"Call on God, but row away from the rocks."
Hunter S. Thompson
One thing you notice hanging around the mega-yacht Mecca of St Martin for any length of time is that there has been something of a shift in some of the crews... You see less of the ex-Olympic sailors sort and more of the type who used to carry guns in their previous lives and you might not be too far off if their being hired was due to their skills with small arms and inspired mayhem in elite services rather than their sailing or piloting skills.
Then again, maybe the owners of some yachts simply want to improve their Russian language skills as there seems to be a whole lot of Russians about these days...
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure a whole lot of very rich people are looking for safe havens or suchlike of the just in case variety and why not set up your mega yacht as one just in case?
I've always respected the intelligence of those who make a lot of money by either fair or foul means as you don't get silly rich by making dumb decisions and when they start preparing for the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it, well I for one, take notice! On the other hand, a lot of folks in the process of getting silly rich just may have pissed off a lot of the wrong people in the process and they are not worried about the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it but are just worried about PAYBACK...
Who was it said that Karma is a bitch?
While Roman Abramovich's new boat is the one every one notices and points to, it is simply the front runner of the new fashion in mega-yacht styling and take my word for it Kevlar "Gold" is very much the new "Black" these days...
Meanwhile, for the less nautically inclined, there are any number of floating "Sea Castle" developments on offer for the Uber-Rich to hang their hats away from folks they might not want to run into in a dark alley... I'm told the sales are somewhat brisk in this Rich peoples ARK market with prices ranging from $4 million for the least expensive "condo" to over $160 million for an onboard "Mansion".
Scary stuff and certainly something to take notice of...
