william kallop yacht

Clearing up a few facts surrounding the M/Y Natita seizure

By Susan Jobe and Lucy Chabot Reed

M/Y Natita , a 217-foot (66m) Oceanco launched in 2005, was seized on July 15 after the owner, Texas oilman William Kallop, failed to make payments on a loan against the yacht.

Court filings show that Kallop borrowed $32 million from Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs Group’s private bank in 2014, using Natita and another of his yachts, the 186-foot (57m) M/Y Bad Girl , as collateral, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 10. The bank claims the owner stopped making payments in November, with nearly $28 million left on the loan.

william kallop yacht

The U.S. Marshal’s warning on M/Y Natita.

Goldman Sachs filed a lawsuit in federal court in Miami to seize the boat. U.S. marshals impounded Natita at Rybovich, a shipyard in West Palm Beach, where the yacht has been docked for more than 20 months. Employees have said the owner owes the shipyard hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Journal has reported.

The financial press credited a former crew member with saying a yacht charter had walked off M/Y Natita in Nassau in March 2016 because it was in such a bad state of disrepair, but that is incorrect. Natita has not had a charter since November 2015, according to several former crew members. Other than traveling to South Florida boat shows and to the Bahamas to clear its boat show bond, Natita has not left the West Palm Beach shipyard.

Former crew members said the yacht that charter guests reportedly walked out on was M/Y Bad Girl , which was not involved in the seizure July 15. After the aborted charter, Bad Girl was moved to Louisiana and now sits in Marina Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic, former crew members said.

The error was originally reported by the Journal , then repeated in stories in other financial media outlets, including MSN, Fox and Business Insider.

In related news, a Florida court recently ordered the owner to pay three crew members, including Capt. Rusty Allen, about $90,000 in wages owed. The media have reported that it is in back pay, but that is also incorrect. The three were owed severance and accrued vacation time at the time of their firing, according to their contracts, Capt. Allen said. And despite the ruling, the crew members had not received their pay as of mid-August.

M/Y Natita was delivered in 2005 as Dilbar and renamed Ona in 2008. Kallop bought the boat in 2010 and named it Natita . The asking price had been 59.9 million euros. Natita was back on the market in 2016 for $57.5 million, with the price reduced to $52 million in September of that same year. The yacht then underwent several more price reductions. It is now listed for $39.9 million with Burgess and Worth Avenue Yachts.

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William Kallop's 66m yacht seized by Goldman Sachs

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By SuperyachtNews 18 Aug 2017

Lessons to learn from Goldman Sachs seizing 66m superyacht 'Natita'

In light of goldman sachs seizing william kallop's 66m superyacht natita, we explore the risks that banks face when lending against superyachts.….

Image for article Lessons to learn from Goldman Sachs seizing 66m superyacht 'Natita'

Following the news that William Kallop, the American oil mogul, has had his 66m Oceanco-built superyacht, motoryacht Natita, seized by the US branch of Goldman Sachs, we explore whether or not there are lessons to be learned beyond the wisdom that it is always a good idea to repay debts owed to powerful financial institutions. Natita is one of three superyachts owned by Kallop, the other two being 57m motoryacht Bad Girl and a 28m vessel previously used by John F. Kenny, former president of the United States.

The story begins with Kallop borrowing $32 million from Goldman Sachs against Natita and Bad Girl. This form of borrowing, often referred to as a ‘wealth loan’, is becoming increasingly popular with the world’s super rich. Do you want to add a fifth mega-mansion to your portfolio, but your cash is tied up in assets? Why not lend money from a bank against your Picasso, classic Ferrari or superyacht as a security?

According to Goldman Sachs, in November 2016, with $28 million still to pay, Kallop stopped financing the repayments of his loan, eventually leading him to default on the loan and cause Goldman Sachs to take legal action. Upon filing a suit with the Miami federal court, Natita was seized at a marina in West Palm Beach. Three of Natita’s crewmembers were also victorious in the court of law, earning $90,000 in back pay from their time on board. 

Natita was then put on the market for an asking price of $57.5 million, only to have her priced reduced to $52 million that very same year. Subsequently, Natita has undergone a series of price reductions that have left her at the current asking price of $39.9 million, with no takers. The wider media has speculated that Natita will, most likely, be put up for auction.

It is easy to see why banks are becoming increasingly attracted to wealth loans. If the loan period proves to be successful, the financial institution turns a healthy profit, as with a traditional loan, as well as managing to please, and retain the custom of, an extremely wealthy individual. Equally, if the borrower reneges on the agreement the lender may be left with an asset that is far more valuable than the sum of the remaining loan. However, superyachts are not classic cars, art or jewellery and, more so than the former, estimations of value and realistic resale periods can be, at best, contestable.

“For the banks, the risk of superyacht lending is the fact that valuations can be somewhat of a dark art,” explains Leon Batchelor, managing director of Arc&Co. Marine & Aviation. “Nobody really knows what the value of a yacht is – its value is whatever someone will pay for it. That’s why a lot of banks restrict what they will lend against to a specific number of shipyards. So, from the banks’ perspective, the amortisation of the loan may not be quick enough to keep pace with depreciation.

“Secondly, the superyachts are movable assets. Lending against a superyacht will require a certain degree of compliance on the part of the borrower. The banks will be concerned that the vessel could be moved to a jurisdiction within which it becomes impossible to get hold of. The bank will need to limit where the yacht can be used.”

It would be remiss of me to claim that loaning against luxury securities in general does not carry an element of risk. But, unlike other assets, it is extremely rare for a superyacht to appreciate in value – the longer you sit on a yacht ,the less it is worth – and the yearly costs of attempting to stop a vessel from falling into disrepair can be significant. Superyachts, at the end of the day, are loss-making assets apart from the lucky few and, as such, may not necessarily be the most suitable of assets to lend against.

That being said, with only $28 million still to recoup on the loan and a current asking price of $39.9 million, Goldman Sachs is still able to profit substantially from the collapse of the initial agreement. However, sources close to the sale of the vessel have suggested that Natita is proving difficult to sell, partly due to its poor condition, and partly due to its physical makeup. With a draft of five metres, Natita is unsuitable for the US’ most desirable anchorages and her unique canoe stern profile is not exactly the flavour of the month. Her deep draft suggests that the best market for Natita would most likely be Europe. But, yet again, getting her there will incur a significant cost.

Still, all it takes is one wealthy individual to take a fancy and the Natita nightmare becomes a fairy tale, for all accept William Kallop. 

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Goldman sachs seizes oil tycoon's 217-foot yacht.

Goldman Sachs now is the lucky owner of a 217 foot yacht after billionaire Texas oilman William Kallop failed to pay back loans to the bank. Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous, Nicole Sinclair, and Premier Wealth First Allied Securities Senior Wealth Strategist Mark Martiak discuss if this is a sign of a top.

william kallop yacht

Repossession of the M/Y NATITA by Goldman Sachs shows how hard private banks work to avoid taking yachts back

william kallop yacht

This month’s widely reported repossession of the M/Y Natita by Goldman Sachs demonstrates how hard private banks work to avoid taking yachts back.

The biggest reason that private banks finance yachts, jets or art is defensive. They offer it as a low margin product because they do not want to lose good clients to other banks, rather than as a way of making money. Margins are low because, as well as competing with other banks, they are also competing with their clients’ own cash. Private banks also use yacht finance as a way of targeting new clients.

William Kallop, an oil entrepreneur, was clearly an important client for Goldman Sachs, an occasional yacht lender, in 2014. Goldman lent $32 million to AVD Limited, a Cayman special purpose vehicle, to acquire the Natita and another vessel. The loan was guaranteed by both Kallop and his company Offshore Exploration and Production. The original 22-month loan was due to mature in December 2016.

One year after signing, Goldman agreed to restructure the loan. It then negotiated a new agreement in March 2017. It then gave Kallop another three months meet these conditions before asking for the yacht to be seized. Rybovich Boat is also owed mooring fees and three crew members say they are owed salaries.

“Private banks do not rush in when a client misses a payment. You are always looking for a way to work with the client to find a solution,” says the head of yacht finance at one of the world’s largest private banks. “The last thing you want to do is repossess the yacht.”

In March, Natita was listed for sale at $39.9 million – above the $28.4 million plus expenses that Goldman says it is still owed. But buyers will be looking for discounts.

The banker adds: “As soon as the market knows that a bank is the seller, you know that everyone is going to discount any offer. It is a tough place to be.”

Deal timeline

10  February, 2014 – Goldman Sachs lends $32 million to AVD Limited, a Cayman Islands SPV, to buy M/Y Natita.

9 March, 2016 – Goldman Sachs and AVID agree an amended loan

30  November, 2016 – Goldman Sachs says that AVID is in default

9 March, 2017 – Goldman and AVID sign an agreement where AVIC will provide additional cash

2 June, 2017 – Goldman says that AVID has not met any of the new conditions and issues a demand for payment with a deadline of June 9

9 June, 2017 – Deadline for payment passes

12 June, 2017 – Goldman issues a formal “Notice of Additional Payment.”

7 July, 2017 – Goldman says that AVID owes $28.4 million on this date. It is also asking for lawyers’ fees, repossession costs and expenses.

15 July, 2017 – National Maritime Services arrests the yacht where it is moored in West Palm Beach, Florida

Legal teams

• Goldman Sachs: Patrick Novak, Seth Harris – Horr, Novak & Skipp • Rybovich Boat: Farris Martin – Stoup & Martin

• NATITA, AVID, William Kallop and Offshore Exploration: Clay Naughton – Moore & Co

• Crew: Seth Harris, Fertig & Gramling

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Inshorts

An Oil Baron Stiffed Goldman Sachs, So It Seized His 217-ft. Yacht

A Texas man, once swimming in oil wealth but now reportedly fallen on hard times, has suffered the ultimate indignity—having his yacht seized by a lender.

William Kallop was until recently the proud owner of the Natita, a 217-foot beauty featuring a movie theater and helipad and named after his mother-in-law. But the Wall Street Journal reports that the Natita is now the property of Goldman Sachs .

Kallop used the yacht as partial collateral for a $32 million loan from Goldman in 2014. Soon after, Kallop—a big spender whose recent acquisitions have included at least seven yachts, eight residences, and three jets—ran short on cash, leading him to lay off employees and try to sell assets.

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But the Natita, initially listed for sale at around $67 million, didn’t attract a buyer. Goldman claims Kallop stopped repaying the $32 million loan in November 2016. So Goldman filed suit and was awarded the boat by a Miami federal court.

The incident highlights what the Journal says is a steady rise in so-called “wealth loans”—large loans to wealthy individuals that are sometimes secured by assets like art, boats, and wine collections. Such loans are picking up as demand for traditional loans declines . Some observers say the drop in traditional lending is a warning sign for the broader economy.

Goldman is likely to auction the boat, which, even after several markdowns, is currently listed for more than the outstanding balance of its loan to Kallop.

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Step into the past with these glamorous photos of JFK's presidential yacht

The honey fitz is a valuable piece of american history. it was built in 1931 by defoe boat works in bay city, michigan. the yacht was used by five presidents — truman, eisenhower, johnson, nixon, and jfk..

william kallop yacht

However, the yacht remained relatively unknown until it was passed onto John F. Kennedy when he became president in 1961.

However, the yacht remained relatively unknown until it was passed onto John F. Kennedy when he became president in 1961.

Kennedy, a life-long lover of the sea, spent many a summer with his family aboard the yacht. Here, he's pictured with his daughter Caroline near Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Kennedy, a life-long lover of the sea, spent many a summer with his family aboard the yacht. Here, he's pictured with his daughter Caroline near Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

The yacht also played host to foreign dignitaries. In this picture, Kennedy is entertaining Prince Stanislaus Radziwill of Poland and then-Ambassador of Great Britain, Sir David Ormsby-Gore, as well as several family members.

The yacht also played host to foreign dignitaries. In this picture, Kennedy is entertaining Prince Stanislaus Radziwill of Poland and then-Ambassador of Great Britain, Sir David Ormsby-Gore, as well as several family members.

The yacht's creator, Sewell Avery, originally named the boat Lenore, but Kennedy decided to change the vessel's name in honour of his maternal grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald.

The yacht's creator, Sewell Avery, originally named the boat Lenore, but Kennedy decided to change the vessel's name in honour of his maternal grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald.

Compared to today's yachts of the super-wealthy, the Honey Fitz had a relatively basic interior. The inside was decked out in dark-wood panelling, a typical design feature of the era.

Compared to today's yachts of the super-wealthy, the Honey Fitz had a relatively basic interior. The inside was decked out in dark-wood panelling, a typical design feature of the era.

Many of the furnishings and decorations were emblazoned with the presidential seal.

Many of the furnishings and decorations were emblazoned with the presidential seal.

The master bedroom was one of the most luxurious rooms.

The master bedroom was one of the most luxurious rooms.

The onboard office was quite a bit smaller than the Oval Office. Kennedy was known to have held several key meetings on the yacht. Several strategy meetings were held during the Cuban missile crisis.

The onboard office was quite a bit smaller than the Oval Office. Kennedy was known to have held several key meetings on the yacht. Several strategy meetings were held during the Cuban missile crisis.

The presidential yacht weighed 88 tons and had a cruising speed of just 12 knots, which is roughly 13 mph.

The presidential yacht weighed 88 tons and had a cruising speed of just 12 knots, which is roughly 13 mph.

The Honey Fitz was eventually sold to Joe Keating Jr. during the Nixon administration in 1970. He renamed the vessel "The Presidents," but restored its former name shortly afterwards.

The Honey Fitz was eventually sold to Joe Keating Jr. during the Nixon administration in 1970. He renamed the vessel "The Presidents," but restored its former name shortly afterwards.

The yacht was sold again in 1998. Texas oil executive William Kallop bought the Honey Fitz for $5.9 million (£3.7 million) at Sotheby's Camelot auction.

The yacht was sold again in 1998. Texas oil executive William Kallop bought the Honey Fitz for $5.9 million (£3.7 million) at Sotheby's Camelot auction.

Under Kallop's ownership, the Honey Fitz is now used as a charter boat for private events having been restored after lying deteriorating in a boatyard in Mobile, Alabama, for several years.

Under Kallop's ownership, the Honey Fitz is now used as a charter boat for private events having been restored after lying deteriorating in a boatyard in Mobile, Alabama, for several years.

In this picture, an 8-year-old Maria Shriver and a 6-year-old Caroline Kennedy play on the presidential yacht during a cruise near Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1963, just five months before John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

In this picture, an 8-year-old Maria Shriver and a 6-year-old Caroline Kennedy play on the presidential yacht during a cruise near Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in 1963, just five months before John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

People who knew John F. Kennedy say some of the happiest times of his life were spent with his family onboard the Honey Fitz.

People who knew John F. Kennedy say some of the happiest times of his life were spent with his family onboard the Honey Fitz.

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Why Goldman Sachs Seized a Yacht -- WSJ

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (August 11, 2017).

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owns hundreds of billions of dollars of stocks, bonds and commodities. Add to its portfolio: a 217-foot luxury yacht called Natita.

The story behind the boat begins with a 2014 loan to a prized Goldman client, billionaire Texas oilman William Kallop. It ends with Goldman suing its own client and the U.S. Marshals last month swooping down on a West Palm Beach marina to impound the yacht -- which boasts a movie theater, Jacuzzi and helipad.

Goldman's nautical trophy is a strange but inevitable outcome of Wall Street's latest gold rush: lending to wealthy clients, the loans backed by everything from Warhols to wine.

These loans, which are growing quickly at firms such as Goldman, Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG, are an exotic spin on the most basic thing banks do: lending money to people. They have the added benefit of building loyalty among prized, ultrawealthy clientele.

Like any loans, though, they can go bad and leave banks holding assets that aren't easy to value or sell. Goldman will likely auction Natita, which already has been on the market for almost two years with no takers.

A Goldman spokesman declined to comment on the case. Mr. Kallop didn't respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Mr. Kallop declined to comment.

"If you do it right, it's a great business and clients will absolutely love you for it," said Bruce Holley, a partner at the Boston Consulting Group who advises private banks on wealth-management strategy. "But there are a lot of ways to mess up."

Banks pushed wealth lending in recent years against a backdrop of increasing deposits and tepid demand for traditional loans. Goldman's private bank has quadrupled its overall lending balances since 2012 to $29 billion. Morgan Stanley wealth-loan balances are up 420% since 2012 to $74 billion.

The largest chunk of wealth loans are mortgages and loans backed by stock portfolios. A smaller but growing segment is secured by valuables such as classic cars, hedge-fund stakes, and even rare violins.

Wealth loans are especially profitable for banks because the revenue they generate is shared less generously with brokers than trading commissions and other fees.

Banks say these loans are safe because they already know the borrowers, their assets, and their ability to repay. And unlike, say, credit cards, these loans have collateral and often a personal guarantee as well. Goldman said in a February filing that the value of collateral in its wealth loans "generally exceed[s]" the loan amount.

Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank AG have lent against the art collection of hedge-fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen, who owns works by Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso, according to Connecticut state filings. Top Blackstone Group LP executives including founder Stephen Schwarzman have borrowed from UBS against their stakes in the private-equity firms' funds, New York filings show.

Goldman lent to natural-gas wildcatter Aubrey McClendon against his wine collection, according to an Oklahoma filing. Executives joked the collateral was "particularly liquid." After Mr. McClendon's death in 2015, the collection -- heavy on rare Bordeaux -- was auctioned for $8.4 million. Goldman made its money back.

Although not as well-known as those borrowers, Mr. Kallop was the kind of client whom private banks court.

In the 1970s, he joined a family-owned marine-services company called McAllister Towing & Transportation. A legal dispute in 1993 resulted in a split of the company. The tugboat and ferry operations stayed with the family. Mr. Kallop took the offshore oil business, which he built over the next two decades into a portfolio of drilling rights, rig operators and construction arms.

He sold the business for nearly $1 billion in 2009 to a consortium of Colombian and Korean investors. Mr. Kallop then dabbled in investing, taking a 7% stake in energy company Quicksilver Resources and buying a 300-year-old liquor distillery in Peru.

He spent lavishly, acquiring three Gulfstream jets and at least eight residences, including a Peruvian mansion, two homes in the Dominican Republic and a working cattle ranch in Texas, according to property record, lawsuits and people who have worked for him.

And he bought yachts -- at least seven of them over the past eight years.

In addition to Natita, which he bought in 2010 and named for his mother-in-law, Mr. Kallop's fleet includes Bad Girl, moored in the Dominican Republic, and Honey Fitz, a 93-footer used by President John F. Kennedy that he bought at Sotheby's Camelot auction in 1998 and restored.

Another yacht, La Diva, which was once owned by Ivana Trump, was destroyed in a fire.

A few years ago, Goldman came calling. The Wall Street firm's private bank manages some $450 billion in assets for 11,500 ultrarich clients, and was developed in the 1980s to help business owners like Mr. Kallop manage their windfall after a sale.

Mr. Kallop became a client. In 2014, he borrowed $21.2 million from the bank to buy a 12,000-square-foot Tahitian-inspired oceanfront mansion just down the beach from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., county records show.

In 2014, Mr. Kallop borrowed $32 million from Goldman against the Natita and Bad Girl, court records show. The loan, the maritime equivalent of a home-equity loan, carried an interest rate of three percentage points above the London interbank offered rate.

But then Mr. Kallop hit money troubles, according to former employees and acquaintances. He put off upgrades to the boats, which were showing signs of wear -- bad enough for a March 2016 charter group to walk off Natita in Nassau, a former crew member said.

Goldman ordered periodic valuations of the yacht after making the loan, according to the crew member.

Mr. Kallop laid off crew members and put Natita up for sale in 2015 for EUR59.5 million ($67 million at that time), then dropped the price to $57.5 million last year, according to court documents. He sold a second Palm Beach house in April 2015 for $19 million. Goldman alleges he stopped paying back on the loan last November.

Three crew members, including the captain, were recently awarded roughly $90,000 in back pay by a Florida court. A Texas judge last month awarded his former bodyguard more than $500,000 for unpaid services. Mr. Kallop also owes the Florida marina where Natita is docked hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees, employees said.

Eventually, Goldman filed suit in a Miami federal court to seize the boat in a maritime version of a foreclosure. Acting on a judge's orders, U.S. Marshals impounded Natita at a West Palm Beach marina, where it remains.

Goldman's first move as owner-in-waiting: buying $67,000 worth of fuel to keep the yacht's generator running, according to court filings.

Today, the yacht is listed for $39.9 million, according to broker Worth Avenue Yachts. The outstanding balance of the loan owed to Goldman is roughly $28 million.

Write to Liz Hoffman at [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 11, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

william kallop yacht

Company restoring JFK's Honey Fitz, the historic wooden yacht that served five U.S. presidents

James Moore, owner of Moores Marine, Inc., is currently working to restore the Honey Fitz, a pre-WWII boat, which served as the Presidential yacht from the Truman administration until it was auctioned off during the Nixon administration.

Past a nondescript iron gate, in a spartan marina filled with rusting, decaying boats, Jim Moores is trying to save an enduring symbol of John F. Kennedy's Camelot.

From about 100 feet away, though, one of American history's most famous old wooden ships looks like a wreck. Up close, out of the water and trussed to metal jacks, the Honey Fitz looks even worse.

"I told you she looks like the carcass of a dead whale, didn't I?" says Moores, standing on scaffolding that surrounds the 93-foot vessel at a Riviera Beach boatyard.

He runs his hands along one of the wide gashes his repair crew has had to cut into her hull to restore a main beam that held the yacht together in rough seas, as she cruised from Washington, D.C., to the Kennedy compound in Palm Beach.

Caressing one of the new wooden spines, Moores points out how they have purposely inserted one too close to another, just as it was built, because you don't mess around with architecture, however flawed, that has held together in the Atlantic Ocean for 79 years.

And you especially don't change more than you have to when you're restoring the presidential yacht used by five consecutive sitting U.S. presidents, including the one who made her the most famous, JFK himself.

When he took office, he renamed the presidential yacht after his maternal grandfather, Boston Mayor John Francis Fitzgerald, whom everyone just called Honey Fitz.

And the Honey Fitz went on to become a lasting symbol of Camelot, her white and honey-brown hull piercing the waters along the Potomac at up to 24 knots, Jack and Jackie lounging on the open back deck where the "red phone" was installed.

Camelot floating by The Honey Fitz became a regular, too, along the shores of Palm Beach. People stopped to watch her glide majestically along the Intracoastal as the first family cruised by at Christmas time and Easter.

Kennedy told his friend and aide, Dave Powers, that he spent some of his happiest times on that boat - including the May evening when he stepped aboard and his closest family and friends leaped out of the cabin to yell "Surprise!" just as Jackie had planned to help him celebrate what would be his 46th and final birthday.

Before Kennedy, the Honey Fitz had a long, rich history. Originally called the Lenore and built at a cost of $100,000 in 1931 for Montgomery Ward tycoon Sewell Avery, she was pressed into service for World War II, outfitted with 50-caliber machine guns and depth charges.

She retired from the Navy to become the presidential yacht for Harry S. Truman, who raced aboard her in the Presidential Regatta, and it later became a sort of ferry for Dwight D. Eisenhower, who shuttled across the Potomac to play rounds of golf.

After Kennedy's assassination, the yacht hosted everything from cocktail parties to state dinners under Lyndon Johnson, who was quoted as saying he would no more consider changing her name - as every other president had done - "than I would have thought of changing the name of the Washington Monument."

Yes, there is a lot of history on this old, wooden boat. Too much to be trusted to anyone but a man like Moores, 55, whose father and grandfather were in the lumber business in the Midwest.

Moores has spent as much time at sea as he has on dry land, and has dedicated himself to this tiniest of niches in the boat building industry: vintage American wooden powerboats.

He is the only one south of Maine dedicated to this type of painstaking, low-volume work, which is still mostly done with carpenters' hand tools - steel planers, sanding blocks, chisels. Owning wooden boats is a luxury of a rich and relative few, so Moores' work has to be flawless for this clientele. More so, when it involves a ship with this kind of history.

"If you're going to restore something, you do your homework," Moores said. "You get to restore a presidential yacht once in a lifetime."

Original blueprints found

Work on the Honey Fitz began about four blocks away, back at his tiny office where he warehouses and sells all manner of wooden boat-building supplies.

He flips open a binder more than 2 inches thick, his textbook for what could be a two-year restoration project. (The hull should be finished by Christmas.) He leafs through the carefully organized research he started on the Honey Fitz before he even laid hands on her.

There are the complete blueprints for the boat, which he tracked down by word of mouth to a dust-covered box in the archival research room of Bowling Green State University. They had sat, unclassified, along with the complete collection of plans from the defunct Defoe Shipbuilding Co., which built the vessel.

There are archival photos from the Navy, showing her patrolling the East Coast, and dropping depth charges off the back.

As word got around the seafaring world that Moores was restoring this boat, e-mails, photos and letters started pouring in from people who had spent time on the Honey Fitz. There are pictures showing children playing around the color television that Jackie Kennedy purchased for the back of the boat.

There is an e-mail from a man who said he had blueprints for the furniture Jackie had designed specifically for this vessel. Moores wants to build them even if the owner who has commissioned this restoration, William Kallop, an oil executive who bought the Honey Fitz at Sotheby's famed "Camelot" auction in 1998 for $5.9 million, decides not to install them.

Which restored look?

In another filing cabinet, Moores has video of the Honey Fitz sailing off the coast of Palm Beach with the Kennedys aboard. It has been housed at the island's Biltmore docks for the last eight years, waiting for someone to make her seaworthy again.

The world, it seems, feels ownership over this boat, just as it did over the Kennedys.

"It's really become a group effort," Moores said.

There are myriad time periods the Honey Fitz could be restored to. It could look the way it was built in 1931, with a black- painted hull. It could look the way it did when Eisenhower took it after it finished its naval service. It could keep the enclosed cabin that Richard Nixon had built for it before he eventually sold it out of the country's service in 1970 for a larger vessel.

But for JFK, the Honey Fitz was just right when he captained her. It was large enough to handle the rough seas of the Atlantic, but small enough that the Secret Service crew had to follow in another boat, giving the president and his family a measure of privacy.

And that's the way the owner has said he would like to see her again, the way she did when he spent time on the boat as a guest of the Kennedys. That would require opening up the deck that JFK so enjoyed on the sunny afternoons in Palm Beach. And that feels like the right thing to do, Moores admits as he watches one of his carpenters, Atif Ali, carefully hand sanding the Honey Fitz's sides.

"This is restoring a piece of history," said Ali, who had been a carpenter in high-end homes. "This is, by far, the best project I've ever worked on."

Whatever the owner's decision, Moores will act like the Honey Fitz's curator more than her mechanic, a staff member still working at the pleasure of the president.

"It becomes your boat," he said, stopping for a bittersweet smile. "And then, you give it back."

For now, Moores has Camelot all to himself.

COMMODORES-IN-CHIEF

Our site took part in the All-Russian contest of the Internet projects New reality 2006 and took first place in the Federal Volga region.

On a gentle slope to Sviyaga - one of three rivers of the city- surrounded by green trees raises a small wooden temple…

The Museum of Civil Aviation was opened in 1983 and is now situated at the territory of Ulyanovsk higher aviation college.

"Our country, our native land, our home", - so people of different ages, which were born here, call Ulyanovsk. Somebody remembers it carved and wooden, somebody knows the city only like many-storied, built up with modern buildings.

Culture life of Ulyanovsk - is a part of biography of whole Russia, its achievements in the fields of art, literature, philosophy. Among our countrymen are thousands of famous people: poets and writers, politicians and actors, sportsmen and art workers.

Historical facts and present-day fulfillments once more prove how rich and unique our land is. And there are many important discoveries, which will make ineffaceable vestige in descendants' memory and the name of Ulyanovsk will be put down in gold letters into the splendid history of Russian state…



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  4. The yacht was sold again in 1998. Texas oil executive William Kallop

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COMMENTS

  1. Why Goldman Sachs seized a client's 217-foot yacht

    The story behind the boat begins with a 2014 loan to a prized Goldman client, billionaire Texas oilman William Kallop. It ends with Goldman suing its own client and the U.S. Marshals last month ...

  2. Why Goldman Sachs Seized a Client's 217-Foot Yacht

    Add to its portfolio: a 217-foot luxury yacht called Natita. The story behind the boat begins with a 2014 loan to a prized Goldman client, billionaire Texas oilman William Kallop. It ends with ...

  3. An Oil Baron Stiffed Goldman Sachs, So It Seized His 217-ft. Yacht

    A Texas man, once swimming in oil wealth but now reportedly fallen on hard times, has suffered the ultimate indignity—having his yacht seized by a lender. William Kallop was until recently the ...

  4. Goldman Sachs sells Oceanco Natita following seizure

    Goldman Sachs has sold the yacht it seized from entrepreneur William Kallop for $27.5 million - a 30% discount on its $39.9 million asking price. On 15 July, Goldman Sachs seized the 66-metre superyacht S/Y Natita after Kallop defaulted on a $32 million loan he borrowed from the bank in 2014, for which it was used as collateral.

  5. Clearing up a few facts surrounding the M/Y Natita seizure

    By Susan Jobe and Lucy Chabot Reed. M/Y Natita, a 217-foot (66m) Oceanco launched in 2005, was seized on July 15 after the owner, Texas oilman William Kallop, failed to make payments on a loan against the yacht.. Court filings show that Kallop borrowed $32 million from Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs Group's private bank in 2014, using Natita and another of his yachts, the 186-foot (57m) M/Y ...

  6. William Kallop's 66m yacht seized by Goldman Sachs

    The yacht then underwent several price reductions, leading up to its current price of $39,9 million. Natita, the 66-meter yacht purchased by American oil mogul, William Kallop in 2010 has now been seized by American bank, Goldman Sachs following the owner's inability to service the loan against the yacht according to the Wall Street Journal ...

  7. Lessons to learn from Goldman Sachs seizing 66m superyacht 'Natita'

    Following the news that William Kallop, the American oil mogul, has had his 66m Oceanco-built superyacht, motoryacht Natita, seized by the US branch of Goldman Sachs, we explore whether or not there are lessons to be learned beyond the wisdom that it is always a good idea to repay debts owed to powerful financial institutions.

  8. Goldman Sachs seizes oil tycoon's 217-foot yacht

    Goldman Sachs now is the lucky owner of a 217 foot yacht after billionaire Texas oilman William Kallop failed to pay back loans to the bank. Yahoo Finance's Alexis Christoforous, Nicole Sinclair ...

  9. Repossession of the M/Y NATITA by Goldman Sachs shows how hard private

    William Kallop, an oil entrepreneur, was clearly an important client for Goldman Sachs, an occasional yacht lender, in 2014. Goldman lent $32 million to AVD Limited, a Cayman special purpose vehicle, to acquire the Natita and another vessel. The loan was guaranteed by both Kallop and his company Offshore Exploration and Production.

  10. 92' Honey Fitz' Golden Years

    Businessman William Kallop, who bought the deteriorating yacht after it served as a charter vessel for a couple of decades, in 2001 decided it was time to bring her back to life. A first $1 million restoration—perhaps best described as a resurrection given the condition of the yacht before work started—took place in a Mobile, Ala., shipyard ...

  11. Oil billionaire's 217-ft yacht being seized by Goldman Sachs

    Oil billionaire William Kallop is having his 217-foot yacht 'Natita' seized by Goldman Sachs for failing to pay a $32 million (₹205 crore) loan. Kallop used the yacht, featuring a movie theatre and helipad, as collateral for the loan in 2014. Goldman claimed Kallop stopped repaying the loan following which it filed a suit and was awarded the boat.

  12. Goldman Sachs Seizes Giant Yacht After Loan Goes Bad

    William Kallop was until recently the proud owner of the Natita, a 217-foot beauty featuring a movie theater and helipad and named after his mother-in-law. ... Kallop used the yacht as partial ...

  13. A Royal Refit for the Yacht of Camelot

    "The owner of the boat [Texas oilman William M. Kallop] is a wonderful man. He sees himself as the caretaker of the boat." Kallop's father and JFK were freshmen together at Princeton University. Moores says he is on his fifth contract with Kallop and has done less than $2 million worth of structural work on Honey Fitz.

  14. The yacht was sold again in 1998. Texas oil executive William Kallop

    Step into the past with these glamorous photos of JFK's presidential yacht

  15. JFK's yacht getting makeover in Riviera Beach

    William Kallop, a businessman who keeps the boat docked in Florida, now owns the boat. Kallop originally commissioned Moores and his team to fix a section of the boat's hull, but the project has ...

  16. Why Goldman Sachs Seized a Yacht -- WSJ

    Add to its portfolio: a 217-foot luxury yacht called Natita. The story behind the boat begins with a 2014 loan to a prized Goldman client, billionaire Texas oilman William Kallop.

  17. The Honey Fitz is back in business

    The way she bobs low and sleek between towering two- and three-deck fiberglass yachts at her West Palm Beach marina home, her wooden transom lettered in gold, the Honey Fitz almost looks quaint.

  18. Company restoring JFK's Honey Fitz, the historic wooden yacht that

    Moores wants to build them even if the owner who has commissioned this restoration, William Kallop, an oil executive who bought the Honey Fitz at Sotheby's famed "Camelot" auction in 1998 for $5.9 ...

  19. Goldman Sachs Takes Yacht

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