BECOMING EARL MC MILLEN

For $1, You Could Own this Yacht

Sure, the 61-footer needs six figures’ worth of restoring, but hey, she’s a classic.
By Kim Kavin / Published: August 21, 2013
For $1, You Could Own this Yacht
For $1, You Could Own this Yacht

Back in the year 1929, Stephens Brothers in Stockton, California, built 14 yachts. One of them was the 61-foot Vida Mia, a motoryacht of grand scale and a symbol of extraordinary wealth in her day.

Today, you can own her for a buck.

That’s right: Just one U.S. dollar will get you this 84-year-old classic. She has been abandoned at the Kewalo Basin Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, since 2009, according to harbormaster Charles Barclay. He’s offering her up for $1 to anyone with a plan and the means to get her out of there and start her restoration, which would cost at least six figures. Among other issues, her wooden hull is peeling varnish and rotting.

“I want someone to be the angel for this boat and return it to the glory it used to have,” Barclay told KITV News.

If nobody steps up to buy Vida Mia, she’ll be totally scrapped. What a sad day that would be, since her history is storied. She is said to have hosted everyone from Elizabeth Taylor to Louis Vuitton to John Travolta.

Are you the one who wills save Vida Mia? Give Barclay a call in Hawaii at (808) 594-0851.

 

Mc Millen Yachts in Newport Rhode Island has restored some of the finest yachts ever built. His crew are as good at it as any group anywhere.

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ws lirakis

a sailor who carries a camera

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