Bluewater, Viking Collaborate to Meet the Dreams of Multiple Friends with Disabilities

He thought he would never fish again.

After searching high and low, and finding the right pre-owned Viking, Bluewater’s team in Hampton set out at customizing every inch of its 64-feet to provide access for Perry and how he envisioned using the boat. Oh yea, and it had to be done in a matter of months to fish the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament!

Bluewater Engineer Brian Motter took the lead and they set out envisioning the elaborate systems that would get Perry and his wheelchair from dock to cockpit and bridge (a swinging davit), cockpit to salon (a ramp over the mezzanine steps), salon to master stateroom (a large scissor lift) and improving access to the en suite head. They accomplished everything but a Seakeeper installation before June that year and delivered the 64’ Knot Done Yet to Perry for his first crack at fishing the Big Rock.

Moving Up

The team fished that 2018 Big Rock, Hatteras Marlin Club and Virginia Beach Billfish Tournaments and enjoyed an extended stay in the Bahamas in Spring of 2019. After those adventures, Perry was really getting used to the idea of spending a lot of time on the boat. He was also taking mental notes on what might make him and his crew more comfortable.

Perry preferred to stay on the boat versus finding accommodations ashore, plus, his onboard entourage was growing, and thus running out of room. With as many customizations as they made to the 64, it had the effect of reducing some of the available space for accommodating the Knot Done Yet crew and family members who he wanted to share more adventures with. Not only did Perry need more space for himself, his captain, mate and close friends and their gear; his wife Lisa was starting to get into this fishing thing too!

Hall had introduced them to Pat Healey, Viking President and CEO, at the 2018 Big Rock. At the time Pat made it known he’d love to help Perry build another boat to meet his needs. It got him thinking of going bigger and better. A dock mate in Morehead City, Don Mills, also played a role in Perry’s decision to upgrade to a larger Viking. Mills, another Bluewater customer, owns the Sea I Sea, and has owned many Viking convertibles. He had owned and fished his new 72C for a couple years and very openly told Perry all about it and how much he loved the boat.

Before long, Perry had Earle on the phone again, asking him to relay his intentions to build a new 72 with Pat and the Viking team.

Leveling with Each Other

The first thing an able-bodied person needs to realize is just how much we take for granted hopping around all the levels of a yacht—popping up to the flybridge to look around, going back and forth through the companionway for supplies, or just getting on and off the boat for starters—for wheelchair-bound anglers, every minor step up or down is a substantial logistical challenge.

In some small ways, making a yacht more handicap accessible is similar to the process in a building on land. Engineers widen doors and hallways, maybe lower some counters, install rails and make more space at the table. But in almost every other facet, it’s far more challenging when you lack the space for long gentle ramps and the certainty of solid floors that don’t roll and pitch on a whim.

To their own admission, some of the unique customizations were keeping the Viking engineers up at night. But through the collaboration with Nichols, Captain Mark Rogers, Earle Hall and the Bluewater Yacht Yard staff, there were a lot of bright, experienced minds involved. In fact, some of the solutions were already “pre-programmed” by the ingenuity of the Hampton team who had already tackled these challenges before. While all the customizations for the 72 were carried out at the Viking factory, they had Bluewater’s extensive experience back in Virginia to draw from—having customized both the 64’ for Nichols and 55’ Cuttin’ Up for Jones, before that.

For the Bluewater team, it was old hat to solve wheelchair access from the dock to the cockpit, and then to the flybridge. You basically need a mounted davit system, and some modifications to the belly band to create a swing gate for access, and voila! Perry’s sitting up in the breeze with the captain. This is a huge oversimplification of course—because to accommodate these types of load bearing additions, you need to plan far ahead and add plenty of structural reinforcement, which Viking saw to. Not only is the davit a special arrangement from a vendor confident enough to take on the liability of lifting a person in the air, but it also needs a full post system under the bridge apron to bear the load and provide the necessary range of movements.

There were other aspects from the 64 that they really wanted to take to the next level in the 72, such as installing lifts instead of ramps wherever possible. “To me, that’s the coolest part, is that Perry gets inside the boat via an elevator instead of a ramp,” says Hall. A scissor lift does the job of getting his wheelchair between cockpit and salon, and an elevator safely services the master stateroom.

Enjoying the Moment

Nichols had been adamant he receive the 72 in time to fish the 2020 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in early June. Everyone knew it would be a tight window, but when the COVID restrictions hit, and Viking was forced to shutdown their factory for a stint, Perry says he was left wondering if he’d have the boat at all that summer. But sure enough, Viking came through as promised, and Earle and Connor Hall delivered the new 72’ Knot Done Yet to Morehead City several weeks prior to the tournament. Perry, Mark and crew were able to get to know their new boat and do some fun fishing before the tournament started. About the only thing Perry could complain about (in jest) is that his wife Lisa caught a fish before him in the new boat!

“Viking did just an incredible job on this boat,” says Earle. “Perry didn’t have to fit in the boat, Viking made the boat fit him. In the four years I have known Perry, he has become a life-long friend. He is the most infectious, life-changing man I’ve ever met. There is nothing we wouldn’t have done to help him.”

But that sentiment doesn’t end with Perry, because Hall also saw an opportunity to help another friend with a disability. Once the 72 was contracted with Viking, he knew the para-customized 64’ would be coming available and thought it would make the perfect upgrade for Steve Jones. Earle made it a point to get both the Viking owners together at the Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament and let them start working out a price directly; wherever it landed they had his word Bluewater would help iron out the details and facilitate the sale. He concludes, “now Steve has a lot more room to fish with his boys on the new 64’ Cuttin’ Up, as does Perry with his friends and family on the 72’ Knot Done Yet. It’s a win-win for everybody.”