Riviera Yacht Owner Spotlight
Riviera Yacht Owners Sandy and Beth Seney
Riviera Yachts are designed and built in Queensland, Australia, at the largest luxury yacht building facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Their yachts are highly sought after around the world for their high performance, fuel efficiency, luxurious finishing touches, smart layouts, and soft-riding, sure-footed hulls.
As Western Canada’s exclusive authorized dealer of Riviera Australia motor yachts, we at Van Isle Marina are here to help you find the best Rivera model to meet your needs, just like we helped Sandy and Beth Seney, who were recently featured in Experience, Riviera’s digital magazine.
Avid motor yacht enthusiasts from Vancouver, BC, the couple shared their story of how they came to be the proud owners of a brand new Riviera 52 Enclosed Flybridge. Our team at Van Isle Marina was pleased to support them in their journey to becoming Riviera owners.
“We saw the Riviera 52 at a local boat show and immediately decided she was what we wanted,” Sandy recalls of how they decided which motor yacht would meet all of their needs.
One of the standout features of the 52 Enclosed Flybridge model that appealed to Sandy and Beth was the internal staircase to the flybridge, as well as the glass-enclosed flybridge itself. “No more plastic windows!” Sandy noted.
The flybridge of the 52 also features forward and rear lounges, a wet bar, and twin seats in the helm – another standout feature for the couple, who appreciate that there is no helm station in the saloon, giving them more space in the living area.
Additional features on the Riviera 52 Enclosed Flybridge motor yacht include three staterooms, two bathrooms, large boarding platform, barbeque and wet bar station, laundry closet, wide side decks, anchoring station, rear glass bulkhead, premium finishes, the best brands in audio and video equipment, and joystick steering that makes operating this model extra simple. In all, the layout of Riviera’s enclosed flybridges offer plenty of space, with the galley aft and dinette and lounge forward all on the same level.
“And we can’t get over how fast she is with the twin Volvo Penta engines and pod drives,” Sandy adds, referring to their Volvo Penta D11-IPS950s delivering 750 hp each.
The inverter, generator, and water capacity of Sandy and Beth’s desired yacht was also important to them, given they seldom go into marinas or tie up to docks. “We prefer to anchor somewhere on our own,” Sandy says.
Sandy and Beth named their new Riviera 52 Enclosed Flybridge ‘Sweet Thing’, after an expression Beth’s mother once used to describe Sandy. She tells Riviera magazine: “My mother referred to everyone as either a ‘sweet thing’ or an ‘interesting character’. It was not good to be known as an ‘interesting character’! “Fortunately, she referred to Sandy as a ‘sweet thing’. Hence the name,” Beth shares.
After selecting the 52 Enclosed Flybridge out from a crowd of other boats during a boat show, the pair enlisted the services of Van Isle Marina to help them acquire the yacht and make it theirs. They visited the Riviera yard in Australia on a number of occasions, taking a keen interest in the build of their investment. Riviera offers this option to owners who have bought brand new and are customizing their models, which is all part of the exclusive Riviera Experience.
The couple spent some time inspecting the build of their new yacht as she was being built at the company’s headquarters in south-east Queensland, Australia. Their final visit to the yard was to sea trial the motor yacht before her delivery to Canada. With the sea trial proving more than successful, the last step was simply waiting patiently for her delivery.
Sandy and Beth’s motor yacht was delivered to us here at Van Isle Marina, where we presented it to our very happy clients who were eager to get out exploring. And with all the comforts and conveniences Riviera is known for, it’s easy to see how Sandy and Beth were able to spend eight weeks out on the water exploring the Pacific Northwest upon receiving their Riviera.
One of their first anchorages was Princess Louisa Inlet, a small narrow fjord nearly 100 nautical miles north of Vancouver. Then they headed north to Desolation Sound, a vast, protected waterway with seemingly endless small islands to navigate.
Continuing north, they traveled through Johnstone Strait and on to the Broughton Archipelago, leading toward Pierre’s Echo Bay Marina. These are just a few of several stops the pair made during their maiden voyage – the first of many to come.
Sandy and Beth look forward to sharing their Riviera with their children and their grandchildren this summer as they explore even more of the hidden gems around the west coast, especially all the protected and spectacular bays, inlets, and sounds that make up the waterways of the Pacific Northwest.
Annual Riviera Rendezvous
If you decide to follow Sandy and Beth’s path and come to own a Riviera yacht, you’ll be joining a growing group of ecstatic yacht owners who meet regularly to share their adventures and boating knowledge. One such event is called the annual Riviera Rendezvous that takes place each year in June.
At this highly anticipated event, dozens of Riviera yacht owners meet up for an entire weekend to catch up with old friends and welcome new Riviera yacht owners into the family. The 2019 Riviera Rendezvous took place on June 7-9 with Emerald Pacific Yachts in Roche Harbor, a sheltered harbor on the northwest side of San Juan Island in San Juan County, Washington.
Check out the recap from the 2019 Riviera Rendezvous.
As always, the Riviera Rendezvous was an outstanding success bringing together Riviera owners from the Pacific Northwest to enjoy a festive weekend together. With more than 160 people and 44 Riviera Yachts in attendance, proud owners celebrated the ‘Silver Screen’ as movie stars with a potluck, dock parties, seminars, and a catered dinner. It was entertaining and an excellent opportunity to connect with the Riviera family.
The entire Van Isle Marina team is looking forward to celebrating Riviera’s 40th anniversary at the next Riviera Rendezvous happening in June 2020.
Read More: 8 Things You’ll Love About Living on a Yacht
Riviera’s 15th Motor Yacht
Riviera has 14 – soon to be 15 – different motor yacht models available across 5 distinct collections, including the Open and Enclosed Flybridge Collections, the Sport Yacht and the Sport Motor Yacht Collections, and the SUV Collection. As Western Canada’s exclusive authorized dealer of Riviera Australia’s luxury motor yachts, Van Isle Marina’s yacht brokers would be pleased to present you with more information.
You can also read about each of Riviera’s models on our website.
To help you discover what type of Riviera yacht may be right for you, Van Isle Marina is here to help. Please contact one of our Yacht Sales Brokers, call us at 250.656.1138, or come to Sidney BC to see us in person. We look forward to showing you our boats!
