Northrop and Johnson

Being a yacht broker for Northrop and Johnson of Massachusetts brings to mind some fond memories of the sea.

My family lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts when I was 7 years old. I remember occasional trips to the Whaling Museum with my father to take the measurement of antiquities he planned to build replicas of. (I still possess a harpoon he built.) Walks along pier after pier filled with the once glorious and colorful Portuguese fishing fleet with so many boats that some were tied 5 or 6 abreast. As we strolled through the park in Fairhaven where we spent most Wednesday evenings we would always see yachts and trawlers coming and going from the harbor. 

On a bright summer day we left the docks on a ferry and entered Buzzards Bay. Our cruise was a transit and return through the Cape Cod Canal. I remember waving to the megayachts and sailboats passing by us. I thought how grand it would be to own or charter a yacht. In my child’s mind I had become a sailor and envisioned sea adventures, rescues and treasure. 

All too soon the ships loudspeaker blared, “Stand by to come about”, as we began to turn back towards the canal and New Bedford.

My father gave me this life and one thing more. Every time I see the Cape Cod Canal, I am 7 again.

Richard Hamel has joined the Northrop and Johnson Office of Massachusetts recently and brings his knowledge of yachts and his love for the sea to the yacht brokerage firm. If you are interested in purchasing a yacht or would like info to charter a yacht, call 978.921.6600 and ask for Richard.

Yacht Ownership opens a whole new world to the Owner and his family. Here are some tips on making the experience enjoyable from the beginning:

 1. Find a Yacht Broker you are comfortable with. A good Broker listens to you and provides all the necessary  information for you to make an educated and informed decision. Your broker should also have access to every  aspect of the industry from what yachts are available, crew hiring, ship yards, surveyors, customs etc. The  broker should be with you throughout your entire yachting career as an advisor.

 2. Hire a Captain you are comfortable with. The Captain is the manager of your yacht. The captain should be  proficient in budgets, project management, crew management and have the ability to make your experience  completely enjoyable.

 3. Upon closing on your yacht and taking possession we advise not make wholesale changes from day one to the  yachts interior or design. Enjoy the yacht for six months to a year before making major changes. Often it is  the case where a new owner finds that changes are not always necessary as was first envisioned.

 4. Budgets are always necessary. When the yacht goes into the shipyard the appropriate experts should be  consulted to prepare a budget and discuss your expectations with the shipyard prior to any work beginning.

On occasion a Buyer cannot locate the perfect yacht for his tastes or desires. This Owner has the option to build the perfect yacht. Over the years, yacht brokers of Northrop and Johnson, have found that many Owners who choose to build enjoy that process and experience so much that they will take on a second and third project immediately after taking delivery.
 
The joys of yacht ownership are about the experience, the service and the worldwide adventures that come with ownership. Vist www.njyachting.com or call 978.921.6600 for more info on the lifestyle you deserve.

On Father’s Day, June 15th, Northrop and Johnson of the Massachusetts had the privilege of becoming one of the sponsors for the Larz Anderson Auto Museum’s German Car Day. This summer lawn event took place at the museum’s Brookline, Massachusetts location. Our broker, Richard Hamel, organized and manned our booth.

Despite the early rains a great day was had by all. Collectors from all over New England brought autos built by such well known marques as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen.

A few of the highlights included a 1960 Mercedes-Benz SL, valued at more than $500,000 and a classic Porsche Speedster worth more than $250,000. However, the car that attracted the most attention was the brand new Smart Car Pure which is built by Mercedes-Benz.

Many people stopped by the Northrop and Johnson booth to talk about their boats and the yachting lifestyle. I was pleased to find that a lot of car collectors are also yachtsmen.  A
Retired Yacht Captain who is seeking to sell his classic 1977 47’ Concord came by and spun tales of the old days of yachting.

Attendees showed up asking questions about all sorts of boats. Everything from J24 sailboats to 40’ Tiaras and 65’ Sunseekers. Several people expressed interest in chartering yachts in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

The event was such a success for Northrop and Johnson that we intend to participate in the Tutto Italiana coming up on August 3rd.

As you begin your journey in the world of yacht ownership or to charter a yacht, it is easy to get lost in the quest to find the ultimate yacht.  From website to website, location to location, you risk losing countless hours of your time and being misled by inaccruate information. There is an alternative available, shop for a yacht broker first and then shop for a yacht.

An experienced professional yacht broker understands that his role is to communicate with you, listen to your needs, utilize his experience and industry networking skills and the resources offered by his company to provide you with a comprehensive flow of information.  The professional yacht broker is not a salesman and should not be trying to sell you on any particular yacht. He is your advocate and his job is to find the right yacht for you at the best possible terms.

A broker’s business is yachts.  His success depends on establishing long-term relationships with his clients.  Therefore, a broker must put the interests of his client first and guide him to the correct end result.  Clients can take great comfort knowing the transaction and personal details are kept confidential.  At Northrop and Johnson of Massachusetts, our brokers assist with the many details surrounding the purchase.

For more information visit www.njyachting.com or call us at 978.921.6600.

When the garage is full of Bentleys and Benzs and the private jet is safely tucked away in the hangar, what’s the next reward? How about a superyacht?

At Northrop and Johnson of Massachusetts, we can assist you in making your dream a reality. We have the experience and resources to find the perfect yacht for you. Whether you decide to buy used or decide to build the perfect yacht, brokers of the Northrop and Johnson office can do all the research for you and help you to make your dreams come true.

There are several places in the world to shop for your yacht. After careful research, our brokers will make several recommendations of which yacht may best suit your needs. After presenting different options you may decide to visit some of the vessels.  From Hong Kong to the Mediterranean to the Caribbean or the U.S. our brokers will be with you every step of the way to find that special yacht.

You may want to consider attending one of the many yacht shows.  Monaco Yacht Show is coming up in September. It is the only international yacht show devoted exclusively to luxury yachts and is the biggest in water megayacht and superyacht show in Europe. Visit www.njyachting.com or call 978.921.6600 and ask for passes to the show. You can also go to www.monacoyachtshow.com for additional information.

Call us today!

In February of 2007, the 1987 151′ Feadship, Sea Jewel, was sold at the Miami Boat Show and renamed Time for Us. The yacht was put into a shipyard for a complete refit.  The owner cruised for less than a year. Realizing how enjoyable the yachting experience is, the owner decided to move up to a larger yacht.  After a brief search he was able to identify and purchase a larger feadship.

Time for us is back on the market.  After the loving attention from the past owners, she is now available for purchase at $16,900,000.  She is ready to go anywhere and go into charter.  She has 6 staterooms and is Lloyd 100 A1 and LMC Class.  Previously, the yacht was one of the world’s most demanded charter yachts in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

For additional information you may visit www.njyachting.com and check our yachts for sale or call 978.921.6600 and ask to speak to one of our yacht brokers.

As a yacht broker with Northrop and Johnson of Massachusetts, Eric Ciambra enjoys a professional environment supported by a more than efficient infrastructure that allows him to give a client the best possible service wherever they are located.

In Eric’s travels worldwide, the most common question he gets as a yacht broker is “why does somebody buy a 100 foot plus yacht and not just rent it when they need it?”

It’s a fair question.  After all, with yacht ownership comes expense as well as ongoing capital outlay.  It goes without saying pride of yacht ownership is a huge factor.  Historically, most owners start off chartering a yacht and then become owners.  It allows them to see if they enjoy the lifestyle.  It permits them to test different types of vessels in different environments.  It allows them to test crew and cultivate a certain amount of buyer experience and comfort.

After a certain amount of time and certainly a lot of expenditure, ownership (for those who value the lifestyle) becomes the natural next step.

So, Eric asked a yacht owner who is a very successful CEO of a company why he owns a yacht.  His answer was because of his often busy schedule, it was the only location that he had discovered where he could truly spend quality time with his family and friends.  This gave Eric an insight as to why so many yacht owners have so much affection for their chosen yacht.

To those who asked that question or are thinking of asking it, Eric is hopeful this has been useful.

For more information on yacht ownership or charters, feel free to visit www.njyachting.com or call 978.921.6600.

Clients of Steve Doyle, a yacht broker of the Northrop and Johnson Office of Massachusetts, decided to purchase a sailboat in the year 2000 as their new home to take them on an adventure of a lifetime.  In 2001 the client, a family of five, set sail from Miami and ventured east. The children all had tasks to perform. Julia, then age 11, kept the boat neat.  Max, then age seven, bagged the garbage and helped dad chart the course. Stephanie, then age 14, steered the boat each night.

After setting sail along the eastern seaboard of the United States, the family started the cross over the Atlantic Ocean on September 21 from Rhode Island. It took the family a mere 9 days, dodging 3 hurricanes, before reaching the Azores, a group of islands about 800 miles from Europe.

The family stayed in the Azores for three weeks before setting sail again.  Five days later they reached Spain.  The family spent the winter in Spain.  They learn, through home schooling, of the various cultures of the many countries they anticipated to visit in their travels.

Their continued journeys though Europe and Asia lead them to places such as Greece, Italy, through the Black Sea and into Turkey.  With conflicts in the Middle East about to break, the family decided to return to the United States to reconsider their circumnavigations from Miami to go westward bound.

Upon their return home, a refit of their sailboat was completed before their journey west.  Crossing through the Panama Canal, with ventures to Hawaii, The French Polynesian Islands, Fiji, the family went ashore in Australia for the oldest daughter to complete her final year of schooling to graduate and move on to college.

The family is currently somewhere in the Thailand area. What was originally a five year sailing venture is now approaching the eighth year.

The sailboat is an 80’ Shuttlesworth catamaran, sold to the family back in 2000 by Steve Doyle of the Northrop and Johnson Office of Massachusetts.  The vessel, renamed Dulcinea, has tremendous sailing capabilities with exceptional speed.

For more information about this or other sailboats, you may contact Northrop and Johnson Massachusetts office by simply clicking onto info@njyachting.com or call 978.921.6600.

Over the years, yacht brokers of the Northrop and Johnson office of Boston, have travelled and sold yachts to clients worldwide. Yachting is a lifestyle. The asset, a yacht, is a small part of that lifestyle.

Yachting is filled with adventure, relaxation and bonding with family and friends. If you would enjoy scuba diving in Tahiti, surfing in Australia, fishing in Cabo, sightseeing at Glacier National park in Alaska or relaxing on a sandy beach anywhere in the world than you will enjoy yachting. If you enjoy exotic culinary feasts, six star service and total control of your environment than you will enjoy yachting.

Yachting has also been the venue for many successful business relationships and meetings. Our brokers have been a part of organizing business events on yachts that have seen a 15% increase in productivity by a restaurant chain, an increase in business closings of 40% for a service company involved with jets worldwide and the raising of millions of dollars for charity.

Some yacht owners have had bad experiences with yachting, due largely in part, on the relationship with crew.  On occasion the Captain has found it appropriate to treat the yacht as his own and the owner as a guest. Yacht brokers of the Northrop and Johnson office of Massachusetts offer complete yachting concierge service.  We provide complete  information about a yacht or yachts so the client is able to make the best decision possible for their purchase.   We not only assist our clients in locating the perfect yacht to suit their needs, we also assist our clients in finding crew who would be best suitable for the job. We refer the client to legal services, insurance and documentation services available to assure a smooth and efficient transaction. Once our client becomes a yacht owner we continue dialogue with the client and Captain to ensure yacht ownership meets our client’s expectations.
 
Our company has been in business since 1956. Brokers and staff of the Northrop and Johnson Boston office have had experiences worldwide with every aspect of yachting.  This includes working closely with shipyards on a new construction, yacht transport, yacht management, to yacht charters and provisioning.  Our 52 years of knowledge and experience are used to assist our clients in making every aspect of their yachting experience an enjoyable lifestyle.

For more information on purchasing a yacht or yacht concierge service, please contact info@njyachting.com.

In my haste to prepare the sailboat well in advance of the first sailboat race, I allowed the spinnaker halyard (part of sailboat rigging) to run to the top of the mast. I devised a plan to retrieve the halyard, taking advantage of the fact that my boat was fitted with an external main halyard.

Calculating that a large plastic garbage bin full of water would be heavier than me, I quickly gained position of a bin from the club premises and by means of a system of lines secured the bin to the main halyard. By lowering the bin over the side of the boat I filled it with water while I set up a system to secure the tail of the halyard to one of the winches. To be sure that the bin would be heavier than me I added a few builders’ bricks.

I winched the bin to the mast head and tied a loop for my foot at the end of the halyard. I was now all ready to be taken to the top of the mast by the weight of the bin.

When I released the halyard my assent to the top of the mast commenced more quickly than I had anticipated. As I rose I was not able to avoid the ascending bin and received a severe blow to my right shoulder with minor abrasions to my neck and upper arm. The impact of the ascending bin pushed my under the spreaders brusing my left shoulder and the left side of my neck.

When I arrived at the top I could not slow down and my fingers were drawn in the mast head shaves causing multiple contusions and lacerations. At the same time the bin hit the deck with a bang and split open. As the water gushed out I became heavier than the bin and I began to descend with ever increasing speed. As I went past the spreaders I received a glancing blow to my left buttock which threw me into the path of the now ascending bin which bruised my right buttock and took the skin off my right leg.

My decent was hurriedly terminated when I arrived at the boom, but, unfortunately I had one leg on either side of it. The shock caused me to duck forward suddenly, striking my head on the mast which caused me loose my grip in the halyard. Down came the bin which tipped over when it landed on the spreaders, tipping the bricks some of which landed on my head. I must have lost consciousness because my crew found me latter all of heap on the deck inside the garbage bin.