EL REY is a rare thing on the water: a genuine long range motor yacht that charters the American Pacific coast, from Alaska in the summer to the Mexican and Costa Rican coast in the winter. Built in 1987 as the largest yacht ever launched by Deep Sea Marine and refit in 2016 and again in 2022, she pairs a rugged, sea kindly steel hull with the warmth of a classic American interior. For a group that wants to actually go somewhere rather than move between marinas, she is a distinctive, capable choice.
Her range is the headline. A semi displacement steel hull and generous fuel give her better than five thousand nautical miles at a steady cruise, enough to run the Inside Passage to Alaska, linger in the Pacific Northwest, then follow the coast south to Baja and beyond. This is a yacht for wildlife, glaciers and empty anchorages, not just harbours, and she is set up to reach them in comfort.
Two refits keep her current under the classic lines. The 2016 and 2022 programmes reworked the systems, the finishes and the guest areas, so she charters as a maintained, well found yacht rather than a period piece, with the reliability a remote itinerary demands. Little about a long passage is left to chance, from the tender and toy handling to the stabilisation that keeps the ride easy when the coast opens up.
The decks are built for the outdoors. A jacuzzi sits forward on the bow, open to the sky, with sun pads and space to spread out. The sun deck and aft deck both carry loungers and a full spread of water toys, from jet skis to paddle craft, launched straight off the transom. After a day exploring, the swim platform and the tenders keep the water close.
Inside, the mood is warm and unmistakably American. The main saloon runs wide in polished wood and soft seating, with a separate sky lounge forward that wraps around panoramic windows, the best seat in the house for a passage through the islands. A formal dining area seats the full party, and the flow between the interior lounges makes her easy to live aboard on a long trip. The finish is timber and comfort rather than cool minimalism, and it suits her character.
Accommodation sleeps up to ten guests across five cabins, all set low in the hull where the motion is easiest, an asset on the longer passages she is made for. The master is generous and full of light, and the guest cabins carry the same warm timber and bright artwork, each with an en suite bathroom. A crew of seven runs the yacht, experienced in the remote cruising she specialises in, so guests can focus on the coast rather than the logistics.
Through the summer she cruises Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, and through the winter she works Southern California, Mexico and Costa Rica, a range of cruising grounds few charter yachts on this coast can offer. EL REY is not the newest or the fastest yacht in the fleet. She is one of the very few that can take a family up the Inside Passage in real comfort, and that is exactly the point.
