By Al Gibbs
The News Tribune
TACOMA – The well-known metal sculpture of jazz legend Charlie Parker blowing his saxophone stands in one corner of the yacht’s main salon, baby grand piano in another.
Mahogany, walnut burl and marble are everywhere, as are beveled mirrors on walls and ceilings.
The bells and whistles of navigation and engine controls and instruments on the bridge would make an offshore sailor’s heart go thumpa-thumpa.
The Lady Val, all 130 feet and $15 million of her, went into the water for the first time earlier this month, and with her the hopes of Tacoma’s North Coast Yachts Inc.
“This is our dream boat,” said Valerie Russenberger, the wife of Pensacola, Fla., multimillionaire Ray Russenberger and the yacht’s namesake.
“There are a lot of boats around, but not one as good as this.” The same could be said for the story of North Coast Yachts, a longtime Tideflats company that builds high-end yachts, but nearly went out of business last year as the Lady Val and two other large boats were nearing completion.
Russenberger – once a New Orleans street musician, now a telephone company owner and real estate developer – and the owners of the other two yachts stepped in with financial aid.
“We want to help this company succeed,” said Jim Mitchell, operations manager for Russenberger’s Marina Management Corp. who has overseen the construction and finishing of the Lady Val.
“These guys do fabulous work,” Russenberger said as he bustled about the yacht Thursday, while workmen scurried to complete laying carpet and installing detail work. “The craftsmanship is just incredible,” he added. “We don’t have this kind of craftsmanship at home.”
Russenberger thought about his dream boat for at least a year before he approached North Coast. Construction and commissioning took another two and a half years.
“Ray was very serious when he said he looked for a year to find someone to build his dream yacht,” Mitchell said.
He ended up at North Coast, about as far from home as he could get, because of the company’s reputation for quality work.
“This is the largest boat the company has built,” said Paul Fredrickson, the firm’s designer.
“It’s been quite a project.”
The biggest challenge, he said, was deciding where to put the stairways that connect the vessel’s four decks and 6,000 square feet of interior and deck space.
Besides the owner’s cabin with its two bathrooms, there are four guest staterooms, each with its own head.
The crew of a captain, chief mate, steward and one or two other helpers, has separate quarters. Closets are lined with cedar. Bathrooms have saunas or whirlpool baths.
There are two galleys, one on the main deck, another in what Mitchell called the “sky lounge.”
The twin 1,400-horsepower diesel engines gleam with stainless steel and white paint. The water-maker can turn 3,600 gallons of seawater into pure H2O every day.
Fuel tanks hold 7,000 gallons of diesel; it could cost as much as $10,000 to stop at the fuel dock and say “Fill ‘er up.”
Two 265-kilowatt generators could power a small industrial plant, but only one is used at a time.
A satellite antenna can be used for communications, navigation and entertainment: Each of the staterooms comes with a television set and sound system. It goes without saying that the yacht is air conditioned.
In a couple of weeks, the yacht’s skipper, Gary Ingle, will sail her to San Diego and Costa Rica, then through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean.
“Once we get on that side, where it’s nice and warm, we’ll make some stops,” Mitchell said.
They’ll also take the boat to as many major boat shows as possible, trying to drum up more business for North Coast Yachts.
“Ray wants to keep the business open,” Mitchell said.
“That’s how strongly he feels about these craftsmen. Because he feels so strongly, he wants the business to survive.”
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