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REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001?
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN IT HAPPENED?
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I WAS WATCHING DIANE
SAWYER ON OUR ISLAND
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I was in the Thousand Islands watching Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, and the show was ending at 9 a.m. She was right in the middle of her sign-off when suddenly she put her hand to her ear and said, “Just a second.”
Then she looked back at the camera and said that apparently a small plane had flown into a building in downtown New York. She didn’t have any more information than that, wished everyone a good day, and the show ended.
I turned off the television and hit the ceiling.
I started ranting and raving to my wife Jan. “Can you imagine what the news media is going to do with this story? This is just what we need before a boat show.”
Think about that for a moment.
At that point, I thought a small airplane had accidentally flown into a building.
I got in my boat and headed over to the marina. When I arrived, I started telling Wayne Morrow what I had heard.
He looked at me.
“Mike, you don't know about the jet?”
He proceeded to tell me that a commercial airliner had flown into the World Trade Center.
Then he said something I will never forget.
“Mike, there was a second jet.”
I thought I was going to throw up.
In that instant, everything changed.
This wasn't a small plane. It wasn't an accident. And it certainly wasn't a story the news media was going to blow out of proportion.
Our country was under attack.
I knew right then that this was going to change our world forever.
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EDDIE CAME TO TELL ME WE WERE GOING TO BE OK
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It is hard to believe that this week marked 25 years since September 11, 2001.
Like everyone who lived through that day, I remember the shock and the feeling that the world had suddenly changed forever. Nobody knew what was going to happen next.
I did know one thing. The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show was coming in October, and I was convinced it would be a disaster. I was right.
People came to the show, but their hearts weren't in it. Buying a yacht wasn't exactly at the top of anyone's list. Our country had just been attacked in a way none of us could comprehend. But something had happened to me in the weeks before the show.
The day after September 11, I was supposed to sign a contract to build a new office building. My lawyer suggested this might not be the best time to move forward. I went to bed that night and thought about it. The next morning I decided I was going to sign the contract. My reasoning was pretty simple:
If I stop, and everybody else stops, eventually the whole country stops.
I rushed a full-page ad into Yachting magazine explaining what I had done and why. I said that if you were one of those people who had been thinking about buying a boat "someday," maybe someday should be now. Our industry needs you. We all have to keep going.
A few weeks later, I was sitting on the back deck of one of our Hargraves at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show when the gatekeeper came over. "Mike, someone is here to see you."
I looked down and saw a wheelchair. Sitting in it was one of our dearest and favorite customers, Ed Swensen.
Eddie had suffered a major stroke a few years earlier. He couldn't walk and had lost his ability to speak. As I remember it, he had about three words left. Yes. No. And a third one that I probably shouldn't print in the newsletter.
Pushing Eddie's wheelchair was his captain, Bobby, who had taken wonderful care of him over the years. Bobby explained that Eddie had seen the magazine ad I wrote after September 11. And Eddie had come to the boat show because of it.
"He wants you to know you're going to be OK."
I thought that was an incredibly kind gesture. I thanked Eddie for coming all the way to the show just to tell me that.
Eddie smiled and nodded.
"Yes."
Then Bobby looked at me a little strangely.
"I don't think you understand, Mike. Eddie came here to make sure you know you're going to be OK."
I still didn't understand.
Then he said:
"Eddie brought a check. He wants to order a new boat from you today."
I was stupefied.
Here was a man sitting in a wheelchair who couldn't even get up the stairs of the yacht - and he had come to the boat show to order another one.
Bobby turned to Eddie. "Do you want me to get the check?"
"Yes."
"Do you want Mike to make the check out for the deposit?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to make it $50,000?"
"Yes."
So I sat down on the stairs of the yacht and wrote out Eddie's check to Hargrave for $50,000 as a deposit on a new boat. Then Bobby explained that Eddie already knew what he wanted.
His new yacht was going to have an elevator. Not just an elevator to get him aboard, but one that would take him to all three levels of his new yacht.
Bobby looked at Eddie. "Isn't that right?"
Eddie smiled.
"Yes!"
I've thought about that moment many times over the last 25 years.
I've always believed that God has watched over me throughout my life. But that afternoon, sitting on the stairs of a yacht at one of the darkest boat shows I can ever remember, it was difficult for me to see Eddie's arrival as just another business transaction.
A man who could no longer walk or talk came down that dock to tell me to keep moving forward. A man who could barely speak delivered a message I have never forgotten. And a man sitting in a wheelchair ordered a yacht with an elevator because he wasn't finished living his life either.
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ED SWENSEN WITH JASON TAYLOR
(TWO OF OUR FAVORITE HARGRAVE OWNERS!)
Eddie didn't come to that boat show because he needed another boat.
He came to tell me we were going to be OK.
Twenty-five years later, Eddie, I still remember.
And you were right. We’re still OK!
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CANNES YACHTING FESTIVAL
WAS A BIG SUCCESS
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For the past few years, we have been on the back deck of one of our latest Hargrave yachts. Being in a booth is a very different experience.
With boat tours coming through the boat all day, people say hello as they pass by, but it is hard to sit down and have a good conversation.
Yannis said the Cannes Show went really well. They met three serious clients unfamiliar with Hargrave and spent some quality time with top brokers and key industry leaders we are usually too busy to see at the Fort Lauderdale Show.
Thanks to great coverage of the new Anemos Hargrave Signature RPH Series by our friends in the media, people were already looking forward to learning more - the different design options, pricing, delivery schedules, and what we are planning for the future.
That is exactly what we hoped to accomplish at Cannes. Introduce Hargrave to new people, update key industry friends on where we are headed in teh coming year, and start getting the word out about the next generation of Hargrave yachts.
Sometimes you don’t need a yacht at the show to make a big impression.
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PEOPLE ARE FLYING IN TO SEE BOATS
IF YOU’RE IN TOWN THIS WEEKEND
CHECK OUT SOME OF THESE
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100’ 2008/2025 HARGRAVE
“LADY SANDRA”
$2,995,000
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
• 100' Raised Pilothouse / 4 staterooms
• Sleeps 9 / Full-beam master suite
• Extensive 2025 refit & upgrades
• Both main engines rebuilt
• New Garmin navigation & electronics
• Awlgrip Stark White exterior
Call broker Mike DiCondina 1-954-648-6281
Or call Tom DiCondina 1-973-632-3278
For full details on LADY SANDRA click here.
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94’ 2014/2024 HARGRAVE
“LUCKY PENNY”
Best buy in this category - $3,950,000
At our docks here in Fort Lauderdale
• 5 staterooms / Sleeps 10
• On-deck owner’s suite - 2 Kings + 3 Twins
• Major refit completed in 2024 ($1.6M invested)
• Huge Sky Lounge seats 14 guests
• Reliable CAT C-32 engines
• Full walk-around side decks
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| 76’ 2015 HARGRAVE CAPRI SERIES
“QUIET SUN”
• RECENT SURVEY AVAILABLE
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| $2,549,000
Located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• Jack Sarin Naval Architects Hull design
• 1,150 HP CAT C-18 Engines
• Largest Flybridge in Class
• Naiad Stabilizers
• 4 Staterooms / Sleeps 8
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WHAT IS THE BEST DEAL ANYWAY?
Usually, people think this is just a low price but it's a combination of three things - the price, the condition, and an educated seller.
To be on our Best Deals Page the boat has to meet all three requirements.
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MICHAEL JOYCE
CEO / GMO / Marketing
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MICHAEL DI CONDINA
Pres. & General Manager (Does all the work!)
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PETER COLAGIOVANNI
V.P. & Broker
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JOHN (YANNIS) ZAGORAKIS
V.P. – Sr. Yacht Consultant & Broker
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CAPT. DOUG MEIER
Broker / Consultant
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TOM DICONDINA
V.P. Service / Broker
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