An American designed the yacht of his dreams, but he couldn’t afford it. Solution: build it himself at home

Owning a yacht is often a common whim among billionaires. Businessmen like Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg have not hesitated to spend part of their fortune to sail around different parts of the world with lots of comfort, style and, above all, luxuryWhile the former commissioned the construction of ‘Koru’ to the Dutch firm Oceanco, the latter decided to skip this step and bought ‘Launchpad’ from a Russian oligarch.

An American named Clyde Stires took a completely different route to get the yacht he wanted, a catamaran of 27.86 metres long and 12.41 metres wide, equipped to accommodate a dozen guests. Stires tells in a video posted on YouTube who was not a millionaire, but who decided to channel all the resources at his disposal, combined with great determination, to build the yacht of his dreams.

From building custom vehicles to building your own yacht

Stires was born in Missouri, although at the age of 12 he moved with his family to California. From a young age he spent a lot of time with his father, who taught him to use different cutting toolsWith this knowledge as a foundation, he began to teach himself how to fix and build everyday objects such as toys. Much later, in the 1970s, he found inspiration in the vehicle manufacturer Ed “Big Daddy” Roth.

After that, he began building tricycles whose designs won over stars like Elvis Presley and Johnny Graham. His passion for what he did only grew. Years later he found himself converting a double-decker bus into a camper van. He had previously bought his first boat in Taiwan, and decided that he “wanted to get back on the water,” so he got rid of almost everything he owned to start the project of a lifetime, building a yacht.

The vehicles that Clyde manufactured

Stires account that He analyzed every part of the project before he began. Since he did not have sufficient financial resources, he could not afford to build the ship in a shipyard. The costs of doing so would simply be unaffordable. Nor could he do it anywhere in the United States, since the weather conditions could accelerate the deterioration of the ship under construction. So he decided to move to a suitable place to start the project.

The Clyde Caravan Project

He was already in California, so he looked for a house in Perris, a former railroad town known for its dry, sunny climate. After making several sketches, calculations, and scaled-down versions, he got to work in 1987. In the video, we can see the ship growing in size over time. This undoubtedly caught the attention of the locals, as someone points out in the YouTube comment below.

“I lived in Canyon Lake and I would drive past this every day on my way to work, it was very close to Highway 74. All of a sudden, this huge ship started appearing, getting bigger every day. It was mind-blowing to see it.. I had to stop and ask what was going on with that boat. He was always alone working on the construction. He was very nice and told me that he was building a boat to go around the world. So, what you were wondering was: how is this boat going to get to the ocean?

Building the ship required Stires to perfect all of his skills. This included everything from welding to the lamination process to installing the wiring, hydraulics and engines. It took Stires years to complete the deck cladding, install all the equipment and paint the ship. Once it was finished he was faced with the difficult task of getting it to sea, and the only alternative was to cut it up and transport it in pieces.

The ship, named Kaleidoscope, was rebuilt and launched in 1994. That milestone for the project was just the beginning of a series of surprising episodes that would come years later. The American says that his ship was “Stolen by a cartel” when it was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Although after much effort, the authorities managed to recover the boat, the process of returning it to the United States was so complex that he decided to sell it.

Years have passed and Stires’ once-owned yacht is back on the water. Today it is part of a charter company’s fleet. Kaleidoscope introduces itself as a yacht with “all the amenities for the most luxurious sailing experience.” Its new owners also call it the “limousine of the sea” and use it for private excursions or event celebrations.

Images | Clyde Stires

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