A few years ago, the owners of Tuko decided it was time to bring a lifelong dream to fruition.

"We’ve never had any interest in building a house," the husband said, "but we have always wanted to build a boat."

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The couple had owned several boats over the last two decades, but before committing to a new build, they wanted to get a feel for the product. So, rather than taking the usual course and chartering, they found a 75-foot West Bay on the brokerage market and bought her.

"We wanted to see whether these West Bays were everything they were made out to be," explained the husband, who went on to say that the experience was so good that it resulted in a contract to build their new, highly customized 92-foot yachtfisher. (Click image to enlarge)

Tuko – the word literally means "sea canoe" in the Native American Tlingit language – is used for fishing and diving, which makes the cockpit a valuable asset, especially for the type of cruising that the couple anticipates.

"We’ve been spending our summers in British Columbia for almost twenty-five years," the husband said. "And, of course, when I was working, we were limited to just two or three weeks a year. So, the year before last, on the seventy-five-foot boat, we took off and were gone a little more than three months. We’d been waiting a long time [to do a trip like that].

"Our plans are to take the new boat to Alaska, then down the West Coast [to Central America] next fall. We have two giant lazarette hatches, so I can stow all my crab traps, shrimp pots and fishing gear. We also installed an extra-wide, ventilated swim grid, and there’s a crab jail in it to keep my Dungeness crabs alive."

Tuko also stands apart from other West Bays in terms of décor and arrangement. Working with Tom Bakker, West Bay’s in-house designer, the wife created an interior that showcases the couple’s extensive collection of Pacific Northwest coastal Indian art. She integrated various works – totems, baskets, masks and other objects – into the design while employing neutral tones in the joinery and softgoods to allow the artwork to take center stage.

Tlingit wood carvings, including totems and the masks seen in the salon (top), usually depict the animals that symbolize the 14 groups within the tribe. Yellow and red cedar were prized for totems, cottonwood for small canoes, spruce for baskets. West Bay’s Tom Bakker helped the owners seamlessly integrate these elements into their light, grained joinery and earthy background palette to create a serene and individualized interior. (Click images to enlarge)

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West Bay SonShip at 604-946-6226. www.west-bay.com