Getting a yacht is usually a common whim among billionaires. Entrepreneurs like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have not hesitated to spend part of their fortune to navigate different parts of the world with comforts, style and, above all, luxury. The first commissioned the construction of ‘koru‘ to the Dutch firm Oceanco, the second decided to skip this step and bought ‘Launchpad’ from a Russian oligarch.
An American named Clyde Stires followed a completely different path to get the yacht he wanted, a catamaran 27.86 meters in length and 12.41 meters in width, equipped to receive a dozen guests. Stires tells in a video published on YouTube who was not a millionaire, but who decided to channel all the resources at his disposal, combined with great determination, to build the yacht of his dreams.
From building custom vehicles to building your own yacht
Stires was born in Missouri, although at the age of 12 he moved with his family to California. Since he was little, he spent a lot of time with his father, who taught him to use different cutting tools. With this knowledge as a basis, he began to learn on his own how to fix and build everyday objects such as toys. Much later, in the 1970s, he found inspiration in the vehicle manufacturer Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.
After that, he began building motorcycle tricycles whose designs won over stars like Elvis Presley and Johnny Graham. His passion for what he did only increased. Years later he found himself transforming a double-decker bus into a caravan. He had previously bought his first boat in Taiwan, and decided that “he wanted to get back on the water,” so he got rid of almost everything he owned to start the project of his life, building a yacht.
The vehicles that Clyde Stires manufactured
Stires realize that analyzed every part of the project before starting. Since he did not have sufficient financial resources, he could not afford to build the ship in a shipyard. The costs of doing so would simply be unaffordable. Nor could I do it anywhere in the United States, since the climatic conditions could accelerate the deterioration of the ship under construction. So he decided to move to an ideal place to start the project.
The caravan project
He was in California, so he looked for a house in Perris, an old railroad town characterized by its dry, sunny climate. After making several sketches, calculations and reduced-scale versions, he got to work in 1987. In the video we can see how the boat is gaining size over time. This undoubtedly caught the attention of the locals, as someone points out in the YouTube comment below.
The “skeleton” of the yacht
“I lived in Canyon Lake and I drove past this every day on my way to work, it was very close to Highway 74. Suddenly, this huge ship started appearing, getting bigger every day. It was amazing to see. I had to stop and ask what was going on with that boat. He was always alone working in construction. He was very kind and told me that he was building a boat to sail around the world. So what you were wondering was: how is this ship going to get to the ocean?”
The construction of the ship forced Stires to perfect all his techniques. This included everything from welding for the rolling process to installing the wiring, hydraulics and motors. It took Stires years to complete the deck lining, install all the equipment and paint the boat. Once it was finished, he was faced with the difficult task of taking it to the sea, and the only alternative was to cut it up and move it in pieces.
The ship, called Kaleidoscope, was reassembled and launched in 1994. That milestone for the project was just the beginning of a series of surprising episodes that would come years later. The American says that his ship was “stolen by a cartel” when he was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Although after much effort, the authorities managed to recover the ship, the process of returning it to the United States was so complex that he decided to sell it.
The years have passed and the yacht that once belonged to Stires is sailing again. Since its sale, it has been part of the fleet of a boat rental company. Kaleidoscope is presented as a yacht with “all the comforts for the most luxurious sailing experience.” Its new owners also call it a “limousine of the sea” and use it for private excursions or event celebrations.
Images | Clyde Stires
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