June 6, 2011
Capt. Martyn Walker is happy, standing on the bridge of his new command, the 258-foot (79m) M/Y Pegasus V, the former Princess Mariana.
It’s taken him 24 years to get here, including seven years as captain of the 152-foot Feadship Montigne and two years on the 205-foot M/Y Apogee. He’s run a lot of charters on yachts normal and large.
This one is different.
“It’s only 20m bigger than the old boat, but the tonnage is double,” he said. The yacht also has three more decks than the old Pegasus, a 60m Oceanco.
With the move up, Capt. Walker took 14 of his crew with him, including First Officer Tim Jacques and Chief Engineer Len Bilton. Still, he has had to hire 10 more. Including himself, the yacht will run with 25, entertain the boss and charter in the Med and Caribbean.
Capt. Walker was involved in the negotiations for the purchase of this yacht, something he hasn’t done before at that level. It all started when the boss asked his opinion about a yacht he was considering buying at last year’s Cannes show.
“I told him it was too small,” Capt. Walker said.
Instead, he suggested Princess Mariana. The boss first saw the yacht in Monaco last fall, one of the offshore fleet of yachts anchored in the harbor. Capt. Rick Morales, also a broker with Camper & Nicholsons in Ft. Lauderdale, had the listing and, as one of her previous captains, was in command during the show.
What most of us don’t know is that these two captains were talking amongst themselves for the past year about this yacht.
“Rick was totally honest with me about everything,” Capt. Walker said. “Everyone thought she was a lemon, but she surveyed great. Working with Rick is what made it all happen.”
For the record, the brokers involved sent out word of the sale when it happened and made no mention of Capt. Walker. That statement said, in part, this: “Fernando Nicholson and Rick Morales in cooperation with Merle Wood & Associates and Ken Denison jointly secured the sale of the vast 78.6m (257'10") superyacht from Royal Denship.”
Capt. Walker wasn’t offended to have been left off the press release.
“We’re just captains,” he said. “They think we’re irrelevant.”
This is the fifth yacht the boss has owned, starting with a 100-foot Broward, said Capt. Walker, who has been with the owner three years. The owner has also had a Feadship and a couple Oceancos.
Docked in front of the Hilton near the 17th Street bridge in Ft. Lauderdale in mid-May, the yacht was finishing some interior work, including new carpets, marble, furniture and curtains before heading to the Med to begin the summer charter season.
August is already booked, he said, as is some of July. He’s confident the rest of the season will fill in.
“This is the best job I have had,” he said.
There will be no rotation, however. When it comes time for time-off, Capt. Walker will leave the vessel in the capable hands of Jacques, the chief officer, who has two trans-Atlantics under his belt on Pegasus II as well as trips between Fort Lauderdale and St. Maarten.
Capt. Walker likes to be home, too. He and his wife and young daughter have a home in Ft. Lauderdale, where he likes to tend to his garden and walk his dogs.
As I said, Capt. Walker is happy.
Have you made an adjustment in your latitude recently? Let us know. Send news of your promotion, change of yachts or career, or personal accomplishments to Editor Lucy Chabot Reed at lucy@the-triton.com.
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