Built in Belgium in 1929, this 127 foot inland craft originally hauled coal on European waterways. She was purchased in the mid 1980s by a French company who replated the hull and tailored a magnificent pleasure yacht after vessels used to tour the rivers along the wine country of France and the canals of Holland. Watercolour first appeared in the Uniited States in 1985 shipped by freighter to Manhattan. She was then used most frequently in Southern Florida for exclusive parties and cruises (she was also filmed in two episodes of Miami Vice). Watercolour was purchased in Miami by her present in owner in the Summer of 1993 after surviving the furies of Hurricane Andrew. Interior remodeling began that Fall in Annapolis, Maryland under the direction of international interior designer Kelly Gale Amen of Houston, Texas (www.kga.net).
In 1994, her owner moved from Dallas to Vancouver, Canada and contemplated on how to bring Watercolour to that beautiful city. The only solution became apparent after several months of research: she was cut into three massive sections and moved by truck from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to Vancouver. She was then reassembled and moored in downtown Vancouver where she still remains.
A raised pilot house was added in Vancouver because there are no low bridges to navigate in the waters of the Inside Passage. The pilot house and rear deck sit above the ÒHoneymoon SuiteÓ and its raised 10 foot ceilings.
DESIGN by KELLY GALE AMEN (KGA )
Because no major structural changes were required, Kelly decided to improve and enhance WatercolourÕs existing architectural design. To that end, Kelly (who is famed for his Òcreative courageÓ) selected durable and vibrant materials to reflect an aquatic environment, discarding the traditional nautical blues for a brilliance of colr and light in shades of green, turquoise, shell pink, coral aubergine, and periwinkel. Flooring and walls were his main focus.
He chose hunter green chevron for the flooring on the upper deck. The spacious outdoor lounge, which elegantly accommodates fifty people, features an array of beautiful, multicolored, and exotically shaped KGA signature pillows, as well as a step-down to a wet bar and two intimate sitting areas.
Below deck is the Main Salon with customer hardwood flooring. A sand-cast KGA aluminum and glass table offers views of the hand-painted aquarium-scene rug beneath. The rug sets the tone of the salon and its brilliant watercolours makes one feel like walking on the bottom of the ocean.
The entire area below deck, painted with a granitelike Zolatone paint to give the walls more depth and is brightened by numerous skylights and solid bronze portholes framed by a hand-painted rope design. The blue and peach Master Suite contains a designer four-poster, bed, and its Master Bath includes a marble double sink, a two person Jacuzzi tub with gol fixtures beneath a fabulous full-wall 10,000 piece hand-made mosaic.
The authentic 1929 design with its original wood panels and parquet floors remains intact in the Honeymoon Suite. The elevated king-size bed sits below 10 foot ceilings and is adjacent to a European-style bath.
ÒWe wanted to use materials, artisans and craftspeople that would make it nautically correct, but keep it stimulating and interesting,Ó explains Amen. Kelly hired Texas artists for the project. Barbara Jones enveloped the walls and portholes with her unique brushstrokes, and Nancy Ruby and-pained the aquarium-scene rug in the Mian Salon. Accenting his ork with touches of African pine and teak, specialty east coast marine carpenter Glenn Stites crafted a wine cabinet, cedar closet, cross-beamed ceilings and master cabinetry of oak and teak.
