Most 35-metre yachts carry ten or twelve guests. BRANDI WINE carries eight, and
that single decision shapes everything else about her.
She is a 34.75-metre Hargrave delivered in 2009 and refitted in 2023, running
the Bahamas year-round out of the Exumas and the Abacos. Four cabins across that
length means the rooms are large, the corridors are wide, and the saloon never
has to work as hard as it does on a boat carrying half again as many people. For
a family or two couples travelling together, the arithmetic is simply better.
Her main deck is warm, high-gloss cherry from end to end – a look that has come
back around – with a broad L-shaped sectional aft under a coffered ceiling and
near-continuous glazing down both sides. Forward in the same volume, an oval
dining table seats eight under a fluted ceiling dome. It is a comfortable,
unhurried room, and the joinery is a genuine cut above what the length would
suggest.
Forward again, the galley is a proper working space: a full granite island,
professional refrigeration and a bar and day head alongside, so the crew of five
can run service without crossing the guest areas.
The sun deck is where she earns her charter rate. A round spa sits under a
hardtop with a bar, a grill and a screen alongside – the last of which turns the
deck into an outdoor cinema after dark. Forward, the foredeck carries a second
sun pad in teal cushions above the ground tackle. Between the two, and the
covered aft deck below, she has a shaded option and a sun option at any hour.
Her tender is worth naming: Lil’ Wine, a 37ft Intrepid centre console rigged for
fishing, which is a serious boat in its own right and the reason a charter here
can be built around the flats and the reef rather than around the mothership.
Seabobs, jet skis, paddleboards and inflatables round it out.
Accommodation is four cabins for eight. The master runs wide below with a
quilted headboard, burl consoles and a marble en suite. A queen guest cabin sits
opposite with its own robe hooks and en suite, and a twin with fixed berths and
teal cushions completes the layout. Every cabin is en suite, and each has enough
floor area to unpack into properly – the practical benefit of eight berths on
this much boat.
Stabilisers work underway and at anchor, Starlink keeps the connection live, and
five crew run her.
She is a straightforward, well-finished, generously proportioned Bahamas yacht
that has been kept current and is priced sensibly for what she is.
The Bahamas suit her particularly well. Her draft lets her work the shallow banks
and the Exuma cays properly, and with Lil’ Wine on the platform the itinerary can
be built around the flats, the reef and the sandbars rather than around wherever
the mothership happens to fit. Guests who fish will find this a materially
better setup than the inflatable most yachts of this size carry.
The 2023 refit brought her soft goods, systems and finishes up to date while
leaving the high-gloss cherry joinery – which is original, and which is the best
thing about her interior – entirely alone. Stabilisers work at anchor as well as
underway, Starlink handles the connection, and five crew look after eight
guests, a ratio that reads clearly in the service.
For a family charter built around water, space and an unhurried pace, she is one
of the more sensible propositions on the Bahamas market at her price.
From $55,000 per week.
