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A legend in her own right, Lia Fail will take her owners from the tiny Pacific Northwest town of Anacortes to the ends of the earth.
by Mark T. Masciarotte
photography by Billy Black
11/01/2005
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| Northern Marine 152 |  |
The couple commissioned fellow Carolinian Ward Setzer to
provide a turnkey design that included exterior styling, naval architecture,
space planning and interior design. Sheila Stevens, who had worked with the
owners on several other projects, collaborated with Lynn Murphy to develop the
décor. Setzer Design prepared hundreds of detail drawings for the boat—by far,
the firm’s most complex commission. Setzer explained, “We saw it as a philosophy
of holistic, unique, buildable designs…from every nuance of exterior shape,
shadow, touch and feel, to the architectural detail of the joinery,” he said.
“We researched and developed every custom-molding and spatial arrangement, as
well as the mix of textures and ergonomics.”
The Murphys enjoyed the
process, which, from the outset, they had believed would certainly be the
crowning achievement of their boating-building adventures. “We decided we were
going to put our hearts and souls, so to speak, into this boat,” Murphy stated.
“It was going to be our last,” he adds with a laugh, “or, could be. You know how
it is: After you’ve owned one for six months or even two years, it’s never your
last. Of course, this one wasn’t going to be; but we were going to put all of
our energies into this boat, and design it to be exactly like we
wanted.”
Murphy noted one of his requirements was deck space to carry a
tender large enough to accommodate long legs. “I’ve run a hundred miles between
islands in a small boat in a single day,” he said. “We dive. We snorkel. We just
love being on—and in—the water.”
Since Lia Fail would spend a good deal of
time in the Bahamas, Setzer gave her a generous beam that allows for a shallow
draft. The extra volume translated into spacious staterooms and public areas:
There are expansive exterior lounges on all decks. Because the tender is carried
athwartships on the sun deck, the after end of the bridge deck has space for a
dining table under the hardtop, and two semi-circular settees with tables under
the sky.
The décor is elegant throughout. Sumptuous textiles set off makoré
and madrone joinery and mesh well with traditional details such as passage doors
with beveled glass and arched headers.
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