Superyacht Vava II [registered in Cayman] docks at Seattle’s Lake Union
By Patti Payne From Puget Sound Business Journal
A giant superyacht pulled into Nautical Landing marina on Lake Union Friday afternoon, attracting a crowd of onlookers, some of whom had seen it going through the Ballard Locks earlier in the day.
The 315-foot yacht Vava II is owned by Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli. He is a Swiss Italian billionaire with a $12 billion fortune. She is a singer, songwriter and a former Miss U.K. beauty queen. The vessel is registered in the Cayman Islands and is said to have been a gift from Ernesto to Kirsty.
The $160 million yacht, with six decks and a swimming pool, is the largest one to ever enter Lake Union. It can accommodate 36 guests and almost that many crew. It is stopping at Seattle for repairs and provisions. Word on the dock is that the Vava II is heading to Alaska for the summer, after having come from Hawaii. Nautical Landing often does repairs and is a base for crews while yachts are prepared for their journeys north in the summer.
Last year in June, the 280-foot Vibrant Curiosity docked at the same place in Lake Union, and that was huge. These huge megayachts are protected under high security and given their privacy, but trying to be private with a superyacht coming through the locks and then heading into our waters is like hiding an elephant in your house.
Onlookers’ comments on the dock were priceless: “Why doesn’t my husband buy me something like that?” “See those doors on the aft side? There are toys worth millions in there.” “My son works on the ballast of these boats.” “I live on the hill above and see these ships coming in. We got down here for this one as fast as we could!”
Peter Schrappen of Northwest Marine Trade Association says the yachting season is shaping up to be a good one here. “We have high hopes,” he tells me. “High expectations, too. We’ve traveled all over the country showcasing the Pacific Northwest, including the largest boat show in the world in Florida, and this is a result of that effort,” he says.
Schrappen says a yacht like this will spend about $2.7 million here in our area if it stays for 30 days, according to a formula he uses to calculate the average dollars spent by megayachts here.
In fact, just to fill this particular dreamboat with fuel would be way over $500,000.
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