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That superyacht life

It's Friday, global vaccinations are trending upwards, and Tom Brady is talking casinos and playing American football with David Beckham in the Bahamas.

Brady's 53-foot (16-meter) Vida a Vida may not qualify as a superyacht, but when you have pals like Florida real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer—the owner of the 312-foot Madsummer—you don't have to worry.

Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 7.

Photographer: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The seven-time Super Bowl winner was seen aboard the superyacht with Florida politician Chris Sprowls over the past weekend, angling for a new casino development, according to local media.

At a comfortable two to four hours away from Florida's Fort Lauderdale—depending on which island you visit—the Bahamas is the perfect getaway for the South Coast ultra-wealthy.  

And the number of superyachts shows it: As of March 19, there were 21 more than last year, according to Bloomberg's tracker. That's partly due to Covid-19 border closures in neighboring French islands like St. Barth and St. Martin.

Note: March 2021 includes all yachts with a location last reported between the 15th and 19th and within two miles of the country's coastline. February 2021 data are based on Feb. 15 to Feb. 19 positions, while March 2020 numbers are for March 8 to March 12. Median length in study is 163 feet. "Pct. New" is based on yacht ages between 2016 and 2021.

Source: Bloomberg, IHS Markit, Genscape

Brady isn't the only one from the industry represented in paradise.

The largest yacht currently in the Bahamas, the 358-foot Bravo Eugenia, belongs to Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, while Daniel Snyder has the third largest, the 305-foot Lady S. Coming in second place is the 323-foot Aviva, owned by British businessman Joe Lewis.

The Exuma islands will be a new stop on the Crystal Cruise itineraries.

Photographer: Per Breiehagen/Stone RF

Starting in July, the rest of us can have our time in the sun, too.

Genting's Crystal Cruises is tweaking the "cruise to nowhere" formula with week-long Bahamas itineraries. Sticking to one country allows American travelers easy access while bypassing all U.S. restrictions.

Crystal Serenity

Source: Crystal Cruises

The trips will only be made available to fully inoculated travelers, who must show their vaccine cards before boarding. To comply with Bahamian requirements of an antigen test on the fifth day of vacation—as well as PCR tests that are required for re-entry to the U.S.—Crystal is creating an on-ship Covid-19 testing lab.

Itineraries will sail from Nassau or Bimini to Great Exuma and several islands not typically frequented by cruise ships—all on the 980-passenger Crystal Serenity, known for such niceties as butler-serviced penthouse suites and complimentary Nobu sushi. Prices will start at $1,999 per person.

A beach in Nassau, Bahamas.

Photographer: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

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"Everyone deserves to have access to well-designed clothing at an accessible price point." —Brandon Maxwell, fashion designer to Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama and Meghan Markle, on being hired as the first-ever creative director for Walmart's Scoop and Free Assembly fashion brands.

Hemingway recovering from injuries at the American Red Cross Hospital in Milan in 1918.

Photographer: Henry Villard, Ernest Hemingway Collection. Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston"

"The world saw him as a man's man, but all his life he would privately be intrigued by the blurred lines between male and female, men and women."Peter Coyote in Hemingway, a new six-hour Ken Burns and Novick documentary that recasts the divisive literary giant as millennial avatar.

The 12,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom house is listed with Frank Newbold and Beate Moore of Sotheby's International Realty

Photographer: Richard Taverna for Sotheby's International Realty

"How do you take a house that has no 'good bones' and restore it to being a great house?" Chris Mitchell on the new-to-market $28.5 million Hamptons beach house he renovated with his wife Pilar Guzmán, the former editor-in-chief of Condé Nast Traveler.

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"We were surprised." —Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann on having the most profitable year ever during Covid.

 

 

Shred It

The numbers are in, and the pandemic has officially turbocharged the market for musical equipment: Online retailer Sweetwater reported record growth last year, surpassing $1 billion in sales; Fender Musical Instruments signed up 900,000 users for its Play lessons app.

And with it, a new affliction: gear acquisition syndrome.

A 2006 Eric Clapton "Blackie" Fender Stratocaster.

Source: Fender; Background: Getty Images

Fueled by pandemic-induced isolation, the seven stages of GAS are cataloged at the publication Music Radar, beginning with dissatisfaction and desire and culminating in guilt and relapse. Guitarists are the most at-risk population. Middle-aged men are heavily represented.

But anyone—ukulele player, keyboardist, drum machinist, Moog synthesizer maestro—with space in their living room, time and money on their hands, and rock star visions can fall prey.

The passing of guitarist Eddie Van Halen last October sparked even more purchases of guitars and gear,

Photographer: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Symptoms can include a burning desire to drop $650 on screws form a 1951 Fender Esquire, or spend $21,000 on a Fender guitar neck that was built on the same day and by the same luthier one that ended up being used by Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour.

"Everything is at top dollar," says Phillip McKnight, who used to co-own a music store in Phoenix and now has a guitar-focused YouTube channel

"People have fully gone off the deep end," says Josh Scott, a collector who runs a company called JHS Pedals, producing those colorful little boxes that alter the instrument's sound when you stomp on them.

Vintage Klon Centaur pedals can range from almost $6,000 to $7,500.

Source: The Driftwood Music/Reverb Shop

Of course, the collective enthusiasm with all this stuff shows how everyone is focusing on the wrong area, says Ryan "Fluff" Bruce, a YouTuber who has 379,000 subscribers and who plays guitar for the Seattle metal band Dragged Under.

Obsessing over gear "gives me something to fixate on that I'm convinced will solve my problems," he says. "But the reality is, I just need to practice."

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