PORT ANGELES — Westport Shipyard threw 30 million dollars into the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Monday.
They floated.
Actually, “they” took to the water as a 164-foot-long, 31-foot-wide seagoing bundle of luxury called Vango, the first of Westport’s 50-meter yachts.
On a nippy morning, more than 100 shipyard workers watched a mammoth tractor start to pull the boat into position between Westport Shipyard and Platypus Marine Inc. on the Port Angeles waterfront.
The journey from pavement to salt water would last nearly four hours, a ballet of such exquisite caution that it was hard to believe anything so sleek could move so slowly.
Huge dollies
Starting at about 7:30 a.m., it took an hour to move Vango on huge dollies from the Westport yard onto North Cedar Street, where Platypus’ giant Travelift awaited.
Another hour passed while workmen rigged the lift’s slings beneath the boat’s hull.
By 10:45 a.m., the Travelift — the yacht hanging beneath it — began inching toward the shipways.
Part-way on its final ride, the yacht paused to pose for pictures with its builders, most of whom wore “Westport 50 meter” windbreakers or “Vango” T-shirts.
Shortly after 11, the boat was afloat.
Two hours later, she was taking her first sea trial into the Strait under the eyes of journalists from five international yachting magazines.
Still a mystery, however, is Vango’s owner, who Westport declines to divulge beyond saying the customer is an American male.
Also unknown is where Vango will be moored. The yacht’s home port was conspicuously absent from its stern.
