63 Hatteras RPH Irish Ayes
Immaculate! Like new! These claims are used in so many brokerage ads for smelly, crud-infested boats these days that they’ve almost lost meaning. It’s like when a used-car ad screams, Barely Driven! The first thing I want to do is look at the odometer so I can ask the dealer to explain precisely how a Chevy with 150,000 miles on it qualifies for that kind of a promotion.
My bias for truth in advertising is what led me to focus on the words, “This is the cleanest 63 on the market,” which are part of the MarineMax sales pitch for the Hatteras 63 Raised Pilothouse Irish Ayes. The cleanest? The absolute_ cleanest_ on the whole brokerage market? I couldn’t let that claim go without trying to figure out whether it was true.
I got broker Bruce Siler on the phone in Florida just after 9 o’clock on a Wednesday morning and, well, pretty much challenged him to prove that he wasn’t a liar before he’d even finished his morning cup of coffee.
“The boat is a 2002,” he told me, “and this particular boat is very, very well maintained. The first owner had it in fresh water, which always helps, and the current owner has had it in South Florida for just a couple of years. He was a commercial airline pilot. The engine room is sparkling.”
“A commercial airline pilot?” I said. “That sounds promising. They tend to care about keeping things in good working order.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Siler said, “but this boat really does look like the pictures.”
Irish Ayes is for sale at $935,500 because the owner wants to move up to a bigger boat, Siler told me. She has a pair of Caterpillar 3412E diesels, a cherry wood interior, helm electronics by Garmin and Northstar, and three cabins to accommodate six people. The only thing not included in the asking price is the tender.
The 63 Raised Pilothouse was a popular model for Hatteras, and with good reason. She has a wide beam (18 feet plus), a shallow draft (just under 5 feet) and serious fuel capacity for extended cruising (1,290 gallons on Irish Ayes). If Irish Ayes handles sea trials as nicely as it seems she would based on the photographs and her spec sheet, then she should be a turnkey yacht.
Siler is standing by at the MarineMax office in Pompano Beach to tell you more. Call (954) 347-0114, or e-mail bruce.siler@marinemax.com for more details.
