It looked like a 180-foot white cloud floating on clear, turquoise water, but it was the Loon, one of the most popular, award-winning charter yachts from IYC – International Yacht Company. For many in the working press – including myself – who are not as familiar with yachting life as others, we lived on this mega-yacht for four days after being flown to Nassau on a private Magellan jet.
Magellan Jets
Magellan Jets and IYC recently formed a partnership that provides remarkable access to the worlds of private jet and charter mega-yacht travel. Such a trip allows the unique exploration of areas that are normally not accessible by normal means of transport. We experienced this type of travel for four transformative days as we awoke from a winter of Covid isolation to relive some unique adventures emerging from the Caribbean blues.
Getting on the IYC yacht was like walking through the closet doors of Narnia: strangely, moving at an accelerated pace from one reality to another. It became less of a press trip than an unexpected learning experience – as we learned by doing and seeing – sights few others actually see unless they travel in this mode.
Susan Kime |
We also lived blessed lives for a few days, meeting deadlines elsewhere and leaving the fear of being on Yamaha Wave Runners, Sea Bobs, Water Skis, Wakeboards, and Kayaks for the first time.
Part of the joy of charter sailing is being on the water with so many aquatic toys. On the first day we were taken from the Loon mega yacht (price: USD 50 million if it was new a few years ago) to a USD 2 million tender / speedboat. We then went far from somewhere and played with these toys. We lived in the moment, an existential, unforgettable experience, especially since for many it was our first press trip in a whole year.
In this day and in the days to come, we would explore more and wonder and explore more.
Wikipedia
Adventure # 1 – Near the Exumas, and under the turquoise water we saw the skeleton of Pablo Escobar’s drug plane. Now, peacefully lying on sandbars in about 10 feet of clear water off Norman’s Cay in the Exumas, it crashed with smuggled drug cargo in the late 1970s. I swam there and stood on the wing of the plane before snorkeling to see more. I noticed the many shoals of striped fish near me, which shone with black and fluorescent yellow stripes. They looked at me as I looked at a fallen hull that was now adorned with coral and seaweed. I had never seen a 50 year old plane crashed in clear blue water, now the peaceful home for glowing fish, corals and seaweed.
Wikipedia
And then, Adventure # 2: the swimming pigs. We were told we would see swimming pigs in a place called Pig Island, AKA, Major Cay, in the Exumas. The island is uninhabited except for pigs, and it is not known how the pigs got there. Suffice it to say that they were well fed by the tourists. They swam to our tender hoping for celery and carrot stalks that they had received from the crew and from us. We swam back to their island with a couple of pigs, where we were greeted by other tourists and piglets.
Thunderball Grotto
Then came Thunderball, Adventure # 3. Most of the press trip were too young to remember the 1965 James Bond film. Personally, I had never seen it before but we were told that part of the film was shot around these cliffs and in the grotto. It’s now called Thunderball Grotto.
From the outside you only get a view of rocky cliffs, but there are places known to those who snorkel and make a living, where you can snorkel, and if you catch your breath you are in a grotto – a hollow cave formation with sun holes about 10 feet high that let the sun into the grotto. Many on our yacht jumped from the sun holes into the water of the blue grotto. It was, as many said, the experience of a lifetime.
Susan Kime – Dining Room, Loon Megayacht
In addition to the loon water adventures, only three of which have been mentioned here, there was a sensual reawakening of the beauty of the sea, marine life, marine weather and vivid sea colors, all but forgotten due to Covid. And to that end, there was an emerging awakening in the yacht as we explored the interiors.
There we found exceptional amenities: elevators to all interior decks, the Sky Lounge with 10 foot vaulted ceilings, sprays of real orchids and other tropical flowers on tables, an outdoor dining area, indoor dining areas, a pool and spa / hot tub and the Yacht boss Philip Browning are ready to create almost anything that guests want. If a guest went fishing and brought something back to Philip, they could turn the catch into a great meal for dinner. Our cabins were quiet, clean, dark wood paneled, with marble hallways and bathrooms. The Loon’s six large cabins can accommodate up to 12 guests. Each cabin had a distinctive atmosphere of privacy and refuge.
Susan Kime |
In retrospect, this experience seemed like a joyful reward for a week for surviving a year of plague. Yet we knew that this type of journey was normal for those who lead very wealthy lives. We were never eager, in fact we were grateful for this great, if temporary, inclusion – an opening of the doors to experiences we only read and dreamed of.
www.iyc.com
www.magellanjets.com
The weekly price for LOON is $ 300,000 plus cost. IYC estimates the cost to be around 30% of the charter price. Tip is not included.
Susan Kime |
Master Suite No. 1, Loon Megayacht
Susan Kime |
Master Suite No. 2, Loon Megayacht
Susan Kime |
Dining room orchids
Susan Kime |
Stroking nurse sharks
Susan Kime |
Sandbar at dusk, Exumas
Susan Kime |
Leaving Nassau from above
