Icebreakers and Conversation Starters

ShowBoats International

FUN IN THE SUN 6 of the best yacht toys

INTO THE DEEP

Close encounters under the sea

FEAST OF SWEDEN Scandi food scene by boat

million-dollar

holiday On board one of the world’s most expensive charter yachts

Out of the wild… onto the water

BEAR GRYLLS tests a performance dinghy

$9.00 June 2015

DISPLAY UNTIL 06/22/15

June 2015

FATHER’S DAY Dapper gifts for dad

EXCLUSIVE

Russell Coutts on his controversial America’s Cup vision

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B O A T

L I F E

Interiors

When all else fails…

There are few things that can compete with the beyond-words magnificence of a megayacht. Though, ironically, penny candy can do the trick. A humble Hershey’s Kiss may be just a kiss, but the emotions it conveys are certainly mega.

Guests can help themselves from the rotating globes of this jar made of clear glass and iron and inspired by old-world Argentinean apothecaries.

20 in x 20 in x 24 in, $445. www.hudsonboston.com

Icebreakers, anyone?

Boarding a yacht for the first time as a guest can be one of life’s awkward moments. “Nice boat…looks new!” sounds absurd when alighting upon the afterdeck of a 300-foot floating castle. Now Louis Postel offers hope for the terminally tongue-tied: icebreakers strategically positioned at the point of greeting.

If everyone at the table were to uncork his or her memories into this do-it-yourself trivet, there would be no loss for words. And how about that one cork that represents that night of all nights, especially when a duplicate pops up? Just ask Tati Guimarães, who designed the Bakus Trivet for the Ciclus studio. $48 from the shop at the Museum of Modern Art. www.momastore.org

I was there (and so was I!)

Which way to the water?

This five-foot-wide antique sign derived from the UK gives everyone something to talk about. For old salts it provides an opportunity to point out what is indeed wet out there to landlubbers. The ocean is wet, while the deck we’re standing on is dry. The whirlpool is wet…hence the big metal sign, mate. And over the bar the same sign can signal cocktail hour when the neon lights up. $250 from Griffin Trading Company in the Dallas Design District. www.griffintrading.com

Remembrances of parties past

The social selfie reborn Back in the old days, you didn’t necessarily need words to break the ice. You could just share 60 seconds in a photo booth. Drawing a curtain between you and the world, sitting in the dark for that one magic moment to happen, and then out spits the three or four of you memorialized for all eternity. Architect Anthony Vizzari of A&A Studios in Chicago, Illinois, leads a team of photographers, electricians, wood and metal workers and artists who build and restore booths for A-list clients such as Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison, daughter of megayachter Larry Ellison. From $14,000. www.aastudiosinc.com

S h o w B o a t s I n t e r n a t i o n a l | J u n e 2 0 1 5

Embellished with 38 inset maps and views of the Mediterranean’s major ports, this early edition of a circa-1694 maritime chart by Romeyn De Hooghe almost guarantees conversation.

Who hasn’t been at least somewhere recognizable on one or more of its three hand-colored, engraved sheets, joined for a total width of 57 inches and a height of 24 inches? Its dealer, Daniel Crouch, can show this treasure at his homeport of London, www.crouchrarebooks.com, or June 6 to 7 at the London Map Fair, Europe’s largest antique map market. www.londonmapfairs.com