[ OCTOBER 2021 ]
B RO KE R’S B E ST BY RANDY WOODS
1997 Fleming 55 Pilothouse This beautiful vessel available from Chucky Hovey Yachts features a well-appointed pilothouse, three separate staterooms, a bright galley, and lots of space for lounging.
The Lady Diane is a beauty to behold and lovingly maintained for its nearly quarter-century lifetime. Best of all, it has been equipped for extended Northwest cruising, with Webasto HBW2020 diesel-fired, hot-water-type heating to keep the vessel dry and warm. The main salon features an L-shaped settee with a teak hi-lo table, custom upholstery and drapes, mini-blinds, halogen lighting, two side chairs on the port side, and an entertainment center to starboard. For refreshments, the salon has an additional custom holding plate freezer cabinet aft. Steps on the starboard side head up to the well-appointed pilothouse, featuring a Stidd helm chair, a matching leather L-shaped settee, and sliding doors to access both side decks and steps leading to the flybridge deck. The electronics package includes a Garmin 3000 GPS, a color chart plotter, Northstar GPS, Icom ICM127 and ICM45 VHF’s Furuno FR7061 radar with a 14” monitor, a Simrad speed/log/depth unit, Robertson wind direction/speed indicator, autopilot, a bow thruster, and Naiad stabilizers. The helm also features a video camera display looking aft and in the engine room, to keep tabs on the twin Caterpillar 435-hp engines that give Lady Diane a top speed of 17 knots. 40
PHOTO BY JOEL HIGHET OF BRIGHT PIX MEDIA
Sleeping accommodations below have room for seven people in three separate staterooms, all of which feature custom mattresses and carpeting with Soundown insulation throughout to keep boat warm and quiet. The forward master stateroom has a queen-size island bed with memory foam, plus a private head and a separate stall shower. The starboard guest stateroom has upper and lower berths, with a foldable top bunk. The port stateroom has twin single berths and an upper pull-out berth. Guests have access to a shared separate head with a stall shower. Accessible via a transom walk-thru, the large aft cockpit holds engine controls and a sink. A Portuguese bridge provides storage and a walkthru to the forward deck. Side opening gate doors provide access to a wide swim step. An Aquapro EDXR1201 center-console RIB, with a 30-hp Mercury outboard, is secured on a stern-mounted Nick Jackson davit. The beautiful, bright galley boasts Corian counters, lots of storage, and deep, double Euro sinks. Cooking can be done with either the Kenyon three-burner electric cooktop or the Sharp carousel convection oven. Other equipment includes a GE full-size refrigerator/freezer/icemaker, a trash compactor, a garbage disposal, and a propane BBQ grill. There’s even a dumbwaiter to convey meals up to the flybridge. That’s cruising in style!
