(Part One)
Jon, I went through all of the photographs that I shot when both Dirt_Mom and you were visiting with me on Mount Desert Island, (MDI). I will post them below; a few being duplicates of what you shot.
By coincidence, the day that Jon and Sherry arrived at the Hinckley yard, the employees were celebrating the completion of one of our flagship 55', twin jet (water), yachts. Around lunch time, the company fed us with pizza, soda, and dessert to celebrate the day and the launching of a new boat.
The 55' is the largest boat that we currently build. The boat length/sizes start at 29' then go on from there: 37', 38', 40', 44', 48' and 55'. To give you an idea of what these boats cost, the "littlest" one starts at about $300,000, and the 55' costs about $3.4 million. Last year, we completed a 55' that cost over $4 million.
When forum member "footloose" made the trek to MDI for a visit, her timing was perfect, (total luck!). Every new boat goes through a thorough sea trial testing period before handing the helm over to an owner. The only way this can be done is to drive the boat for many hours out on the waters that surround our beautiful island. We were able to "hitch" a three hour ride on board a Hinckley 37'.
Here is footloose driving an $800,000 yacht. Although she is holding a traditional helm wheel with her left hand, she is actually driving and steering the boat with the JetStick that is in her right hand.
Sea water is "sucked up" through two large grates located on the bottom of the hull, near the transom. The the water is "spit out" the back, through two large nozzles; pushing the boat forward. To put the boat in reverse, two large "buckets" are dropped down over the nozzles, and water is directed out one of the two "horns" on each bucket. Whichever way the skipper has the JetStick oriented, that will tell the computer which horn of the buckets to shoot water out of. Each model jetboat that we build also has a bow thruster installed too. You can "spin" these boats 360° within their own length.
Here are what the buckets / horns look like, dropped down over the jet nozzles.
Here is a profile shot of the 55' just after it was hauled out of your building.
Here is a shot looking forward from the aft cockpit area and into the pilothouse.
On the port side of the pilothouse, there is seating and an entertainment center. The flatscreen TV that you see will "disappear"; moving downward into the cabinet beneath it.
Seating arrangement on the starboard side of the pilothouse.
Pilot and Copilot chairs at the helm station.
Instrument cluster / dash. This is what I build for all of our boats. I don't install the electronics, (I don't know much about them!), but I build the "piece of furniture" that the instruments get installed in. The wood you see throughout this boat is cherry.
This is the owner's stateroom up in the bow section of the boat.
One of two "heads", (bathrooms with showers), on board.
Guest cabin.
Galley, (kitchen), area. The Corian countertops are all custom built in our shop.
Jon is a little bashful about mentioning this, but it has been a very good year for the "Dirt_Household". Along with purchasing a new Ténéré, a new Spyder, putting a daughter into her second year of college, Jon and Sherry had a little "extra" left over and decided to purchase a Hinckley 55'.
Here they are standing proudly in front of their new acquisition. Jon is beckoning all of you to come aboard for a ride.
Because the Dirt_People were only going to be staying on MDI for one night, I had to race them through a very fast tour of the Hinckley facility and also around Mount Desert Island. I DO hope they return in the near future so that we can spend more time together.
(Part Two Below)