appliances here interestingly on this appliance you can actually turn the television on and off and you can scroll through the various channels on your art deco style television set there all from the comforts of your bed those are those kind of hidden details that make this such a charming yacht to be on further forward we have the galley [Music] again a lot of attention has been paid to make sure the original features are respected so this very high-end la conch stove here was purchased with brass fittings as was the gagno oven with bronze fittings fridge space freezer space here and if you're wondering what's behind this door i can't show you right now because it's being used for storage it's quite a big area in which there is space for five crew in two cabins with two bathrooms and a bosun's locker [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] under sale weatherbird is every bit as magnificent as one would hope the owner tells me that she can comfortably cruise under sail at eight knots and the engines will also propel her to over eight knots but this is a yacht that you just have to experience to appreciate the thrill of traveling the ocean on a vessel that has become as much a part of the mediterranean as bluefin tuna [Music] what about the current condition of the yacht well as i mentioned earlier she's had a 17-month refit with much of the work relatively unseen for example the main engine was completely overhauled she has new generators new water maker new anti-vibration mounts for the engine she may be a historic yacht but mechanically she's completely up to date a future owner could just turn up with their suitcase their friends their family their dog and immediately set sail if you think you may be that future owner and you're a qualified buyer and you want a full list of all of the work done on board you can do no better than contacting my friend and my colleague richard calendar his email address is on screen now [Music] you

Channel: Yachts For Sale

Views: 56,253

Keywords: SCHOONER FOR SALE, YACHT FOR SALE, CLASSIC SAILING YACHT, GERALD AND SARA MURPHY, PICASSO YACHT

Id: qYkohTr-FCE

Length: 12min 40sec (760 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 23 2022