Selene owners rally to donate money to earthquake disaster relief in China

A survivor retrieves her belongings from the rubble in Shifang in Sichuan province (May 19, 2008 photograph by Andrew Wong/Getty Images published on the LA Times wesbite).

An earthquake survivor delicately folds what clothes he can find from his destroyed home in the quake-hit township of Hanwang in Mianzhu city, north of Chengdu in Sichuan province (May 21, 2008 photograph by Barbara Davidson/LA Times).

Selene owners have a special bond with China and its people because our beautiful yachts are made there. Although the recent earthquake in southwestern China did not affect the Jet Tern Marine yards in Dong Guan or Zhuhai, it is likely that some of the 1,500 workers there may have families who were affected.

As Mark Tilden ("Koinonia"), who maintains the Selene Owners Site, recently wrote:

We, as owners of these beautiful yachts, are pretty well off by any standard and many of us have traveled to China and made new friends there through the process of building a Selene. It seems to me that we are in a unique position to help collect some funds to aid in the disaster relief in China.

Working with the Mercy Corps organization, Mark established a special donation "group" for Selene owners. As of May 21, 2008 Selene owners have generously contributed more than $4,500 to Mercy Corps to help their team on the ground in China help the Chinese people affected by the earthquake.

To read more about how Selene owners are working with Mercy Corps and learn more how you can make a tax deductible contribution to this worthy cause, please read Mark's complete post on the Selene Owners Site.

Selene "Boat Show" special pricing available only until June 15th

Out fantastic "Boat Show" pricing is being held until June 15, at which time Jet-Tern Marine has informed us there will be a sizable increase in the price of all Selene models due to the unprecedented increase in the price of raw materials.

A 10 percent deposit will hold the current pricing for you and there is no additional payment due until the hull is released from the mold. If you have decided that a Selene is in your future, now is a great time to talk to us about putting your plan in motion.

Our participation in the Palm Beach Boat Show in March was huge success. It featured the East Coast debut of the Selene 59 -- and three 59s were sold at the show.

The Selene 59 will be at our dock until the end of May. In addition, our Selene 53, "Kasekuchen," will be at our dock all summer. If you'd like to view one of these trawlers, please contact us to set up an appointment.

Transporting yachts with Dockwise: The journey of our Selene 53 , "Kasekuchen," from the west coast to its new home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

When Bob and I decided to move "Kasekuchen," our Selene 53, from its west coast home in Seattle to our new home on the east coast, Fort Lauderdale, we didn't have the time to enjoy a leisurely cruise through the Panama Canal. Instead, we used Dockwise Yacht Transport, a company that specializes in the transport of luxury (mega) yachts using its own fleet of semi-submersible yacht carriers.

After we finished participating in FUBAR ODYSSEY 2007, we left "Kasekuchen" in La Paz, Mexico, where it was loaded onto a Dockwise vessel that transported it to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our trawler was one of many yachts aboard the vessel -- and it certainly wasn't the largest. One of the other yachts on that journey was a huge (almost 130' long) yacht owned by Boeing.

It's fascinating to watch the yachts being loaded onto a Dockwise vessel -- and since many of you may never have had an opportunity to see this, I wanted to share some videos that will give you a better idea about what's involved.

This first one is a short, animated video from Dockwise:

This next one focuses on the maiden voyage of the 687 foot (longer than two football fields) Dockwise Yacht Express that left Fort Lauderdale for the Mediterranean on April 10, 2008. On board were 18 vessels with an estimated value of $154 million: