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Dream boat

Maritimo’s latest Maritimo One M59 Motor Yacht will head for the high seas when it is delivered to its avid angler owner.

11 June 2020

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Dubbo-based truck dealer Cliff Swane lives a long way from the ocean, but that has not diminished his love of bluewater boating, and especially game fishing, and he plans to be doing a lot more of both from now on.

Cliff is set to take delivery of a highly customised Maritimo M59 motor yacht that has been designed specifically to his requests, and is the perfect fishing and cruising platform.

“When you pull out the tape measure of life you realise that there is a lot more behind you than the inches left in front, and that is one of the reasons I decided to build my ultimate dream boat,” he said.

“Next year we will cruise around the Top End and the Kimberley, and the year after we’re off to the Pacific Islands for some spectacular game fishing.”

Cliff has had smaller boats most of his life and most recently had a 40-foot Caribbean that he keeps at Bermagui on the NSW South Coast. He said that when he started looking at what his next boat would be, he stipulated that it must have shaft drives and he must also have the ability to highly customise the vessel if he was to do a deal.

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Cliff’s M59 is the latest vessel to come through the Maritimo One customisation division. “I am told that the total amount of modifications and additions we have made to the boat are some of the most Maritimo One division has done on a project,” said Cliff.

A long list of options and changes ranged from refrigeration to modifying the flybridge mouldings so there was better vision of the cockpit for game fishing, Cliff also added significant fuel capacity.

“In the base M59, there is a 1000-litre freshwater tank forward of the master stateroom. We turned that into additional fuel capacity, giving us a total of 5500 litres of fuel,” he said. “Maritimo then custom-built water tanks in the rear lazarette.”

Cliff’s M59 has a specifically designed transom for backing up onto game fish. It has a game tower, rear helm station on the flybridge and multiple 22-inch Garmin screens at the flybridge helm and elsewhere in the vessel, ice chipper and additional freezer capacity, and rod storage and tackle room.

There’s a modified full-beam master suite layout. Changes to the galley included chilled, fresh water and soda, as well as additional fixed storage capacity in the pantry, plus numerous other additions and changes to the base model.

“When I started looking, I considered numerous different brands, including those using pod-drive propulsion systems,” he said.

“I just wasn’t comfortable with pods, and I also wanted a boat with the ability to cruise as well as fish. I wanted something that suited both serious fishing with my mates and family but was also a luxurious and comfortable boat for extended cruising with family and friends.

Maritimo delivered on all those fronts and they were also the only ones who were readily prepared and capable of handling all the changes and additions I wanted.

“Overall, in terms of their willingness to understand what we wanted in a fish boat and then communicate that through the ranks to the factory floor, the process was great. Ultimately, they delivered, and that’s no mean feat.”

Cliff said his one regret in recent months has been not being able to enter Queensland from NSW due to COVID-19 border restrictions, which meant he couldn’t be on hand as the M59 neared completion.

Maritimo’s General Manager Operations Phil Candler said the company’s Maritimo One division has struck a chord with dedicated fishing enthusiasts.

He said Maritimo was the only large-scale motor-yacht manufacturer in Australia that could handle such large-scale customisation.

“Cliff, like all owners who go through the Maritimo One experience, knew exactly what he wanted. He knew we could deliver where other manufacturers were not set up to do so,” said Candler.

“From simple changes to things like the day bed in the master suite right through to more complex changes like the transom hull design and the creation of a tackle room as part of the third cabin, we have been able to accommodate virtually all of Cliff’s requests.”

Cliff’s M59 is currently undergoing quality control and commissioning and will be handed over to him within the next few weeks.

 

maritimo.com.au

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