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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 |  |
Throughout its great history, Ireland has amassed an unequalled trove of
tradition and myth. Lia Fail—the Stone of Destiny—was one of the sacred symbols
of Tuatha de Danann, the ancient god-like race said to have settled the Emerald
Isle. The stone had been placed on the mound of Tara and, ever after, when it
called out, the rightful kings of Ireland were chosen. Thus, “Lia Fail” is the
perfect name for the yacht that an ambitious couple was destined to
build.
Delivered last summer by Northern Marine, Lia Fail is that yard’s
largest launch. It builds on the Washington company’s tradition of providing its
customers luxurious, solidly built, bluewater yachts.
For Pete and Lynn
Murphy, 152-foot Lia Fail embodies lessons learned over three decades of
boating, many spent exploring the Caribbean from their base in North
Carolina.
“Back in the seventies,” Pete Murphy recalled, “we had a
boat we could overnight on, and we ran it on down to the Bahamas. Water is
something we’ve just not been able to get enough of, so we gradually kept moving
up.
“We ran the gamut…all the way on up to a one-hundred-sixteen Broward. We
bought the ninety-five-footer Admiral. Then we decided to build the big
boat. (Click image to enlarge)
“We learned a lot building the Broward, but it wasn’t big enough to do
some of the things we wanted. We’re not people who run from dock to dock; we
spend a lot of time at anchor. We like to travel to remote places—and we like to
have our friends along.”
The search for a new design and builder took several
years. The couple seriously considered an expedition-style boat. It would have
had the benefits of low maintenance and operating costs. Yet, despite the allure
of the expedition lifestyle, the look and appeal of a “gentleman’s yacht”—and
more solid resale potential—won out.
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“I’m the type of person that, when
making an investment, I like to feel that it’s a good one,” Murphy explained. “I
was thinking that, although at the time, expedition boats were really coming on,
they never turned the corner. So, I went back to what I call the ‘white boat’
concept, and to having a boat that I thought would be easier to sell and more
appealing to the eye, while still giving the lines and details we
wanted.”
Murphy added that the concept evolved in terms of construction
materials, too. “I used to think I’d build out of steel, because I wanted a
displacement boat. Then I talked to a lot of people, and saw more—and
bigger—boats being made of fiberglass, and so I decided that ’glass was the way
to go.”
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